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Fortinet FortiOS vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

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Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
318
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Fortinet FortiOS
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (17th)
Stormshield Network Security
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (12th)
 

Featured Reviews

EhabAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable
In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.
Harshama Silva - PeerSpot reviewer
We have improved network security with user-friendly controls and high threat intelligence
FortiOS is very user-friendly and easy to configure for L1, L2, and L3 personnel. Its web filtering, application control, and IPS features are very user-friendly, easy to manage, and deploy. The threat intelligence in FortiOS is very high, and the system is scalable without additional licensing costs. FortiOS allows us to expand the number of users and devices as our network needs grow.
Ben_Ben - PeerSpot reviewer
The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats
The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It performs very well."
"SSL-VPN is very useful for us and has been very reliable."
"The most valuable features are the enterprise modeling and the simple interface."
"The performance is good."
"The solution is very easy to understand. It's not overly complex."
"Anti-Spam web content filterinG."
"It has a good UI and overall integration, including FortiGate Manager for controlling all firewalls from a single place."
"The GUI is good."
"The interface is easy to understand, so when there are threats you get alerts. It's quite intuitive, but if you are ever confused they have instructional videos. For example, if you don't understand a graph there's a link to a video that explains what the graph means. It makes it very user-friendly."
"We primarily use Fortinet FortiOS for site-to-site VPNs, reporting features, and wireless capabilities. It is well integrated within the Fortinet ecosystem."
"What I like about this solution, is that it is the only solution that currently offers VPN for clients."
"The initial setup is easy. It's the easiest firewall installation process on the market. I work with three or four other products and this one is the easiest."
"The technical support on offer has always been quite good."
"I like that the firewall gives me a lot of control in terms of outgoing and inbound traffic, and it scores better in deep packet inspections when compared with the Azure Firewall."
"FortiOS's most valuable feature is a next-generation firewall that can be used as the APT solution in advanced threat protection."
"Their classification inside of that database of the various threats is typically very, very good."
"I like that it works fine. Stormshield is a very good solution."
"It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page."
"This solution is quick and easy to configure."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"Our organization's main concern is stability, and this is a stable solution."
"Ease of use is the best feature of the product."
 

Cons

"The captive portal could be improved."
"The renewal price and the availability could be improved."
"It should have a better pricing plan. It is too expensive. It should also have a more granular view of the attack. I don't have FortiAnalyzer, and it is difficult for me to have a complete view when there is an attack on my server."
"The user interface could be improved to make it less confusing and easier to set up."
"Its reporting and pricing need improvement."
"The reports are very basic."
"It needs more available central management."
"The firmware updates are sometimes not stable. The stability issues can vary, sometimes happening once a month or quarterly. New firmware updates can occasionally introduce bugs, causing some policies to fail. We then have to raise a ticket, and Fortinet usually provides a fix within a few days."
"It would be better if AWS instances were available. If I want to upgrade from T2.small to T2.medium, it should be available rather than having a big instance and paying a lot of money for that. The issue is that we had deployed in AWS Cloud, and we were using a very small instance. Recently we wanted to move in-house and deploy it on the big instance because it was struggling with the RAM. If we use T2.small, we cannot upgrade it to the T2.medium. It has predefined instances in the marketplace with a lot of cost differences. If I can increase the RAM, I have to choose the T3.large instance. If I'm paying $270 for the small instance, I have to pay more than double the cost for T3.large. It is about $850, and this is not good. So, it would be better if it was cheaper. I think both AWS and Fortinet should think about that. They should provide it on lower instances as well. If I want to upgrade it from T2.small to T2.medium, it should be available, but it's a problem."
"The technical support is good. However, during the holidays they can get a little slow to respond."
"The main challenge with Fortinet FortiOS is integration with third-party solutions. I don't see any other areas for improvement. Nowadays, all products work well for 50-60 percent of needs. We must only fulfill 60-70 percent of client requirements because they don't use 100 percent of product features. Banks and financial sectors might need more security features. I don't work much in banking, but they often use multiple products for different security layers, not just firewalls. They might use various products or APIs for different purposes. In the end, clients use the products that suit their needs."
"I want to see a better integration or a better integration with the endpoint protection or with EDR with the security life cycle."
"Fortinet FortiOS is stable. However, last month we had an issue with a released patch. We had to receive another update to fix the firewall issue consuming all of the resources. The patches should be tested more before going into circulation."
"There should be more documentation on how to use the CLI or how to perform CLI versions of tasks that can be done through the GUI."
"Fortinet could integrate something like a YubiKey for 2FA with their SSL VPN clients."
"Their technical support needs improvement."
"It could be better if it were more user-friendly. It's too complicated for us to use it. The price could be better as well."
"The SD card could be more secure."
"The product must improve its pricing."
"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."
"A more user-friendly interface would be helpful."
"The biggest issue was their support department was not able to help us, then everything stops. This is a no-go area for me."
"Improvement is needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer."
"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For medium and enterprise organizations, FortiGate is more affordable."
"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"I do not have first-hand experience with the rice of Fortinet FortiGate, but I have heard the price was reasonable."
"​We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW.​"
"The price, in comparison to other products is very cheap."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is affordable. Most of our customers are on a three-year license to use the solution. All the features and support are included in the price."
"In terms of the market, it's not a cheap product, but it's cost-effective."
"Fortinet has more device options that are affordable for small businesses than Palo Alto, and its enterprise-level models are also cheaper. Palo Alto also has a separate license for VPN connections and SD-WAN, but FortiGate offers these features standard."
"We pay $100,000. That covers the cost of the hardware that we run the VN's on. That also includes any SGNA costs for the internal support tech."
"We pay an annual license fee. It is rather expensive so I would like to perhaps see a drop in price in the future."
"It would be better if it were cheaper. We have the firewall in our office, and the license is expiring in 20 to 25 days. We got a quote for almost 80,000 Pakistani Rupees, which is a little costly."
"The solution could have a better licensing model. It's a bit more expensive than other solutions. The annual subscription is very pricy in Fortinet. The cost could be reduced."
"The price of Fortinet FortiOS is comparable to other similar solutions on the market. We are on an annual license to use the solution."
"The price of Fortinet FortiOS is less than $10,000 annually. The price of the support is reasonable compared to competitors."
"The licensing for FortiOS is good, with a security license included when we update the main license."
"The solution is cost effective. I would rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"The pricing could be better."
"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."
"I think the price is good."
"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
22%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
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What do you like most about Fortinet FortiOS?
The SSL VPN is fee for use is most attractive.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiOS?
I rate the pricing for FortiOS as eight or nine out of ten. It is an affordable solution for us.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiOS vs. Stormshield Network Security and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.