We use Fortinet FortiGate as a network firewall.
Security Engineer at Eguardian lanka
Initial implementation straightforward, helpful support, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good."
- "The reporting in Fortinet FortiGate could improve. Customers are having to purchase additional reporting components. When I have used the Sophos solution it is a complete solution, in Fortinet FortiGate you have to use additional tools to have the features needed."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
The reporting in Fortinet FortiGate could improve. Customers are having to purchase additional reporting components. in Fortinet FortiGate you have to use additional tools to have the features needed.
We need to use FortiAuthenticator to have additional bandwidth. Fortinet should include more features in the solution instead of having separate tools.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution from my experience.
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Fortinet FortiGate
July 2025

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support from Fortinet FortiGate is 24 hours a day seven days a week, and 365 days a year. The support is good from Fortinet, and local distributor partner support has been helpful, we highly recommend them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used pfSense, Sophos Firewall, and other endpoint solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The initial implementation of Fortinet FortiGate is not complex because the GUI environment is easy to use. We can do a lot of things in the GUI. If the configurations engineer, network administrator, or network engineer has knowledge about firewalls, the process will not be complex. It can easily be managed.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Sr. Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Security solution with good stability, scalability, and a quick setup
Pros and Cons
- "Security solution with a straightforward and quick setup. It's a stable and scalable product."
- "The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."
What is our primary use case?
Fortinet FortiGate is used for its firewall solutions, VPN firewall, IDS, IPS, and antivirus.
What needs improvement?
An area for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is that their support needs to be more customer friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been dealing with Fortinet FortiGate for five years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate has been stable since the beginning.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Sometimes we face issues with Fortinet support. The support team needs to be more customer friendly.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup and installation for this product is good. It's very straightforward. It's nice because you can quickly set it up.
How long the installation takes will depend on the customer, e.g. It'll be based on their requirement, because not all customers have the same requirements. Every customer has a different requirement.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented this product ourselves, because we are a partner of Fortinet.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our customers can choose between a one-year or a three-year contract with Fortinet FortiGate.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated WatchGuard, Cisco, and Palo Alto firewalls.
What other advice do I have?
We are dealing with a lot of firewalls, e.g. Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Cisco, and Palo Alto.
We deployed Fortinet FortiGate via a mixture of on-premises and cloud deployment.
We have customers using different versions of this solution, e.g. some using older versions, and some using the newest version. We have hundreds of customers using it.
We are satisfied with this solution.
We have a team of five to six guys who are managing the deployment and maintenance of Fortinet FortiGate, and they are all network engineers.
We recommend Fortinet FortiGate to others who want to start using it.
My rating for Fortinet FortiGate is eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
July 2025

Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: July 2025.
861,803 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Chief Information Security Officer at ShipServ Limited
Useful dashboards and reasonably priced
Pros and Cons
- "The dashboard I have found the most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate."
- "Fortinet FortiGate is not very easy to use. The navigation could be improved to make it easier to use."
How has it helped my organization?
It gives a good overview of the security posture
What is most valuable?
The dashboard I have found the most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet FortiGate is not very easy to use. The navigation could be improved to make it easier to use. Instead of double clicking the items FortiGate needs to click the "details" button to get the configurations or record details
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
So far the solution is quite stable
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
They provide different products and features and can be added if you needed
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
This is the first solution we used since we moved to Cloud
What about the implementation team?
We used a partner to do the implementation of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable for an SME.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
No
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Sr. System Administration (Grindmaster Machines Pvt Ltd) at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Great support, easy to handle, and stable
Pros and Cons
- "It is quite easy to handle."
- "Its reporting can be improved. Sometimes, I don't get proper reports."
What is most valuable?
It is quite easy to handle.
What needs improvement?
Its reporting can be improved. Sometimes, I don't get proper reports.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for the last two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Its stability is quite good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is quite scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Their support is great. I would rate them a five out of five.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we were using a different solution, and as compared to that solution, it is very easy to handle.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate it a nine out of 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System & Network Administrator at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Scalable and stable tool for securing networks, with good SD-WAN, VPN, and URL filtering functions
Pros and Cons
- "The stability and scalability of this solution are satisfactory. Its SD-WAN, VPN, and URL filtering features are very useful."
- "Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
What is our primary use case?
I use Fortinet FortiGate to secure the network.
What is most valuable?
The features I found most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate include their SD-WAN features and their VPN. They are good and very useful. My remote user and I are using them all the time. The URL filter is also good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I started using Fortinet FortiGate five years ago.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I'm satisfied about the stability of this solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution wasn't complex at all.
What about the implementation team?
This solution was implemented in-house. I was the one who implemented it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper.
What other advice do I have?
Deployment of Fortinet FortiGate took one to two days, because I needed time to put my existing environment and what we have, and what we intended to do with our network, to convert it into the Fortinet FortiGate system.
We were on another platform which was a concurrent platform and it wasn't a good one, and it was our first time to go on Fortinet FortiGate, so we had an issue and it took me a few days to deploy.
Maintenance of this solution requires two people. The number of users of Fortinet FortiGate in our organization depends on whether it's direct or indirect. If indirect, it will be all the users we have in the organization, but if it's direct, it could be just the administrator. If indirectly, it'll be a hundred users on our actual site, and 2000 to 3000 users on the other site, all done remotely.
I didn't have to contact Fortinet's technical support, so I can't evaluate their level of responsiveness. I was able to make all the configurations I wanted, without needing to contact support. This solution is good for me.
I'm rating Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.
I'm recommending this solution to be deployed for a new user. I'm really happy with it.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
Great performance and management features
Pros and Cons
- "Good performance, stability, and virtual domain ability."
- "The support system could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution as a firewall proxy. I'm the company manager.
What is most valuable?
Valuable features include the performance, stability, and virtual domain ability as well as the management that it provides.
What needs improvement?
There are some limitations to the solution such as publishing multiple servers with a single IP. I'd also like to see some improvement in the support system.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think the scalability could be improved.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is a little slow and needs to be improved.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is reasonably straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Compared to other vendors and other firewalls, the Fortinet pricing is reasonable.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Information Security Principal at a venture capital & private equity firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to manage, improves visibility, and lowered our TCO
Pros and Cons
- "FortiGate Secure SD-WAN includes best-of-breed next-generation firewall (NGFW) security, SD-WAN, advanced routing, and WAN optimization capabilities, delivering a security-driven networking WAN edge transformation in a unified offering."
- "There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."
What is our primary use case?
We are using the FortiGate firewall for multiple purposes including network antivirus, Application Control, Web Filtering, IPSec Tunnels, and SSL-VPN using soft FortiTokens.
For the past year, we have also been using this technology for Secure SD-WAN. This added a lot of value in terms of technology, such as datacenter connectivity using IPSec tunnel-added security filters, with less cost by canceling MPLS.
How has it helped my organization?
We have implemented secure SD-WAN using FortiGate firewalls in 15 locations and it is working extremely well.
Since implementing, the total cost of ownership (TCO) has been lowered and the day-to-day security operations have been simplified through our FortiOps services. These provide cloud-based management, visibility, and automation across your Fortinet Security Fabric. It also helps to realize the operational benefits of a Fortinet-enabled Secure SD-WAN.
At the same time, cybersecurity threats have become more sophisticated and fast-moving. Fortinet offers a full range of services and subscriptions to help us simplify and make the most of your SD-WAN deployment with the lowest TCO possible.
What is most valuable?
FortiGate Secure SD-WAN includes best-of-breed next-generation firewall (NGFW) security, SD-WAN, advanced routing, and WAN optimization capabilities, delivering a security-driven networking WAN edge transformation in a unified offering.
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors.
Antivirus, Application Control, Web Filtering, IPSec, and SSL-VPN are great features with the next-generation Fortinet firewall. They are all very easy to manage.
What needs improvement?
We are managing FortiGate using a FortiManager and it needs improvement with respect to the ease of administration tasks.
There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN.
Technical support could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using FortiGate technology for more than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FortiGate is a very stable firewall.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
With respect to scalability, it's an excellent product.
How are customer service and technical support?
The customer service is good, although there is room for improvement with technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use another solution prior to this one.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented this solution with this assistance of a partner.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did evaluate other products, including solutions by Cisco.
What other advice do I have?
There is always a need for improvement with any vendor.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Dy General Manager at a real estate/law firm with 501-1,000 employees
Rich in features, good support, and setup and deployment straightforward
Pros and Cons
- "Some of the valuable features are the firewall, IPS, web filter, and gateway capabilities. Additionally, it is easy to use and flexible."
- "It would be a benefit if Fortinet would release a one-stop solution that is better integrated with other products and an automated emergency response system."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for network security protection.
What is most valuable?
Some of the valuable features are the firewall, IPS, web filter, and gateway capabilities. Additionally, it is easy to use and flexible.
What needs improvement?
It would be a benefit if Fortinet would release a one-stop solution that is better integrated with other products and has an automated emergency response system.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for 12 years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution's scalability is a problem because when you use a LAN, you use hardware and hardware wastes resources. However, it is more scalable than some of its competitors, such as Check Point. We have 620 users using the product.
How are customer service and technical support?
The solution is designed in a way to help you, the support is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used many solutions previously such as Check Point and Stone software. We changed to this solution because we wanted something more stable.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was easy.
What about the implementation team?
You will need one or two integrators for the deployment and it was very easy. The maintenance is simple too.
What other advice do I have?
We are going to continue using this solution.
I rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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Updated: July 2025
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