Our primary use case for Fortinet FortiGate is for the center firewalls. We use the VMware server. That seems good and acceptable to the customers.
Managing Director at FORESEC
Very user friendly solution with cumbersome licensing structure
Pros and Cons
- "The features that I have found most valuable are that it is good to use, and most importantly, the pricing. The customer especially likes the discount when they trade up or something like that."
- "There are some license issues. Not every feature must have a separate license. There must be some of kind synergy between the license so we don't have to pay for every individual license that we would like to have."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The features that I have found most valuable are that it is good to use, and most importantly, the pricing. The customer especially likes the discount when they trade up or something like that.
What needs improvement?
In terms of the product, we don't have anything to improve. But I have a concern about the FortiGate team here in Egypt, because there is an opportunity that we are working on and when we opened it and did the deal installation, it was rejected. When I talked to the FortiGate team here in Egypt, they told me they know about the deal, but they rejected it.
Additionally, they could make some modifications in the license. There are some license issues. Not every feature must have a separate license. There must be some kind of synergy between the license so we don't have to pay for every individual license that we would like to have.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for around one year now.
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.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In m company there are around seven technical engineers required for deployment and maintenance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, our biggest customer using it has 500 people.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't worked with the technical support. I did face some admin problem with the team here in Egypt.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are a partner with Sophos, with Palo Alto, and with WatchGuard. So we have a lot of competitors for FortiGate.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate was easy. The most important thing is the management software with the license for accounts that need an additional license. But it is also acceptable.
The initial setup takes a while. It seems to take some time longer than usual due to the customer's onsite preparation of the required information. Overall it takes around five to seven working days.
What about the implementation team?
We are a partner, and a technical team qualified for implementing.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is also an issue here. Maybe we get a massive discount on the product, but the renew cost is higher. In addition there are some admin issues. When I receive a request for a renew for a customer, the local team here only deals with the company that makes the primary deal, and refuses to give us a quotation. So we may lose the opportunity, or we may go with the vendor with their native product.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend the product. I think it's good and they're doing well on the roadmap. But again, for the team they have to take better care of the local partner.
On a scale of one to ten, I would give Fortinet FortiGate a seven.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner

Chief Information Officer at teamddt
A continuously updated firewall solution with a good antispam filter
Pros and Cons
- "I like Fortinet FortiGate's antispam filter, SPN, and clustering features."
- "Application management can be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use Fortinet FortiGate to implement firewalls for our customers.
What is most valuable?
I like Fortinet FortiGate's antispam filter, SPN, and clustering features.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement. When it comes to email spam detection, Baracuda is the highest or the best, Cisco is the lowest, and Fortinet FortiGate is in the middle. Application management can be improved. Analysis and sandbox can also be improved in the next release.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for around three years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability can be improved. Compared to Cisco, Fortinet FortiGate's scalability is in a good position.
How are customer service and technical support?
Fortinet FortiGate offers good technical support services.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. For example, the SMB solution is straightforward. We have to follow the instructions and customize it as per the customer's request for the enterprise solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Fortinet FortiGate's price can be reduced.
What other advice do I have?
Fortinet FortiGate is highly recommended because they update everything every second.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Fortinet FortiGate a nine.
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.
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.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Project Manager at renaissance group
User-friendly with good integrations on offer and a variety of great features
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is very user friendly. The user interface in particular is quite nice."
- "The customization could be improved. Cisco, for example, is much better at this. They need to work to be at least as good as they are."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for security - for the firewall.
What is most valuable?
The solution has a variety of excellent features.
The cloud base that they have on offer is great.
Overall, the solution is very good and we've been very happy with it.
The solution is very user friendly. The user interface in particular is quite nice.
The integration is great.
What needs improvement?
The customization could be improved. Cisco, for example, is much better at this. They need to work to be at least as good as they are.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for one year so far.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
So far, the stability has been very good. We haven't had any issues at all. I haven't had issues with bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I haven't run into any issues when it comes to scaling. If a company needs to scale it should be able to do so without much of a problem.
How are customer service and technical support?
I haven't really dealt directly with technical support. Once, when I ran into an issue, I spoke with my local partner. Other than that, you can find the answers you need via the help navigation.
Therefore, I can't speak to the helpfulness of technical support. I can't speak to whether or not they are responsive or knowledgable.
I have been satisfied with the help I've received from my local partner, however. They've been quite good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We do use other solutions as well, such as Cisco. We find this solution to be better in general, and more user-friendly. That said, Cisco does do customization better.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex. It's pretty straightforward. We found it to be quite simple.
When I bought it, I found that the user interface made everything pretty easy from the start. They also have very good help features that can assist you if you get stuck. It was pretty easy to configure the items I needed to.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is pretty much standard with the competition. It's not overly expensive.
That said, if you want to have a good security VPN or firewall, then you should invest more than money and pay interest in local devices. If you want a better network structure and better security, then you need more local devices.
What other advice do I have?
I use FortiGate quite a bit. I'm just a customer and end-user. I don't have a business relationship with the company.
On a scale from one to ten, I'd rate the solution at an eight. I've been pretty happy with it so far.
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.
IT Infrastructure managerInformation an Communication Services Manager at a agriculture with 5,001-10,000 employees
Great load balancing feature, secure and stable
Pros and Cons
- "Good load balancing feature."
- "We have an issue with hotel guest vouchers."
What is our primary use case?
We've used this solution for the guest portal for our client and we also use it to secure the network of our firm. I am the IT infrastructure manager and we are customers of Fortinet.
What is most valuable?
I like the fact that we don't have to use our IP address and that it roams. I also like the load balancing feature which allows you to attach several internet connections and load balance.
What needs improvement?
We have an issue with the license when it expires because we're unable to use the computers. We are in the hotel industry and there's an issue with vouchers when guests come in wanting to use them.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a stable solution. We had some issues after we upgraded but on the whole it's stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We don't have scalability requirements so I can't comment.
How are customer service and technical support?
We had some issues with the local support, particularly with regard to purchasing the subscription. It took a very long time and at one point the license had expired and it took a while to sort out.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple and doesn't take much time.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This is an affordable solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
FortiGate is the most effective solution for us and it's a cheaper option to Check Point or Palo Alto which we looked at. They are both very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution an eight out of 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Infrastructure Specialist at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
A resilient, secure, and scalable solution that provides a secure connection for remote work.
Pros and Cons
- "The web filtering feature and the intrusion protection system are the most valuable. It is a resilient appliance. I never had an issue with it in terms of any security breaches."
- "Its reporting capabilities can be improved. It should have some out-of-the-box reporting capabilities and some degree of customization. The basic reporting that it currently has is not sufficient to create more usable reports. It needs some sort of out-of-the-box reporting. They try to make customers purchase FortiAnalyzer for this kind of reporting, which is an additional cost. Other firewall vendors, such as SonicWall and Sophos, provide this sort of reporting without any additional cost."
What is our primary use case?
We utilize the services to ensure the stability of our network and clients protection from external treats. With the recent pandemic mobile working have increased in demand and Fortinet have easily bridge that gap to continue to support employee needs.
How has it helped my organization?
It has provided us the ability to work remotely during the pandemic. It opens a secure connection to the office for an employee working remotely from home.
What is most valuable?
The web filtering feature and the intrusion protection system are the most valuable.
It is a resilient appliance.
What needs improvement?
Its reporting capabilities can be improved. Some out-of-the-box reports needs to be able to provide usable data for example for web monitoring and reporting or browsing patterns and details. Some customers does not require any forensic type reporting and may not want to invest in all the features offered by the FortiAnalyzer.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for the past seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. There are no issues. In terms of the number of users who use FortiGate, we have only about ten users for remote working. Only selected users utilize this remote capability.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is good. If I have an inquiry or request, it is usually addressed within the same business day or within the 24 hours period as per the vendor's support agreement.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I was on a Check Point platform, and then I migrated to FortiGate. Migrating from the Check Point environment to the FortiGate environment was new for me. We rely on a vendor for support. The vendor was kind of phasing out the support of the Check Point product. That's why we switched.
How was the initial setup?
We are currently on 80D, and it was a direct upgrade. The deployment didn't take that long because it was a direct replacement or upgrade from an older appliance 60D to 80D. It was easy for the vendor to deploy because they saved the policies and other things that were in use for the older appliance and had to be migrated over to the new appliance. It was done within maybe a day or two.
What about the implementation team?
We outsourced it to a local vendor, and it was deployed by the vendor. We do our own internal monitoring, and the vendor does the actual set up. So far, our experience with the vendor has been excellent in terms of response. Their technical staff is also very knowledgeable.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We just pay an affordable flat monthly fee to the vendor for the monitoring and support.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I learned about different options and their benefits and listened to vendors' proposals for migration. We evaluated pfSense, which is open source. We were trying to determine whether to go for open source as opposed to an industry-standard and proprietary product. I also engaged other vendors who offered Sophos technology and SonicWall. I trusted the vendor-supported product and considered the cost associated with the migration. The current vendor could upgrade it with no implementation cost, and we just had to pay a monthly service fee or rental.
Based on the research, FortiGate seemed like a reasonable firewall, and it is also more or less recognized and trusted all over, so I trusted FortiGate. Overall, I was happy with the performance of the FortiGate, so I kind of stuck with that one.
What other advice do I have?
I would definitely recommend this product, but there are other products in the market, such as Sophos and SonicWall, that are just as effective.
We will be using this solution for at least the next three years. We renewed the license for three years in August of this year. We are thinking of upgrading to a newer appliance before that.
I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten. I am pleased with this solution and the features it offers right now. It just needs minor adjustments in terms of reporting and staying up to date with industry standards.
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.
Network Manager at a transportation company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Installation is super easy, stable operations, and has prompt and responsive customer service
Pros and Cons
- "The product is easy to use and is stable. The SV1 functionality is a benefit."
- "Some of the software stability could improve."
What is our primary use case?
We use it as a firewall for securing our HQ and branch.
What is most valuable?
The product is easy to use and is stable. The SV1 functionality is a benefit.
What needs improvement?
A feature for bandwidth monitoring and the ability to have more bandwidth testing would be useful to include in future releases.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for just about a year.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have approximately 40,000 employees and the product is very scalable. The different hardware units are quite good and are an appropriate size for enterprise-sized businesses.
How are customer service and technical support?
They're very prompt and responsive, and very helpful. In our experience, they responded on the same day and the next day for fixes.
How was the initial setup?
The installation was super easy, we were up and running in less than 50 minutes.
What about the implementation team?
We did it the implementation ourselves. We used an in house team of four to do the deployment.
What was our ROI?
Some of the software stability could improve.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend FortiGate to others.
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.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at Communication Progress
Scalable, Easy to implement, security fabric integration, wireless controller, low cost, stable
Pros and Cons
- "Web filtering and two-factor authentication are great features."
- "Vulnerability scanning could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case of this solution for our clients is for protecting internal networks with data center firewalls, internal segmentation and next generation firewalls.
We are a gold partner of Fortinet.
What is most valuable?
SD-WAN, Security fabric integration, two-factor authentication, ADVPN, Dynamic routing, single pane of glas managements are great features. FortiGate is very easy to use, and to configure.
What needs improvement?
I think some improvements could be made in vulnerability scanning. I'd also like to see additional features in the authentication. They support RADIUS, LDAP but the solution doesn't have API integration with other solutions. They have API in FortiAuthenticator, but not in the firewall and not all customers want to buy another solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been providing this solution to clients for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a very stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable. They have now built hyperscale firewalls and it's very easy. Also VMs, for example, is very easy to scale, you just need to adjust the licensing.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is very, very good. They respond quickly and provide the solution to the problem.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used Check Point and Cisco ASA. In terms of cost and security features, Fortinet has the advantage and it's also easy to implement. Cisco and Check Point are a little bit more difficult in that aspect.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple, as with all Fortinet technologies. Deployment time depends on the situation. For small customers it takes about one to two hours. For larger companies with different kinds of firewalls in their infrastructure, it may take a day or two, it depends on the complexity of the network, the infrastructure and the size of the business. The solution is suitable for any size company. Maintenance depends on the contract with our customers, but Fortinet includes support with every license. If a customer wants support from us, we provide it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Fortinet offers four types of licensing - Advanced Threat Protection, Unified Threat Protection and Enterprise Protection and 360 degree Protection. Licensing costs are dependent on the VM or Hardware model, not per features. For example if vm or Hardware model supports 200 IPsec tunnels you can setup 200 IPsec tunnels, it doesn't matter what kind of license you have.
What other advice do I have?
I would definitely recommend this solution.
I would rate this solution a 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Has a good payment function for applications but configuring and management is not easy
Pros and Cons
- "The payment function for applications is good."
- "Difficult to add or define, and not that easy to configure and manage."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for a data center firewall. I've been using Fortigate but I'm also currently evaluating Cisco and Check Point. We are customers of Fortinet and I'm in IT infrastructure.
What is most valuable?
I like the payment function for applications.
What needs improvement?
It's difficult to add or define, and it's not that easy to configure and manage. We're looking for something more flexible for the long term. I also find that the performance is limited in comparison to other solutions.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable but when you do scale, it limits the performance. We have over 1,000 users in our company and four people who deal with the maintenance of all our solutions.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is acceptable, and they're good in terms of local support and global support. If they cannot resolve the issue they will pass us to another level of support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously had experience with CheckPoint, Cisco, and Palo Alto. I would rate Palo Alto as the best firewall in the world.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is relatively straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This product could be a little cheaper although compared to other similar solutions, it's more reasonably priced.
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.

Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: July 2025
Popular Comparisons
Netgate pfSense
OPNsense
Sophos XG
Cisco Secure Firewall
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls
Check Point NGFW
WatchGuard Firebox
Azure Firewall
SonicWall TZ
Cato SASE Cloud Platform
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Juniper SRX Series Firewall
Sophos XGS
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
SonicWall NSa
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- Comparison of Barracuda F800, SonicWall 5600 and Fortinet
- Sophos XG 210 vs Fortigate FG 100E
- Looking Into Implementing a Web Security Solution.
- Cyberoam or Fortinet?
- Fortinet, Palo Alto or Check Point?
- Which would you recommend to your boss, Fortinet FortiGate or Sophos UTM?
- What Is The Biggest Difference Between Cisco ASA And Fortinet FortiGate?
- Cisco Firepower vs. FortiGate
- We're trying to choose between Fortinet or Checkpoint UTM firewalls. Can you help?
- What Is The Biggest Difference Between Fortinet FortiGate and Meraki MX Firewalls?