Fortinet FortiGate Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

it_user181989

Technical Consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Feb 17, 2015

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Very easy to manage and understand

What is most valuable?

SSL VPN, Site to Site VPN, UTM features and web override are nice features.

What needs improvement?

They need to improve a bit the SSL VPN to integrate with Sharepoint single sign on, with form base, Windows claim base and SALM base authentication.

For how long have I used the solution?

For the last 3 years

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Yes but that was resolved.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Yes, sometimes the CPU and memory get to 99% utilization but when this happens no users are working and no updates for windows are configured.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes, somewhat.

How are customer service and support?

Customer Service:

The level of customer service is bad because support is very pathetic.

Technical Support:

Support is very pathetic.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward

What about the implementation team?

In house

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user399990Senior Network System Administrator at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

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Mar 4, 2016

You have faced problem with which fortinet device (Model No)..?

Alan Chavira

Engineering Manager at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees

Sep 26, 2017

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Great product with too many features at the right price

Pros and Cons

"UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome."

"MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA."

How has it helped my organization?

Simplifies administration and upgrades overall security.

What is most valuable?

UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome.

What needs improvement?

MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No.

How is customer service and technical support?

Great support. It's quite good in Mexico.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward.

What other advice do I have?

Great product with too many features at the right price.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer690582COO/CTO at a pharma/biotech company with 11-50 employees

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Nov 1, 2017

I have used Fortigates for 6 years. Like you, similar experiences augmented by an additional support subscription due to my early learning curves. What I did not realize was the speed compromises with all the security apps active - if I have a Verizon FiOS true Gig subscription, my speed was tapered down to 100 Mbps or less. That is a 90% reduction. With 6 users multiplied by cell phones accessing the same WiFi, you can imagine the data speeds we were actually working with.

So, I picked WatchGuard, the T70 specifically. The data speeds with everything turned on remains near the subscription (1 Gig) and I have the same types of protections as the Fortigate. It is too early to report the reliability and other specs since this has changed only in the last week, but the specs tell me a lot that helped me to understand what I missed on my first go-around with Fortigate. Don't get me wrong, I had zero issues over the last 6 years to Fortigate's credit. However, that speed compromise doesn't work for me. Perhaps I missed something, but my support knows the product and there were no adjustments available, other than turning certain features off. I couldn't afford that security risk, not these days.

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2025

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Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.

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831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.

it_user69351

Network Engineer at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Nov 18, 2013

Fortinet vs. Palo Alto

I work with both Fortinet and Palo Alto.  For me, the advantage of Palo is visibility, reporting and user authentication. Fortinet is easier and faster to configure.  A commit on a Palo Alto is very long when we are used to have a direct modification of Fortinet.  Virtual wire on Palo Alto is much more easier than transparent mode of Fortinet, it's really useful to prepare an integration or a demo in real situation and the tap mode is cool for that too.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1595280

System Admins at a non-profit with 1-10 employees

Jun 9, 2021

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Plenty of features, high throughput, but difficult to upgrade

Pros and Cons

"The solution is stable."

"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."

What is most valuable?

I have found the IPS, antivirus, and the feature that allows you to have a firewall in the same appliance most valuable. Additionally, the solution has good throughput and can handle many types of operations, such as VPNs and firewall rules.

What needs improvement?

There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution within the past 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support could be improved. There is a long waiting time for a resolution.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Fortinet Fortigate a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Reviewer3147

Network Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Nov 12, 2018

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The most valuable feature is the policy routing and application control

Pros and Cons

"The most valuable feature is the policy routing and application control."

"The UI could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is for our small company. It is basically for users on the LAN-side. So, it is just for browsing mostly.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the policy routing and application control. In addition, the firewall will act as a call-switch. So, the performance within the LAN is good.

What needs improvement?

The UI could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

How are customer service and technical support?

We sometimes wait 30 to 40 minutes to get a tech engineer. But, then they are pretty good. Whenever I call for a problem they will assist me and correct me and they will fix up the call. Only one they are sure we have solved the problem will they disconnect from the call. Whenever the issue arises, they're available to help.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I also have prior experience with SonicWall.

How was the initial setup?

The initial implementation was straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I do not have personal experience with the pricing of the solution because my boss has been taking care of that aspect of the relationship with the solution.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

SonicWall has a better UI solution.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

11820_DevOps Engineer

Dëvóps Engineer at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Jan 22, 2017

Fortigate is only cheap if you don't value your time or product quality

I have had the displeasure of having to support SOHO Fortigate offerings (Fortigate/Fortiwifi). in almost any measure, I have found these products inferior to respective solutions from cisco and juniper (two examples i've had experience with).

I'll start with the most egregious and disturbing: the product is unstable. the VPN client is crash prone and the VPN daemon is crash prone. if you want to enjoy having to drive to the office when the roads are iced because the VPN daemon just gave up the ghost again, just to reboot a unit, by all means - choose Fortigate.

I'll continue with support - pretty much a joke, although being fair here, it is similar in other respective products. by the time a competent engineer reviews your case, you may have to wade through more than a month of back and forth with t1/t2 support who offer very little usable assistance.

And final insult to injury - aggressive and clueless resellers. Fortigate tries to distance themselves from customers via resellers (as if support filtering wasn't enough). getting the wrong product or wrong configuration is very common, especially with unneeded packages.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user3483Senior Consultant at Unify Square

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Jan 9, 2014

Everyone writes basing on his own experience.
In this specific case (and I hope that it does not disturb you) would divide your review in two parts.

I agree with your complains regarding support.
My impression is that Fortinet prefers to delegate a big part of the problems to its reseller channel.
From then on, it is a simple matter of luck to find a company that is competent and able to help or not (I have found more often the second kind).

As you pointed out, it is not a different scenario from the one you have with other vendors, but it did NOT constitute a justification.

I do not use SOHO appliances (or not as often as you) so maybe they are not good as you noticed.
Again, probably the SOHO market, based on low prices - low quality is full of products that are not worth our time, not only the Fortinet's one.

Said so, I disagree from you about the Fortigate family of products to be not good as a whole. Their medium/high level appliances are so good (and so rich in features) that is really hard to find something like it on the market.

We are talking about UTM devices, able to replace what other vendors do with a lot of different pieces. They are not hard to configure (of course, it is not something for "newbies") and reliable.

I keep up networks with thousands of geographically dispersed users with no issue at all, and using only FortiGate appliances.

So, let me add (based on my experience, this time): support is not good. The high-end appliances from the FortiGate family are really good.

it_user241746

Software Test Engineer with 501-1,000 employees

May 20, 2015

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The product has lived up to its expectations but the web interface needs to be improved.

What is most valuable?

Anti-virus
NAT
VPN

How has it helped my organization?

It's the only security product in place that is responsible for guarding the network infrastructure deployed within the premises. The product has lived up to its expectation with no issues whatsoever.

What needs improvement?

The web interface could be made better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for eight years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have managed to maintain the device without getting in touch with technical support. Credit can be given to the documentation provided.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

This was the first security device that was deployed.

How was the initial setup?

Setup was straightforward and the documentation was very clear which meant that there were no issues during the initial setup.

What about the implementation team?

We had a vendor assist us who had decent knowledge about the product.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also looked at pfSense.

What other advice do I have?

The product has reached its end of life.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1465677

Group Leader – FM Operations Team at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Dec 15, 2020

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Straightforward and quick to deploy, user-friendly, and the UTM features well protect our infrastructure

Pros and Cons

"I think that the UTM features are the most value, as it truly protects my infrastructure."

"The support structure needs to be improved because every time we contact them, there is a delay in the response."

What is our primary use case?

We're using both firewall and UTM features, as well as the inbound and outbound traffic load-balancing functionality. We are also using the VPN.

What is most valuable?

I think that the UTM features are the most value, as it truly protects my infrastructure.

The interface is user-friendly.

What needs improvement?

The support structure needs to be improved because every time we contact them, there is a delay in the response.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for almost eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable and reliable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have had no trouble scaling the solutions.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical Team response time is slow comparatively other competition , However once the Engineer is allocated then incidents are managed properly

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward and it is very quick to deploy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We purchased a five-year bundle package, which worked out cheaper than competing solutions.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated other products including those from Palo Alto and Cisco. However, compare the features and price for all of them, Fortinet was the best choice.

What other advice do I have?

This is a good product and I can recommend it to others.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

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