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Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros and cons

Vendor: Fortinet
4.2 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is highly scalable and provides flexibility, allowing deployment on high-end servers.
It offers robust security features like intrusion prevention, antivirus scanning, and VPN capabilities, ensuring comprehensive protection.
Centralized reporting and integration into the network environment are valuable features for streamlined management.
Users find the initial setup and deployment process to be user-friendly and straightforward.
The product delivers high performance and reliability at a competitive price, making it cost-effective compared to other vendors.

CONS

Fortinet FortiGate-VM faces challenges with scalability and stability, especially when configurations are not optimal or when there's a need to scale beyond certain limits.
Technical support needs improvement in responsiveness and knowledgeability, as there are instances where users find themselves more knowledgeable than support staff.
Compatibility and integration with other vendors and platforms require enhancements, particularly for products like Cisco SD-WAN and third-party authentication tools.
Licensing and pricing models lack transparency and can be complex, creating confusion around what's included in various packages.
Deployment processes are complex, and relying on additional tools like FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer for certain functions is seen as a drawback.
 

Fortinet FortiGate-VM Pros review quotes

JJ
Nov 16, 2023
I appreciate FortiGate's flexibility, which allows for centralized management through FortiManager.
PS
Jan 19, 2022
I did like the ability to back up the configuration into the cloud, as opposed to having to store the configurations or just downloading them, the backups, to local devices.
RD
Apr 1, 2021
It's a relatively simple product that is easy to use. It's not overly complex.
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate-VM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
869,883 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2229024 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 6, 2025
Since then, we have been working with Fortinet FortiGate as our primary solution for firewalls.
William Nogueira - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 11, 2023
The Intrusion Prevention System and the web filtering are both working well.
reviewer1224273 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 29, 2020
FortiGate is a nice and very good product.
reviewer1641246 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 5, 2021
It's very easy to set up, even for more junior developers.
EX
Jun 15, 2020
While the stability maybe isn't quite to the level of Cisco, it is a very cost-effective solution. It's cheap compared to Cisco.
TN
Feb 10, 2023
I like the visibility and monitoring features because they're easy to use to monitor traffic. Features like geo-blocking and more have AI, and we're currently using all of it. But for now, we're only using geo-blocking, and we're able to block traffic from different countries. I also like that it's highly responsive. VM04 is also very powerful.
MA
Jan 16, 2024
Regarding specific features, I appreciate the option for external selection, where you can choose either to use a default or create a self-description. This simplifies the process compared to other vendors that require creating a test extension profile and then applying it to the installation. With FortiGate, there is a streamlined approach. From the benefits perspective, clients mainly see cost reduction, especially with FortiGate VM Firewall, as it eliminates the need for additional hardware.
 

Fortinet FortiGate-VM Cons review quotes

JJ
Nov 16, 2023
Fortinet needs to overhaul its documentation.
PS
Jan 19, 2022
Now they do have the ability to pop up a command line, which is nice, however, the fact that you can't do everything within the GUI is probably a problem.
RD
Apr 1, 2021
The product does not have a good graphical interface.
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate-VM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
869,883 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2229024 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 6, 2025
There are areas for improvement because usually, most policies don't change much.
William Nogueira - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 11, 2023
The debugging and troubleshooting has room for improvement.
reviewer1224273 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 29, 2020
FortiGate should be more customer friendly and budgeted better.
reviewer1641246 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 5, 2021
Their offering for MFA isn't the cleanest.
EX
Jun 15, 2020
The stability could be improved. I find Cisco to be more stable than Fortigate, which is I major differentiator between the two.
TN
Feb 10, 2023
It would be better if it could provide you with options before completely blocking anything through the web filter. If you are doing a deep SSL inspection on the site if it says it's expired, it doesn't give you the option to continue at your own risk. I can't say that it's bad, but SSL internally isn't really a requirement. However, its security features can help. Right now, we have people going out and spending on purchasing the SSL certificates for internal sites.
MA
Jan 16, 2024
The product is satisfactory. I haven't identified any features to improve, and based on the number of deployments I've handled with FortiGate-VM, there haven't been any complaints from the customer's side.