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Fortinet FortiOS pros and cons

Vendor: Fortinet
4.2 out of 5
271 followers
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Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Fortinet FortiOS is highly valued for its Unified Threat Management (UTM) capabilities, providing comprehensive security features like intrusion prevention and antivirus.
It offers excellent scalability and is effective for use in medium-sized businesses, providing robust security and performance.
The setup process of Fortinet FortiOS is straightforward and user-friendly, making it easily deployable even by those with limited technical expertise.
Fortinet FortiOS includes advanced threat detection, providing security-driven networking with features like web filtering and data loss prevention.
It efficiently manages large-scale firewall deployments and offers excellent support, making it highly reliable and effective for users.

CONS

Fortinet FortiOS's VPN setup is complex and could be simplified, especially when using Azure.
Pricing is considered too high and the model needs restructuring to avoid disparate costs.
The signature updates are slower and less effective compared to competitors like Palo Alto.
Fortinet FortiOS would benefit from better integration with AWS and more cost-effective instance options.
Integration with third-party solutions is a challenge and requires improvement.
 

Fortinet FortiOS Pros review quotes

RaynoPowell - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 11, 2022
Their classification inside of that database of the various threats is typically very, very good.
PR
Apr 26, 2021
It is more robust than SonicWall, particularly on the VPN from site to site.
reviewer1332075 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 22, 2022
It's easy to use.
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiOS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2379771 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 24, 2024
The firewall options in FortiOS allow us to open up access to our vendors for EDI and all its features.
AS
Sep 14, 2022
For ten to 12 years it has been quite secure.
reviewer1320183 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 18, 2020
There are a lot of features that we like within the solution. The resources or performance of the firewall is very good. However, the real selling point is the fact that the solution offers so many features, it gives our clients a lot of extras that they can work with. There's a lot on offer.
MS
Aug 25, 2019
This is an easy means of setting up high-availabilty firewall protection.
SoheylNorozi - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 29, 2019
A good network security system for medium-sized businesses with an excellent GUI interface that gives a graphic view of network status.
JM
Jun 15, 2020
All networks are security-driven, we get throughputs and security. We feel that the people at Fortinet are easy to deal with from a support standpoint. If they need to jump in and help us, they're very willing to do that. Their email filtering, their data loss prevention, their intrusion prevention, type of products in the newest OSs has been outstanding.
MH
Aug 30, 2024
We primarily use Fortinet FortiOS for site-to-site VPNs, reporting features, and wireless capabilities. It is well integrated within the Fortinet ecosystem.
 

Fortinet FortiOS Cons review quotes

RaynoPowell - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 11, 2022
You can enable and disable certain modules in it. However, with disabling, nobody can really tell us if that module is disabled.
PR
Apr 26, 2021
I can only compare it with SonicWall, and it is missing many advanced features that SonicWall has.
reviewer1332075 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 22, 2022
Right now, all the features meet my requirements.
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiOS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2379771 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 24, 2024
Fortinet could integrate something like a YubiKey for 2FA with their SSL VPN clients.
AS
Sep 14, 2022
Real-time threat monitoring is not there.
reviewer1320183 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 18, 2020
Right now, it's very trendy to integrate everything into the cloud. This solution would be more effective if they did more integration in that regard.
MS
Aug 25, 2019
The support is not very good, but the product is stable so it is not so much of a problem.
SoheylNorozi - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 29, 2019
While it is a solid solution, there are some product limitations which exclude it from deployment in some situations.
JM
Jun 15, 2020
It could more scalable for the lower end users.
MH
Aug 30, 2024
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.