


Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and Fortinet FortiGate-VM are leading virtual firewall solutions for enterprise security. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series excels in security features, while Fortinet FortiGate-VM offers better performance and value.
Features: Users highlight the comprehensive security features and integration capabilities of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, especially its threat prevention and centralized management. Fortinet FortiGate-VM is praised for its robust performance, scalability, and advanced threat protection. The primary differentiation is that while Palo Alto focuses on depth in security features, Fortinet emphasizes performance and scalability.
Room for Improvement: Palo Alto Networks VM-Series users suggest improvements in resource consumption and support for additional hypervisors. Fortinet FortiGate-VM users recommend better reporting tools and enhanced compatibility with third-party services. The key difference is that Palo Alto users are more concerned with operational efficiency, while Fortinet users seek better integration and reporting.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Users find that Palo Alto Networks VM-Series has a steeper learning curve but praise its detailed documentation and responsive customer support. Fortinet FortiGate-VM is noted for its easier deployment process and user-friendly setup, though its customer service received mixed reviews. Palo Alto offers robust support, whereas Fortinet simplifies the deployment process.
Pricing and ROI: Palo Alto Networks VM-Series users indicate a higher initial setup cost, but they see substantial ROI due to its advanced features. Fortinet FortiGate-VM is viewed as more cost-effective upfront and delivers good ROI through performance and scalability. Despite higher initial costs, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is deemed worth the investment for its comprehensive security, whereas Fortinet FortiGate-VM provides an attractive balance of cost and performance.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
I observed a fifty to sixty percent reduction in operational costs after migrating to FortiGate VM.
They have a platform that organizes their networks and access effectively.
We haven't used MPLS for over five years now, and it was extremely beneficial to see the changes from MPLS to SD-WAN using Fortinet FortiGate.
Customers can see data within a week, indicating a quick return on investment.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
I would rate the technical support by Fortinet at a 10.
You can open a ticket and expect a reply and problem-solving from effective engineers in just one hour, which no other vendor can offer.
Their support is helpful and effective.
The support quality could be improved.
Resolving issues promptly.
They are responsive and provide high-quality assistance.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
Fortinet FortiGate-VM adapts effectively; for example, you have a limited number of VPN connections on VM01, accommodating around 1,000 remote users, and if the customer needs another endpoint, we can deploy VM02 and manage that transition effectively.
Scalability is well-supported, with the notable ability to implement features easily.
It can start with a single core and scale up to a 32-core license for a robust deployment.
They are easy to upgrade, and with credit licensing, they scale effectively according to demand.
The solution is scalable and can easily handle an increase in the number of users.
It is easy to use with an excellent graphical user interface and extensive documentation, which contributes to its high scalability.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
The stability of Fortinet FortiGate is excellent.
The product has been very stable, based on my ten to eleven years of experience.
In the past couple of years, they started releasing numerous new features, and things have become somewhat unstable.
Hardware is generally very stable.
I have not experienced any major problems or downtime.
Perfection is unlikely as the dynamic nature of traffic and constant changes can result in occasional bugs despite regular updates.
When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
The API needs better integration to match accounts and objects more effectively.
Now, these features require separate products like FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, and a FortiCloud subscription for reporting.
They lack a post-sale process; once the sale happens, they just vanish, and then you're on your own.
Integration with CSIRT across all use levels would make it easier for administrators to stay updated on the blocked entities without manual intervention.
Most customers go for partner-enabled support, which involves multiple layers, leading to delays.
Having those features missing, we are not proposing Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to all customers.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
It is about 20% cheaper.
The license for Fortinet FortiGate-VM costs 100K to 150K Philippine pesos per year for VM1 or VM2.
I don't have this experience with Fortinet FortiGate-VM because my colleagues in Germany are reaching better prices than me.
We have a licensing module along with a next-generation firewall module, and its pricing compared to other vendors is one of the best features of Fortinet as it is cheaper than any vendor.
Palo Alto is expensive in terms of pricing, particularly when comparing features to cost.
The cost involves purchasing through a vendor, which might mark up due to the supply chain.
Pricing for Palo Alto Networks is higher than other OEMs, but considering the robustness and features, it gains customer trust.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
The more integrated we become, the less we spend on solving bugs and issues, allowing us to reduce time focusing on understanding and improving our network.
Fortinet is the only provider to have successfully set up a unified operating system on all its products in the network security ecosystem.
For what we need to do, which is setting up a VPN connection between both sides and using it for SSL VPN connections for remote users, it works effectively and we haven't encountered vulnerabilities.
We use these tools to prevent all known and unknown threats using Palo Alto Networks' Wildfire and other data filtering tools to gather information, analyze traffic, manage malicious traffic, and offer visibility, control, and attack prevention.
Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team.
The DNS security significantly enhances security through visibility and detection, allowing control over crucial traffic like DNS, which is often exploited by ransomware.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Fortinet FortiGate | 18.7% |
| Fortinet FortiGate-VM | 1.9% |
| Palo Alto Networks VM-Series | 1.3% |
| Other | 78.1% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 357 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 133 |
| Large Enterprise | 188 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 71 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 33 |
| Large Enterprise | 35 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 29 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 17 |
| Large Enterprise | 24 |
Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.
Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.
What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.
FortiGate Virtual Appliances allow you to mitigate blind spots by implementing critical security controls within your virtual infrastructure. They also allow you to rapidly provision security infrastructure whenever and wherever it is needed. FortiGate virtual appliances feature all of the security and networking services common to traditional hardware-based FortiGate appliances. With the addition of virtual appliances from Fortinet, you can deploy a mix of hardware and virtual appliances, operating together and managed from a common centralized management platform.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a highly effective advanced threat protection (ATP) solution and firewall that can be hosted on cloud computing technologies designed by many different companies. It decreases the amount of time that it will take administrators to respond to threats. Users that deploy VM-series have 70% less downtime than those who use similar firewalls. Neither protection nor efficiency are concerns when this next-generation firewall is in play.
VM-Series is being deployed to protect both public and private cloud environments. This level of flexibility empowers organizations to run the environment or environments that best meet their needs without worrying that they are going to be exposed to digital threats due to the environment that they choose.
In the public cloud, users of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series can automate their deployment and dynamically scale up their environment while experiencing a consistent level of protection. This dynamic scalability means that they also integrate their security into their DevOps workflows so that their security can keep up with their activities and requirements. Users of private cloud environments can set up security policies that can be automated to be provisioned as the need arises. Organizations don’t need to slow down when they deploy VM-Series because it makes the task of defending them so simple that they can set their defenses and forget that they are even there.
Users gain a deep level of visibility when they deploy Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. App-ID technology enables organizations to see their network traffic on the application level and spot threats that might be trying to sneak in through vulnerable points in their defenses. It also leverages Palo Alto Networks WildFire and advanced threat protection to block the threats before they can escalate.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Features:
Reviews from Real Users:
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a solution that stands out when compared to other similar solutions. Two major advantages that it offers are its ability to protect users without degrading the efficiency with which their networks perform and its centralized management system.
Jason H., the director of information technology at Tavoca Inc, writes, “There is no noticeable trade-off between security and network performance. In fact, so far, we've not seen any negative network performance with it. We're very impressed in that regard.”
An information technology manager at a tech services company says, “We use Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system. We have an on-prem firewall where Panorama is very good for pulling logs in from the cloud so we can see what is going on. It gives us visibility into that as well as shows us what attacks are coming in. Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system simplifies our security posture based on our requirements. Instead of manually pulling logs, then generating them into readable formats, it gives us the console in a readable format to view.”
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