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AWS Direct Connect vs Fortinet FortiClient comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Direct Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
11th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiClient
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (11th), Endpoint Compliance (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.9%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 5.5%, down from 13.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiClient5.5%
AWS Direct Connect1.9%
Other92.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2231871 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Offers secure high-bandwidth connectivity without internet-related risks
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The customer, from the customer side to AWS, receives an ethernet point-to-point connection, and that is it. The interface and everything along with the communication with AWS, the customer has to do by themselves to build the routes and everything. The connection speed that our clients are using ranges from 100 megabits up to 10 gigabits. The main concern is the port costs. Clients do not report technical problems, so it is mainly always an issue of money. The solution is nice, but sometimes they avoid it because the port costs are high. This is not a problem AWS has exclusively; Azure has the same costs, and these port costs are quite expensive. I would rate this review as an 8 out of 10.
KL
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
Remote access has become seamless and secure while deployment remains simple for our users
Performance could be improved today. People are now moving toward SASE, which stands for Secure Access, Secure Edge Solution. Fortinet also has that offering, which would be easier since it operates through the cloud, acting as a first line of defense. When the user connects to the internet, they connect to the cloud first for posture assessment and monitoring before connecting to the outside world. The impact is significant because nowadays people are adopting SASE. During COVID time, many users were trying to connect back to their office, causing the performance or CPU utilization of the firewall to increase tremendously, which slowed down performance. I have not worked with endpoint telemetry in Fortinet FortiClient that could have been helpful for threat mitigation.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"It is a stable solution."
"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."
"AWS Direct Connect offers higher security options by avoiding internet-related problems such as DDoS attacks and provides stable bandwidth."
"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."
"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."
"The solution is good; I like it very much, as it has inexpensive scalability, works very well, and can communicate with other Fortinet devices."
"The product is user-friendly."
"It’s really easy to use."
"I would recommend this solution to others because it is easy to use and it detects threats well."
"It is not at all interesting for me as a standalone product, but as a product that is integrated with FortiGate with all features, it is actually a great tool and a great experience."
"I use the tool to connect server to an ISP Data Center."
"The use of IoT devices is growing and it is important to manage data assets, and we have to follow rules and standards from our organization that FortiClient has helped with as an important tool on the end-users systems."
"There is a lot of demand for this solution because it is an all-in-one solution with very high throughput, an easy-to-use interface, ease of management, advanced features, and very good analytics and cloud reporting."
 

Cons

"AWS Direct Connect is straightforward and performs well for me."
"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."
"It is complicated to do additional BGP configuration for the product."
"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."
"It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks."
"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."
"The features for application control and device control must be improved."
"It just needs to stay more up to date in catching the malware."
"The solution can initially be a pain for new users and may take around two weeks for one to properly familiarize himself with it."
"It would be interesting if the solution offered a way to try to investigate and create a use case to trace vectors."
"The solution has some issues with stability on the user side."
"In terms of improvements, their SSL VPN tunnel can be a lot better. I've seen other products that have got much better VPN features than Fortinet. Some of my colleagues get this error called "License not available." When they get this error, they have to uninstall and reinstall it. This kind of problem is there, and sometimes, we have to open a case with Fortinet to resolve it. Their support is quick, so we are able to resolve and move forward. In terms of new features, when it is connecting, it should check the endpoint and say whether the end client is actually safe enough or whether there is a vulnerability. It should give a pop-up on the client itself. Because I'm on the admin side, I can also see this information in the log. However, if a non-IT user, such as a user from finance, is working on this and there is some problem, he or she would not know about this and would call IT admin to say that this is not working. If the users get a message explaining why and what is happening, it is easy for them to understand."
"Fortinet FortiClient could improve the connection because sometimes it drops."
"The user interface is a bit sluggish and needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."
"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"We are using the free version of this product."
"Generally, Fortinet is not cheap. The features that are available for free are only for FortiClient VPN clients, not other solutions. It includes web security, antivirus, and one more feature."
"An annual license costs about 1.5 to 3,000 US dollars. There are no additional costs."
"Licensing was free up to ten users and after that, it was pretty reasonable."
"I don't have the licensing schema for the VPN solution because we just purchased the VPN gateway."
"The cost per port is very less as compared to the other technologies."
"Pricing is an area that I would like to see improved, as it could be lower."
"Its pricing is good. One thing that has always attracted us to the Fortinet range of products is that their pricing is very competitive. Our particular licensing is on a yearly basis. However, as part of this project, we did pre-purchase three years of maintenance and support at a fairly significant discount."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?
One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high. It is primarily a budget issue because while the solution is effective, the port costs ...
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
Our customers primarily use AWS Direct Connect for hybrid cloud solutions. They have parts of their equipment in their on-premise data center, while also using AWS infrastructure for backups, datab...
What advice do you have for others considering AWS Direct Connect?
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The c...
How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection because it continually scans servers for emerging vulnerabilities, which gives...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiClient?
The solution is not cloud-based; it comes from the firewall itself.
 

Also Known As

No data available
FortiClient
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Direct Connect vs. Fortinet FortiClient and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.