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Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Fortinet FortiGate comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 13, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Check Point Cloud Firewall boosts ROI by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and simplifying cloud management through time savings and flexibility.
Sentiment score
5.9
Fortinet FortiGate enhances ROI with improved security, operational efficiency, reduced costs, downtime, and increased productivity for users.
The value lies in maintaining operational integrity with zero downtime or incidents, facilitating secure, ongoing business operations.
Cybersecurity consultant at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
The compliance has improved as our overall compliance score against CIS benchmark has improved from around 72 to 92% within the first three months of adoption.
Assistant Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
This helped my team cut manual review time by roughly twenty to twenty-five percent, allowing me to reallocate effort to proactive cloud security improvements.
Networking and System Consultant at Orbcom,Lda.
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
When investing in cybersecurity with Fortinet FortiGate 200, which costs more than $10,000, companies that are growing directly can expect ROI within 1.5 to 3 years.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
Customers praise Check Point Cloud Firewall's knowledgeable support, though some desire quicker responses and more skilled initial assistance.
Sentiment score
6.5
Fortinet FortiGate support is praised for promptness and knowledge but shows regional discrepancies in resolution speed and responsiveness.
They usually respond quite fast, and they are very knowledgeable about what they do.
Network security engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
We had an endless loop of emails trying to fix this, and the suggestion was to reinstall the gateway and do it from scratch, which was not an option at that point because it would leave that specific location without access.
System administrator at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
I think TAC of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is very competent; they really know what they are doing.
Ingeniero en redes y Telecomunicaciones at K-IT
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.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Check Point Cloud Firewall offers scalable solutions with flexible SaaS models, supporting enterprises despite some management complexities in large environments.
Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for all business sizes, though some models face limitations in cloud or hardware changes.
Visibility scales without performance issues as my environment expands.
Networking and System Consultant at Orbcom,Lda.
It is capable of managing the increased load and performs well as our needs expand.
IT Security Analyst at Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc.
I can deploy it everywhere I need it.
Security & Network Services at a tech company with 201-500 employees
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.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
The price of the subscription is tied with the size of the appliance, so you have to size it very precisely, considering the future growth of the company.
Owner at ICAL S.A.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Check Point Cloud Firewall is highly reliable, with minor issues, consistently rated between eight and nine out of ten.
Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate offers high stability with reliable performance, though new firmware updates may occasionally cause minor issues.
The firewall itself, Gaia itself, tells you: "Look, there is this error, this problem; verify if your device is affected; if so, here is the solution."
Ingeniero en redes y Telecomunicaciones at K-IT
If there are errors, it is sometimes challenging to elaborate or troubleshoot since it is not transparent enough to understand what to search for.
Cloud Security Architect at controlware
I have not observed any downtime.
Sales manager/ project manager at Atea
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
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.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Check Point Cloud Firewall requires improvements in latency, security, policy management, documentation, integrations, support, pricing, and VPN compatibility.
Fortinet FortiGate needs better integration, affordability, user interface, and support, enhancing compatibility, security, and deployment simplicity for users.
Scalability could be improved as well; needing to purchase a new license each time I want to add a new interface is not ideal.
Security architect at Twinformatics
Better documentation would be welcome.
Network security engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
It would be helpful to have a clear explanation of why the traffic was blocked and what policy or configuration caused it, especially in larger cloud environments.
Consultant at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It is how quickly each of these companies adapts to that and brings in more value to the customer.
Principal Consultant at Epitome Infotech Solutions (P) Ltd
The main area for improvement in Fortinet FortiGate is the firmware versions, as we face uncertainties regarding upgrades and frequent bugs that require self-fixing of problems.
Senior Manager IT at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Check Point Cloud Firewall offers flexible licensing and competitive pricing ideal for large infrastructures but costly for smaller organizations.
Fortinet FortiGate offers competitive pricing and flexible licensing, providing cost-effective security solutions for mid-sized to large enterprises.
The pricing and licensing are expensive, costing between seven thousand to eight thousand dollars.
Android Developer at Droidforge
Check Point is expensive, however, with the features and capabilities, I can justify the cost.
Manager, Managed Security Services at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
It is the highest in the market.
System engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
The advantages of Fortinet FortiGate over its competitors include good pricing and meeting our requirements at a lower cost.
Information Technology Infrastructure Section Head at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
 

Valuable Features

Check Point Cloud Firewall provides advanced protection, centralized management, and automation, enhancing security and efficiency in cloud environments.
Fortinet FortiGate offers robust security, seamless integration, ease of management, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and excellent customer support.
One of the most valuable features is the automated threat prevention, which helps us detect and block potential cyberattacks in real-time, minimizing data breaches.
Android Developer at Droidforge
Centralized management is the feature I like best, resulting in reduced workload and more continuous policy.
Security & Network Services at a tech company with 201-500 employees
Network Security provides us with unified security management across hybrid and cloud as well as on-prem.
Manager, Managed Security Services at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks.
Sales & Support at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The most valuable feature is the deep inspection for traffic, which is capable of identifying zero-day attacks.
Consultant at SKYE AS
The most valuable features of the FortiGate firewall include SSL inspection, VPN functionality, and threat intelligence features for preventing threats.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
 

Categories and Ranking

Check Point Cloud Firewall ...
Ranking in Firewalls
8th
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
3rd
Ranking in WAN Edge
3rd
Ranking in Unified Threat Management (UTM)
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
245
Ranking in other categories
Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (1st), Vulnerability Management (5th), Cloud and Data Center Security (3rd), Container Security (6th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (5th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (5th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (4th), Compliance Management (5th)
Fortinet FortiGate
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
2nd
Ranking in WAN Edge
1st
Ranking in Unified Threat Management (UTM)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
595
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), ZTNA (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is 2.8%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 13.0%, down from 20.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate13.0%
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)2.8%
Other84.2%
Firewalls
 

Q&A Highlights

reviewer215406 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. ISS at a government with 11-50 employees
Dec 16, 2015
 

Featured Reviews

Oscar Nunez - PeerSpot reviewer
Ingeniero en redes y Telecomunicaciones at K-IT
Centralized management has reduced policy time and provides reliable multitenant protection
What I would like, what I think they should improve a little is the management of objects at large scale. When you work with multiple domains, there are thousands of network objects. Detecting duplicates and consistency across domains is a very manual process that should be more automated. Another thing: the SmartConsole interface is very powerful and very good, but the learning curve, compared to other solutions in the market from other manufacturers, could be modernized. I think it does not necessarily have to be done from a client application; it could be done via web, because via web I know that not all the options you have in SmartConsole are available. So it would be good if it could also be done from the web and all the options were available. Another thing that I would really like is more automation with Ansible or Terraform. I know it has improved in recent versions, but I think it is still not mature enough. Compared to other manufacturers that do have a bit more in terms of automation capabilities in integration flows with Ansible or Terraform, Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) could improve. Another thing that could be improved a little would be the TAC response time, because when there are very complex cases, I think there should be more speed initially, more ownership of those urgent cases, and not leave the customer waiting. This has happened to me: when I have cases open with Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) TAC, sometimes they do not respond and I have to keep insisting, and I think that part should improve. I do not know if it depends on who takes the ticket or on the severity of the ticket, but sometimes I have had to insist a lot, and that would be the only problem. Once they attend to me and become involved in the case, the responses they give are very professional and really help directly resolve the problems when there is a bug or troubleshooting to do. As I said, I would like to see a specific improvement in SmartConsole. I think if they improved it—how to say it—gave it a facelift so you could access all the options directly from a browser, that would be great, because sometimes, for one reason or another, you cannot download SmartConsole or, for some reason, the SmartConsole client does not start correctly, and you could do it directly from the browser. I think that would be a good option to improve. Another thing would be that in multidomain environments, I would like a global search function for objects and rules. That is, you could enter and search across all domains at once, because right now you have to go domain by domain, and in environments with many customers, you spend quite a bit of time; you have to exit one domain and enter another. So those would be the improvements I would like to see.
Vishnu Jadhav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network engineer at Inniti Network Solutions
Unified security platform has simplified daily network protection and accelerated troubleshooting
Fortinet FortiGate is generally easy to manage, but there are a few areas where it could be improved. The interface can become complex when managing a large number of firewall policies, and better policy search organization and reporting would be helpful. Firmware upgrades can also require careful planning and testing, especially in production environments. Troubleshooting some advanced issues may require deeper CLI knowledge or assistance from Fortinet support, and more advanced automation and AI-assisted troubleshooting within the management interface would be beneficial, such as clear recommendations for policy optimization, configuration issues, and security events. These improvements could make day-to-day administration even more efficient. More AI-driven capabilities for day-to-day administration would be valuable, especially for troubleshooting, policy optimization, and identifying potential configuration issues. More intelligent recommendations based on traffic patterns and security events could help administrators respond faster. More advanced reporting and dashboards that can be easily customized for different teams and management requirements would also be helpful, while better automation for routine tasks, firmware planning, and configuration validation would further reduce manual effort.
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Answers from the Community

reviewer215406 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. ISS at a government with 11-50 employees
Dec 16, 2015
Dec 16, 2015
more advantages with Fortigate : Fortitoken for two factor AUTH . FortiAp accespoints managed thru Fortigate . Forticloud for audit& reporting .IPS&DOS limit thresholds , etc
2 out of 21 answers
it_user195018 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO with 51-200 employees
Apr 27, 2015
I recommend to choose Fortigate Firewall.
it_user201144 - PeerSpot reviewer
Gerente de Servicios y Proyectos
Apr 27, 2015
You should evaluate watchguard UTM Includes websesnse as url filtering, same categories
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
16%
Construction Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business133
Midsize Enterprise55
Large Enterprise145
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business374
Midsize Enterprise138
Large Enterprise195
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
Since we use a unified standard for using policies and modules in Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security), we can clearly plan which modules we need to activate on a parti...
What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
The main limitations of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) are not in Check Point itself but in the cloud platforms on which it is deployed. Because not all clouds ha...
What is your primary use case for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is the main manager that provides network security in different forms in my organization. The primary task that Check Point solves ...
Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage at large. In my opinion, Fortinet would be the best option and l use Fortinet too...
What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?
From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know the firewalls change every 5 to 7 years as stated but you really do need to upg...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
 

Also Known As

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security, Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP
Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance
Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs. Fortinet FortiGate and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
916,582 professionals have used our research since 2012.