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Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Cisco Secure Access comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 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
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate delivers cost efficiency, improved security, and management simplicity, leading to high user satisfaction and significant ROI.
Sentiment score
6.1
Check Point Harmony SASE users see cost savings, productivity boosts, and security improvements, though some find returns complex to quantify.
Sentiment score
5.3
Cisco Secure Access improves security, reduces costs, and boosts efficiency, yielding substantial savings and decreased administrative burdens.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
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
Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) blocked access to those URLs at the network level before users could click through.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
We are saving 40% of our time, which is good.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
At Amazon, we knew exactly how much it would cost if a fulfillment center was down for an hour.
Director, Network Services at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The AI features further contribute by expediting threat detection and incident response, ensuring tangible returns through operational savings.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It is one of those tools that needs to work right out of the box, and thankfully, it does; it is reliable, and the setup time was quick and straightforward.
Cyber Security Manager at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Fortinet FortiGate's support is valued for responsiveness but needs improvement in consistency, speed, and technical competence.
Sentiment score
7.0
Check Point Harmony SASE provides responsive, knowledgeable, and professional support, with most users expressing high satisfaction despite occasional delays.
Sentiment score
6.6
Cisco Secure Access support is effective and responsive, but escalation and first-level support need improvement for complex cases.
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
I would rate support 10 out of 10.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
People working really hard, listening to every issue and request, and replying within hours.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Cisco TAC is very competent.
Network Operations Engineer at Redex IT Limited
With our established point of contact within Cisco, our experience has greatly improved; we no longer log all issues through technical cases, as we can go directly to our account managers or customer service team, which expedites resolution.
Cyber Security Manager at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
This stems from their original business in networking, integrating router and switch operations, as well as security devices.
Pre-Sales Solution Partner at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate offers excellent scalability with flexible deployment options, though hardware scalability may require planning or upgrades.
Sentiment score
7.8
Check Point Harmony SASE offers impressive scalability and flexibility, smoothly adapting to growing user bases and organizational needs.
Sentiment score
5.5
Cisco Secure Access is scalable, adaptable to growth, supports diverse users, integrates well, and suits businesses of all sizes.
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.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
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 cloud-native model ensures we are not tied to any specific location or hardware, which has been a great game changer in terms of agility.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
I would rate it nine out of ten for scalability.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
Check Point Harmony SASE's scalability is good; it can handle growth easily, allowing me to easily add another region and gateway to have more people join in.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
We turn the traffic to the Cisco Secure Access cloud, and we can manage and apply the policies that are necessary, making it very easy to scale the solution.
System Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
I would rate scalability at eight to nine out of ten.
Pre-Sales Solution Partner at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Cisco Secure Access scales with the growing needs of our company.
Senior Architect at Sempra
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is a reliable, stable platform needing careful configuration to avoid occasional bugs during updates.
Sentiment score
7.7
Check Point Harmony SASE is praised for stability, reliability, and minimal issues, with high uptime and efficient performance.
Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Secure Access is stable and reliable, with minor Linux and SSL decryption issues, ensuring dependable connectivity.
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
There are some lags and glitches with connectivity, so I would rate the stability as between seven or eight out of ten.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
After the last improvement, I can say it is much more stable now.
Technical Lead at Netsmart
Check Point Harmony SASE is stable most of the time, but there are still some issues that are hard to troubleshoot.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Cisco is renowned for their reliability, and their products perform well under high data usage.
Network Operations Engineer at Redex IT Limited
I rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten.
General Manager at Datasoft Comnet
The solution is stable enough, and I did not experience any latency or performance issues.
Director -Digital Transformation at Convergence
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users seek better integration, pricing, stability, security, support effectiveness, GUI ease, and documentation improvements.
Check Point Harmony SASE needs improvements in performance, user interface, integration, documentation, scalability, and features like SD-WAN and firewalls.
Cisco Secure Access needs better licensing clarity, integration, global coverage, role-based access, IPv6 support, and user-friendly communication.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
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
A local data center in Turkey would enhance the product, as currently, our Internet traffic goes to another country, which is problematic for us.
Technical Lead at Netsmart
One area for improvement is integration with third-party identity providers.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
The product is lacking features that other competitors have, making it quite challenging to migrate customers to this solution because it feels very much unfinished.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Modernization is needed, specifically in the enhancement of security features and functionality.
Pre-Sales Solution Partner at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
It was challenging to learn because it has a significant learning curve and requires considerable training to become proficient.
Network Operations Engineer at Redex IT Limited
The granular access issue is coming from the product limitation at the moment, as it does not offer us the option to tell it that a particular role can only manage websites, allowed sites, and blocked sites.
Technical Product Owner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, scalable solutions with competitive pricing, yet some users find advanced feature costs high.
Check Point Harmony SASE offers competitive value for large enterprises, though its pricing isn't the cheapest for smaller firms.
Cisco Secure Access pricing offers value via existing relationships but can be seen as expensive and complex without discounts.
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.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
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
Cost efficiency is a consideration, as SASE products are not the cheapest security products.
Technical Lead at Netsmart
The cost is a bit expensive for most users.
Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
It is a bit expensive.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
The solution is cheaper than premium options such as Palo Alto, existing Cisco licenses facilitate replacing previous solutions with Cisco Secure Access smoothly and affordably.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It is good because you want to push Cisco Secure Access, and regarding the price, it is very much below other products.
Junior Information Technology Consultant Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Improvement on the pricing will help in expanding the market for Cisco Secure Access and then it can be affordable to much more number of companies than what it is right now.
Technical Manager at Ledorbis Solutions
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers strong security, SD-WAN efficiency, and user-friendly management, valued for cost-effectiveness and integration with Fortinet products.
Check Point Harmony SASE offers secure, efficient, and centralized network management with real-time threat intelligence and zero trust access.
Cisco Secure Access offers scalable VPN services with cloud integration, AI management, and enhances security with Zero Trust principles.
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.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
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 firewall management is the most valuable feature for me.
Cloud Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv
The Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) feature is a major highlight as it gives users seamless and secure access to internal resources without requiring a full-blown VPN, which improves both security and user experience.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
The Zero Trust and segmentation have helped my team and our customers significantly because we are able to protect every scope and allow the work-from-home users to access internal resources while passing through a threat prevention gateway, ensuring that everything is safe.
Security Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
It eliminates the hassle of switching on VPNs and provides a direct connection to resources via Cisco Secure Access.
General Manager at Datasoft Comnet
They are sending the traffic encrypted and categorizing the traffic based on the type, whether web traffic or internet traffic, and doing the security mechanism that is needed for the traffic type.
Solution Architect at Velocis Systems
Using ZTNA in Cisco Secure Access has positively affected my transition and my clients' transition to Zero Trust and least privilege principles, reinforcing the security posture.
Ts Senior Technical Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
2nd
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Ranking in ZTNA
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
591
Ranking in other categories
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Check Point Harmony SASE (f...
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
7th
Ranking in Firewalls
15th
Ranking in ZTNA
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (8th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (6th), ZTNA as a Service (6th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (6th)
Cisco Secure Access
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
5th
Ranking in Firewalls
10th
Ranking in ZTNA
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (3rd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (5th), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd
Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches
Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.
Nasseer Qureshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
Delivers seamless and secure remote access while enhancing security posture
Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) offers strong features, but there are areas that could be improved. One area for improvement is integration with third-party identity providers. It works with standard SAML and SSO, but we would prefer deeper integrations with solutions such as Ping for more advanced identity-based policies. Additionally, a mobile-specific client or lightweight agent would be helpful for securing access from smartphones, especially in BYOD environments. We would appreciate more granular reporting and analytics, including better drill-down capabilities to investigate specific users or app activity. The logs are comprehensive, but filtering them can sometimes feel messy. The user interface on the management portal could be more intuitive, especially when managing multiple sites or remote offices. Some of the policy configuration steps are nested and could be streamlined.
Kartik Amin - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Operations Engineer at Redex IT Limited
Secure access has unified zero trust and web protection while AI assistance automates tasks
From a feature perspective, I have not experienced any issues, drawbacks, or shortcomings. However, the cost of Cisco's products and licensing is high. My clients usually prefer cheaper options if possible. Mid-size or smaller businesses typically cannot afford Cisco Secure Access. Additionally, there is a steep learning curve, as it is very intensive. Someone with significant knowledge can work on it, but a new professional would have to spend considerable time to get accustomed to it. It is hard to find engineers who can work on it. Overall, we get what we pay for, as it is a pretty good feature and service. The pricing of Cisco's products and licensing is higher than competitors. If they could be more reasonable, that would help. The support offered for two years also has higher costs. Overall, the client's IT budget gets affected. It was challenging to learn because, as mentioned, it has a significant learning curve and requires considerable training to become proficient.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business367
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise193
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

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From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Harmony Connect?
I am not aware of the pricing, setup cost, and licensing, but I would say the setup cost is our resource, and we have...
What needs improvement with Harmony Connect?
When I'm raising a ticket for Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81), it's a bit technical for non-technica...
What is your primary use case for Harmony Connect?
I have experience with this product as a user. Currently, the Check Point product that I worked with mostly was the F...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?
Regarding affordability, I find the product to be reasonably priced, as we have access to a partner portal where we, ...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?
I evaluate Cisco Secure Access's AI Access feature for providing deep visibility and control over AI applications as ...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?
I am using Cisco Secure Access's Hybrid Private Access feature for varying the enforcement location for ZTNA private ...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Check Point Quantum SASE
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Aqua Security, Cognito, Multipoint, Kustomer, Postman, Meredith
1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. Google 5. Apple 6. Cisco Systems 7. Oracle 8. Intel 9. HP Inc. 10. Dell Technologies 11. Verizon Communications 12. AT&T 13. Comcast 14. T-Mobile 15. Sprint 16. Vodafone 17. Orange 18. BT Group 19. Deutsche Telekom 20. Telefonica 21. Nokia 22. Ericsson 23. Samsung Electronics 24. Sony 25. Panasonic 26. LG Electronics 27. Siemens 28. General Electric 29. Ford Motor Company 30. General Motors 31. Toyota Motor Corporation 32. Volkswagen Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs. Cisco Secure Access and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.