No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall vs FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
7.8
Organizations reported rapid returns with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall, noting cost savings, improved metrics, and enhanced security controls.
Sentiment score
6.9
FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall delivers cost-effective, enhanced security with significant ROI, outperforming Chinese firewalls and Cisco ASA.
With Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall, that need is completely eradicated.
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
I believe there is a return on investment with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall for every company that deploys it, as they typically see returns quickly, often within a few months, and the value measured is reasonable and comes back quickly.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
Because of the integrated ecosystem, we are able to gain better insight and develop better controls around securing our system.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall provides the same features that higher-end models offer, but at a much lower cost.
Senior Network Consultant at Visionet Systems Inc.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, despite licensing concerns and shift change issues.
Sentiment score
7.6
FortiGate CNF provides highly rated, efficient support with knowledgeable staff, though occasional bugs and training gaps are noted.
I would evaluate my customer service and technical support experience as fantastic.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
I would evaluate the customer service and technical support as a white-glove experience for sure.
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
I evaluate the customer service and technical support as excellent, as the support provided by Cisco is superior to other companies I have dealt with across various products.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
There is local support through the distributor, which is efficient and provides a friendly relationship.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
For technical support from the vendor, I would give it probably an eight as they are fairly responsive and usually fairly knowledgeable.
Systems engineer at The IT Team (New Zealand)
Technical support from Fortinet is rated high, a nine out of ten, though there is always room for improvement.
Senior Cyber Security Specialist Architect at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall scales effectively, supports East-West traffic, and is praised despite some deployment challenges.
Sentiment score
7.0
FortiGate CNF offers scalable solutions for medium to enterprise operations, efficiently supporting up to 500 users with configurable capacity.
I find that Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall is well-prepared to scale with the growing needs of my organization, as it is designed with scalability in mind.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
It scales well with the growing needs of my organization.
IT Director at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall scales well with the growing needs of our organization.
Senior Domain Architect II at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Unfortunately, FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) is not very scalable.
Key Executive at ITBiz Solutions
The scalability allows for increasing the capacity through configuration adjustments.
Director at Movate
For scalability, if the hardware isn't fit or working, the box needs changing.
Senior Manager Tech Compliance at Qenta Inc.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall's stability has improved, resolving initial issues and ensuring a smooth transition without disruptions.
Sentiment score
8.5
FortiGate CNF is praised for its high stability and reliability, with users rarely reporting issues or concerns.
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
No downtime or crashes experienced once it has been onboarded.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
I have not experienced any downtime or crashes with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall.
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
I would rate the stability of FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) as nine out of ten, indicating it is very stable.
Senior Network Consultant at Visionet Systems Inc.
The stability of FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) is highly appreciated by the people I work with, as they love its reliability.
Senior Cyber Security Specialist Architect at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
The FortiGate firewall is stable and supports all our requirements for infrastructure security.
Senior Manager Tech Compliance at Qenta Inc.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall needs improved licensing, networking features, integration, documentation, pricing, and enhanced security product support.
FortiGate CNF needs improved DNS, support, stability, DPI, pricing, and customization; users seek better performance and upgrade tools.
Licensing is always a pain point and represents the worst aspect of the solution.
Senior Domain Architect II at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Whenever we ask for a feature while working with Cisco, within a day, we get the feature added.
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall could be improved by refining the documentation around the migration path from Cisco Defense Orchestrator or Farsight Manager because when we were early adopters, the migration path was quite unset and very vague and ambiguous.
Director of Security Solutions North America at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) in Fortinet products, including FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF), is not very strong; we often prefer Cisco IPS instead.
Key Executive at ITBiz Solutions
It is a tool that we have used quite heavily, but it has a lot of vulnerabilities and they are starting to be dropping support for it.
Systems engineer at The IT Team (New Zealand)
The prices for FortiGate are way too high and are perceived as overpriced.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall affordable and valuable, with special pricing, reinvestment potential, and justified investment benefits.
User opinions on FortiGate CNF pricing vary, with some praising flexibility and value, others citing high costs.
While some vendors offer cheaper options, the real value lies in the technology and the support provided by Talos and TAC, justifying its price in comparison to other vendors.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
Pricing has been competitive, and any savings we make on infrastructure can be reinvested in patient experience, care, and safety.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been satisfactory.
IT Director at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
A $80 or $200 device translates to approximately 8,000 to 10,000 Rand, which includes licensing costs.
Senior Cyber Security Specialist Architect at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
FortiGate's cost-effectiveness is noticeable as it provides many features with one license, saving costs compared to Cisco ASA.
Senior Manager Tech Compliance at Qenta Inc.
The pricing is considered too high and does not justify the value provided by the devices.
Technical Presales at A.G.A.S. מחשוב ותקשורת לעסקים
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall offers centralized management, integration, monitoring, segmentation, and machine learning for streamlined security operations and cost savings.
FortiGate CNF offers comprehensive security features, ease of setup, scalability, integration, and cost-effectiveness with robust centralized management.
The centralized management console has helped my organization streamline security policies because we have a single place to view logs, ingestion, and to correlate all logs and events from one dashboard.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
We also have the ability to document changes and indeed have the ability to roll back failed changes in a much more expeditious manner with an audit trail, which ensures that both our network team and our security and compliance organizations are confident that we can not only effectively implement change, but we can also manage the risk that comes along with change.
Director of Security Solutions North America at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable feature is the integration with all of the other Cisco tools that we have, and its platform-first approach.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The visibility and exposure to logs provide valuable insights for our InfraSec team, aiding in monitoring and managing communication and policies.
Senior Network Consultant at Visionet Systems Inc.
It enables better segregation and integration with on-premise firewalls and infrastructure so that I can seamlessly handle both on-prem physical firewalls and cloud firewalls.
Senior Cyber Security Specialist Architect at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
Threat detection and prevention features are the most effective aspects of FortiGate CNF.
Director at Movate
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
20th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (71st)
FortiGate Cloud-Native Fire...
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

BC
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
Smart switching has transformed data center security and now simplifies stateful segmentation
To improve Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall, I think right now awareness is the biggest area for improvement. Cisco should focus on raising awareness about what the firewall on the switch actually is and how policy has changed. That is a massive story that has not been emphasized enough regarding saving time and effort due to the combination of all these tools. From a feature perspective, I am discovering new features as we deploy, so I do not know if there is a good answer yet because we are at the forefront of this technology. I can tell you that whenever we ask for a feature while working with Cisco, within a day, we get the feature added. For instance, understanding flow data is crucial. Within the N9300, to be able to apply the policy as we are discussing, you need to understand your network flow and what communicates with what. We were able to collaborate with the Cisco BU to refine how we consume that data and migrate old policies to the new structure necessary with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall and HyperShield.
Andrew_Jackson - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems engineer at The IT Team (New Zealand)
Centralized management has streamlined access for staff and support has consistently addressed issues quickly
I see areas for improvement, particularly around the SSL VPN. It is a tool that we have used quite heavily, but it has a lot of vulnerabilities and they are starting to be dropping support for it. So we kind of see that they have left a vacuum by removing that feature. The VPN feature is indeed the main concern so far. Security around it is a concern, and then the fact that they have just dropped it and have not really provided a solution that fits for us. Their solution was either IPsec or ZTNA, which is not as flexible as the SSL VPN was for our customers.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewall Security Management solutions are best for your needs.
900,125 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
14%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF)?
The pricing is a bit expensive, primarily due to licensing fees. Extra expenses include upgradations beyond licensing.
What needs improvement with FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF)?
I see areas for improvement, particularly around the SSL VPN. It is a tool that we have used quite heavily, but it has a lot of vulnerabilities and they are starting to be dropping support for it. ...
What is your primary use case for FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF)?
The major use case for this product is if customers have on-prem hardware to protect, along with the other use cases with SD-WAN and VPN connectivity.
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall vs. FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,125 professionals have used our research since 2012.