Cisco IOS Security vs Cloudflare One comparison

The compared Cisco and Cloudflare solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #24 in Firewalls , with an average rating of 8.5, and holds a 0.3% mindshare in the category. Cloudflare is ranked #9 in SASE , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 7.9% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cloudflare users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco IOS Security and Cloudflare One based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, OPNsense and others in Firewalls.

To learn more, read our detailed Firewalls Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

September 2025

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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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco IOS Security	0.3%
Fortinet FortiGate	20.4%
OPNsense	11.0%
Other	68.3%

Firewalls

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cloudflare One	7.9%
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks	15.3%
Netskope	12.2%
Other	64.6%

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Danijel Cerovecki

Head of Cyber Defense Department and Network Technologies Department at Verso Altima

Have faced challenges in keeping licensing clear and consistent while ensuring reliable network protection

We are a Gold Partner with Cisco. Our customers come from various industries, including service providers, and we target service providers and enterprise customers.We do not extensively use Zone-Based Firewalls in Cisco IOS Security, instead typically deploying standalone firewalls such as Cisco FTDs or Cisco ASA devices. For threat analytics and vulnerability scanning, we utilize third-party vendors with dedicated devices and software. We use products such as Tenable from Nessus for this type of analysis. We have implemented Secure Access Control Server in Cisco IOS Security, which combines multiple security mechanisms including AAA, 802.1X for network access control with Cisco ICE, TrustSec for identity-based segmentation, and Cisco DNA Center. Cisco IOS Security's VPN support is comprehensive and increasingly important in daily communication, from basic site-to-site tunnels to remote access VPNs and SD-WAN secure VPNs. Protecting and encrypting communication is essential in modern networks. The challenges with Cisco IOS Security are more operational than product-related. There is an understaffing issue, making automation and orchestration capabilities particularly valuable. For the products themselves, we only encounter routine operational matters such as addressing new vulnerabilities and patching. For those considering Cisco IOS Security, it is important to understand that Cisco offers a complete ecosystem. When embracing the Cisco ecosystem fully, customers receive excellent products and comprehensive solutions. On a scale of 1-10, I rate Cisco IOS Security a 9.

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Carlos Alam Hernandez Baruch

Engineer at SITMEXICO

The solution enables seamless security management and fosters a learning environment

Feedback could be enhanced. While I work efficiently with Clover as a partner in Mexico City, sometimes the information and requests are easier to manage with more concrete solutions. For the solution stopping us for e-learning, I appreciate the concept yet need more resources or courses in Mexico, preferably in Spanish. Certifications are easy, however, I require more real-world environments and instructors.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The scalability is good in Fortinet FortiGate."

"Fortigate is very scalable to serve our customers' needs. We have scaled already from fifty to more than a hundred instances of Fortinet FortiGate. Around 20 staff are required for deployment and maintenance, mostly engineers."

"I find that Fortinet FortiGate is pretty easy to use and integrated, offering many features in one box at a decent price compared to other enterprise vendors."

"The most valuable features are security and vision, and all of the UTM functionality."

"The solution is easy to use and checks the access control as a firewall."

"Mainly the FortiGate reporting system is very good. It guides us through all the expectations of security. Fortinet provides us all that we need for security. Also, Fortinet FortiGate is a next-generation firewall. It is much more advanced than others."

"FortiGate is more feature-rich and has a broader range of hardware. T"

"You can purchase switches and you don't need to do anything with them. You just put in the firewall and the switches get all the policies and rules that you already have in the firewall. With Fortinet, you just connect the FortiSwitch to the Fortinet and that's it."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The VPN is the most valuable feature."

"Previously, anyone in the organization would see any data point in the wall. They could just go and connect their machine with that data point and could access the network. But now, even if someone came and tried that, they will not be given access."

"The stability of this solution is excellent."

"The most valuable features are DNS service and shell self-service within a network."

"Cisco IOS Security increases the overall security of our network, performs authentication, and provides level 15 access and privileges."

"I'm able to transfer data over internet network security. With the GRE I'm able to transfer data within one bunch to another bunch in a public way, like the internet. The communication is encrypted and is private. It gives me added privacy."

"It is less expensive than alternative firewalls."

"The solution is very user-friendly and easy to deal with."

More Cisco IOS Security pros

"Cloudflare Access is part of the Zero Trust philosophy."

"Cloudflare is simple to use."

"The best feature is rate limiting. If I'm expecting 500 visits per hour, Cloudflare will limit the requests if I suddenly get 50,000."

"It's the endpoint exposition. We don't need to expose our VPN server to the internet and need a zero-test solution. I can apply some conditional access to the endpoint that's connecting to our network to check their security policies or the security condition of their workstation. Once the workstation is trying to connect to my internal network, then I would like to check the discrete condition of these endpoints that are trying to access my internal network. We created some conditional access. We have CrowdStrike, to check if the CrowdStrike is installed, to check if it's updated, and to check for Windows updates. We created some conditional policies to check it."

"It will take the blow rather than our applications should an attack occur."

"The capabilities of the software are strong enough for me to do what it's supposed to do. For me, we don't need to do a lot of configuration on our site. We just enable it and monitor it."

"Cloudflare is by far the most effective solution that I have come across."

"The solution has different options that can be used to differentiate DDoS attacks."

More Cloudflare One pros

Cons

"I would like to see improvements made to the dashboard and UI, as well as to the reporting."

"During a recent upgrade from old devices to the latest ones, corporate IT faced challenges as there was no straightforward migration process, requiring many manual steps."

"Fortinet FortiGate could improve if it had a cloud-managed solution."

"A lack of integration between our data centers."

"The most important feature to have is zero trust, which is lacking in Fortinet FortiGate IPS."

"The initial setup and configuration are not intuitive and require training."

"The built-in logging and reporting is limited without FortiAnalyzer."

"FortiGate can only retain logs for 24 hours or 7 days. I'm not sure if it holds them for a longer period, such as for a month. It will be useful for assessing our strategy and monitoring our environment without investing in FortiGate Analyzer. It would be beneficial if Fortinet could enhance the FortiGate by providing more statistical and monitoring views for a longer timeframe, rather than requiring access to FortiGate Analyzer."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Pricing can be reduced. I rate the current price for the product a four out of ten."

"Cisco changes their licensing policy quite frequently, which is becoming confusing and complicated."

"Cisco is a scalable product, but it is expensive compared to other vendors."

"Cisco IOS Security should improve its functionalities."

"The pricing is the only con for this product."

"The solution is not user friendly and it is hard to manage the GUI interface."

"The company needs to make its solution more affordable to make it more accessible to larger markets. Otherwise, it's seen as an enterprise-level solution that small or medium-sized organizations can't afford and therefore they won't even look at it."

"I wish it would be more like the next generation firewall technology. There should be more selection between the application and filtering."

More Cisco IOS Security cons

"Our subscription plan for the solution has a limitation of bot signatures."

"The initial onboarding was causing us some confusion."

"There are premium tier live service and lower tier live service, so we opted for the lower tier. But there is no medium tier where we pay a little extra and get a bit more service. So if that can be improved."

"The free plan has limitations. For example, I can only set up three rules, and the application firewall is unavailable."

"Operating and tuning the product is difficult."

"Feedback could be enhanced."

"When there are any dynamic changes in complex applications, the tool takes a lot of time, making its analytics-related area a major matter of concern where improvements are needed."

"Feedback could be enhanced. While I work efficiently with Clover as a partner in Mexico City, sometimes the information and requests are easier to manage with more concrete solutions."

More Cloudflare One cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I'll rate FortiGate's pricing a five out of ten since it is moderately priced."

"Pricing is good. They offer a lot of things, the most important is the support. Every time you upgrade your license, you also get insurance for the equipment. If you have any problem with equipment, they send in new equipment."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution."

"The tool is a bit pricey for small businesses, but it is still bearable in terms of cost."

"The price of FortiGate is comparable to that of most other firewall solutions and is more affordable than Cisco."

"The product is expensive."

"The tool's pricing is neither cheap nor expensive. Overall, I find it to be competitive in the market."

"By default, they give SD-WAN along with the firewall. They don't have separate licensing for the SD-WAN functionality. However, they have security licenses that are sold separately on a subscription basis. Customers can consume these security features to protect their users from internet traffic."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The product is expensive."

"Cisco IOS Security is not very expensive, and pricing depends on where you live. It's affordable for both individuals and institutions. On a scale from one to five, I would give Cisco's pricing a four."

"It is necessary to pay for a license in order to use the solution. It is on a yearly basis and the price is high."

"The licensing is on a subscription basis, and it is fairly costly. I would prefer a one-time payment."

"The solution's pricing is very good."

"The pricing is okay. It is competitive. It costs more when you need get more features."

"We need to pay for the license and it is expensive."

"The price of the solution should be cheaper, and the license is purchase annually."

More Cisco IOS Security pricing and cost advice

"The prices are slightly expensive."

"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."

"My company has to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. There are no hidden charges apart from the licensing costs of the solution."

"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."

"The pricing of the solution is cheap. The licensing cost is also very low. I rate the cost and pricing a three out of ten."

"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."

"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."

"The solution is not that expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

28%

Government

Outsourcing Company

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	130
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	18

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

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 a...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco IOS Security?

Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It off...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco IOS Security?

The cost of Cisco IOS Security for customers is on the higher end of pricing compared to the competition, depending o...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco IOS Security?

Regarding improvements in Cisco IOS Security, what consistently confuses me is the inability of Cisco to maintain a c...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cloudflare Access?

The tool also offers good scalability, and the dashboard, along with real-time analytics, is very good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudflare Access?

The price of Cloudflare Access is the same as compared to Akamai, but I get better performance from Cloudflare. My co...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Access?

Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 8% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 11% of the time

OPNsense vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 10% of the time

Fortinet FortiOS vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 6% of the time

ExtraHop Reveal(x) vs Cisco IOS Security

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco IOS Security Competitors

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Cloudflare One

Compared 6% of the time

Twingate vs Cloudflare One

Compared 5% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cloudflare One

Compared 5% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Cloudflare One

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Cloudflare One

Compared 2% of the time

More Cloudflare One Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

October 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS Security

October 2025

Download Cisco IOS Security product report

Buyer's Guide

Cloudflare One

October 2025

Download Cloudflare One product report

Also Known As

No data available

IOS Security

Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS, Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

Fortinet

Cisco IOS Software delivers a sophisticated set of security capabilities for a comprehensive, layered security approach throughout your network infrastructure. Cisco IOS security technologies help to defend critical business processes against attack and disruption, protect privacy, and support policy and regulatory compliance controls.

Cisco

Cloudflare One is a single-vendor Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform that enables Zero Trust security and any-to-any connectivity across enterprise applications, users, devices, and networks. Cloudflare One helps organizations simplify, modernize, and consolidate their IT architecture by converging security and networking services on our single global network and control plane.

Many organizations start by adopting our Security Service Edge (SSE) services — like ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and DLP — to reduce their attack surface, stop threats like phishing and ransomware, protect data, and apply identity-based Zero Trust verification across web, SaaS, and private app environments. Others prioritize simplifying network connectivity across offices, data centers, and cloud environments with our WANaaS.

Every service is available for customers to run in every location across Cloudflare’s global network, which today spans 330+ cities in 120+ countries, so you can scale connectivity with fast, consistent protections everywhere.

Cloudflare

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

Arup Group, Brunel University London, City of Biel, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, K&L Gates , New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Offshore Northern Seas, Transplace

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Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, OPNsense and others in Firewalls. Updated: September 2025.

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