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Cisco Meraki MX vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall comparison

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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
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, robust security, reducing expenses, enhancing efficiency, easy implementation, quick ROI, and improved network management.
Sentiment score
5.8
Cisco Meraki MX saves time and costs with easy management, durable equipment, and reduced training, enhancing ROI significantly.
Sentiment score
5.6
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall offers cost-effective management, reducing expenses and improving efficiency, benefiting businesses of all sizes.
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
Cybersecurity ROI could be $1 or $100 million, depending on the risk of data behind it.
Sales Manager at Mega tech S.A
It is easy and offers different solutions for each solution type with small, mid, and large scale options available.
Senior Network Engineer at Anthology
I have seen a return on investment with time saved and also fewer employees needed.
Responsabile System and Security at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is generally praised for responsiveness, though some users experience delays in critical situations.
Sentiment score
8.2
Cisco Meraki MX is praised for its responsive, knowledgeable 24/7 support, receiving high ratings for expertise and problem-solving.
Sentiment score
5.9
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall's support is knowledgeable but criticized for slow response times, especially during urgent situations.
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
When we raise a ticket with Meraki MX, they instantly become available to support us for configurations or troubleshooting.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Cisco's TAC support for Cisco Meraki MX is excellent because no other OEM provides support at this level.
Technical Presales at Vcom Teachnologies
Cisco is one of the best vendors in the market.
Presales System Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Unlike Fortinet where you can escalate an issue and quickly get responses from the development team, Forcepoint's process seems slow and challenging.
Sales Manager at Mega tech S.A
TAC engineers are very experienced and troubleshoot issues within the expected timeframe with no problems.
Senior Network Engineer at Anthology
Technical support is sometimes slow to respond, and it takes longer to resolve issues.
Head of IT Department at Mana
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate is scalable and popular for SMEs but requires careful design and may incur scaling costs and licensing constraints.
Sentiment score
6.8
Cisco Meraki MX is praised for ease of setup but may require hardware changes for large-scale enterprise networks.
Sentiment score
7.3
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall offers scalability with ease of use, but faces challenges with basic models and hybrid integrations.
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
When you have hundreds of thousands of people it is very difficult to scale in Meraki.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
We have Juniper solutions, and I would say the Juniper solutions can scale better, however, this solution is still very scalable.
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The biggest one is for 120 users, but our company is a big one.
IT Manager at Alonso Alonsolaw
There are restrictions in the firewall manager and limitations when deploying for cloud environments.
Head of IT Department at Mana
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is scalable and can grow with my organization's needs.
Cyber Security Specialist at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is praised for its stability, with effective long-term performance and improvements in newer firmware versions.
Sentiment score
8.3
Cisco Meraki MX is praised for stability and support, with minor issues often resolved and strong user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.9
Forcepoint NGFW is stable, reliable, and effective, though some users face deployment and configuration challenges and occasional freezes.
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 have been no outages, no stability issues, and we have not found any vulnerabilities during security audits.
Technical Presales at Vcom Teachnologies
It has many freezes for no reason.
Cyber Security Specialist at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate needs enhanced UI, simplified licensing, improved performance, reporting, third-party integration, and expanded automation features.
Cisco Meraki MX needs enhancements in load balancing, integration, logging, interface, pricing, enterprise features, session handling, and support responsiveness.
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall requires significant improvements in usability, support, pricing, performance, integration, and feature enhancement for better user experience.
When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.
Senior IT specialist at SAUDIA ALIRLINES
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 should automatically remediate and find out the issue and then resolve it on its own without interrupting the work of the employees.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Data is the only path, so optimization is essential.
Chief Commercial Officer at InnovAge Home Care
An improvement would be to use Cisco Meraki MX as a software solution as well, which might reduce the cost.
Technical Presales at Vcom Teachnologies
Fast response and efficient handling of issues, similar to how Fortinet responds, would be great.
Sales Manager at Mega tech S.A
AI improvements could be beneficial, as having AI capabilities has become an important checkmark feature.
CEO at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
I recommend that additional features be included in a single license to avoid the need for extra licensing costs.
Head of IT Department at Mana
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Fortinet FortiGate costly initially, but cheaper overall, despite some high renewal and setup costs.
Cisco Meraki MX provides flexible licensing and is praised for ease of setup, management, and having a lifetime warranty.
Forcepoint Firewall pricing is seen as competitive, offers flexibility, but licensing complexity and price optimization challenges are noted.
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
I get it for $25,000, a device that can connect up to 75-100 users, whereas in Meraki MX, it goes to 75,000-80,000 per access point.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The price could be reduced by around 30% to make it more comfortable.
Technical Presales at Vcom Teachnologies
In terms of pricing, I would say it is not the cheapest, but it was comparable to the others.
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The costs can be high since additional features require separate licenses.
Head of IT Department at Mana
In terms of pricing, I would place Forcepoint in the middle when compared to other firewalls like Fortinet and Palo Alto.
Sales Manager at Mega tech S.A
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate provides robust, flexible security solutions with key features like web filtering, SSL VPN, SD-WAN, and centralized management.
Cisco Meraki MX offers easy deployment, cloud management, advanced security, and scalability, making it ideal for diverse network environments.
Forcepoint NGFW offers centralized management, advanced threat protection, and ease of use, enhancing security, connectivity, and scalability.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions
The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.
General Manager Group IT at DART GLOBAL LOGISTICS PTE. LTD.
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
Meraki MX is among those top solutions in their exceptional approach towards VPN-less, Zero Trust client access to office private networks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Advanced security is the second tier of Cisco Meraki MX. It brings you the main next-generation firewalling features such as URL filtering, advanced malware protection, and threat protection.
Presales System Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
We understand that Cisco solutions are very reliable, and we really like the simple management.
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall has impacted my organization positively by making it very easy to work and offering a more competitive price compared to other vendors.
Cyber Security Specialist at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall has positively impacted my organization by providing always-on perimeter security.
Responsabile System and Security at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
With Forcepoint, this process is simplified compared to others like Fortinet.
Sales Manager at Mega tech S.A
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
580
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Cisco Meraki MX
Ranking in Firewalls
21st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (7th)
Forcepoint Next Generation ...
Ranking in Firewalls
24th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (9th), WAN Edge (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 19.1%, down from 20.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki MX is 3.5%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate19.1%
Cisco Meraki MX3.5%
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall0.5%
Other76.9%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
MURALI NIDAMANURI - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Experience improved network management with flexible and secure connections
I recommend that Meraki MX should improve to be a better solution for the next release by being more competent so that we can offer it as a primary solution among all other brands, although I don't have any specific feedback, while the competitors are also ahead of these solutions. Enhancing user experience is always required. Enhancing the seamless connectivity is crucial and user experience enhancement is needed daily, otherwise people find it outdated. New features should look and be dynamically connected, and users should not be bothered frequently when connectivity issues occur. It should automatically remediate and find out the issue and then resolve it on its own without interrupting the work of the employees.
reviewer2220669 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Clients have benefited from responsive support and consistent performance
I can share what we appreciate about Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall and what clients generally choose it for. We have had good experience with their responsiveness, which exceeds other products sometimes. Their customer service and price point are competitive for the US market primarily. The centralized management console of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is something we have been struggling with because everybody has their own approach, but most customers have mixed solutions. We end up having customers that are either running two consoles or requiring a third-party solution to monitor everything. From a configuration standpoint, it has been easy to manage. Regarding security, these are security solutions, and when referring to performance, it works effectively. Features are very similar across products. Each vendor has their own distinctive elements, but in general, for the most concerning and most sought-after features, it is very complete.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business357
Midsize Enterprise132
Large Enterprise188
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise11
 

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...
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...
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 ...
Fortigate 60d vs. Meraki MX67 for a small company without a dedicated IT Department
We have Meraki Mx devices now, we are looking to replace them. But that is because the Meraki MX platform lacks SSL I...
Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports netw...
What do you like most about Meraki MX?
I am happy with the technical support for the solution. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is limited because I do not work with pricing, but I have exper...
What needs improvement with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is overall good, but AI enabled features are not available. Many templates and AI...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
MX64, MX64W, MX84, MX100, MX400, MX600
Forcepoint NGFW, Stonesoft Next Generation Firewall, McAfee Network Security Platform, Intel Security Network Security Platform
 

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
Hyatt, ONS
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki MX vs. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.