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Cisco Meraki vMX vs Fortinet FortiGate 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Meraki vMX
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
16th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (21st)
Fortinet FortiGate
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
594
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki vMX is 1.2%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 8.3%, down from 18.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate8.3%
Cisco Meraki vMX1.2%
Other90.5%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

Mansukh Bhesania - PeerSpot reviewer
Md And CEO at Aster Networks
Have worked confidently across large deployments and ensured long-term reliability for critical sectors
I have used Cisco Meraki vMX dashboard's orchestration feature with this product. The Meraki dashboard helps manage our network effectively because it is quite easy; we manage ourselves very well. Performance-wise, there is no problem with Cisco Meraki vMX's integrated analytics for network performance, as my 70 to 80 customers use Cisco only. We do business with semi-enterprise customers, and there is no competition against Cisco except for the wireless solutions from Aruba. We find it easy to promote Cisco Meraki vMX because the centralized dashboard is there for management, and the customers accept it without any problem. From a sales point of view, it is easy to integrate, and nowadays, the 93 is also part of the Meraki desktop.
VR
Practice Head at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Unified security has protected diverse environments and supports consistent policies everywhere
I would say 8 out of 10 regarding the stability of Fortinet FortiGate. It requires a lot of bug fixing and what I understand, Fortinet is fast enough to provide bug fixes and patches, but usually I suggest Fortinet should do thorough testing of their releases and software releases and once probably they can reduce the frequency of new releases but make it stable. That's what my recommendation is. As far as the core objective of Fortinet FortiGate is concerned, I think they are meeting the targets but I guess for rolling out new features and new updates, they are doing a bit of hurry just to cope with the market dynamics. But possibly, I understand that they are compromising on the quality of the software and stability. So over there they have to improve. Rest of the aspects, I guess they are doing pretty good. We are happy. Regarding my experience with Fortinet FortiGate in comparison to maybe some other vendors such as CyberArk, Fortinet is in the top three and they give a lot of competition to their nearest peers in the market. But I guess Fortinet is really struggling in software-defined LAN, Wi-Fi, and FortiSwitches space. So they have to make their products more affordable in Forti-switching and Forti-WiFi space. They are not able to compete effectively with the nearest competitor HP Enterprise and HP Aruba.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features in Cisco Meraki vMX are easy deployment, an easy-to-read dashboard for information, and automatic load balancing for two circuits in the MX, which are the most important key features for our small business customers."
"Cisco Meraki vMX offers sufficient features for most customers; it is very easy to handle and proves very efficient, with the main advantages being the visibility it provides and the ease of administration."
"The Meraki dashboard helps manage our network effectively because it is quite easy; we manage ourselves very well."
"Overall Fortinet FortiGate is a good solution."
"The most valuable features are simplicity, management, and that it's constantly evolving."
"The CLI and GUI do a good job of putting a lot at your fingertips."
"I would rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) as a solution a 10 out of 10."
"The license management is very valuable. You can get a new license each year, or you can enroll every two to four years. You can get the logs, and you will get the information on the risk in your network and the entire organization. With this information, you can take action on your actives, computers, or devices. You can bring your own device as an SSE."
"Fortinet FortiGate's reliability is valuable."
"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted our organization by providing stronger network security as it's a next-generation firewall, blocking known threats and vulnerabilities in real-time, detecting and controlling thousands of applications, scanning encrypted traffic, and improving VPN and remote access through automated failover and intelligent routing protocols like BGP over IPsec VPN."
"We are using this solution to filter communication to and from the website or our site, and we also use it to create a VPN connection for all of our sites in the world."
 

Cons

"It is not the strongest security solution, so if you want to have next-generation firewall features, you always need an additional component."
"In comparison with Aruba, I find Aruba to be far better in terms of deployment, ClearPass, and everything, which is all very easy."
"Cisco Meraki vMX needs to improve its ability to configure complex policy-based routing."
"In comparison with Aruba, I find Aruba to be far better in terms of deployment, ClearPass, and everything, which is all very easy."
"We'd like to have multi-factor authentication via fiber."
"The pricing could always be better."
"The platform's compatibility with Wi-Fi equipment needs improvement."
"Scalability is one of the disadvantages. When it comes to scalability, you have to actually change the box. If you want to upgrade it, you need to actually change the existing box and probably you take the system off to other sites."
"Overall it is not scalable."
"Integrating OpenVPN with FortiGate would provide a powerful combination of secure remote access and comprehensive network security."
"In the next release, maybe the documentation on how to use this solution could be improved."
"The solution should allow more user-friendly integrations or deployment"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"​We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW.​"
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable."
"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."
"It is less expensive than a Cisco solution."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization."
"The price, in comparison to other products is very cheap."
"The product is expensive."
"It scales well if you know what to buy from a physical box standpoint. They seem to offer something for every level."
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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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
20%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business372
Midsize Enterprise138
Large Enterprise195
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco Meraki vMX?
Cisco Meraki vMX needs to improve its ability to configure complex policy-based routing. The product can only be set up via the GUI interface and cannot perform complex tasks like a Cisco router wh...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Meraki vMX?
I am an architect planning for our customers to plan their enterprise connectivity via Cisco Meraki vMX and SASE. This is for internet access for mobile users, and I am a reseller, not using the pr...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Meraki vMX?
I have no idea about additional features that I would like to see in the next release to make it better. My customers will buy it from the AWS Marketplace and Azure. In my opinion, Cisco Meraki vMX...
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

No data available
Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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 Cisco Meraki vMX vs. Fortinet FortiGate and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.