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Cisco Secure Access vs Fortinet FortiOS 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
5.0
Cisco Secure Access enhances ROI through reduced VPNs, streamlined management, cost savings, faster threat detection, and improved efficiency.
Sentiment score
6.3
Fortinet FortiOS offers cost-effective, scalable security, with competitive pricing and partnerships, enhancing ROI compared to top brands.
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.
Principle Cloud 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
Once it is deployed, I do not have to revisit or replace the hardware.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
The pricing of FortiOS is competitive and reasonable compared to other leading products such as Palo Alto and Check Point.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
Fortinet is strong in terms of cost and compatibility with other vendors.
Technology Consultant at NetWiser
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
Cisco Secure Access support is effective and professional, though challenges exist in initial interactions and specialized support access.
Sentiment score
8.2
Fortinet FortiOS support is responsive and helpful but sometimes slow with complex issues, lacking top-tier vendor standards.
Cisco TAC is very competent.
Network Operations Engineer at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
I would rate the technical support ten out of ten. Hands down.
Senior Network Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would rate them nine or ten out of ten.
Technology Consultant at NetWiser
Fortinet technical support is very responsive and helpful.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
Support engineers sometimes lack eagerness to assist with issues such as the memory problem.
Director, IT Infrastructure Department at Zemen Bank S.C.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.3
Cisco Secure Access offers scalable, cloud-native security solutions with centralized management, handling growth efficiently without infrastructure changes.
Sentiment score
8.2
Fortinet FortiOS is highly scalable, adapting to different organizations, supporting growth and global deployments, yet may need hardware upgrades.
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
Cisco has a great benefit in that you can integrate with other solutions in an easy way because it has a lot of protocols to integrate with others and sophisticated steps that we can apply for integration.
IT Manager at Bavaria Egypt S.A.E.
Performance has remained consistent, usage has increased, and we have not experienced scalability-related limitations.
Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
When customers' networks grow and needs expand, we can easily switch between models to trade up devices.
Technology Consultant at NetWiser
It allows for the expansion of users and devices without additional licensing costs.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
We have been using Fortinet for bandwidth shaping and many other bandwidth-related functions.
Associate Director IT Operations at Procento
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Secure Access is praised for its stability and reliability, achieving 99.9% uptime despite occasional minor glitches.
Sentiment score
7.8
Fortinet FortiOS is praised for stability, with minor issues usually tied to configurations or external factors, not the system.
Cisco is renowned for their reliability, and their products perform well under high data usage.
Network Operations Engineer at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The service consistently provides secure connectivity for remote users, contractors, and hybrid environments with minimal disruption.
Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
I rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten.
General Manager at Datasoft Comnet
While the product is largely stable, it sometimes faces memory issues in specific versions like 11 OE, which can be disruptive.
Director, IT Infrastructure Department at Zemen Bank S.C.
There were no lags, there were no issues, and no hanging of the firewall.
Associate Director IT Operations at Procento
Stability is a seven out of ten because during version migrations, and sometimes with new versions, Fortinet is not as good.
Technology Consultant at NetWiser
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Secure Access needs enhancements in automation, AI, integration, pricing, user interface, and onboarding for better usability and competitiveness.
Fortinet FortiOS requires improvements in VPN, pricing, compatibility, UI, security features, support, updates, deployment, and pricing consistency.
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 a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
Fortinet FortiOS faces memory issues, which can lead to unexpected downtimes.
Director, IT Infrastructure Department at Zemen Bank S.C.
There should be more documentation on how to use the CLI or how to perform CLI versions of tasks that can be done through the GUI.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
Compared to other market leaders like Palo Alto and Check Point, FortiOS has many bugs in its initial releases.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Access pricing is mixed, seen as cost-effective by some but expensive with complex licensing for others.
Fortinet FortiOS is often pricey but justified by features, with agreements influencing costs, suitable for mid-size businesses.
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.
Principle Cloud 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
It is an affordable solution for us.
Technology Consultant at NetWiser
Fortinet products are somewhat pricey, similar to Cisco equivalents, however, they have justified their price point.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
I am satisfied with the pricing, licensing, and setup costs of FortiOS, rating it nine out of ten compared to other familiar leading firewalls.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Access provides enhanced security with Zero Trust, seamless connectivity, centralized management, and AI-driven features for user flexibility.
Fortinet FortiOS is praised for UTM, user-friendly interface, robust security, excellent performance, cost-effectiveness, and seamless management.
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 a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
It is user-friendly when it comes to turning on features, and it has been reliable and effective.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
The threat intelligence in FortiOS is very high, and the system is scalable without additional licensing costs.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
The solution offers good threat intelligence, which is crucial for our customers' security purposes.
Technology Consultant at NetWiser
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Access
Ranking in Firewalls
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (4th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (3rd), ZTNA (5th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (3rd), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (2nd)
Fortinet FortiOS
Ranking in Firewalls
18th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 0.5%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiOS is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Access0.5%
Fortinet FortiOS1.1%
Other98.4%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2788500 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Operations Engineer at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
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.
MS
Associate Director IT Operations at Procento
Single-pane management has simplified firewall control and has improved risk mitigation
I would not say that Fortinet FortiOS is not very scalable. Generally, what happens is that for enterprises, we hire consultants who do the capacity planning and sizing to determine what kind of firewalls to put in place. At the same time, it is not only the number of users; it also depends on the number of WAN links coming in and everything, because we have been using Fortinet for bandwidth shaping and many other bandwidth-related functions. They should improve their machine learning AI capabilities of Fortinet FortiOS because there is too much competition. Other players are also improving and making a lot of changes in their UI and overall operating system.
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915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise41
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?
The pricing is not too bad because it's per headcount with Cisco Secure Access. You check how many clients you have. If you have 500 users, then you base your pricing on that. It's still expensive ...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?
I am dealing with Cisco Secure Access products. As a consultant and reseller, I am using it myself with Cisco Secure Access. You can have tenants with Cisco Secure Access. Tenancy is obviously part...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?
The AI element of Cisco Secure Access should have better guidance on the logs. To be honest, I can't think of anything else because it's quite a robust feature. My overall review rating for Cisco S...
Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiOS?
I rate the pricing for FortiOS as eight or nine out of ten. It is an affordable solution for us.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiOS?
I would not say that Fortinet FortiOS is not very scalable. Generally, what happens is that for enterprises, we hire consultants who do the capacity planning and sizing to determine what kind of fi...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Access vs. Fortinet FortiOS and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.