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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 30, 2025

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
7.3
Cisco Secure Firewall boosts ROI with enhanced security, cost reductions, and compatibility, proving its value and efficiency over time.
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
The biggest return on investment when using Cisco Secure Firewall is that there's no waste in any infrastructure cost and licensing costs for us.
Assistant Vice President at PLDT Enterprise
From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Cisco Secure Firewall is the single pane of glass, which is a huge plus for us.
Network Engineer at a government with 10,001+ employees
The biggest return on investment for me when using Cisco Secure Firewall is reliability and robust network design.
OT NETWORK MANAGER at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
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
7.5
Cisco Secure Firewall's customer service is praised for its knowledgeable support, though initial response times and experiences vary.
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
I have to provide many logs, yet problems remain unresolved, often requiring workarounds rather than solutions.
VSO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
I have been working with them on firewalls, wireless, switching, and routing, and the support is the best.
Principal Consultant at Epitome Infotech Solutions (P) Ltd
They have expertise and provide solutions for the most difficult problems.
Network Security Administrator at a government 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
7.3
Cisco Secure Firewall offers scalable solutions with adaptable clustering, despite some licensing concerns, enhancing integration and management ease.
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
Scalability presents a challenge.
VSO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Compared to FortiGate and Palo Alto, it lags in configuration and other aspects.
Senior Network Administrator at iib
Even with the highest one, the 4600, we still face issues, particularly when transitioning between screens; it becomes very slow.
Network Security Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
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
7.4
Cisco Secure Firewall is stable, with some VPN issues; recent updates improve stability, highlighting the importance of proper configuration.
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
We have often encountered split-brain scenarios during failover processes and code upgrades, which have been persistent problems for us.
Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment
We work with a cluster with high availability, so if something goes wrong, we have it functioning.
Cisco Secure Firewall offers exceptional performance and stability.
Principal Consultant at Epitome Infotech Solutions (P) Ltd
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 Secure Firewall is hindered by complex UI, licensing issues, outdated features, and needs improvements in scalability and integration.
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
My ongoing complaint for the last six years has been the lack of CLI functionality, which hinders my ability to work on the firewall, alongside concerns regarding deployment time.
Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment
Firepower Management Center is quite out of date compared to other vendors.
Team Lead at WM Group
The integration between Cisco products themselves presents difficulties, such as SD-WAN configuration.
VSO at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
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 Secure Firewall has high pricing and complex licensing, with significant ongoing costs despite potential discounts.
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
It's good to have them, however, it costs us a lot.
It Administration at Dilcon Community School
It's considered a premium, but people pay that price for Cisco.
Principal Consultant at Epitome Infotech Solutions (P) Ltd
There are a lot of in-place contracts for us that provide the benefit of discounts.
Solutions Architect at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 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 Secure Firewall offers comprehensive security with robust access control, scalability, and advanced protection features, enhancing enterprise security.
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
What stands out positively about Cisco is their training and support, which has effectively prepared engineers to work with their products.
Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment
This is very important to my organization, as we work extensively with security because we are a bank, so we can keep the data safe.
Network Security Administrator at a government with 501-1,000 employees
Cisco Secure Firewall allows me to safeguard Layer 7 or Layer 3 and manage the security rules with the business needs of my organization.
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 Secure Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
429
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (4th)
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 Secure Firewall is 6.4%, up from 5.3% 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 Secure Firewall6.4%
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall0.5%
Other74.0%
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.
Phil Shiflett - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment
Unified policies streamline network management but complex licensing requires attention
Cisco Secure Firewall has some growth opportunities in terms of visibility and control capabilities regarding managing encrypted traffic. It has the ability to analyze encrypted traffic, and there is potential for more integration with APIs and AI to enhance these capabilities. Cisco Secure Firewall needs improvement in deployment time and the capability to access the CLI during support calls. I often encounter issues when technical support uses a CLI that is not familiar to me while troubleshooting through the GUI. My ongoing complaint for the last six years has been the lack of CLI functionality, which hinders my ability to work on the firewall, alongside concerns regarding deployment time. For the next release, they should look at the features offered by competitors such as Fortinet, including the ability to perform packet capture directly from the interface. If they enhanced their troubleshooting efficiency related to packet capture for each specific rule, it would simplify the process significantly.
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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Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting
Mar 11, 2015
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
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 Business180
Midsize Enterprise126
Large Enterprise212
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
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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 ...
Which is better - Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco ASA Firewall?
One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. Fortinet Fort...
How does Cisco's ASA firewall compare with the Firepower NGFW?
It is easy to integrate Cisco ASA with other Cisco products and also other NAC solutions. When you understand the Cis...
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 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
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall, Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Virtual - BYOL
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
There are more than one million Adaptive Security Appliances deployed globally. Top customers include First American Financial Corp., Genzyme, Frankfurt Airport, Hansgrohe SE, Rio Olympics, The French Laundry, Rackspace, and City of Tomorrow.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.