Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Secure Firewall and Fortinet FortiGate-VM based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Fortinet FortiGate-VM Report (Updated: May 2023).
706,775 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"There are some hiccups here and there, but compared to the technical support from other vendors, I have had the best experience with Cisco's technical support. I would rate them at nine out of ten.""Cisco offers a great educational series to train users on their devices.""The most valuable feature is IPS. It's a feature that's very interesting for tackling the most current attacks.""It's very scalable. You can go to different models of the ASAs and they scale up to as big as you want to go.""I like the ASDM for the firewall because it is visual. With the command line, it is harder to visualize what is going on. A picture is worth a thousand words.""The high-availability and remote VPN features are most valuable.""Since the product is stable, we do not have to spend additional money to buy other firewalls. Once deployed, we can use the product for a long time. Thus, it is cost effective.""AnyConnect has been very helpful, along with the ability to use LDAP for authentication."

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"It is very versatile.""The product can scale.""It's very easy to set up, even for more junior developers.""The most valuable feature is the WAN optimization.""FortiGate-VM's firewall is excellent.""The most valuable features are network security, VLAN, network protection, and encryption are very valuable to us.""It is highly scalable because it has a mesh architecture that allows consistent policies.""The most valuable feature is the WAN optimization."

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Cons
"When we talk about data centers, we are talking about 100 gig capacity or 400 gig capacity. When it comes to active-active solution clustering and resilience and performance, Cisco should look into these a little bit more.""I think that the solution can be improved with the integration of application-centric infrastructure. It could be used to have better solutions in one box.""One big pain point I have is the ASDM interface because it's Java, and sometimes, it's a bit buggy and has low performance. That's something that probably won't be improved because of backward compatibility.""I'm not a big fan of the FDM (Firepower Device Manager) that comes with Firepower. I found out that you need to use the Firepower Management Center, the FMC, to manage the firewalls a lot better. You can get a lot more granular with the configuration in the FMC, versus the FDM that comes out-of-the-box with it. FDM is like Firepower for dummies.""When you make any changes, irrespective of whether they are big or small, Firepower takes too much time. It is very time-consuming. Even for small changes, you have to wait for 60 seconds or maybe more, which is not good. Similarly, when you have many IPS rules and policies, it slows down, and there is an impact on its performance.""Cisco wasn't first-to-market with NGFWs... they should look at what other vendors are doing and try not only to be on the same wavelength but a little bit better.""It integrates with other security products from Cisco, but sometimes, there can be glitches or errors.""A feature that would allow me to load balance among multiple ISPs, especially since we have deployed it as a perimeter firewall, would be a great addition."

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"The block, the clarity, the quarantine command, is not very user-friendly. You would have to do everything through the command line and I would have preferred if it wasn't a CLI.""We'd like to have more customization and easier customization of policies.""It needs an Application Inspection.""his is not a good solution for enterprises. It's better for smaller companies.""There is always room for improvement in any solutions, including Fortinet's FortiGate-VM. Although the solution claims to have a superior throughput compared to other OEMs, upon closer examination and comparison, there is potential for significant improvement in this area. In today's rapidly evolving technology world, it is important to continuously strive for enhancement and development, and I believe Fortinet can make significant strides in this direction for the FortiGate-VM.""FortiGate's application load balancing has to be improved. They need to improve a lot on the load balancing and RAF side. They are far behind Citrix in that regard.""To improve FortiGate-VM, Fortinet needs to harden it more. For example, if you are using Hyper-V, then you need guidelines for hardening FortiGate-VM that are specific to the Hyper-V environment. If it's VMware, there should be at least a guideline on how to harden the firewall.""Sizing can be challenging for customers interested in using Fortinet FortiGate-VM."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "This solution is expensive and other solutions, such as FortiGate, are cheaper."
  • "Its pricing is good and competitive. There is a maintenance cost. It includes SecureX that makes it cost-effective as compared to the other solutions where you have to pay for XDR and SOAR capabilities."
  • "When we are fighting against other competitors for customers, whether it is a small or big business, we feel very comfortable with the price that Firepower has today."
  • "Pricing is the same as other competitors. It is comparable. The licensing has gotten better. It has been easier with Smart Licensing."
  • "It is expensive. There is a cost for everything. There is per year license cost and support cost. There is also a cost for any training, any application, and any resource. Things are very costly to do with Cisco. Other brands are cheaper. They are also more flexible in terms of training, subscription, and licensing. They give lots and lots of years free. They provide more than Cisco."
  • "When we bought it, it was really expensive. I'm not aware of the current pricing. We had problems with licensing. After our IPS subscription ended, we couldn't renew it because Cisco was moving to the next-generation firewall platform. So, they didn't provide us with the new license."
  • "Its price is moderate. It is not too expensive."
  • "I like its licensing because you buy the license once, and it is yours. We don't have to go for a subscription. So, I liked how they licensed Cisco ASA. Our clients are also very satisfied with its licensing model."
  • More Cisco Secure Firewall Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "At present, the SD-WAN licenses are on an annual basis."
  • "The customer must buy his own license."
  • "Licensing is pretty standard. It's approximately 15% of the total cost per year as a subscription cost."
  • "It's a mid-ranged product."
  • "We pay for a yearly license."
  • "With Fortinet FortiGate-VM you can bring your own licensing, or it can be paid on a yearly basis."
  • "There are no additional costs beyond the standard fee."
  • "There is an annual license required to use the solution."
  • More Fortinet FortiGate-VM Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: 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… more »
    Top Answer:One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. Fortinet Fortigate is very stable, reliable, and consistent. We like that we can manage the… more »
    Top Answer:It is easy to integrate Cisco ASA with other Cisco products and also other NAC solutions. When you understand the Cisco ecosystem, it is very simple to handle. This solution has traffic inspection and… more »
    Top Answer: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… more »
    Top Answer:Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigate VM integrates well and has excellent centralized reporting. It is very easy to… more »
    Top Answer:We work in the archiving domain where a secure environment is very important. We have some special requirements regarding the security of infrastructure.
    Ranking
    2nd
    out of 49 in Firewalls
    Views
    92,931
    Comparisons
    57,906
    Reviews
    110
    Average Words per Review
    754
    Rating
    8.2
    9th
    out of 49 in Firewalls
    Views
    14,065
    Comparisons
    8,516
    Reviews
    45
    Average Words per Review
    459
    Rating
    8.5
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Cisco ASA Firewall, Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Cisco ASA, Adaptive Security Appliance, ASA, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall
    FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM
    Learn More
    Overview

    Cisco Secure Firewall, including Firepower, is a powerful perimeter security solution used for network security, data center protection, advanced malware protection, and site-to-site VPNs. Its most valuable features include NGIPS, application visibility and control, VLAN implementations, intrusion prevention, threat defense, and NAT. 

    The solution has helped organizations discover their environment, improve security, implement dynamic policies, reduce operational costs, and protect against threats from outside and within the data center. Overall, Cisco Secure Firewall is a valuable tool for securing organizations and providing visibility into threats.

    FortiGate Virtual Appliances allow you to mitigate blind spots by implementing critical security controls within your virtual infrastructure. They also allow you to rapidly provision security infrastructure whenever and wherever it is needed. FortiGate virtual appliances feature all of the security and networking services common to traditional hardware-based FortiGate appliances. With the addition of virtual appliances from Fortinet, you can deploy a mix of hardware and virtual appliances, operating together and managed from a common centralized management platform.

    Offer
    Learn more about Cisco Secure Firewall
    Learn more about Fortinet FortiGate-VM
    Sample Customers
    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.
    Security7 Networks, COOPENAE
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Educational Organization10%
    Government8%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider16%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company24%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business35%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise41%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise51%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business51%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise25%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise51%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Fortinet FortiGate-VM
    May 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Fortinet FortiGate-VM and other solutions. Updated: May 2023.
    706,775 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Secure Firewall is ranked 2nd in Firewalls with 116 reviews while Fortinet FortiGate-VM is ranked 9th in Firewalls with 48 reviews. Cisco Secure Firewall is rated 8.2, while Fortinet FortiGate-VM is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Cisco Secure Firewall writes "The ability to implement dynamic policies for dynamic environments is important, given the fluidity in the world of security". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate-VM writes "Flexible with good cloud management and a straightforward user interface". Cisco Secure Firewall is most compared with Fortinet FortiGate, Meraki MX, Palo Alto Networks WildFire, pfSense and Juniper SRX Series Firewall, whereas Fortinet FortiGate-VM is most compared with Azure Firewall, Fortinet FortiGate, pfSense, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and OPNsense. See our Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Fortinet FortiGate-VM report.

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    We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.