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Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs Fortinet FortiGate IPS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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 Sourcefire SNORT
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiGate IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 3.5%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate IPS is 7.2%, up from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Jack Poon - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers ease of setup and good documentation
When it comes to the product's deployment phase, we have a lot of vendor support. We have a lot of skills here in Hong Kong. Our company doesn't find any problem deploying Cisco solutions. The solution is deployed on an on-premises version. Speaking about the time required to deploy the solution, I would say that we have quite a lot of previous experience with deploying Cisco products. We have our company's standard design document, which we need to follow. We have a standard testing procedure for all those features. We just take out some appropriate parts and then compile them into one document for an individual project. It is actually quite easy for us to do the documentation, so it just takes one or two hours, and we can do the implementation because all the materials and testing procedures are already in our company standard documents, so it is not that difficult for us.
Taha Turkestani - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced threat prevention with very good support and valuable behavior reports
We use FortiGate as a firewall. We have a FortiGate 201 model It's good that we didn't get hacked or attacked, indicating strong threat prevention. The reporting on employee behavior and the prevention of new viruses are essential features. Additionally, we have found it convenient for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The URL filtering is very good and you can create a group for customized URLs."
"It simplifies the configuration process by offering pre-defined base configurations, including security and connectivity settings."
"Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is easy to configure and the reporting is great. It's also very user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the filtering."
"In general, the features are all great. However, if I need to take hardware for ASA, because they need to upgrade to Firepower, we want to create rules. For that, most of the time we go to the command line. Right now Firepower is working really hard on the grid. You can apply all those rules to the grid. Even if you want to monitor the logs, for example, the activity will tell you which particular user has been blocked because of that rule. Firepower's monitoring interface is very good, because you can see each and every piece. ASA also had it, but there you needed to type the command and be under the server to see all that stuff. In Firepower you have the possibility to go directly to the firewall. The way the monitoring is displayed is also very nice. The feature I appreciate most in Firepower is actually the grid. The grid has worked very well."
"It is quite an intelligent product."
"The whole solution is very good, and stable."
"It has a huge rate of protection. It's has a low level of positives and a huge rate of threat protection. It's easy to deploy and easy to implement. It has an incredible price rate compared to similar solutions."
"FortiAnalyzer's capability to provide detailed reporting based on various criteria is highly valuable."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate IPS are the dashboard and reporting which give us very good visibility."
"The solution protects the environment from internal and external threats."
"FortiGate protects and secures our clients' networks. The security is solid, and it performs well. I think they use some artificial intelligence, so I think it's excellent equipment."
"The most significant aspect of IPS is self-explanatory as it primarily focuses on intrusion prevention, which is crucial for Fortinet's internal outbreak prevention efforts and ensuring compliance on endpoint devices."
"We like signature-based anomaly detection and zero-day protection features."
"The firewalls are valuable for threat prevention."
"It's simple to operate and use."
 

Cons

"To be frank, the product is not really stable, although they're working on that. Whenever I go to the technical community with an issue, they will usually say that it is not there yet, but the technical team are working on it. The issues are not insolvable. I think they should just keep working on the product to make sure that the product can become very stable. The technical support is great. I appreciate that. We have a lot of communities supporting Firepower now, so you can find help for whatever issue you have."
"The main dashboard of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT could improve."
"The customization of the rules can be simplified."
"I did not experience any pain points that required improvement. Maybe a couple of false-positives, but that's about it."
"If the price is brought down then everybody will be happy."
"The solution's approach to managing traffic blocking is confusing and impractical."
"The cloud can be improved."
"I would like to have analytics included in the suite."
"The learning curve is a bit higher."
"Deploying FortiGate is hard."
"There could be more modifications."
"There are no areas that need improvement at this point in time."
"There could be improvements in the mathematical algorithms used for behavior analytics of traffic."
"They can probably improve the reporting feature. Reporting and report alerting are the main key features of this solution. They can always find ways to improve these."
"They should add a feature for detailed reporting."
"The tool is expensive for small businesses, making it an area where the tool can improve the product by making it available at a cheaper rate."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."
"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."
"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
"We pay for the license of Fortinet FortiGate IPS annually. There are not any extra costs."
"The pricing is based on a licensing model for each IPS in your environment."
"I give the pricing of the solution a six out of ten."
"If you compare the price of Fortinet FortiGate IPS to other firewalls, Check Point is priced very high followed by Palo Alto and Sophos. Fortinet FortiGate IPS price is more reasonable."
"There is an annual license to use this solution. The prices have been increasing over the years."
"The platform offers a reasonable price point compared to its competitors."
"Fortinet FortiGate IPS is cheaper than other solutions like Cisco or Check Point."
"We are currently evaluating a Palo Alto solution, and the pricing could be a reason for going for Palo Alto."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five. There are some other tools in the market that are more expensive than Cisco. There are no additional c...
What needs improvement with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
Cisco offers the Cisco DNA Center, which is a source that provides crucial information for us to monitor performance, and see whether there is any trouble. We are using Cisco DNA center, but again,...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate IPS?
The most significant aspect of IPS is self-explanatory as it primarily focuses on intrusion prevention, which is crucial for Fortinet's internal outbreak prevention efforts and ensuring compliance ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiGate IPS?
There are no extra expenses involved after purchasing the solution. Pricing could be better, however, overall, it is considered a middle-level price for a middle-level company.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiGate IPS?
There could be improvements in the mathematical algorithms used for behavior analytics of traffic. More advanced AI capabilities would be beneficial in future updates.
 

Also Known As

Sourcefire SNORT
FortiGate IPS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CareCore, City of Biel, Dimension Data, LightEdge, Lone Star College System, National Rugby League, Port Aventura, Smart City Networks, Telecom Italia, The Department of Education in Western Australia
Riverside Healthcare, Salt Lake City, Dell SecureWorks, Credit Bank Zagreb
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. Fortinet FortiGate IPS and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.