Cisco Umbrella vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG comparison

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Lookout Logo
402 views|321 comparisons
71% willing to recommend
Cisco Logo
19,965 views|13,585 comparisons
97% willing to recommend
Fortinet Logo
4,828 views|4,076 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jul 12, 2022

We performed a comparison between Cisco Umbrella and Fortinet FortiGate SWG based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both solutions say that their initial setup is straightforward.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their stability and scalability.

    Cisco Umbrella users say it is flexible, fast, secure, and easy to manage. Several users mention that they would like better integration options.

    Fortinet Fortigate users like its security for endpoints feature and say that it performs well but that its reporting tools need to be improved.
  • Pricing: Most reviewers of both solutions feel that their prices are high.
  • ROI: Cisco Umbrella reviewers report seeing an ROI. Fortinet FortiGate SWG users do not mention ROI.
  • Service and Support: Users of both solutions report being satisfied with the level of support they receive. Fortinet FortiGate users note that sometimes the response time can be slow.

Comparison Results: Cisco Umbrella is the winner in this comparison. It is a powerful and reliable tool with a proven ROI. It also received higher marks in the Support category.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Umbrella vs. Fortinet FortiGate SWG Report (Updated: March 2024).
767,847 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
"The solution is stable.""On the outside, the main differentiation is because Lookout ingest. They have ingested basically all of the apps for the last ten years and all the versions of all the apps, and we have that in a corporate database that allows us to do very large-scale machine learning and analysis on that data set. That's not something that any of the competitors really have the capability to do because they don't have access to the data set. A lot of the apps you can no longer get them because that version of the app is five or six years old, and it just doesn't exist anywhere anymore, except within our infrastructure. So, the ability to have that very rich dataset and learn from that dataset is a real differentiator.""The protection offered by the product is the most valuable feature. It detects vulnerabilities or traps on our users' phones and then prompts them to clean up their devices. Tools we used previously would only discover, which required us to gather information on the backend, so Lookout is a welcome upgrade.""The most valuable features are the antivirus as a whole, the anti-malware, and all of the protection features that scan our enterprise devices."

More Lookout Pros →

"By using Cisco Umbrella, you are sure of inspecting all the traffic. Whenever the user machine is connected to your network, it is inspected. That's the best thing. It means you are sure that nothing is being exported or imported without your choice. That is the best feature.""Cisco Umbrella is such a solution and can be implemented very fast and easy. All that we must do is redirect the DNS registers in their routers, or the active directory service of the enterprise that are going to use in Umbrella services. If you buy the service now, in two hours you are protected by the service because it's very fast to put in service.""The agent that gets installed on the endpoints or on people's laptops and devices is a Cisco AnyConnect Umbrella module. It's one of the most impressive things because you are able to protect your users anywhere they are.""Threats never come close to your network with security at the DNS level​.""The most valuable features of this solution are the Web Filtering and the APT.""We like Cisco Umbrella because of DNS security. It's one step ahead of whatever we are using for regular web filtering. In that way, it's more secure than other web filtering products.""It provides centralized, device-agnostic management of the Internet experience.""The integration features within, for example, the Cisco VPN product and the Umbrella module are valuable."

More Cisco Umbrella Pros →

"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is inspection.""FortiGate also makes GRE tunneling possible.""The solution is superior to Cisco in terms of security.""The most useful features are application control, web filtering, and SD-WAN.""It has a valuable SD-WAN feature and provides good performance.""It offers web filtering capabilities at a more affordable price compared to other solutions like PSMs or NETGEAR.""I would rate the scalability of this product a nine out of ten because it is highly scalable. We have not had problems with customers in terms of scalability.""The pricing on offer is excellent."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG Pros →

Cons
"From the analysis that we've done, they do seem to be maybe a step behind in trying to enter the market with a new solution. But when they do pick up, they do come out with some good products.""Lookout was moving into the SSE space. And so their work on SecureWeb Gateway and SD-WAN is still sort of evolving.""We just submitted an enhancement request reflecting the main area we want to see improvement in; the APIs. Currently, we're able to build dashboards, but it's somewhat backward because we use our MDM API to create them. Lookout should provide API to customers so we can query our data and use it in our cloud, and this is the only outstanding area for improvement with the product right now.""The stability depends on the service from where you access it. Because sometimes, the place you are in, you have Gateway. You don't have Gateway. The gateway is overutilized. At the end, you need to go through their gateways. And this is the key point here. You have a tracking point. If it's not well orchestrated, and it scales up as you add more to the existing team, you will suffer"

More Lookout Cons →

"Its price could be better.""Client delivery and client updates should be improved. Client delivery was not as easy as expected. Another area for improvement is the integration of escalation procedures for security issues.""The product can be pretty expensive.""Their support should be improved. It is necessary that the support is efficient. It is not really easy to get a resolution for an issue from Cisco support. They should be faster and more efficient.""Its DNS service does not support IPv6 query.""The integration with other solutions is a little complex. If you want to integrate with something like ArcSight or LogRhythm or Splunk, you need to do a lot of configuration. There are no easy ways to implement it.""The pricing could always be a little bit better.""User interface could be a little smoother and more intuitive."

More Cisco Umbrella Cons →

"There's room for improvement in the interface, especially following their upgrade to version nineteen.""Their technical support could be improved a little bit in terms of responsiveness.""Integrating OpenVPN with FortiGate would provide a powerful combination of secure remote access and comprehensive network security.""Fortinet FortiGate SWG's SSL offloading features need improvement.""The graphical user interface of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is an area of concern where improvements are required.""Fortinet FortiGate SWG could improve the price, it is expensive.""The price could be improved.""Another issue is how deduplication services don't work reliably after enabling deduplication on Fortinet."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The pricing is fair; it's comparable to our previous solution, and we carried out multiple POCs and POVs (proof of value). The product is worth the money we pay for it."
  • "Lookout is definitely on the lower end when it comes to price point and that seems to be the only differentiator. The technology is in place in this space and it's really about who is coming in at the better price point now."
  • "In terms of feature performance versus cost, they're a good value."
  • "The licensing costs are good. Prisma has much more options and support for security, but it has a higher cost. For example, Lookout costs 2/3rd of Prisma's licensing price."
  • More Lookout Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "​The pricing is fair."
  • "You can request an evaluation license​."
  • "It needs a better price point."
  • "The product is pricey compared to Cisco Firepower."
  • "The price could be lower."
  • "There is a one-time cost of approximately $800 USD per user, and then a yearly support fee of about $50 per user."
  • "Our costs were negotiated, and they are okay."
  • "Our licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
  • More Cisco Umbrella Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It is less expensive than a Cisco solution."
  • "It is around $50,000 per month."
  • "There is a need to pay for a license for the product."
  • "The price is relatively expensive compared to other solutions which are providing similar features."
  • "We pay about $4,000 for a yearly license, and there aren't any additional fees."
  • "The pricing for this solution is reasonable."
  • "Pricing for Fortinet FortiGate SWG is more suitable for enterprise or large-sized organizations because they are the ones who can afford it versus small and medium-sized organizations."
  • "FortiGate SWG is reasonably priced."
  • More Fortinet FortiGate SWG Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Web Gateways (SWG) solutions are best for your needs.
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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The licensing costs are good. Prisma has much more options and support for security, but it has a higher cost. For… more »
    Top Answer:The solution could improve identity integration as well. Zero trust, it's a good start as a zero-trust solution… more »
    Top Answer: Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried.… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-native… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco Umbrella is easy to monitor, manage, and deploy.
    Top Answer:The interface and other reports are all user-friendly.
    Top Answer:The renewable is lower because the market doesn’t accept it publicly.
    Top Answer:The solution's pricing could be improved.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    CipherCloud
    OpenDNS
    FortiGate SWG, FortiGate Secure Web Gateway
    Learn More
    Overview

    Lookout is a well-established and powerful secure web gateway (SWG) solution that protects more than 200 million users from threats that can result from the penetration of unsecured web traffic into their networks. Lookout is designed to enable organizations to work remotely while maintaining a tight blanket of security over their confidential business data. It provides administrators with security that extends from their endpoints to the cloud service that they are using to run their organization’s network. 

    Users of Lookout are able to proactively detect threats and keep themselves secure from a field of threats that constantly evolves. IT teams can protect their organizations without having to rely on any other security solutions. This singular solution can run on multiple kinds of mobile devices. The privacy of individuals is preserved while keeping compliance rules intact. Additionally, users gain access to a number of tools that enable them to prevent security breaches from taking place.

    Lookout Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by deploying Lookout include:

    • Ease of deployment. Lookout is a solution whose design makes it easy for users to deploy it. It provides users with simple, step-by-step instructions that remove the need for organizations to devote extensive amounts of time to make sure that it is properly set up. Anyone can quickly set up the solution without undergoing technical training. 
    • Built-in support. Users of the Lookout application have access to built-in demos that can teach them how to use various solution features. Instead of spending time trying to figure out the application, users can watch the demo that is most relevant to them and see for themselves how that particular feature is used.
    • Easy-to-use user interface. Lookout’s user interface is laid out in an intuitive way that makes it easy for administrators to navigate. This interface is present in both the mobile and desktop versions of this solution. 
    • Settings customization. Lookout has a built-in settings customization menu. This makes it possible for administrators to easily customize their settings so that they best conform to their needs. 

    Lookout Features

    • Activity monitoring and activity tracking. Lookout’s activity monitoring and activity tracking capabilities enable users to keep a close eye on the activities that are taking place in their networks. IT teams and administrators have the ability to watch their networks for any unusual activity. These features ensure that organizations can keep ahead of any potential threats. They provide the kinds of insights and warnings that make the jobs of those IT teams and administrators much easier and more streamlined. 
    • Encryption. Organizations that employ Lookout can encrypt their networks and keep crucial business data from being read by unauthorized parties. This feature keeps the secrets organizations are trying to keep out of the wrong hands.
    • Anti-virus tools. Lookout provides users with tools to block threats from harming their networks. These tools can successfully block 99.6 percent of threats without raising false alarms. 

    Cisco Umbrella offers flexible, cloud-delivered security according to users’ requirements Cisco Umbrella includes secure web gateway, firewall, and cloud access security broker (CASB) functionality all delivered from a single cloud security service. Cisco Umbrella’s protection is extended to devices, remote users, and distributed locations anywhere. As company employees work from many locations and devices, Cisco Umbrella is the easiest way to effectively protect users everywhere in minutes.

    Cisco Umbrella uses machine learning to search for, identify, and even predict malicious domains. By learning from internet activity patterns, this DNS-layer security solution can automatically identify attacker infrastructure being staged for the next threat. These domains are then proactively blocked, protecting networks from potential compromise. Cisco Umbrella analyzes terabytes of data in real time across all markets, geographies, and protocols.

    Cisco Umbrella works with leading IT companies to integrate its security enforcement and intelligence. Built with a bidirectional API, Cisco Umbrella makes it easy to extend protection from on-premises security appliances to cloud controlled devices and sites.

    Cisco Umbrella is suitable for small businesses without dedicated security professionals, as well as for multinational enterprises with complex environments.

    Why use Cisco Umbrella?

    • Simplify security management: Cisco Umbrella is the fastest and easiest way to protect all users within minutes and reduces the number of infections and alerts sent from other security products by stopping threats at the earliest point. With no hardware to install and no software to manually update, ongoing management is simple

    • Reliable reporting: Cisco Umbrella reports show activity for each device or network in the system. Users gain a more complete picture of the security risks facing their organization and can take action to remedy them.

    • Manage and control cloud apps: Umbrella provides visibility into sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud services in use across the enterprise. Users can uncover new services being used, see who is using them, identify potential risk, and block specific applications easily.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Cisco Umbrella stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Some of the major ones are its DNS-based protection, ability to protect users no matter where they are located, stability, and high performance.

    Daniel B., a network specialist at Syswind Kft, writes, “We primarily use the solution as cloud security for our branches. It protects us from direct internet outbreaks. It makes for good flexibility. The solution is very easy to manage. We found the initial setup, for example, to be quite simple. Efficient protection on the DNS level and even higher. The sandboxing feature analyses and handles the complicated security risks.”

    Victor M., SOC & Security Services Director at BEST, notes, “It provides security for the remote workers and it helps to improve enterprise security in a very easy way. We mainly enjoy web software protection capabilities. It prevents the end-users from getting into bad sites or sites that potentially could have malware or could be phishing. It helps end-users avoid the wrong sites. The solution works very smoothly. The user interface is good.”

    OpenDNS is a part of Cisco providing a suite of consumer products aimed at making the internet faster, safer, and more reliable.

    Fortinet FortiGate SWG is a comprehensive web security solution provided by Fortinet. FortiGate SWG combines web filtering, malware protection, data loss prevention (DLP), and application control capabilities into a single integrated platform. It is designed to protect organizations from web-based threats, enforce compliance policies, and provide secure access to web resources.

    FortiGate SWG Benefits:

    • Comprehensive web filtering and security features
    • Ease of use and management
    • Integration with other Fortinet products
    • Strong threat detection capabilities
    • Scalability and flexibility
    • Granular control over user access and activity

    FortiGate SWG Features:

    • Web Filtering: FortiGate SWG employs URL filtering and content categorization to control and enforce web access policies.
    • Malware Protection: The solution provides real-time protection against web-borne threats, such as malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks. 
    • Data Loss Prevention (DLP): FortiGate SWG helps prevent sensitive data from being leaked or exfiltrated through web channels.
    • SSL Inspection: The solution supports SSL/TLS decryption and inspection, allowing organizations to examine encrypted web traffic for threats and enforce security policies.
    • Application Control: FortiGate SWG enables granular control over web applications and protocols. 
    • Advanced Threat Intelligence: FortiGate SWG leverages Fortinet's threat intelligence services to provide up-to-date information about emerging threats and zero-day vulnerabilities. 
    • User Authentication and Access Control: The solution supports various authentication methods, including single sign-on (SSO) and integration with identity providers, to ensure secure user authentication and access control for web resources. 
    • Reporting and Analytics: FortiGate SWG provides comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities. 

    FortiGate SWG is typically deployed as a hardware appliance or as a virtual appliance in on-premises environments, but it may also be available as a cloud-based service. It is part of Fortinet's broader security fabric ecosystem, allowing integration with other Fortinet products to provide a unified and coordinated security infrastructure.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by FortiGate SWG users.

    David Carlson, CIO at Camco Mfg., says that "Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help".

    Suresh Vijayen, Product Manager at IX Telecom, writes that FortiGate SWG "Provides helpful technical support, but its dashboard needs to be more user-friendly".

    Chandan Munshi, Chief Technical Officer at Provision Technologies LLP, states that "The user interface is intuitive. Anyone can configure the firewall with little knowledge of the product. The back-end is robust with good security."

    Sample Customers
    Chart Industries, City of Aspen, Eastern Mountain Sports, FLEXcon, George Washington University, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, Ohio Public Library Information Network, PTC, Richland Community College, Smart Motors, Tulane University, VeriClaim
    Salt Lake County, Catholic College Bendigo, Azienda Unita Sanitaria
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Government6%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Educational Organization6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Educational Organization16%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider19%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Transportation Company10%
    Marketing Services Firm5%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Company Size
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise62%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise39%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise26%
    Large Enterprise55%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business50%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise29%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise53%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Umbrella vs. Fortinet FortiGate SWG
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Umbrella vs. Fortinet FortiGate SWG and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Umbrella is ranked 1st in Secure Web Gateways (SWG) with 108 reviews while Fortinet FortiGate SWG is ranked 4th in Secure Web Gateways (SWG) with 39 reviews. Cisco Umbrella is rated 8.8, while Fortinet FortiGate SWG is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Cisco Umbrella writes "Protects endpoints wherever they are, always pushing people to the right locations to avoid malicious intent". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate SWG writes "Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help. ". Cisco Umbrella is most compared with Zscaler Internet Access, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, Palo Alto Networks DNS Security and Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection, whereas Fortinet FortiGate SWG is most compared with Fortinet FortiProxy, Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway, Sangfor Internet Access Gateway (IAG), Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway and Axis Security. See our Cisco Umbrella vs. Fortinet FortiGate SWG report.

    See our list of best Secure Web Gateways (SWG) vendors.

    We monitor all Secure Web Gateways (SWG) 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.