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Defender by One Identity vs Fortinet FortiAuthenticator comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 20, 2026

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

Defender by One Identity
Ranking in Authentication Systems
13th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator
Ranking in Authentication Systems
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (10th), Identity Management (IM) (15th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Defender by One Identity is 1.6%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 3.0%, down from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator3.0%
Defender by One Identity1.6%
Other95.4%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Mahesh Malve - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Business Development Associate at DigitalTrack Solutions ind pvt ltd
Advanced analytics have strengthened privileged access security and reduced incident response time
While One Identity Defender is a strong solution overall, there are a few areas where I feel it could be improved. One area is the user interface and dashboard customization. Although it is functional, making it more modern and allowing deeper customization would improve the user experience, especially for quick monitoring. Another improvement could be in reporting flexibility. While it provides good reports, having more custom report building options and easier export features would be helpful for different compliance and manageability needs. From an integration perspective, while One Identity Defender works well with core systems, having more out-of-the-box integrations with modern cloud services and SaaS platforms would reduce the need for custom configuration. In terms of support, the overall support is good, but faster response times for critical issues and more detailed troubleshooting documentation would help teams resolve problems more efficiently.
Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Supports secure remote authentication and provides comprehensive user activity tracking
The most important feature is the security capability because it provides a substantial amount of security for admin-related activities. Fortinet FortiAuthenticator can be used from anywhere in the world, and the authenticator services function globally. This global accessibility is one of the critical advantages, particularly since admin features are critical and security is a real concern. With Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, secure usage of firewall services and related functions is achieved. A complete log of all users who access the authenticator setup is maintained. Monthly logs are reviewed to check for any unnoticed activities. Each authenticated user's complete activity history is recorded. This logging capability allows for providing access to more admin users while ensuring security is not compromised and all users can be monitored.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"If you decide to activate this solution, your infrastructure will be centered around flexibility."
"We find that the product scales very well."
"One Identity Defender has positively impacted our organization by improving overall security through the addition of MFA, which reduces the risk of unauthorized access and makes user authentication more controlled and reliable."
"It's very fast, and it's easy to use because it's integrated with Active Directory."
"We have definitely seen a positive ROI from using One Identity Defender, as our security team now spends about twenty to thirty percent less time on manual log analytics and investigations because the system automatically highlights high-risk activities, and we did not need to increase team size despite growing infrastructure as the tool helps us handle more security events with the same team."
"One Identity Defender has good network protection."
"I prefer the passing tool that sent an active directory console to a Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, then Fortinet FortiAuthenticator does not pass the locks."
"The integration into tools, including CI/CD pipelines, is easy and handy."
"The logs have great detail that make it easier to evaluate and control the security environment."
"The product's on-premise version doesn't have recurring costs."
"We have a perpetual license for 2FA."
"Intuitive interface and easy to deploy."
"In terms of benefits, the tool provides both cost savings and efficiency, but efficiency is more important for our customers."
"Enables easy integration, allowing for 2FA with our VPN."
 

Cons

"One Identity Defender is a strong product, but there are a few areas where it can be improved."
"The login capabilities could be better."
"The only reason it is not a ten is because response time can sometimes be slower for complex or escalated cases."
"Maybe it could provide support for more web applications. It seems more focused on IIS web applications."
"We have some clients that are wanting to protect their Apache web servers with One Identity Defender but all the research I have done says cannot be done. It can only be oriented to an IIS server. One Identity Defender should have more integration with more types of web servers."
"No SMS gateway from the ISP"
"The GUI is not fancy enough and some of the settings are difficult to access."
"There have been numerous support tickets sent to Fortinet since this does not appear to be a mature product."
"Fortinet FortiAuthenticator's initial setup process could be easier."
"I think the tool could provide this solution on the cloud."
"There is room for improvement in stability and support."
"Technical support used to be much better. Fortinet seems to be downgrading, so everything takes longer to get a response in comparison to the past."
"The user interface and clustering are areas with shortcomings that need improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"You can pay as you go with them. You purchase a base license and add to it as needed."
"Between paying them to help with the configuration, the box itself, and the support, it came to like $12,500, including a three-year service agreement."
"The platform provides a user-based pricing model rather than a subscription pricing model."
"I would start off with a VM including the base license and scale according to the number of users you need to authenticate."
"The platform is cost-effective as it does not require a separate license for SD-WAN functionality."
"The solution is not very expensive."
"I rate the price of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator a three out of five."
"The customers need to pay for licenses, and some pay on a yearly basis while others pay on a three-yearly or five-yearly basis. Also, it is not an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
21%
Construction Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Retailer
5%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with One Identity Defender?
One Identity Defender is a strong product, but there are a few areas where it can be improved. First, the user interface and reporting dashboards could be made more intuitive and customizable for f...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Defender?
One Identity Defender strengthens identity and access security through MFA, helping us ensure that only authorized users can access critical systems, especially for privileged accounts, with a focu...
What advice do you have for others considering One Identity Defender?
My advice for others looking into using One Identity Defender would be first to clearly define your use case, especially whether you need MFA mainly for privileged access, remote users, or both, as...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet can make Fortinet FortiAuthenticator better by having a cloud version of it. Currently, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is only available for on-premises, and it is an on-premises solution. It...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is primarily used for authenticating admin users, including remote admin use cases. Remote admin use cases utilize Fortinet FortiAuthenticator to securely authenticate a...
 

Also Known As

No data available
FortiAuthenticator
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bakersfield Police Department, Village of Westmont, Illinois
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Defender by One Identity vs. Fortinet FortiAuthenticator and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
911,994 professionals have used our research since 2012.