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Defender by One Identity vs Fortinet FortiAuthenticator comparison

 

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
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator
Ranking in Authentication Systems
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (10th), Identity Management (IM) (14th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Defender by One Identity is 1.4%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 3.3%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator3.3%
One Identity Defender1.4%
Other95.3%
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

"It's very fast, and it's easy to use because it's integrated with Active Directory."
"If you decide to activate this solution, your infrastructure will be centered around flexibility."
"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."
"We find that the product scales very well."
"One Identity Defender has good network protection."
"With One Identity Defender, we have achieved around 40 to 50% time saving in maintaining privilege access tasks."
"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."
"The solution's most valuable aspect is that it is easy to install and the user experience is very good."
"The product is stable and reliable."
"Valuable features include the robust SSO features, when you have more complicated authentication within an organization. We can mix AD, Radius, Portal, SSO Portals (Google, etc.), and build our own environment. It is very flexible."
"If you want a more efficient way to manage two-factor authentication for your users, or implement the unit as a cluster member role, the FortiAuthenticator can be incorporated very well into your environment."
"The logs have great detail that make it easier to evaluate and control the security environment."
"This is a cost effective and flexible solution."
"The response from Fortinet is very fast."
"The integration into tools, including CI/CD pipelines, is easy and handy."
 

Cons

"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."
"One Identity Defender can be improved by simplifying the user interface and making navigation more intuitive, especially for new administrators who may find the initial setup and policy configuration somewhat complex."
"The only reason it is not a ten is because response time can sometimes be slower for complex or escalated cases."
"The login capabilities could be better."
"One Identity Defender is a strong product, but there are a few areas where it can be improved."
"They could expand FortiAuthenticator's capabilities to accommodate a broader range of environments."
"The user interface and clustering are areas with shortcomings that need improvement."
"Up to now, I would not recommend FortiAuthenticator to others yet as I have ongoing transitions and evaluations."
"The customization capability of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is not very flexible."
"The support team is pathetic and does not properly understand the solution."
"If you can't authenticate to protect transactions, and the security is weak, it's a problem."
"Their technical staff needs improvement because they take too much time to resolve issues."
"For scalability, you need to size FortiAuthenticator properly. It's not 100%, maybe 80% on the scalable side."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"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 provides a user-based pricing model rather than a subscription pricing model."
"The licensing structure is cost-effective for us compared to some of the other solutions that have recurring monthly costs."
"The cost of the license could be less expensive. The license is paid on a yearly basis."
"FAC is an affordable solution for Middle Range (200E/400E) and also needs a package of mobility agents (2,000) perpetual."
"The pricing is fair."
"The platform is cost-effective as it does not require a separate license for SD-WAN functionality."
"It's not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
17%
Construction Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Non Profit
8%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
 

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: June 2026.
905,526 professionals have used our research since 2012.