FortiCNAPP vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai comparison

Fortinet and Horizon3.ai are both solutions in the Vulnerability Management category. Fortinet is ranked #42 with an average rating of 6.5, while Horizon3.ai is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.9. Fortinet holds a 1.5% mindshare in VM, compared to Horizon3.ai’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Horizon3.ai users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 18, 2025

FortiCNAPP and NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai compete in the cybersecurity software category, specifically focusing on cloud security and penetration testing. FortiCNAPP appears to have the upper hand in ease of use and compliance reporting, while NodeZero excels in autonomous penetration testing and vulnerability management.

Features: FortiCNAPP provides a user-friendly interface with machine learning for detecting anomalies, robust compliance reporting, and seamless integration into cloud environments for consistent monitoring and alerts. NodeZero Platform offers autonomous penetration testing, real attack capabilities, and effective vulnerability identification with detailed reporting. Its one-click feature to fix and retest vulnerabilities adds significant value to security operations.

Room for Improvement: FortiCNAPP needs to enhance its IAM security controls, data governance, alert configuration, and integration with tools such as GitHub and CI/CD pipelines. Better communication of changes and improved alert sorting could also be beneficial. NodeZero could expand its visibility and reporting for large enterprises, improve scan speeds, deepen integration with vulnerability management tools, and enhance its OSINT capabilities. It can also focus on improved reporting for non-technical users and using GPUs for password cracking.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: FortiCNAPP supports both public and private cloud environments, with proactive and responsive customer support enhanced by Slack integration. NodeZero Platform is flexible in deployment across public cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments, with users appreciating its simple setup and supportive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: FortiCNAPP is considered slightly expensive, but its ROI is reflected in reduced manual effort and efficient monitoring. It is competitively positioned, offering value through flexibility in IP targeting. NodeZero Platform's competitive pricing is comparable to traditional pen testing but with broader scope, demonstrating ROI through time savings and reduced staffing needs, although some users haven't quantified it monetarily.

To learn more, read our detailed FortiCNAPP vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

FortiCNAPP vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

December 2025

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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

Zafran Security

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Zafran Security is 1.1%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiCNAPP is 1.5%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai is 1.5%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai	1.5%
Zafran Security	1.1%
FortiCNAPP	1.5%
Other	95.9%

Vulnerability Management

Featured Reviews

Reviewer6233

Works at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Has become an indispensable tool in our cybersecurity arsenal

While Zafran Security is already a powerful tool, there are areas where it could be further improved to provide even greater value. One key area for enhancement is the searching capabilities within its vulnerabilities module. By incorporating the ability to create Boolean searches, users would gain the ability to apply more complex filters and customize their search criteria. This would greatly enhance the precision and efficiency with which security teams can identify and prioritize vulnerabilities. Having such tailored search capabilities would save time and resources by narrowing down vast lists of vulnerabilities to those that meet specific parameters relevant to our unique risk environment. Additionally, integrating more robust reporting and visualization tools would be advantageous. Enhanced dashboards that offer customizable visual representations of risk configurations and threat landscapes would facilitate better communication with stakeholders, making it easier to explain vulnerabilities and the rationale behind certain security measures. This would also aid in demonstrating the improvements and value derived from existing security investments to leadership and non-technical team members.

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Sai Tharun Kumar

Software Engineer at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees

Improving security insights has been helpful but inconsistent vulnerability tracking needs attention

The vulnerability part is not systematically organized; it is all clumsy in the web UI, and it is not user-friendly. Regarding improvements, the vulnerability part, recent changes with user management, and Fortinet IM coming into place, which is not helpful at all because it cuts out the automation part, are the most important things. Lacework FortiCNAPP should have a new clean UI and ease of access for the users as that should be the main concern. There are limitations regarding the scalability of Lacework FortiCNAPP. There are also more limitations with integrations like GitHub or any other pipeline, CI/CD, or ISD. It is glitchy and works well only sometimes, and most of the time, the reports or other things are not properly calculated or circulated with the teams.

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Shaun Hunt

Chief Information Officer at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Has unified our IT teams by providing clear visibility into network vulnerabilities and accelerated remediation with real-world attack testing

One of the things that we've shared with Horizon is just the reporting. They've made a lot of changes over time, but when examining computers, most average normal people don't look at a computer and identify it as 114.82.117.180. They identify it as 'the printer for accounting.' When many of the reports give the very detailed technical IP address or serial number, that's really not helpful for anyone other than the person, the hands-on person that's trying to remediate it. All the managers, all the leaders, having information in that format isn't helpful. Being able to have information about what those devices are would be very helpful. There's a technical reason they can't just have an easy button because some people have really complicated networks. When examining things for the average company, the average executive, that 114 number, there's only one of those. But if examining an AT&T or a Walmart, it isn't unique. They haven't solved that problem. But for the 90% of companies, being able to have just a human readable name for all devices on your network in all of the reports all of the time would be the most beneficial.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We saw benefits from Zafran Security almost immediately after deploying it."

"Zafran is an excellent tool."

"Overall, we have seen about eighty-seven percent reduction of the number of vulnerabilities that require urgency to remediate, specifically the number of criticals."

"We are able to see the real risk of a vulnerability on our environment with our security tools."

"With Zafran Security, it integrates with your security controls, allowing you to take that risk score and reduce it based on the controls in place or increase the risk based on different factors, such as if the issue is internet reachable or if there's an exploit in the wild."

"Zafran has become an indispensable tool in our cybersecurity arsenal."

"The most valuable feature, from a compliance perspective, is the ability to use Lacework as a platform for multiple compliance standards. We have to meet multiple standards like PCI, SOC 2, CIS, and whatever else is out there. The ability to have reports generated, per security standard, is one of the best features for me."

"The most valuable aspects are identifying vulnerabilities—things that are out there that we aren't aware of—as well as finding what path of access attackers could use, and being able to see open SSL or S3 buckets and the like."

"For the most part, out-of-the-box, it tells you right away about the things you need to work on. I like the fact that it prioritizes alerts based on severity, so that you can focus your efforts on anything that would be critical/high first, moderate second, and work your way down, trying to continue to improve your security posture."

"The best feature, in my opinion, is the ease of use."

"The most valuable feature is Lacework's ability to distill all the security and audit logs. I recommend it to my customers. Normally, when I consult for other customers that are getting into the cloud, we use native security tools. It's more of a rule-based engine."

"The compliance reports are definitely most valuable because they save time and are accurate. So, instead of relying on a human going through and checking or providing me with a report, I could just log into Lacework and see for myself."

"Lacework is helping a lot in reducing the noise of the alerts. Usually, whenever you have a tool in place, you have a lot of noise in terms of alerts, but the time for an engineer to look into those alerts is limited. Lacework is helping us to consolidate the information that we are getting from the agents and other sources. We are able to focus only on the things that matter, which is the most valuable thing for us. It saves time, and for investigations, we have the right context to take action."

"I find the cloud configuration compliance scanning mature. It generates a lot of data and supports major frameworks like ISO 27001 or SOC 2, providing reports and datasets. Another feature I appreciate is setting custom alerts for specific events. Additionally, I value the agent-based monitoring and scanning for compute nodes. It gives us deeper insights into our workloads and helps identify vulnerabilities across our deployed assets."

More FortiCNAPP pros

"I rate the stability of the NodeZero Platform a ten out of ten."

"Penetration testing and scans are useful features."

"Overall, I'd rate NodeZero at nine to 9.5 out of ten."

"We experienced a threat that could have severely crippled us, but we were able to shut it down before it escalated, thanks to internal vulnerability testing and addressing critical vulnerabilities using their tool."

"Honestly, it's one of the most transformational technologies we've implemented in our company."

"The NodeZero Platform is amazing; what I love most about it is that it's automated and comparable to the manual pen testing we did with a third-party company, but with the added benefit of unlimited retesting to validate fixes."

"After the third party conducts the pen test, The NodeZero Platform is run, and it finds the same things they found and sometimes a few other things that they did not even identify."

"For us, The NodeZero Platform is literally the single best security solution we have because the way that it works is we're able to scan every part of our network, both internally and externally, and then get completely actionable feedback that doesn't matter if it's for an application developer or a network admin."

More The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai pros

Cons

"The dashboarding and reporting functionality of Zafran Security is an area that definitely could use some improvements."

"I think the ability to have some enhanced reporting capabilities is something they can improve on, as they have good reports but we have asked for some specific reporting enhancements."

"Initially, we were somewhat concerned about the scalability of Zafran due to our large asset count and the substantial amount of information we needed to process."

"The vulnerability part is not systematically organized; it is all clumsy in the web UI, and it is not user-friendly."

"A feature that I have requested from them is the ability to sort alerts and policies based on a security framework. Right now, when you go into alerts, you have hundreds and hundreds of them that you have to manually pick. It would be useful to have categories for CIS Benchmark or SOC 2 and be able to display all the alerts and policies for one security framework."

"There are a couple of the difficulties we encounter in the realm of cybersecurity, or security as a whole, that relate to potentially limited clarity. Having the capacity to perceive the configuration aspect and having the ability to contribute to it holds substantial advantages, in my view. It ranks high, primarily due to its role in guaranteeing compliance and the potential to uncover vulnerabilities, which could infiltrate the system and introduce potential risks. I had been exploring a specific feature that captured my interest. However, just yesterday, I participated in a product update session that announced the imminent arrival of this feature. The feature involves real-time alerting. This was something I had been anticipating, and it seems that this capability is now being integrated, possibly as part of threat intelligence. While anomaly events consistently and promptly appear in the console, certain alerts tend to experience delays before being displayed. Yet, with the recent product update, this issue is expected to be resolved. Currently, a comprehensive view of all policies is available within the console. However, I want a more tailored display of my compliance posture, focusing specifically on policies relevant to me. For instance, if I'm not subject to HIPAA regulations, I'd prefer not to see the HIPAA compliance details. It's worth noting that even with this request, there exists a filtering mechanism to control the type of compliance information visible. This flexibility provides a workaround to my preference, which is why it's challenging for me to definitively state my exact request."

"The solution lacks a cohesive data model, making extracting the necessary data from the platform challenging. It uses its own LQL query language, and each database across different layers and modules is structured differently, complicating correlation efforts. Consequently, I had to create extensive custom reports outside Lacework because their default dashboards didn't communicate risk metrics. They're addressing these issues by redesigning their tools, including introducing the dashboard, which is a step closer to actionable insights but still needs refinement."

"Visibility is lacking, and both compliance-related metrics and IAM security control could be improved."

"The biggest thing I would like to see improved is for them to pursue and obtain a FedRAMP moderate authorization... I don't believe they have any immediate plans to get FedRAMP moderate authorized, which is a bit of a challenge for us because we can only use Lacework in our commercial environment."

"The configuration and setup of alerts should be easier. They should make it easier to integrate with systems like Slack and Datadog. I didn't spend too much time on it, but to me, it wasn't as simple as the alerting that I've seen on other systems."

"Lacework has not reduced the number of alerts we get. We've actually had to add resources as a result of using it because the application requires a lot of people to understand it to get the value out of it properly."

More FortiCNAPP cons

"They've added a chatbot which isn't particularly useful, but when it can't answer questions, it forwards messages to human support."

"The reports are quite useless."

"The areas for improvement for The NodeZero Platform involve integration and automation. It would be beneficial if it could integrate directly with vulnerability management tools that would allow the platform to automatically import data, identify vulnerable systems, and test targets immediately, potentially even enabling automated feedback loops for rescanning since the process is currently manual."

"One of the areas where improvement is needed is in the visibility and reporting for large enterprises."

"Sometimes even their support doesn't know why we're seeing certain issues."

"You need to be cautious about what it scans, as it could potentially cause issues."

"I encountered challenges with patch management, as we struggled to test and implement patches due to time constraints. This led to our patch management process being ineffective."

"I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good."

More The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"My smaller deployments cost around 200,000 a year, which is probably not as expensive as Wiz."

"It is slightly expensive. It depends on how big your environment is, but it is expensive. Right now, we are spending a lot of money. We have covered all of the cloud providers and most of our colocation facilities as well, so we cannot complain, but it is slightly expensive. It is not super expensive."

"The licensing fee was approximately $80,000 USD, per year."

"The pricing has gotten better. That scenario was somewhat unstable. They have a rather interesting licensing structure. I believe you get 200 resources per "Lacework unit." It was difficult, in the beginning, to figure out exactly what a "resource" was... That was a problem until about a year or so ago. They have improved it and it has stabilized quite a bit."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zafran Security?

Since we stood Zafran Security up in our private cloud, we handle the maintenance on our side. As we opted not to use...

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What needs improvement with Zafran Security?

In terms of areas for improvement, Zafran Security is doing a really great job as a new and emerging company. Oftenti...

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What is your primary use case for Zafran Security?

My use cases for Zafran Security revolve around two primary areas. One is around vulnerability management and priorit...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lacework?

My smaller deployments cost around 200,000 a year, which is probably not as expensive as Wiz.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Lacework?

The vulnerability part is not systematically organized; it is all clumsy in the web UI, and it is not user-friendly. ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Lacework?

The major use case for Lacework FortiCNAPP is for security. I'm using it for security internally for my company.

See all answers

What do you like most about Horizon3.ai?

Penetration testing and scans are useful features.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Horizon3.ai?

I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Horizon3.ai?

We use The NodeZero Platform for control validation and we are also looking for the likelihood of vulnerabilities.

See all answers

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Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security vs FortiCNAPP

Compared 4% of the time

Orca Security vs FortiCNAPP

Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 28% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Zafran Security

January 2026

Download Zafran Security product report

Buyer's Guide

FortiCNAPP

January 2026

Download FortiCNAPP product report

Buyer's Guide

The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

January 2026

The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai report

Download The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai product report

Also Known As

No data available

Polygraph, FortiCNP, Lacework

Horizon3.ai

Overview

Zafran Security integrates with existing security tools to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities effectively, proving that most critical vulnerabilities are not exploitable, optimizing threat management.

Zafran Security introduces an innovative operating model for managing security threats and vulnerabilities. By leveraging the threat exposure management platform, it pinpoints and prioritizes exploitable vulnerabilities, reducing risk through immediate remediation. This platform enhances your hybrid cloud security by normalizing vulnerability signals and integrating specific IT context data, such as CVE runtime presence and internet asset reachability, into its analysis. No longer reliant on patch windows, Zafran Security allows you to manage risks actively.

What are the key features of Zafran Security?

Threat Exposure Management: Utilizes existing tools to prioritize vulnerabilities and manage threats.
Integrative Analysis: Combines security data with IT context for precise vulnerability management.
Real-time Risk Reduction: Enables immediate risk management without waiting for patches.
Hybrid Cloud Compatibility: Functions across diverse cloud environments for comprehensive security.

What benefits can users expect from Zafran Security?

Improved Security: Enhances protection by efficiently identifying and mitigating risks.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces unnecessary patching expenses by confirming non-exploitable vulnerabilities.
Time Savings: Frees developers to focus on root causes by handling immediate threats.
Comprehensive Insight: Offers a holistic view of security threats and vulnerabilities.

In industries where security is paramount, such as finance and healthcare, Zafran Security provides invaluable protection by ensuring that only exploitable vulnerabilities are addressed. It allows entities to maintain robust security measures while allocating resources efficiently, fitting seamlessly into existing security strategies.

Zafran Security

FortiCNAPP is a comprehensive cloud security platform focusing on ease of use and machine learning-driven anomaly detection. It offers robust compliance reporting, seamless integration, and continuous monitoring, making it an essential tool for organizations managing multi-cloud environments and security configurations.

FortiCNAPP provides significant capabilities in cloud security, compliance, and vulnerability management. Designed for organizations needing efficient monitoring, it enables detection of anomalies across cloud infrastructures while optimizing security posture and ensuring compliance with environments like AWS and GCP. The platform offers in-depth insights through scanning of IAC scripts, host systems, and cloud configurations. Recognized for effectively managing security posture, it safeguards Kubernetes and container environments, providing comprehensive threat detection and response. However, some areas like visibility, IAM security controls, and compliance metrics need improvement. Users face challenges with alert setup and lack intuitive design, alongside issues like FedRAMP authorization absence and complexity in the data model.

What are the key features of FortiCNAPP?

Ease of Use: FortiCNAPP simplifies security management for cloud environments.
Machine Learning Anomaly Detection: Automatically identifies and prioritizes threats.
Compliance Reporting: Streamlines compliance procedures and reporting.
Seamless Integration: Ensures smooth operation across multi-cloud environments.
Continuous Monitoring: Provides ongoing oversight of security vulnerabilities.
Multi-Cloud Integration: Enables swift response to misconfigurations and vulnerabilities.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating FortiCNAPP?

Time Efficiency: Reduces time spent on compliance and threat management.
Improved Security Posture: Enhances protection for cloud and container environments.
Valuable Security Insights: Provides in-depth analysis for proactive threat response.
Noise Reduction: Distills security logs to minimize alert fatigue.
Operational Effectiveness: Facilitates seamless multi-cloud security management.

FortiCNAPP is implemented extensively by industries needing reliable cloud security, such as finance, healthcare, and technology sectors. It supports organizations in enhancing cloud infrastructure protection, ensuring compliance, and strengthening vulnerability management. By integrating with platforms like AWS and GCP, businesses can optimize security posture in their cloud deployments.

Fortinet

NodeZero by Horizon3.ai is an offensive security platform that enables users to adopt an attacker’s perspective, reveal vulnerabilities, and verify defense effectiveness with evidence-backed insights.

NodeZero provides autonomous pentesting, showing how attackers exploit misconfigurations, credentials, and exposures into attack paths. It helps focus on real risks rather than hypothetical ones, integrating seamlessly into existing IT and security workflows to streamline processes. The platform drives risk-based vulnerability management and CTEM by validating vulnerabilities and measuring resilience.

What standout features improve your security?

Autonomous Pentesting at Scale: Executes extensive pentests across broad IT landscapes swiftly.
Hybrid Cloud Coverage: Navigates on-premises and cloud domains to find attack paths.
Proof of Exploitation: Offers evidence for every finding.
Fix Validation: Allows quick retesting to ensure vulnerabilities are resolved.
NodeZero Tripwires: Uses deception tokens for real adversary detection.

What benefits should you expect from reviews?

Reduced Vulnerability Noise: Prioritizes exploitable risks with ServiceNow integration.
Automated Workflows: MCP Server automates processes, reducing bottlenecks and enhancing efficiency.
Immediate Fix Validation: Ensures defenses work during attacks.
Real-Time Resilience Measurement: Helps schedule routine assessments without external help.

NodeZero assists in automated penetration testing and vulnerability management in industries like finance and healthcare. It enhances security processes by complementing or replacing existing solutions, enabling efficient testing, feedback, and control validation.

Horizon3.ai

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

J.Crew, AdRoll, Snowflake, VMWare, Iterable, Pure Storage, TrueCar, NerdWallet, and more.

Government agencies, Defense Industrial Base organizations, and enterprises in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and criticalinfrastructure rely on NodeZero to meet rigorous security and compliance requirements with continuous, scheduled, and on-demand testing.

Buyer's Guide

FortiCNAPP vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

December 2025

Free Report: FortiCNAPP vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Find out what your peers are saying about FortiCNAPP vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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