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FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs Lookout comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

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

FortiGate Next Generation F...
Ranking in ZTNA
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
54
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (10th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (8th)
Lookout
Ranking in ZTNA
15th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (26th), Mobile Data Protection (3rd), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (15th), Threat Intelligence Platforms (24th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (45th), Mobile Threat Defense (2nd), ZTNA as a Service (19th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (21st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the ZTNA category, the mindshare of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is 5.0%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lookout is 1.3%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ZTNA
 

Featured Reviews

Juan Solano - PeerSpot reviewer
Implementation improves efficiency and provides greater visibility over issues
One of the most valuable features of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) ( /products/fortigate-next-generation-firewall-ngfw-reviews ) is the ease of usability it offers. It is quite easy for me to learn to use. Additionally, FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) has improved our efficiency in setting up security and provided us with more visibility over some issues and incidents we previously faced.
DB
Enhanced mobile security with visibility into app and website usage, but installation challenges remain
We use Lookout for mobile devices, such as phones It has reduced our risk around mobile devices. I like the security features and being able to see what apps and websites people are using. There is nothing we have come across that we've desired. We have been using Lookout for one year. The…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In a scenario where FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) notably enhanced my customer's network performance, we discussed many points."
"The most valuable features we found are the SD-WAN, FortiGate SD-WAN, and the standard UTM protection, among others."
"The most helpful features of FortiGate include its firewall policy, specifically the user-based policy, which I find to be quite beneficial in managing our network security effectively."
"Fortinet offers comprehensive security solutions for various purposes."
"The most helpful features of FortiGate include its firewall policy, specifically the user-based policy, which I find to be quite beneficial in managing our network security effectively."
"The solution has a user-friendly interface."
"FortiGate NGF is simple compared to other firewalls. It is easy to use and you don't need any training. Any person with basic firewall knowledge can use it."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall's design is good...I am very impressed with the product's stability."
"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."
"We have not had any issues with bugs or breakdowns."
 

Cons

"Its load balancing feature could be easy to configure."
"I see room to explore its integration with Secure Service Automation for a more comprehensive security view."
"Its technical support could be better."
"There were situations of availability related to their switching solutions due to box errors."
"Someone without certification and experience with other firewalls might find it a bit more challenging to grasp the FortiGate format and its platform layout."
"There are some issues with security features and aspects like logs not being up to the mark."
"The management consoles can be improved."
"The licensing model and pricing need improvement."
"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."
"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"
"Lookout was moving into the SSE space. And so their work on SecureWeb Gateway and SD-WAN is still sort of evolving."
"The initial setup requires a little bit of experience with configuration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is a very cheap solution."
"There is a licensing fee; it is on a yearly basis."
"The product is a little bit expensive."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution with a yearly subscription."
"I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall a five out of ten for pricing."
"FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall is cheaper than Cisco or CheckPoint."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"Although the solution's pricing is high, compared with other products, it may be cheap."
"In terms of feature performance versus cost, they're a good value."
"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."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?
The tool's most valuable feature is IPS. In my experience, I haven't encountered any issues with integration. It easily integrates with the FortiGate solution. However, verifying through documentat...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?
From a cost perspective, I think it's quite reasonable, not so cheap, but I think it's quite similar compared to others.
What needs improvement with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?
I do not utilize the intrusion prevention and web filtering features of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW). The ability of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) to inspect SSL encrypted ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lookout?
The pricing is a little expensive. We are currently looking at comparisons with other solutions, including Umbrella.
What needs improvement with Lookout?
There is nothing we have come across that we've desired.
 

Also Known As

No data available
CipherCloud
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs. Lookout and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.