FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series comparison

Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Fortinet is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.5, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #31 with an average rating of 8.7. Fortinet holds a 0.7% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 0.1% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series and FortiGate NGFW are competing in the firewall market. Based on user reviews, FortiGate NGFW has the upper hand in feature set and overall performance, while Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is preferred for its specialized features and support.

Features: FortiGate NGFW includes advanced threat protection, secure SD-WAN capabilities, and high-speed performance. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series offers deep integration capabilities, application awareness, and automation features.

Room for Improvement: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series needs improvements in reporting functions and scalability options. FortiGate NGFW requires a more streamlined management console and better documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: FortiGate NGFW is easier to deploy with a straightforward setup process and robust support services. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series has a more complex deployment but provides responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Palo Alto Networks K2-Series has higher initial setup costs but delivers a solid ROI through high effectiveness in security management. FortiGate NGFW offers competitive pricing with a quicker ROI due to lower operational costs and efficient performance.

To learn more, read our detailed FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

July 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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.8%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is 0.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is 0.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Juan Solano

IT Director at Atlantic Quantum Innovations

Implementation improves efficiency and provides greater visibility over issues

One of the most valuable features of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) 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.

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Krishnakumar M

enterprise architect at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

One of the best tools for the prevention of evasive threats

There is a feature called granular application controls, which I liked. Instead of relying on ports and IP addresses, they use AMP ID. This kind of solution is very good. Another valuable feature is the prevention of evasive threats, which is one of the best tools I've encountered. SSL decryption and app ID-based SSL decryption are also impressive, along with the integration with user ID. Identity-based policies ensuring only authorized users can access specific resources are excellent features. Normally, there is something called SIM or SCIM in IDA IDM, but this feature is provided on the box, which is exemplary.

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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

"Fortinet offers the latest versions to cater to the needs of enterprises."

"The reporting you receive out of this appliance is excellent. You will not need an external management system."

"FortiGate has a very strong unified threat management system."

"It is easy to use and performs very well."

"The security features that they have are quite good. On top of that, their licensing model is quite nice where they don't charge you anything for the SD-WAN functionality for the firewall."

"Fortinet FortiGate's ease of management is the most valuable feature."

"Reliability is the best feature. We faced some issues when we were setting it up, but the service, portal, and administration are good."

"The most valuable feature is the SSL VPN, as it allows us to connect and it separates this product from other firewalls."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The most valuable aspects of FortiGate NGFW are its top-notch reputation in peer reviews, user-friendly interface, and excellent support."

"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 has a very high ROI"

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall can be described as the most complete solution."

"The solution has helped our organization secure our network and connect remote sites."

"The IPS and the application control feature are the most valuable."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a simple configuration."

More FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) pros

"The solution is reliable and scales well."

"The solution offers effective security features such as HIDS (Host-based Intrusion Detection System) in global products."

"The scalability of the product is quite high."

"Palo Alto has a unique solution for DNS security, which is very good."

"The application ID on the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series is able to understand the application traffic, and WildFire is also good."

"The customer service and support are really good."

"K2-Series' best features include its scalability, which is the best on the market."

"As long as the solution is kept updated, it's pretty stable."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pros

Cons

"The captive portal could be improved."

"The support system could be improved."

"The solution could be more user friendly."

"One drawback of Fortinet FortiGate is that they provide two types of models: one with a hard disk and another without. The model without a hard disk has very low ROM where you can store very few logs, after which you need to upload it to the cloud or purchase a firewall with SSD."

"Web security solutions can be improved."

"They should make the rule sets more understandable for the end user. When you're trying to explain to somebody how a computer network is secured, sometimes it's difficult for an end user or customer to understand. If there was a way to make the terminology more accessible to the end user, the set up could be easier. They should translate the technical jargon to an easily relatable and understandable conversation for the end user, the customer, that would be brilliant. Particularly in an environment where the IT structure is audited regularly, there's always pressure from the auditor to up the standards and up the security and you get your USCERT's that come out and there's a warning about this and the customer will want to lock out so much and when you apply it they run into issue where they can't search the internet or print to their remote office. Of course they can't print to your remote office, they just locked it up. They should make the language more understandable for the customer. If there's a product out there that made the jargon understandable to John Q. Public, I would buy that."

"I think the only issue that needs improvement is the interface."

"I would like to see a more intuitive dashboard."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"In our case, the deployment options of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) are not scalable, but in terms of connectivity to other companies, that's exactly what we needed, and that's exactly what it does perfectly, what is needed."

"We understand that FortiGate cannot be standalone without others, such as FortiManager, so for small businesses, if FortiGate can provide something similar to FortiManager, it will be better."

"The product keeps hanging."

"There are some issues with security features and aspects like logs not being up to the mark."

"There's a limitation wherein you can only have about 30 virtual or secondary IPs on a particular interface."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall's performance and threat intelligence could be improved."

"The vendors offer models with different levels of productivity of the product to its users, which is not possible in FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW). It lacks integration options."

"There should be more testing before releasing software since it can be a little buggy sometimes when new features come out after updates."

More FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) cons

"It would be nice if it could easily be integrated with Elasticsearch or Nagios."

"The licensing cost is a typical complaint with many clients. The solution is expensive."

"Its networking features could be better."

"It would be really helpful to have dashboards that provide information on IOC blockings such as where and how many. It will also be good to know how many hashing files have been reported. It would also be nice to have easy access to this information. Otherwise, it's a painful, manual task."

"If we have issues, they take anywhere from two days to a week to respond. I even wrote to their CEO because there was no response. When it comes to support, this is the worst company."

"Threat prevention could use improvement."

"The URL Filtering module needs to have more categories added to it."

"Palo Alto releases a lot of bug fixes for their firewalls, which means it's necessary to do frequent upgrades. They should work on decreasing their bugs so that upgrades aren't needed so often."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the license and warranty can be better because it is very expensive."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable."

"The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition."

"I would say that all things considered, the pricing is pretty good."

"It was probably about $2,500 per firewall. It was all included. It included support, services, threat management software, and 24/7 FortiCare on it. Cisco products are more expensive."

"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."

"The price for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."

"The value is the capability of having multiple services with one unique license, not having the limitation per user licensing schema, like other vendors."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall costs our company around $12000 per year."

"If we have an older version, the support costs get quite high."

"I think price-wise, the solution is totally reasonable since it has many products to serve, starting from small homes to massive scale sites."

"I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall a five out of ten for pricing."

"The pricing is better compared to other solutions like Check Point, Arista, or Cisco."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The product is not very expensive."

"We pay $500 per year for the license."

More FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) pricing and cost advice

"This solution is expensive compared to other, similar products."

"If you compare K2-Series' quality with its price, I think it is reasonable."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The overall price of Palo Alto Networks K2-Series could be reduced."

"This product is designed for large companies. The price would not be suitable for a small or medium size company."

"It would be nice if they lowered their prices for small businesses."

"We are on an annual license to use Palo Alto Networks K2-Series."

"The price of the solution is expensive."

More Palo Alto Networks K2-Series pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

University

Performing Arts

23%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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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 easi...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?

Fortinet has good prices compared to other vendors; there were cheaper options, and when we compared Cisco, Fortinet'...

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What needs improvement with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?

I'm not completely sure how Fortinet can improve the FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW), however, there were s...

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Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

The pricing for the Palo Alto Networks K2-Series solution is affordable and there are no complaints about the licensing.

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What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks K2-Series?

The graphical user interface is a little complex and difficult to manage. L1 engineers cannot work on the Palo Alto N...

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Comparisons

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Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

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Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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OPNsense vs FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)

Compared 16% of the time

Tailscale vs FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)

Compared 10% of the time

Azure Firewall vs FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)

Compared 5% of the time

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Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 61% of the time

Juniper SRX Series Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

Compared 39% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

August 2025

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Buyer's Guide

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)

August 2025

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) report

Download FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) product report

Buyer's Guide

Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

August 2025

Download Palo Alto Networks K2-Series product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

The FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) from Fortinet is a comprehensive cybersecurity solution designed to cater to a wide array of organizational needs. It integrates seamlessly into the Fortinet Security Fabric, offering robust protection against various internal and external threats, including attacks, malware, and vulnerabilities. The NGFW is known for its advanced features such as SSL inspection, application control, visibility enhancements, and an effective intrusion prevention system (IPS). This IPS plays a critical role in identifying and blocking malicious traffic by monitoring and inspecting incoming data.

FortiGate NGFW can be deployed in diverse environments, including on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid setups. The firewall is equipped with next-generation antivirus capabilities, IPS, web filtering, sandboxing, and intelligent security automation features like threat intelligence integration and automated incident response. Its reporting and analytics tools are comprehensive, aiding in enhancing an organization's security posture.

A notable aspect of the FortiGate NGFW is its diverse and highly rated features, including a powerful VPN, a user-friendly Firewall Management Console, policy-based controls, and advanced reporting and logging capabilities. The system also supports Identification Technologies, Visualization Tools, Content Inspection, and seamless integration with Active Directory and LDAP directories. Its High Availability and the flexibility to deploy in various configurations, such as on-premises or as a Virtual Machine, make it a versatile choice for different business needs.

The FortiGate NGFW also excels in providing secure connectivity. It supports various VPN protocols, offers SD-WAN for intelligent traffic routing, and integrates SASE for unified security and networking solutions. These features contribute to improved security, reduced operational costs, and increased agility for organizations.

When it comes to user experiences and satisfaction, FortiGate NGFW has garnered positive feedback, with an average rating of about 4.26 out of 5 on PeerSpot Reviews. Users from diverse roles, including core network teams, technical officers, and cybersecurity engineers, and from various sectors such as tech services, education, and finance, have found the solution effective. This indicates its versatility and suitability across different company sizes and types.

However, there are areas for improvement. Enhancing the details in Logging Services and making 10 Gigabit Interfaces available for lower models are some suggested enhancements. Simplifying the installation of FortiAP services is also noted as a potential area for improvement.

Fortinet

Designed to handle growing throughput needs due to increasing amounts of application-, user-, and device-generated data, the K2-Series offers amazing performance and threat prevention capabilities to stop advanced cyberattacks and secure mobile network infrastructure, subscribers, and services.

Palo Alto Networks

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Information Not Available

State of North Dakota, SEGA, Alameda County Office of Education, Temple University, VERGE, CAME

Buyer's Guide

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

July 2025

Free Report: FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs. Palo Alto Networks K2-Series

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