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FortiMonitor vs Meraki Dashboard comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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

FortiMonitor
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
32nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (41st), IT Alerting and Incident Management (18th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (10th)
Meraki Dashboard
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.7%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 0.8%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Meraki Dashboard0.8%
FortiMonitor0.7%
Other98.5%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2677554 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer III at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Managing diverse networks with detailed alerts enhances device oversight
FortiManager is very helpful in managing our networks. We use it to manage 20 farms and various networks with hundreds of devices. The version we are using provides more detail than the older dashboard. We appreciate the alerting capabilities, which are integrated with SolarWinds to notify our team via SMS.
NF
IT Network Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Cloud-based management has simplified global Wi-Fi operations and improved daily troubleshooting
What I would like to improve in Meraki Dashboard is the template part, which is really helping me to manage at large scale. Integration with AI or native AI functionality would be interesting depending on the price, how far it goes, and how far it shares the information I have. For the rest, it is quite straightforward. The next tool maybe to be integrated, which I do not know if it exists today within Meraki, is IPAM management for IP address management. I do not know if it is part of the roadmap, but it is something I have to use on a dedicated platform, so integrating this would be interesting as well. Finally, I would rate Meraki Dashboard overall as a 9 out of 10. There are still some missing features, but there are also some considerations. I am familiar with the Chinese situation where there is a dedicated portal for China, so if I need to deploy access points in China, I have to connect to a dedicated portal due to the regulations in that country. However, this is not due to Cisco or company policy.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"FortiMonitor is really easy to use for monitoring the logs on FortiGate...It is a stable product."
"The tool continuously improves, adapting to support new vendors and technologies. Importantly, it automates the process, triggering alerts when devices require attention, and eliminating the need for manual intervention."
"The most valuable feature of FortiMonitor is user monitoring, as we are able to see if the user is following the policy or not from their system, and additionally the solution integrates well with Fortinet FortiGate and has centralized management."
"The most valuable feature of FortiMonitor is the overall ability to monitor the health of the environment."
"FortiMonitor is 100% stable."
"Fortinet's customer support is very good."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."
"There is no need to swap the hardware at all the locations, and importing the APs into the Dashboard was a simple and quick process."
"The most valuable feature for me is the cloud dashboard."
"The dashboard itself is very simplified and easy to navigate."
"I would say the ease of use is the most valuable feature. It's very easy to set up and get up and running."
"The features I prefer most include the ease of deployment, the visibility, the analytics, and the ability to drop one anywhere and configure it remotely."
"Meraki Dashboard does not require a lot of maintenance. Cisco tells communicates through the Meraki Dashboard web client, it will automatically send updates to the equipment. They will send you an email on what day the updates will take place. If you want to proceed, you can click on accept, or you can decline them and schedule the updates at another time."
"We can remotely monitor clients' networks through Meraki Dashboard, dramatically reducing the on-site visits required."
"Cisco Meraki is the best solution."
 

Cons

"FortiMonitor could improve by having compatibility with other operating systems, such as Linux."
"We use FortiToken, and it's a pain to use because you have to send things through your phone and then confirm by email. Only after this can you log in. It's dual-factor authentication. I wish that I could just log in or bring up a dashboard where I could log in from."
"FortiMonitor's monitoring could be much better. It should be like, in Palo Alto."
"For our type of country, it is always expensive, but it has competitive pricing."
"Additionally, there are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."
"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."
"There are areas for improvement that FortiManager is addressing."
". Enhancements in the dashboard, such as clearer alerting, maintenance window management, software version tracking, and better visualization, would be beneficial."
"While the visibility in Meraki Dashboard is good, the solution is too heavy and complex."
"I’d like the product to allow for other solutions to be integrated with the dashboard as well."
"I think this product could be improved with a CLI for more directives."
"In general, how I add firewall rules is not great. It is just a little bit too simple the way it is right now."
"Price could be reduced."
"Meraki Dashboard can be improved with bulk changes across all the networks to manage group networks. Functionality is a little limited, and that is probably the only thing that I would say is a negative."
"It's a very complex system. Customers have told me that sometimes there are lots of advanced features that are available and that you can change in the dashboard, but sometimes it's very hard to know what they are."
"The process of setting up cost and licensing was not quick. It was pretty clunky and it was a challenge."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to other solutions, FortiMonitor is a very expensive solution."
"The price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."
"The tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."
"On a scale from one to ten, I rate the pricing a nine since it is a good solution that is available at a cheap price."
"There are additional costs needed for certain functionality, such as scalability."
"In terms of licensing, while it may not be the most expensive option on the market, it's relatively cost-effective. You can obtain licenses at a lower cost, with the calculation being straightforward. For example, if you onboard around 5,000 devices, you'll need approximately 5,000 licenses, as each device typically counts as one license."
"FortiMonitor's price is very high."
"We have a large customer base for Fortinet, and the additional buying power got us really great discounts."
"The solution is currently the most expensive on the market."
"You don't have to pay for the dashboard."
"Meraki Dashboard's pricing is reasonable. It is sold yearly, typically for one, three, or five years. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."
"The price of Meraki Dashboard is not expensive because knowing that it is a cloud-based solution has its benefits."
"I’m not sure of the exact cost, however, it’s my understanding the Meraki WiFi is around $800. That’s for a three-year license. It’s about $150 a year."
"Meraki Dashboard is a utility and portal that's part of the Meraki solution."
"It is said to be expensive."
"Licensing is around under 1000 pounds. The licensing is either one year, three years, five years or ten years and during the licensing, we can choose to renew it per year or per every three years. We've got a license for three years. It's about 160 or about 200 pounds each."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Construction Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise34
 

Questions from the Community

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
I have a clear bias because I work for Panopta. We aren't a fit for everyone, but I can confirm that Panopta is a lot less work to stand up and maintain. It's also a lot easier to use and onboard n...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiMonitor?
FortiMonitor does save time but not significantly on costs, as there are still expenses related to procurement, installation, and licensing.
What needs improvement with FortiMonitor?
There are areas for improvement that FortiManager is addressing. We have not yet upgraded to the latest software versions, being a full revision behind, but we plan to update soon since the current...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?
Regarding their pricing, the company I work for, Akkodis, was acquired by Adecco in 2022, so I am using the same technologies and I am somehow on the contract regarding Meraki purchase and so on. P...
What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?
The main aspect I would like to see improved in Meraki Dashboard is the dependency on cloud connectivity for centralized management. If the primary Internet or ISP connection goes down, access to t...
What is your primary use case for Meraki Dashboard?
We have deployed the Meraki Dashboard for centralized management and monitoring of all devices, appliances, and sensors across two shopping malls. The shopping malls are connected across different ...
 

Also Known As

Panopta
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard
Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe
Find out what your peers are saying about FortiMonitor vs. Meraki Dashboard and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.