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Fortinet FortiADC vs Kemp LoadMaster comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 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

Fortinet FortiADC
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Kemp LoadMaster
Ranking in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
9th
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiADC is 10.1%, up from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kemp LoadMaster is 7.5%, up from 7.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
 

Featured Reviews

OusaidAbaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrates load balancing efficiently within existing technology environments
FortiADC provides load-balancing capabilities needed for integration with other Fortinet platforms. It allows for the creation of virtual IPs and applying various algorithms for traffic management. Although it offers fewer algorithms than competing platforms like F5, its capability to manage load balancing makes it valuable. The security features depend on the environment, relying on firewalls like FortiGate.
PeterForster - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly stable and scalable load-balancing software that offers great technical support
My company is really happy with Kemp LoadMaster as a product. My company is also happy with the support we receive from Kemp LoadMaster. I want Kemp LoadMaster to provide users with better reporting capabilities in relation to TCP packets. In general, the connections that are present in the system require improvement. Feature-wise, Kemp LoadMaster has everything that our company's customers require. Kemp LoadMaster also has features that have supported our company's past projects.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The GSLB, the DR side, is the best part. Because we had our main side in one city, we created another, and we had a complete MPLS over the internet. We used the GSLB and data loss for our business applications."
"The main feature that we use is GSLB (Global Server Load Balancing). GSLB makes the customer's network more reliable by scaling applications across multiple datacenters. GSLB as a disaster recovery solution can direct traffic based on site availability."
"Although FortiADC has multiple features that I like, the global DNS is the most helpful. It is primarily useful for customers with huge environments and at least two data centers. FortiADC can act as your DNS server. It can check which data center has the lowest latency, and route traffic to that one. It's an intelligent DNS."
"It's a good product because it supports all the features that ADC solutions in the market can support, like F5 solutions, for example, such as the LTM of F5."
"I am impressed with the product's load-balancing feature."
"Simple to use and easy to integrate."
"TSL and SSL offloading are both very good features."
"This ensures that clients can connect to their applications without interruption."
"I like that this is a Network Load Balancer that can be used practically with any application in the backend. They have how-to guides on how to set up Kemp NLB with Exchange, but you can use it as well for Sharepoint, RDS, or any other back end server."
"The base feature of Kemp LoadMaster load balancing ticks all the boxes but the most valuable features would be the security features Intrusion Prevention (IPS) and Web Application Firewall (WAF)."
"Load-balancing is a great feature that is very easy to configure and it is always working fine."
"The configuration is really easy and the web portal is self-explanatory."
"Persistence is very valuable. This holds the connection information of the source and that connection is important to RDP and our APO calls. The connection has to be persisted to the original source to operate properly. We also use the subsections for sub-services to create services inside our services for our API resources, this is most awesome. We would not be able to do this without Kemp and offer this type of sub-service to route based on an API instance. It routes the traffic properly based on the sub-service type."
"The most valuable feature is the load balancing and allowing for high availability of our web services."
"When the templates are used, there is not much left to configure and they just work!"
"There is a simplicity to the setup and configuration."
 

Cons

"If I need design help, they do not assist; they say it is a design issue they cannot support, and I must approach the system integrator."
"I had a terrible experience with Fortinet support. I only used support once when I bought the solution. I got no response for two days. However, I believe that it's no longer the case. Fortinet solutions have problems when they're launched. For example, we had issues with Fortinet's authenticator when it came out. We also had trouble with FortiNAC in the beginning."
"Though FortiADC is useful, I'd appreciate more user-friendly features and in-depth insights into network activity, like detailed logs and AI-driven feedback for optimization."
"Because it is so generic, the documentation requires special attention. A person who has not worked on Fortinet FortiADC or a similar product will struggle to understand what the document is trying to say. The documentation could be more specific, and more detailed."
"The product's stability for VMs could be better."
"FortiADC is complex to configure so the interface should be improved."
"There is a mismatch between the number of features they are offering and the device capacity on how much it can handle."
"Fortinet has some drawbacks, and it can be a bit challenging to scale."
"The GUI is rather technical and complex, so it could be improved by making it simpler and more user-friendly."
"SNMP and/or RESTCONF management, in order to collect many counters, for plotting in a central application need to be improved."
"The cost of the GEO upgrade is not cost-prohibitive but it's something that would be a nice add-in, out of the box."
"The auth website of ESP is really lacking. It’s not responsive (mobile friendly) and the procedure of changing the website is difficult. We tend to avoid using pre-auth for that reason."
"Certificate installations could be simplified and modernized, and allowed to be monitored for expirations/issues."
"In the next release, Kemp should include the ability for LoadMaster to create different DNS record types."
"We experienced a brief period of instability."
"I definitely think that the WAF can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our basic license excludes features such as antivirus and IDS. Due to license limitations, some functionalities are not configured."
"The solution could be more cost-effective."
"Compared to F5, FortiADC pricing is better."
"I rate Fortinet FortiADC's pricing one out of ten. It is fixed."
"The product has average pricing. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."
"I believe the price is good. It's fair. There are no extra costs."
"The price is competitive"
"They offer a perpetual license."
"It has a very attractive ratio of price/performance."
"Pricing for the perpetual licensing was fair to us for the features and ease of use we received."
"KEMP gives away free trials for 30 days. This can be stretched if you want. During the test, you will have access to KEMP support.​"
"At $2,500 USD, this is absolutely a fantastic buy for the money!"
"Setup is easy, the cost is affordable, and the licensing is quick and simple."
"The price of the solution is cheap."
"The pricing is alright and we pay a monthly licensing fee"
"The setup cost and pricing plan is reasonable and will ultimately give you a worthy return."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
6%
Educational Organization
43%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Government
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Is Citrix ADC (formerly Netscaler) the best ADC to use and if not why?
For ADC, any ADC can do a good job. But in case if you want to add WAF functionality to the same ADC hardware you have to look for other ADC's like F5, Imperva, Radware, Fortinet, etc.
Do you recommend Fortinet FortiADC?
I recommend Fortinet FortiADC. My experience with Fortinet has been very positive. Our company has been using it for around five years. We mainly use FortiADC for the load balancing of application ...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiADC?
The user interface is very easy and integrates with Sandbox easily.
What do you like most about Kemp LoadMaster?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten...I rate the technical support a ten out of ten...The initial setup of Kemp LoadMaster is very simple.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kemp LoadMaster?
LoadMaster is cheaper than some other solutions. It has a perpetual license, so it's a one-time cost.
What needs improvement with Kemp LoadMaster?
There are some challenges with updates on certain models that don't have a few features. The support team often takes a lot of time to provide resolutions for issues. Also, I could see more capabil...
 

Also Known As

FortiADC Application Delivery Controller, FortiADC
LoadMaster Load Balancer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Kent County Council, KEMP, SMA Solar Technology AG, RT€ Player , Victrix (Quebec, Canada), Texas A&M, Macmillan Cancer Support, Cisco, Austin Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiADC vs. Kemp LoadMaster and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.