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Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs syslog-ng comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 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 FortiAnalyzer
Ranking in Log Management
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
syslog-ng
Ranking in Log Management
17th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
2.1
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 1.9%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of syslog-ng is 2.5%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Manikandan Kannan - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplifying log management by displaying detailed access information
The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is its ability to simplify and display logs clearly, providing details like which IPs are accessing the system, the destination, and the policies applied. This visualization and detail make managing logs more straightforward. In conjunction with our VMware setup, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer enhances organizational efficiency, meeting the standard log retention period for up to a year.
RyanVargas - PeerSpot reviewer
It's a user-friendly open-source solution that can replace or augment a commercial product in some cases
I rate syslog-ng 10 out of 10. It's free and easy to use. It has built-in tools that help us index the various logs sent to it. It's a solid log product. If you're looking for a SIEM solution, syslog-ng will work as a stopgap measure at beginning of the project. It can also work as an injector for a true SIEM solution. You can send all the logs to syslog-ng and forward all the data to the SIEM solution after you've cleaned up the data and got the pertinent information. It's a good front end for a commercial SIEM solution, which becomes more expensive as you load more data into it. I would highly recommend syslog-ng for that use case. However, if you lack the expertise, you might need to go with a cloud-based SIEM instead. You need some in-house expertise or an outside consultant to manage it and set it up.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have found incident management and also identifying new threats, analyzing the network traffic, and finding out the issues with the network traffic such as any security issues to be valuable. I also like the compliance reports."
"The most valuable feature of FortiAnalyzer is its visibility, especially in network investigations."
"Log View is the most valuable part for us, as we can view logs from different Fortigates on a single GUI."
"Its robust security and performance are the two main features. We also use the log reporting feature."
"The feature I find most useful is the handy dashboard."
"The log events are quite useful for us."
"Support is helpful."
"The initial setup is easy, and the deployment is fast."
"Syslog-ng provides easy access to all my logs. It helps me show managers and other clients precisely where an incident occurred. I also like it because you can integrate syslog-ng with multiple solutions to allow real-time monitoring."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"Syslog-ng has a separate config file in addition to the core configuration."
"For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior."
"The ability to extract and store the logs is the most valuable feature of syslog-ng."
 

Cons

"Sometimes, there is a problem with CPU consumption, where one process consumes 100%, and I need to restart FortiAnalyzer to fix this."
"There are a lot of solutions on the market and Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is limited. It cannot be used across multiple vendors. They can improve by advancing their technology."
"They could improve the user interface a bit."
"The solution costs too much."
"The FortiAnalyzer is not scalable."
"The pricing could be better. They could work to make it more competitive on the market."
"A possible improvement for FortiAnalyzer could be in threat intelligence."
"It's possible that they could add some advanced analytics and some proactive controls for logging analytics. That will help a lot."
"There is always the potential for additional integration and protocol extensions."
"It's hard to find people who know how to use syslog-ng. I often find problems with configurations, and solutions aren't integrated correctly with syslog-ng. For example, there might be data with extra decimals, or the collector agents are incorrectly named. It isn't a problem with the solution; it's a lack of professionals."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"There is room for improvement in terms of observability."
"The filtering has room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of the license is high."
"When comparing with other solutions such as Checkpoint and Cisco, Fortinet is priced well."
"It is not very expensive when customers understand the value of this product and the importance of the information that it provides for security."
"I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"The price is not expensive when compared to other solutions like Palo Alto."
"It is expensive for small business customers. It is only available for customers with a high number of firewalls to manage or to report. If a customer has only five boxes of FortiGate, the price of FortiAnalyzer can be more than the five boxes. So, we can't easily put this solution for small business customers."
"I rate FortiAnalyzer six out of 10 for affordability. FortiAnalyzer pricing isn't steady. It changes each quarter or year. That's one of the main problems in West Abaco because most businesses here are small or medium-sized enterprises. It makes budgeting complicated. You always want to pay the same price on the subscription."
"The enterprise version of this solution is costly. We have considered FortiAuthenticator for network control, but the pricing was focused on the larger companies and didn't suit our needs as a smaller business."
"Syslog-ng is open-source."
"Syslog-ng is a free open-source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Government
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
The reporting features, which offer customization, real-time insights, and compliance support, are particularly noteworthy aspects.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
I have experience with pricing, licensing, and setup costs as I prepare quotes for clients. While Fortinet FortiAnalyzer might be more expensive than some other solutions, it remains very competiti...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
Fortinet FortiAnalyzer can become even better with integration with other product providers and solution providers.
What do you like most about syslog-ng?
For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for syslog-ng?
The pricing is in the middle. I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with one being expensive and ten being cheap.
What needs improvement with syslog-ng?
Something could potentially be improved, though it works effectively for me. In the early stages, over 10 years ago, syslog-ng was lacking some features, so I created a patch for it. I used a patch...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

General Directorate of Information Technology
Tecnocom, University of Victoria, University of Exeter, Datapath
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs. syslog-ng and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
863,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.