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Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Symantec Advanced Authentication comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 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 FortiAuthenticator
Ranking in Authentication Systems
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (10th), Identity Management (IM) (14th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)
Symantec Advanced Authentic...
Ranking in Authentication Systems
23rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 3.7%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Authentication is 1.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator3.7%
Symantec Advanced Authentication1.5%
Other94.8%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Supports secure remote authentication and provides comprehensive user activity tracking
The most important feature is the security capability because it provides a substantial amount of security for admin-related activities. Fortinet FortiAuthenticator can be used from anywhere in the world, and the authenticator services function globally. This global accessibility is one of the critical advantages, particularly since admin features are critical and security is a real concern. With Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, secure usage of firewall services and related functions is achieved. A complete log of all users who access the authenticator setup is maintained. Monthly logs are reviewed to check for any unnoticed activities. Each authenticated user's complete activity history is recorded. This logging capability allows for providing access to more admin users while ensuring security is not compromised and all users can be monitored.
Umair (Abu Mohaymin) Akhlaque - PeerSpot reviewer
Group CEO at Flexsolutions
Ensures robust security features and ease of deployment, although it may lack some of the more modern authentication options
There has been a need for aggressive development to modernize the product and align it with contemporary security requirements. While the rebranding has been a step forward, further enhancements are essential to meet the evolving demands of the market. It lacks features such as ActiveSync Exchange security, and it doesn't offer alternatives like password-less authentication via biometrics or patches. While Symantec mainly relies on traditional token-based or password-based methods, newer authentication methods are missing from its repertoire. Support services often lack promptness and depth of knowledge, leaving customers waiting for weeks to resolve issues. In the realm of multifactor authentication, swift resolution of problems is critical, as any slowdown or interruption can significantly impact operations. Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"FortiAuthenticator is really good software that integrates very well with Fortinet products."
"The product is stable and reliable."
"We use this product for SSL two-factor authentication and FortiToken management."
"FortiAuthenticator centralizes the management and storage of user identity information, thereby increasing the efficiency of administration and increasing the control over who accesses the network."
"The biggest advantages of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator are that it's easy to deploy, easy to manage, and the GUI is a very strong interface."
"The technical support for FortiAuthenticator is excellent."
"FortiAuthenticator has created a straightforward easy-to-use product."
"The response from Fortinet is very fast."
"It allows us to assure our customers that we are protecting their data."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it's a strong authentication solution that's able to integrate with applications."
"One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability."
"The most valuable feature is that we get a wide range of authentication methods and authentication integrators, so different platforms can get service authentication with transparency to the final user while providing strong authentication forms and connectors."
"Ease of deployment: no need to keep up with physical devices for multi-factor authentication; no software to deploy on end-user computers requiring administrative rights."
"Rules on Risk Authentication are very good."
"Symantec Advanced Authentication can be useful for wherever you require a strong authentication."
"CA products are the best fit with our backend systems."
 

Cons

"FortiAuthenticator's interface could be better."
"The technical support is mid-range; it's not your wow kind of support, and they're not really there when it comes to support."
"The solution could be more automated. It should be able to let me automate a lot of things so that what normally is done as a matter of manual processes can be handled quicker. Slow integrations can be taken up/out if there was more automation."
"The speed of deployment on the cloud could be improved. It took a few days when it should have been just two days"
"I would like to see more security features in reference to identity login or identity identification."
"The area for improvement in Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is its price."
"I would like to see more security features in reference to identity login or identity identification."
"We had some stability issues. Our first LBS unit wouldn't work properly the first time and that wasted a lot of time."
"It needs faster implementation on the cloud for our customers."
"This solution could be improved with risk-based authentication. I think that this product has everything that most customers are looking for, but modern technology has people looking for security tools with risk-based authentication, which they have a separate tool for. If they could integrate this, it would improve Symantec Advanced Authentication. They have to look at what's newly trending and how things are moving forward, and then adapt and adopt those features. Symantec's technical support should also be improved, in terms of response time."
"The initial setup of the tenant is a big cost element of the service and we were doing multiple tenants for our customer."
"Advanced Authentication talks about the Device ID. But how the device ID is captured, I want to know more about that."
"Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation."
"Arcot itself is based on a browser technology. This means that the office ID is effectively stored as a cookie in the browser."
"Symantec has very bad support, so I have no words for it. It's one of the worst support experiences I've ever had."
"We have seen quite a few issues with bugginess. It is indeed pretty buggy and we have had to install some fixes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing structure is cost-effective for us compared to some of the other solutions that have recurring monthly costs."
"I would rate the pricing a four out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. It is not that costly. It is cheap, easy to manage, easy to install, and easy to configure."
"The customers need to pay for licenses, and some pay on a yearly basis while others pay on a three-yearly or five-yearly basis. Also, it is not an expensive solution."
"Between paying them to help with the configuration, the box itself, and the support, it came to like $12,500, including a three-year service agreement."
"It costs more to license the high-availability option."
"It's not expensive."
"I price of the solution is expensive."
"FAC is an affordable solution for Middle Range (200E/400E) and also needs a package of mobility agents (2,000) perpetual."
"There are eventually going to be implementation costs. Sometimes you're required to have custom code developments there, so that has to be part of the implementation price."
"The price is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet can make Fortinet FortiAuthenticator better by having a cloud version of it. Currently, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is only available for on-premises, and it is an on-premises solution. It...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is primarily used for authenticating admin users, including remote admin use cases. Remote admin use cases utilize Fortinet FortiAuthenticator to securely authenticate a...
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Also Known As

FortiAuthenticator
CA Advanced Authentication, CA Strong Authentication, CA Risk Authentication, Arcot WebFort, Arcot RiskFort
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Global bank, Large Filipino Bank and SK Infosec
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.