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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
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (10th), Identity Management (IM) (15th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)
Symantec Advanced Authentic...
Ranking in Authentication Systems
21st
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 August 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 3.2%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Authentication is 1.4%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator3.2%
Symantec Advanced Authentication1.4%
Other95.4%
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

"Intuitive interface and easy to deploy."
"The tool's most valuable features are push notifications and integration with the FortiGate firewall. Push notifications provide an instant acceptance mechanism. When customers try to access SSL VPN, the solution sends a push notification to their mobile phone, and they can easily approve the access. The integration with FortiGate firewall is very easy if our customers use FortiGate for their firewall."
"In terms of benefits, the tool provides both cost savings and efficiency, but efficiency is more important for our customers."
"The implementation has significantly improved access management within our organization."
"I work a lot with Fortinet products and I call the support often. They are very quick to respond and the support is very good."
"We use multi-factor authentication for enhancing security."
"The product is very easy to use and someone can easily manage working with it, so we do not need any support."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is the fact that you can utilize your tokens across the whole Fortinet fabric once you have the FortiAuthenticator."
"Being able to issue a soft token, but still having fairly strong security, is a big factor for us."
"It allows us to assure our customers that we are protecting their data."
"Rules on Risk Authentication are very good."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it's a strong authentication solution that's able to integrate with applications."
"CA products are the best fit with our backend systems."
"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."
"It tells us exactly what we want in terms of authentication to various applications and provides protection for users who access them."
 

Cons

"The GUI is not fancy enough and some of the settings are difficult to access."
"We have issues with HA (high availability). These should be addressed in future releases."
"I would like to see more integration and inclusion of features for ransomware protection directly within the FortiAuthenticator without requiring additional devices."
"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 GUI has some shortcomings and can be made better. The GUI is not great."
"If you want some other FortiAuthenticator from one site to another site, you should have requirements, but really if you have authentication and directory or another solution, you should change the password of the authenticator between the solution and the directory and other things. So transfer of data and other information should be simpler."
"It does the job I paid for, but the graphical interface could be improved."
"I think the tool could provide this solution on the cloud. It's currently an on-premises solution. A cloud-based version could make setup, installation, and management easier. With on-premises, you must pay capital expenses (CapEx) upfront. However, if the solution was cloud-based, it would be operational expenses (OpEx), which is often easier to manage. You can pay monthly instead of paying the total cost at once. In my opinion, OpEx is more easily manageable than CapEx."
"Sometimes getting this set up does take a bit longer. It's not always install, next, next, next, finish."
"Symantec has very bad support, so I have no words for it. It's one of the worst support experiences I've ever had."
"Advanced Authentication talks about the Device ID. But how the device ID is captured, I want to know more about that."
"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."
"It needs faster implementation on the cloud for our customers."
"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."
"The initial setup of the tenant is a big cost element of the service and we were doing multiple tenants for our customer."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price and ten is a low price, I rate the pricing a seven."
"The price seems okay. It's not that expensive compared to other authenticators."
"I price of the solution is expensive."
"The licensing structure is cost-effective for us compared to some of the other solutions that have recurring monthly costs."
"When we buy the Fortinet FortiAuthenticator device there is a comparison between price and security."
"It costs more to license the high-availability option."
"The product could be more competitively priced."
"I rate the price of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator a three out of five."
"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%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Construction Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
 

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: August 2026.
909,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.