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Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Symantec Siteminder comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 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 Single Sign-On (SSO)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (3rd), Identity Management (IM) (10th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)
Symantec Siteminder
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Web Access Management (1st), Access Management (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 3.7%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Siteminder is 2.7%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator3.7%
Symantec Siteminder2.7%
Other93.6%
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

Yonas Abebe - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
Integration capabilities simplify authentication and migration challenges need addressing
The integration capabilities of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator are very interesting, as it can be integrated with third-party devices easily and is straightforward to configure. The integration with FortiToken is outstanding, adding a layer of security for authentication. In addition, it can be used by integrating with zero trust single access, enhancing overall security measures.
Muzi Lubisi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior technical Consultant at CA Africa
Improved user experience with seamless integration and easy installation
The feature that I mostly valued is the ease of installation on different systems, especially on Windows. Additionally, it is very beneficial for deploying single sign-on sessions between different windows on a web browser, provided I am connected to the right identity provider. That seamless integration significantly improves user experience and efficiency.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature I find in FortiAuthenticator is web filtering."
"We use multi-factor authentication for enhancing security."
"It integrates very tightly with the rest of the Fortinet ecosystem."
"The ease of use is really nice. Using Authenticator, I've been able to actually work better on my authentication due to the fact that I have a single fabric to authenticate control from my firewall and on my access points. Authentication takes place from this area."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility in using the SMS messages."
"FortiAuthenticator is really good software that integrates very well with Fortinet products."
"The feature I value the most is the one-time passwords because it helps to authenticate users so you know the timing of their usage."
"The initial setup is so easy and there is no problem in the implementation."
"Symantec Siteminder Is both scalable and stable."
"The feature that I mostly valued is the ease of installation on different systems, especially on Windows."
"I liked the debugging part. There are only two files (trace file and log file) that you need to look into while performing debugging, and the logs give you the exact info on where and what needs to be fixed."
"The most valuable feature is that it meets the requirements of the customer. You have a lot of features in the product. Every product has them, but the question is, are these products going to meet the requirement of the customer?"
"It is reliable."
"The most valuable feature is the integration with the Active Directory."
"Authentication & Authorization are important because all the sites need authentication for security purposes. That has been handled pretty well all these years with SSO."
"Ease of use is very good, for administrating it. It's very well known."
 

Cons

"The user interface and clustering are areas with shortcomings that need improvement."
"It does not consider customer requirements."
"One thing I dislike is that if you have the software authenticator on a mobile device and that device is lost, it's difficult to remove."
"The speed of deployment on the cloud could be improved. It took a few days when it should have been just two days"
"Integration with FortiGate could be more fluid."
"It does the job I paid for, but the graphical interface could be improved."
"There is a room for improvement. The log is a bit difficult to access, and searching the log codes is also a bit difficult. So it would be much better if, when we open a log, it could provide detailed information about errors, reasons for failure, and such."
"Fortinet FortiAuthenticator's initial setup process could be easier."
"The GUIs are not very clear, especially when integrating with other products from CA."
"We would like to the OAuth be more stable, more issues being fixed rather than not."
"I would prefer to see their SAML integration be a more streamlined and easier interface."
"The support team could work on their response time and overall competence."
"The maintenance cost has increased significantly, and we are concerned about this."
"I'd like to see a rework of the user directory configuration."
"If the reporting feature can be integrated into SSO itself that will be an icing on the cake."
"I think they need to integrate some of the newer types of authentication into the product. I'm not seeing the innovation when it comes to biometrics in the product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay for licensing on a yearly basis."
"The pricing is fair."
"When we buy the Fortinet FortiAuthenticator device there is a comparison between price and security."
"The product could be more competitively priced."
"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."
"It costs more to license the high-availability option."
"The cost of the license could be less expensive. The license is paid on a yearly basis."
"FAC is an affordable solution for Middle Range (200E/400E) and also needs a package of mobility agents (2,000) perpetual."
"I recommend conducting a PoC on every available product before choose one."
"Symantec Siteminder is expensive; they could definitely do better on the price."
"The licensing is fair for this solution."
"Siteminder is a little costly. You pay for licensing, and they offer packages, so if you have less users, then you have to buy different products at different prices. If you have more of a user base, then the package is different. They also include other features—for example, if you have a database and you're using Siteminder, then it's good to use a Semantic-specific database, but if you are using less, then you have to purchase the database separately. Whereas if you are going for a bigger license, then it comes within the package. It depends on which plan you are using."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"The price is quite comparable to the other enterprise-level solutions in that market."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"CA solutions are generally expensive but for the customer the ROI is big."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
27%
Insurance Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Performing Arts
5%
 

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 Business8
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise69
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator could benefit from some artificial intelligence functionality and resolution of some glitches that may exist.
What do you like most about Symantec Siteminder?
It's agent-based. It's convenient to deploy and integrate.
What needs improvement with Symantec Siteminder?
Symantec Siteminder needs to have adaptive authentication and multi-factor authentication as integrated features. Currently, multi-factor authentication is available as a separate solution, and it ...
 

Also Known As

FortiAuthenticator
SiteMinder, CA SSO, Layer7 SiteMinder
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
British Telecom, CoreBlox, DBS, HMS, Itera ASA and Simeo
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs. Symantec Siteminder and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.