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Fortinet FortiClient vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 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 FortiClient
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (12th), Endpoint Compliance (1st)
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
24th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (39th), SSL VPN (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 6.8%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiClient6.8%
Hillstone E-Series1.5%
Other91.7%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

KL
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
Remote access has become seamless and secure while deployment remains simple for our users
Performance could be improved today. People are now moving toward SASE, which stands for Secure Access, Secure Edge Solution. Fortinet also has that offering, which would be easier since it operates through the cloud, acting as a first line of defense. When the user connects to the internet, they connect to the cloud first for posture assessment and monitoring before connecting to the outside world. The impact is significant because nowadays people are adopting SASE. During COVID time, many users were trying to connect back to their office, causing the performance or CPU utilization of the firewall to increase tremendously, which slowed down performance. I have not worked with endpoint telemetry in Fortinet FortiClient that could have been helpful for threat mitigation.
TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Zubair Feeds
Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Starting from FortiGate and from the EMS server, you have to begin at the endpoint, and that's the most useful thing about using FortiClient."
"The product is user-friendly."
"It is very powerful."
"Fortinet FortiClient offers easy deployment and ease of use, unlike other solutions where significant installations on the user computer are sometimes required."
"Fortinet FortiClient helped me reduce the attack surface by providing the ability to centrally view what is happening, allowing me to view everything from a single pane of glass, making it very easy now to react or respond based on what I'm seeing on the network."
"The integration with Active Directory is a valuable feature, allowing SSO for users."
"The EMS server gives us good control and central management."
"The connection speed is fast. I can connect quickly at any time, and there are never any interruptions to the FortiClient connection. I could easily code into the client's server with that connection, with no lag."
"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Five out of five ROI."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients a secure connectivity."
 

Cons

"The initial setup was probably more complex. The configuration was somewhat unclear."
"The features of Fortinet FortiClient could be improved."
"The reports could be easier to set up."
"The solution could improve by providing analytics or detailed reports."
"Initially, the support was very poor. It is getting better, but they should continue to improve this."
"The pricing is not cheaper compared to competitors. For price satisfaction, it rates at seven out of ten and could be improved."
"The support can be improved. They have room to improve by deploying more support resources."
"I would like to see an improvement in the web filter, because I think it can be more user-friendly."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"The current usage reporting is very basic."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its pricing is good. One thing that has always attracted us to the Fortinet range of products is that their pricing is very competitive. Our particular licensing is on a yearly basis. However, as part of this project, we did pre-purchase three years of maintenance and support at a fairly significant discount."
"The solution's scalability is inexpensive."
"The price is okay and competitive."
"The pricing is a six out of ten."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"FortiClient is quite reasonably priced."
"We are using the free version of this product."
"The price is reasonable compared to competitors, it is very good."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection because it continually scans servers for emerging vulnerabilities, which gives...
What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. Wh...
What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?
I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features which are available in the firewall.
What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?
Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I have not used any AI in the tool. I recommend the tool to others. I rate the tool ...
 

Also Known As

FortiClient
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiClient vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.