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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
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (8th), Endpoint Compliance (1st)
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
20th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (40th), SSL VPN (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 4.7%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 1.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiClient4.7%
Hillstone E-Series1.9%
Other93.4%
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

"We mainly use this solution because we have many Fortinet solutions like antivirus and SSL assessment."
"We use this to connect the data VPN from the remote office to the headquarters."
"We use the net UTM feature, which synchronizes with our office UTM and allows us to block URLs."
"The return on investment was very reasonable. It was low cost and it functioned, so the return on investment was excellent."
"It is very powerful."
"The configuration is the most valuable feature."
"What I find valuable in FortiClient is its patch management capabilities, allowing remote updates efficiently."
"There is a lot of documentation available online."
"If an organization is not looking for a web proxy, it's a very, very good product."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients secure connectivity from a remote location to their offices or their servers."
"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."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"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."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
 

Cons

"The endpoint side of FortiClient needs improvement, specifically the agent-based endpoint, which requires enhancements in detection and additional features to reduce bugs."
"The solution could be more secure. I would like to see more safety features."
"I haven't found that the solution does anything amazing; there is nothing special about it."
"The solution's access control could be improved."
"I think that for additional functions, there should be some deeper analysis into what is happening, such as trend analysis. The analytics part could be better."
"I would like to see an improvement in the web filter, because I think it can be more user-friendly."
"FortiClient needs improvement in restricting user information and ensuring more secure customer data to better protect source code and reduce the risk of security breaches."
"Fortinet FortiClient could improve the compatibility with mobile applications that are allowed and sometimes they do not respond. However, Microsoft Windows applications are very good."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"The room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"The current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Generally, Fortinet is not cheap. The features that are available for free are only for FortiClient VPN clients, not other solutions. It includes web security, antivirus, and one more feature."
"Licensing was free up to ten users and after that, it was pretty reasonable."
"Pricing is an area that I would like to see improved, as it could be lower."
"The solution is more cost efficient than Cisco, as FortiGate tends not to charge for the client license, which allows one to make free use of whatever is supported on the device."
"FortiClient is quite reasonably priced."
"It is a yearly subscription license. I don't see a problem with the pricing. Resellers add their markup and then give it to us, but I don't see that as a major challenge. It is fine."
"The licensing fee varies with what one is trying to accomplish. It can range from being free to costing several hundred thousand dollars per year."
"If we pay for the yearly package that includes the FortiGate firewall, then the FortiClient VPN license is included with it."
"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."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiClient?
The solution is not cloud-based; it comes from the firewall itself.
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: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.