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Fortinet FortiClient vs SonicWall SMA 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)
SonicWall SMA
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (6th)
 

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 SonicWall SMA is 2.6%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiClient6.8%
SonicWall SMA2.6%
Other90.6%
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.
BA
Owner at ThinkEzIT
Security enhances through autonomous protection and strong support while multi-factor authentication secures access
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, as I haven't been looking at what they're releasing. We're a small shop, so we drop stuff in and manage it and do what we need to do to maintain it. If we run into an issue, we contact support. There's a learning curve, but it comes down to getting support to train you on the product, and then once you have the training you need, you're able to make the changes and updates that you need to.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is easy to configure and manage."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its integration capabilities. The processing is fast and the reporting is also very good."
"We find the VPN features valuable."
"It supports securely connections for VPN users from outside our environment during the lockdown."
"It is a stable solution."
"It works well with the Fortigate Firewall."
"The service is centralized."
"It seems to be more scalable than we thought."
"It is faster than other security options when using remote connections."
"Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security."
"The SonicWall SSL-VPN solution offers the best protection with the least effect on services."
"This solution has many options for remote desktop and access."
"I think they ask for a fair price."
"These are very nice appliances and they give us all that we need for our work in the hospital."
"The solution is reliable and has good overall performance."
"We are in Thailand and I'm very happy with the technical support."
 

Cons

"When we change our endpoint, we have to connect again, which means having to enter our credentials and permissions."
"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 can improve by adding new remote console or endpoint features to make the solution easier to use."
"When we change our endpoint, we have to connect again, which means having to enter our credentials and permissions."
"The setup process could be more simplified. There are complexities with the scalability part, particularly with routing and policy alignment."
"The software inventory part is not yet up-to-date. It doesn't have a great interface, which is a disadvantage. I wish we could leverage it, but we don't use it at all because it's not that reliable."
"Everybody else is doing AI, machine learning, self-healing, next-generation features. It needs more next-generation features. Everybody else is doing AI, machine learning, self-healing, next-generation features. It needs more next-generation features."
"The solution has some stability issues on the user side but is improving."
"I'd like to see the product maybe polish keyboards in Bookmark."
"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan. The login mechanism should be improved. It would be helpful if the client could use an agent to log in. An agent-server model would improve the performance of the RDB, which consumes a lot of bandwidth."
"This is an expensive solution and I think that the price could be improved."
"The user interface could be improved."
"SonicWall SMA is difficult to use and it does not provide easy access to different parts of the network."
"There are some features that are available on Palo Alto or Cisco that don't exist. The solution could integrate better with other platforms."
"The solution could integrate better with other platforms."
"This solution is very slow, and the competitors have much higher speeds."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not that expensive. It was within the range. A dollar per user per month is nothing."
"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."
"FortiClient is quite reasonably priced."
"The price is okay and competitive."
"If we pay for the yearly package that includes the FortiGate firewall, then the FortiClient VPN license is included with it."
"An annual license costs about 1.5 to 3,000 US dollars. There are no additional costs."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"All the costs are included in a bundled license."
"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."
"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."
"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."
"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."
"The platform has medium pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Real Estate/Law Firm
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 Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
 

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 do you like most about SonicWall SMA?
Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.
What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, a...
 

Also Known As

FortiClient
SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiClient vs. SonicWall SMA and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.