Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs iboss comparison

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Fortinet FortiGate SWG

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

iboss and Fortinet FortiGate SWG are competing secure web gateway products. iboss has an advantage in pricing and support, while Fortinet FortiGate SWG has better features, making it preferred for comprehensive protection.

Features: iboss offers a cloud-native platform, seamless integrations, and advanced threat protection. Fortinet FortiGate SWG includes advanced threat intelligence, secure VPN functionalities, and robust network security features.

Room for Improvement: iboss could enhance its network security features, offer more detailed threat intelligence, and improve VPN functionality. Fortinet FortiGate SWG may require a simpler deployment process, more intuitive integration options, and reduced reliance on hardware support for easier scalability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: iboss is noted for its streamlined, cloud-based deployment minimizing setup time. Fortinet FortiGate SWG requires more complex deployment with dedicated hardware but offers strong customer service.

Pricing and ROI: iboss is recognized for its competitive pricing with lower initial setup costs leading to strong ROI. Fortinet FortiGate SWG offers high long-term ROI with a larger investment needed for enhanced security features.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. iboss Report (Updated: June 2025).

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. iboss

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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 FortiGate SWG

Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

iboss

Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), ZTNA as a Service (11th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is 6.3%, down from 7.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iboss is 2.1%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

Ayman Said

Infrastructure System's Manager at ICAPP (Americana Group)

Enables seamless traffic handling and effective network protection

We are using Fortinet FortiGate SWG for web filtering, application control, and IDPS. Additionally, we utilize it for VPN and the main features of a firewall Web filtering is very good, as well as IDPS. SD-WAN is a perfect feature. Additionally, the VPN is stable and very good. These features…

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Matt Crockford

Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water

It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless

One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I am content with its user interface and functionalities."

"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is its stability."

"It offers web filtering capabilities at a more affordable price compared to other solutions like PSMs or NETGEAR."

"The solution is easy to implement and easy to configure. The most valuable feature is FortiGate’s content filtering."

"The pricing on offer is excellent."

"The product is easy to install since we only need to follow the user manual, documents, and articles provided by Fortinet to install the product."

"I rate this solution a nine out of ten."

"The security for endpoints is the most valuable. It is very secure for our workers. It allows us to secure a transaction and enable security for a specific segment in the workflow."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pros

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

"Iboss is a solution that prevents advanced persistent threats, and has a zero tolerance for attacks."

"We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times."

"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."

"The console is cloud-based, which is something I really appreciate."

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device. It operates on the network side and is not device-based. This feature was one of the main reasons why we stayed with them for so long."

More iboss pros

Cons

"I would rate the technical support of Fortinet a six or seven out of ten. It is not very helpful. I would like to see improvements in their support."

"The solution could improve by having some additional features, such as IBS and better cloud administration."

"There's room for improvement in the interface, especially following their upgrade to version nineteen."

"Zero trust could be added. Nowadays, solutions like Zscaler, Netskope, and even SecureWorks combine multiple features into a single product."

"We also have FortiAnalyzer deployed here, so we want to enable the soft functionality of FortiGate and built-in compression for a firewall VPN use case. We want the ability to deploy a gateway for HTTPS enabled on this firewall. It is currently only for use in our headquarters."

"One area of improvement I've noticed is the lack of built-in monitoring capabilities in the firewall. Currently, we rely on third-party solutions for monitoring purposes. However, I believe the firewall itself has the potential to do a better job in this aspect. Another aspect of Fortinet that concerns me is related to redundancy. We have a setup with two firewalls working in parallel, which requires a highly adaptable configuration. However, it feels unfair that clients need to purchase two licenses, especially when one of the firewalls serves as a backup. We have noticed that other manufacturers have different policies on this matter."

"It is complicated to manage different kinds of on-premise boxes."

"It is essential to leverage its capabilities more professionally to achieve an even higher level of security."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG cons

"I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention."

"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."

"If they could implement an extra security layer preventing access to iboss from the open internet, it would be great."

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."

"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."

"One thing I would like to see differently with their Zero Trust platform is that some of the AI aspects related to high-risk activities have more false positives."

More iboss cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate FortiGate's pricing a five out of ten."

"It is less expensive than a Cisco solution."

"The cost has increased since the update so I would rate it eight out of ten."

"It could be more competitive and cost-effective."

"FortiGate SWG is reasonably priced."

"We pay about $4,000 for a yearly license, and there aren't any additional fees."

"It is around $50,000 per month."

"FortiGate SWG is a cost-effective solution well-suited for organisations of all sizes."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pricing and cost advice

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Web Gateways (SWG) solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

The interface and other reports are all user-friendly.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

Fortinet products are very expensive compared to competitors like Sophos and SonicWall. From a pricing perspective, I would rate them a six.

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

More improvement in AI would be a good edge. We would like the VPN to act as a web filtering solution because users outside the company don't have web filtering. It supports web filtering with an a...

What do you like most about iboss?

Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.

What needs improvement with iboss?

For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil. While iboss performed well, some competitors offered simpler implementati...

What is your primary use case for iboss?

Previously when I used iboss, we did the POC for iboss for ExxonMobil. Four or five people wanted to move from our old proxies to cloud proxies, and we did POCs with different giants at that time. ...

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Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate SWG

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Also Known As

FortiGate SWG, FortiGate Secure Web Gateway

iBoss Cloud Platform

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate SWG is a comprehensive web security solution provided by Fortinet. FortiGate SWG combines web filtering, malware protection, data loss prevention (DLP), and application control capabilities into a single integrated platform. It is designed to protect organizations from web-based threats, enforce compliance policies, and provide secure access to web resources.

FortiGate SWG Benefits:

Comprehensive web filtering and security features
Ease of use and management
Integration with other Fortinet products
Strong threat detection capabilities
Scalability and flexibility
Granular control over user access and activity

FortiGate SWG Features:

Web Filtering: FortiGate SWG employs URL filtering and content categorization to control and enforce web access policies.
Malware Protection: The solution provides real-time protection against web-borne threats, such as malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP): FortiGate SWG helps prevent sensitive data from being leaked or exfiltrated through web channels.
SSL Inspection: The solution supports SSL/TLS decryption and inspection, allowing organizations to examine encrypted web traffic for threats and enforce security policies.
Application Control: FortiGate SWG enables granular control over web applications and protocols.
Advanced Threat Intelligence: FortiGate SWG leverages Fortinet's threat intelligence services to provide up-to-date information about emerging threats and zero-day vulnerabilities.
User Authentication and Access Control: The solution supports various authentication methods, including single sign-on (SSO) and integration with identity providers, to ensure secure user authentication and access control for web resources.
Reporting and Analytics: FortiGate SWG provides comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities.

FortiGate SWG is typically deployed as a hardware appliance or as a virtual appliance in on-premises environments, but it may also be available as a cloud-based service. It is part of Fortinet's broader security fabric ecosystem, allowing integration with other Fortinet products to provide a unified and coordinated security infrastructure.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by FortiGate SWG users.

David Carlson, CIO at Camco Mfg., says that "Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help".

Suresh Vijayen, Product Manager at IX Telecom, writes that FortiGate SWG "Provides helpful technical support, but its dashboard needs to be more user-friendly".

Chandan Munshi, Chief Technical Officer at Provision Technologies LLP, states that "The user interface is intuitive. Anyone can configure the firewall with little knowledge of the product. The back-end is robust with good security."

Fortinet

iboss offers a comprehensive security platform designed for diverse use cases such as web filtering, data loss protection, corporate proxy services, and URL filtering.

iboss integrates advanced features to address dynamic security needs, leveraging its strength in SASE, ZTNA, AI initiatives, and cloud integration, while ensuring seamless operations for remote work. It excels in historical forensics, malware protection, and flexible cloud deployments. Users benefit from comprehensive traffic scanning, robust malware detection, and PaaS capabilities that reduce hardware management. An intuitive admin console ensures efficient management with content filtering and low false positives. SSL decryption enhances security, while DLP protects data in AI conversations. Deployment is rapid and scalable, allowing effortless integration with emerging technologies.

What features does iboss offer?

Granular Web Filtering: Provides precise control over web content access.
Traffic Scanning: Monitors data through multiple ports for security breaches.
Malware Detection: Ensures superior protection against malware threats.
PaaS Capabilities: Eliminates need for hardware management.
SSL Decryption: Enhances data protection by decrypting secure connections.
DLP Capabilities: Safeguards data during AI interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts quickly to growing demands and emerging tech integration.
Rapid Deployment: Reduces time to implement security measures.
User-Friendly Admin Console: Facilitates efficient operations management.
Low False Positives: Increases accuracy of threat detection systems.

iboss finds significant application in sectors such as education, where web filtering for K-12 is crucial, and in corporate environments requiring robust proxy services and URL filtering for network security. Its adaptability is essential in scenarios demanding flexible, decentralized security frameworks, particularly for remote work setups.

Sample Customers

Salt Lake County, Catholic College Bendigo, Azienda Unita Sanitaria

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. iboss