Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Hillstone T-Series comparison

Fortinet and Hillstone Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Fortinet is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.3, while Hillstone Networks is ranked #43. Fortinet holds a 2.0% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Hillstone Networks’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 66% of Hillstone Networks users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Hillstone T-Series and Fortinet FortiGate-VM compete in the cybersecurity category. Fortinet FortiGate-VM seems to have the upper hand due to its advanced functionalities, despite being more expensive.

Features: Hillstone T-Series provides robust security features like threat detection and prevention and solid user reviews. Fortinet FortiGate-VM has advanced security features, including high-level firewall capabilities and seamless integration with cloud environments.

Room for Improvement: Hillstone T-Series needs improvement in scalability, documentation, and update frequency. Fortinet FortiGate-VM could benefit from more frequent product updates and addressing occasional performance issues.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Hillstone T-Series deployment is straightforward, with mixed customer service reviews. Fortinet FortiGate-VM's deployment is complex but receives higher ratings for responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Hillstone T-Series is cost-effective with a favorable ROI. Fortinet FortiGate-VM, despite being pricier, delivers a high ROI due to its advanced features and reliable performance.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone T-Series Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone T-Series

March 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 883,692 peers since 2012

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

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.3%, down from 21.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 2.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone T-Series is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	18.3%
Fortinet FortiGate-VM	2.0%
Hillstone T-Series	0.3%
Other	79.4%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

Read full review

Karel Ondracek

Network Administrator at THK Co Ltd

Faced hardware limitations and setup challenges but have improved network protection over time

I spent much time finding exact firmware on Aruba which was working with these guns, but it is not optimal because it is not the latest version, so there could be potential security problems. We decided to replace those access points with another one. I personally have trouble because I don't know the exact life cycle of Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes. I don't know if the life of boxes is five years or something else; we moved from our previous company, which sold us to other companies. Before 10 years, we had a special department that took care of core networks, including firewalls. After that, this responsibility fell to me and my colleague. It is not easy to set up these Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes properly because we didn't have previous experience with this kind of solution. At first, we set up only a few rules that were not secure enough, and over a couple of years, we improved the settings and security of these Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes. Currently, I have one Fortinet FortiGate-VM that needs to be replaced next year, and this box is not so powerful, so I need to redirect some traffic to another Fortinet FortiGate-VM. It is stable, but because the CPU processor of this box is not powerful, I need to redirect some traffic to another box. In the future, I need to choose a higher-level box to prevent potential troubles with the power of this box.

Read full review

TahirMahmood

IT Manager at Zubair Feeds

Is stable and has a user-friendly dashboard and a good interface

We installed Hillstone T-Series after a ransomware attack. The dashboard and user interface are very good We cannot secure a specific IP class with this firewall. Another loophole with Hillstone T-Series is that when we connect through WiFi and turn our hot spot on, all who connect through the…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is simple to manage, and there are a lot of functionalities in the same box."

"The solution is secure."

"The firewalls are valuable for threat prevention."

"The notable features that I have found most valuable are that it includes the antivirus, and also IPS, and even SD-WAN."

"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate is the IPS or IDS implementation. I appreciate most the agility or the flexibility to create hashes to block incoming threats, and I can integrate with third-party threat intelligence with our FortiGate."

"What I appreciate about Fortinet FortiGate is that the UI is easier than what I've previously known from Sophos."

"Overall, I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten."

"It's user-friendly and easy to operate."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The stability of the solution is good. We haven't faced any issues at all while using the product."

"The threat detection capabilities are excellent because of the good features that come with the services and FortiGuard connection, where you can get signatures every hour, including IPS signatures, anti-malware signatures, web filters, and application filters, and you can even create custom signatures such as application signatures and IPS signatures."

"A top feature is the really good web interface and the classic Fortinet features, such as IPS, IDS, AV scanner, and spam filter."

"The Intrusion Prevention System and the web filtering are both working well."

"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted our organization by allowing us to scale fast."

"It is very useful to make lists for rules and prepare firewall rules."

"The VM it's very quick for deployment. If we need to have a POC for a customer, if we don't have any hardware physically at our premises, at our store, in our office, we can download the VM from Fortinet and install all the VM to their environment in order to run it. If we have a customer that says "let's start tomorrow" we are able to do that in a way that's not possible with a hardware version."

"All the security features that are built into the product are valuable."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros

"We installed Hillstone T-Series after a ransomware attack. The dashboard and user interface are very good."

"It has been stable so far."

"The only firewall able to monitor traffic from a CCTV network. Can detect unauthorized devices plugged into the network, which standard firewalls can't do."

Cons

"Its reporting can be improved. Sometimes, I don't get proper reports."

"The customization is a little bit difficult."

"The logs need to be better. They need to be more visible and easier to access."

"Compared to some other products, the DLP is not at par for the moment."

"FortiGate IPS is somewhat pricey compared to other solutions. There is also room for improvement in terms of the radio signals. The FortiGate WiFi has a relatively short range. I've found there is a lag in its zero-day malware response that could be better, and FortiGate could integrate better with other brands of equipment or identity management solutions."

"There were situations of availability related to their switching solutions due to box errors."

"Stability and technical support are the two major issues I have found with Fortinet."

"With the standard support subscription, if the device goes down, the customer has to first ship the box, and then Fortinet sends the replacement. With the higher support, the customer has to ship the device after they have the replacement. It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"FortiGate's application load balancing has to be improved. They need to improve a lot on the load balancing and RAF side. They are far behind Citrix in that regard."

"The graphical user interface should be enhanced."

"In my experience, Fortinet FortiGate is not stable at all."

"We have experience stability issues, when the product sizing is wrong or on configuration errors."

"The price and licensing of the solution can be better."

"The security offered by the tool has certain shortcomings, making it in area where improvements are required."

"Fortinet could improve the availability and delivery of its products. It takes four to six weeks for every purchase to arrive."

"The price is problematic."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM cons

"Another loophole with Hillstone T-Series is that when we connect through WiFi and turn our hot spot on, all who connect through the hotspot get all the functions, and the security does not work."

"Licensing is not cheap."

"They have a very good technical support team, but I think there are some communication issues due to language differences."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of FortiGate is reasonable as I plan to buy new switches. The initial gadgets are already booted, and the pricing seems normal on the market. As for additional costs, I haven't subscribed to many extra features, so I'm only using what I need. Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us."

"Fortinet FortiGate IPS' licensing is quite simple to understand."

"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."

"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten"

"Fortinet FortiGate gives you most of the features in one license."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"The price, in comparison to other products is very cheap."

"If we have an older version, the support costs get quite high."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"It is an expensive solution."

"The price is fair for what we get with FortiGate."

"For large enterprises, price is not a problem because they need that solution. However, in the Philippine market, many of our clients are still small to medium businesses, so the price can be challenging. The license for Fortinet FortiGate-VM costs 100K to 150K Philippine pesos per year for VM1 or VM2."

"We pay for a yearly license."

"The cost of this product is too high."

"I rate the product price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price."

"For medium and enterprise organizations, FortiGate is more affordable."

"The price falls somewhere in the middle; it's neither cheap nor expensive."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pricing and cost advice

"We got a much cheaper price than that provided by Fortinet right now."

"On a scale from one to ten, with one being low and ten being high price, I would rate the price of Hillstone T-Series at three. There are no additional costs other than renewal costs."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

883,692 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Media Company

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	359
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	190

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	72
Midsize Enterprise	34
Large Enterprise	38

No data available

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

See all answers

What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

See all answers

Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...

See all answers

Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?

Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigat...

See all answers

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate-VM?

An enhanced security solution for any kind of alert that we have configured.

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 21% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 10% of the time

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM Competitors

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Hillstone T-Series

Compared 35% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Hillstone T-Series

Compared 24% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Hillstone T-Series

Compared 11% of the time

More Hillstone T-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

March 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

March 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate-VM product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

February 2026

Download Hillstone T-Series product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM

Hillstone T-Series Intelligent Next-Generation Firewalls, Hillstone iNGFW

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

FortiGate Virtual Appliances allow you to mitigate blind spots by implementing critical security controls within your virtual infrastructure. They also allow you to rapidly provision security infrastructure whenever and wherever it is needed. FortiGate virtual appliances feature all of the security and networking services common to traditional hardware-based FortiGate appliances. With the addition of virtual appliances from Fortinet, you can deploy a mix of hardware and virtual appliances, operating together and managed from a common centralized management platform.

Fortinet

Hillstone’s T-Series intelligent Next-Generation Firewall (iNGFW) uses three key technologies to detect advanced attacks and provide continuous threat defense for today’s networks. First, it uses statistical clustering to detect unknown malware, leveraging the patented Hillstone Advanced Threat Detection engine (ATD). Second, it uses behavioral analytics to detect anomalous network behavior, which is based on the Hillstone Abnormal Behavior Detection engine (ABD). Finally, it leverages the Hillstone threat correlation analysis engine to correlate threat events detected by disparate engines – including ATD, ABD, Sandbox and other traditional signature-based threat detection technologies – along with context information to identify advanced threats.

Hillstone Networks

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Security7 Networks, COOPENAE

University of Córdoba

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone T-Series

March 2026

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone T-Series

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone T-Series and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

883,692 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone T-Series report.

See our list of best Firewalls vendors.

We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.