Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Netgate pfSense comparison

Fortinet and Netgate are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Fortinet is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.5, while Netgate is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8. Fortinet holds a 1.9% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Netgate’s 9.8% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Netgate users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Netgate pfSense and Fortinet FortiGate-VM are two prominent firewall solutions. Fortinet FortiGate-VM seems superior due to its robust features, indicating it is worth the price.

Features: Netgate pfSense reviews highlight valuable features such as flexibility, open-source nature, and extensive documentation. Fortinet FortiGate-VM reviews emphasize its comprehensive security features, integration capabilities, and scalability. FortiGate-VM's extensive and scalable security features make it stand out, despite pfSense's praised flexibility and open-source advantages.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest that Netgate pfSense could benefit from a more intuitive setup process and better hardware options. For Fortinet FortiGate-VM, reviews indicate a need for improved licensing models and a better learning curve.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Netgate pfSense deployment is praised for its flexibility, though some users encounter challenges in the initial setup. Fortinet FortiGate-VM is noted for straightforward deployment, with robust customer service and support.

Pricing and ROI: Netgate pfSense is often cited for its cost-effectiveness and lower initial setup costs, delivering good ROI over time. Conversely, Fortinet FortiGate-VM, while higher in initial cost, offers strong ROI due to its advanced features and support.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Netgate pfSense Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Netgate pfSense

December 2025

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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:

ROI

Sentiment score

5.8

Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, robust security, reducing expenses, enhancing efficiency, easy implementation, quick ROI, and improved network management.

Sentiment score

3.9

Users report improved network stability, security, and cost savings, with scalability and threat management enhancing ROI despite potential early replacement losses.

Sentiment score

5.5

Netgate pfSense provides high ROI by reducing hardware and licensing costs, enhancing reliability, and lowering support and maintenance expenses.

Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.

Bart Homblé

BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks

It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.

Bernard Samontanes

Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

I observed a fifty to sixty percent reduction in operational costs after migrating to FortiGate VM.

Rahool Sharma

Senior Network Consultant at Visionet Systems Inc.

They have a platform that organizes their networks and access effectively.

Pietro Di Blasi

Pre-Sales Analyst at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

We haven't used MPLS for over five years now, and it was extremely beneficial to see the changes from MPLS to SD-WAN using Fortinet FortiGate.

reviewer2706363

Chief Technology Officer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate-VM report

If they can save their data from attackers then it would save them at least two days of not working plus the cost of recovery, which would be much more than the cost of the system and maintenance.

Bojan Oremuz

CEO at In.sist d.o.o.

Since the memory leak fixes, it's been incredibly stable and requires minimal maintenance.

Hunor Dori

Network Engineer at a media company with 51-200 employees

In four years of using it, that payment of 189 dollars per year has already paid off.

Reymond Rivera

L2 Systems Administrator at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Netgate pfSense report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.6

Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is generally praised for responsiveness, though some users experience delays in critical situations.

Sentiment score

6.0

Users have mixed experiences with Fortinet FortiGate-VM's support; generally positive, but some report inconsistency and delays.

Sentiment score

7.9

Netgate pfSense users often rely on forums, yet paid support is praised for its responsiveness and problem-solving expertise.

The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.

Alexandre Menezes

IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

AnishKumar

NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd

As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

I would rate the technical support by Fortinet at a 10.

Mohamed Fouad

Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions

You can open a ticket and expect a reply and problem-solving from effective engineers in just one hour, which no other vendor can offer.

Mohamed Fouad

Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions

Their support is helpful and effective.

Rahool Sharma

Senior Network Consultant at Visionet Systems Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate-VM report

When I provide detailed information about the problem, they've been able to reply quickly with a solution or go research the problem and get back to us quickly with a fix.

SeanCox

NOC / Network Engineering Manager at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

They are highly responsive.

Steve Gleason

Network Administrator at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees

I couldn't imagine having better support.

Tim Lambert

Director of IT at Cutting Edge Hair Salon RSS

For more quotes and insights, download the Netgate pfSense report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Fortinet FortiGate is scalable and popular for SMEs but requires careful design and may incur scaling costs and licensing constraints.

Sentiment score

6.3

Many users appreciate Fortinet FortiGate-VM's scalability and flexibility, though pricing complexities can impact scaling plans.

Sentiment score

6.5

Netgate pfSense offers exceptional scalability and performance, efficiently managing various environments with seamless hardware integration and virtualization.

They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.

Ian Manton

IT Manager at Daltons Limited

The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.

reviewer2667480

Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.

FatmaSamy

General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

Fortinet FortiGate-VM adapts effectively; for example, you have a limited number of VPN connections on VM01, accommodating around 1,000 remote users, and if the customer needs another endpoint, we can deploy VM02 and manage that transition effectively.

Samuel-Mottet

EMEA Enterprise Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

Scalability is well-supported, with the notable ability to implement features easily.

Ino Vitra

Assistant Operation Manger at IIJ Singapore

It can start with a single core and scale up to a 32-core license for a robust deployment.

reviewer1866795

Chief Executive Officer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate-VM report

If I put things into a certain context and say that we have a network that has around 100 people, then you don't put up a device that can manage 100 people. Instead, you need to get a device that can manage 150 to 200 people, and then you can create room for growth.

UdochiOdodo

CTO at Vigon Business Solutions Limited

I don't think Netgate pfSense can offer much scalability for big enterprises.

reviewer2510328

Director at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees

Even with a jump from a 50 megabit to a 500 megabit internet connection and approximately 65 active VPN clients, our firewall operates smoothly without any strain.

reviewer2512578

IT Manager at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Netgate pfSense report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Fortinet FortiGate is praised for its stability, with effective long-term performance and improvements in newer firmware versions.

Sentiment score

6.0

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is reliable and performs well, although some users encounter update-related issues or configuration errors.

Sentiment score

7.0

Netgate pfSense is highly stable and reliable, with user-reported issues typically tied to hardware or outdated versions.

We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.

Ricardo Biggs

Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees

I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

AnishKumar

NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd

Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.

Juan Frias

CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

The stability of Fortinet FortiGate is excellent.

Subhadip Pakrashi

CEO at Kapstone Technological Services LLP

The product has been very stable, based on my ten to eleven years of experience.

Ino Vitra

Assistant Operation Manger at IIJ Singapore

In the past couple of years, they started releasing numerous new features, and things have become somewhat unstable.

reviewer2706363

Chief Technology Officer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate-VM report

I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten.

Mohmad Saqib

Infrastructure and integration Architect at CommunityForce

I've noticed a substantial improvement in stability and ease of use for upgrades and patching over the past year or two.

Damon Martin

Technical Sales Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

When I replace consumer routers with pfSense for small businesses with two or three employees, they are often amazed to discover the router can run for a year without a reboot.

Vinc Duran

Partner and Owner at Free Range Geeks

For more quotes and insights, download the Netgate pfSense report

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate needs enhanced UI, simplified licensing, improved performance, reporting, third-party integration, and expanded automation features.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM users seek improvements in UI, support, stability, pricing, integration, customization, scalability, and reporting capabilities.

Netgate pfSense users seek improvements in interface, management, features, reporting, and third-party integration for enhanced usability.

These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.

Elvis Mahadeo

Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company

It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.

Pravin Mandlik

Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

The API needs better integration to match accounts and objects more effectively.

Rahool Sharma

Senior Network Consultant at Visionet Systems Inc.

Now, these features require separate products like FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, and a FortiCloud subscription for reporting.

reviewer1866795

Chief Executive Officer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

They lack a post-sale process; once the sale happens, they just vanish, and then you're on your own.

reviewer2706363

Chief Technology Officer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate-VM report

There is some trade-off between having a certain level of security and maintaining acceptable performance.

Bojan Oremuz

CEO at In.sist d.o.o.

If I need to go between different VLANs, I have VLAN 19.1 and VLAN 19.2, and I strictly use Netgate pfSense, but it doesn't route very efficiently and works quite slowly.

Christos Adamidis

Information Security Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

They should support the idea of configuration management as code from source code and provide a more robust API for managing the pfSense configuration.

Timothy Plimpton

Co-Owner at Steffi and Tim

For more quotes and insights, download the Netgate pfSense report

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Fortinet FortiGate costly initially, but cheaper overall, despite some high renewal and setup costs.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM offers competitive pricing with flexible options, providing good value for medium to large enterprises.

Netgate pfSense offers enterprises cost-effective, open-source security with free software and optional, competitively-priced support subscriptions.

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.

AiméKouchade

Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios

It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.

NilsPaley

IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1

It is about 20% cheaper.

MithatBulut

Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

The license for Fortinet FortiGate-VM costs 100K to 150K Philippine pesos per year for VM1 or VM2.

Sitti Ridzma Salahuddin

System Engineer at Trends and Technologies, Inc

I don't have this experience with Fortinet FortiGate-VM because my colleagues in Germany are reaching better prices than me.

Karel Ondracek

Network Administrator at THK Co Ltd

We have a licensing module along with a next-generation firewall module, and its pricing compared to other vendors is one of the best features of Fortinet as it is cheaper than any vendor.

Mohamed Fouad

Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate-VM report

The price of setup is approximately €500 to €800, which also includes the initial monitoring.

Bojan Oremuz

CEO at In.sist d.o.o.

The product is free of cost.

Romani Labib

Director of Information Technology at MASFinancials

Opting for twenty-four-seven support significantly increases the price, reaching around ten thousand to thirteen hundred dollars.

JoseMorales3

IT Manager at Gandia Consulting Group

For more quotes and insights, download the Netgate pfSense report

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate provides robust, flexible security solutions with key features like web filtering, SSL VPN, SD-WAN, and centralized management.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is favored for strong security, ease of use, scalability, comprehensive threat detection, and flexible pricing.

Netgate pfSense is a cost-effective, scalable, customizable firewall offering security, VPNs, traffic management, and strong community support.

These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.

Syed Ali Waqas

Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions

The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.

Viraj Fernandopulle

General Manager Group IT at DART GLOBAL LOGISTICS PTE. LTD.

We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.

VINAY GUJARATHI

Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

The more integrated we become, the less we spend on solving bugs and issues, allowing us to reduce time focusing on understanding and improving our network.

Pietro Di Blasi

Pre-Sales Analyst at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

Fortinet is the only provider to have successfully set up a unified operating system on all its products in the network security ecosystem.

reviewer2742447

System Administrator, Security Engineer, Security Result at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees

For what we need to do, which is setting up a VPN connection between both sides and using it for SSL VPN connections for remote users, it works effectively and we haven't encountered vulnerabilities.

Samuel-Mottet

EMEA Enterprise Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate-VM report

With pfSense, network configurations adhere to standard practices, facilitating troubleshooting without the need for complex overlays or policies.

JoseMorales3

IT Manager at Gandia Consulting Group

The price point is the most valuable aspect of the solution.

Patrick Muiruri

Director at InfoVale Ltd.

I like the tool's flexibility in the sense that you do not have to buy an appliance. You can put it on your own hardware, and it can be very simplistic hardware with simple configurations.

Christos Adamidis

Information Security Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Netgate pfSense report

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.7%, down from 20.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 1.9%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netgate pfSense is 9.8%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	18.7%
Netgate pfSense	9.8%
Fortinet FortiGate-VM	1.9%
Other	69.6%

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.

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Michael-Collins

Chief information security officer at Center for Information Management, Inc.

Provides visibility that enables users to make data-driven decisions

pfSense flexibility overall is pretty good. They are making some really big improvements. That said, they're a long way from enterprise. They advertise things that they don't have. I've worked for probably 30% of the Corporate 100, and they won't tolerate the high availability and it being as buggy as it is. The fact that if you configure it incorrectly without any visual indications that it's not done in the way Netscape does, then it will not only break the firewall, it will break both firewalls. The only way you can even try to recover is by getting new images from Netgate. You have to open up a tech support case, download the image for, then reimage the firewalls, and reapply your configuration. The fact that you can completely brick your firewalls just by having a configuration that they allow, and they don't even don't tell you there's a problem until they both go down. That's totally unacceptable in an enterprise. As a standalone firewall, they're excellent. As an enterprise, we're not touching it with a ten-foot pole. It’s difficult to configure and use add-on features. It's really easy to add them. On the website, they say “Oh, we do this, this, and this.” However, they do a lot through third-party add-ons. The problem is, if there's any problems at all, the very first thing they want you to do is disable those add-ons. So that's not really supporting anything. There are two ways that firewalls are viewed: talking to the firewall and talking through the firewall. If you're talking about “to the firewall,” then it's a very robust, very secure firewall. However, it doesn't have things that they claim helps with protecting data, most of it's third party. If you want to do all these things that are typically associated with enterprise-level firewalls, most of them are done by a third party. It's not actually cooked into their product. I like their OSPF. I wish it was more current. The only bugs that are in the OSPF are ones that have been known about for almost two years. Maybe they're they're victims of their own success. Their growth curve has outstripped their technical support and has outstripped their ability to develop. They're just growing so fast. They're trying to do everything. Updates from third parties can take too long. For example, if there's a problem with a package and no available update is available, you have to wait. Since it's via a third party, there's no definable schedule, as the update needs to come from a third-party open organization with no financial interest to make the process faster. Sometimes, there's more finger-pointing than resolution. In, OSPF, they give you lots of information. However, when it comes to hardcore troubleshooting of different routing zones or things like that, then you had to keep dropping down to the CLI in order to get it. And that's where your experience can change quite a bit. If you're running OSPF on Cumulus or some of the other big routing or switching solutions, then they're running much newer versions of it, which are all bug-patched and fixed. However, pfSense is running on an operating system that is not theirs. They don't necessarily have full control over it. When you get a real enterprise firewall, and when you hook up the redundancy, you expect redundancy to work and be predictable. And never ever will the redundancy crash your system. If you don't create the interfaces in the exact same order on both firewalls every single time, if so much as one interface is out of order, if the command line is different because of the way the operating system works, you will slowly corrupt your configuration to the point where it'll break.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Media Company

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

13%

Manufacturing Company

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	188

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	71
Midsize Enterprise	33
Large Enterprise	36

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	168
Midsize Enterprise	33
Large Enterprise	29

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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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...

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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...

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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

Help me find the best open source router

You don't really specify what type of router you are looking for but if you are talking about a gateway router I reco...

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How do I choose between Fortinet FortiGate and pfSense?

Fortinet’s Fortigate is a firewall solution we use and are very much satisfied with its performance. We find Fortigat...

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What is the difference between PfSense and OPNsense?

Two of the most common and well recognized firewalls, PfSense and OPNsense both support site-to-site IPsec VPN and cl...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 19% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 27% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos XGS vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 3% of the time

Juniper vSRX vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM Competitors

OPNsense vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 51% of the time

Sophos XG vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 3% of the time

KerioControl vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 2% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Netgate pfSense

Compared 2% of the time

More Netgate pfSense Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate-VM product report

Buyer's Guide

Netgate pfSense

December 2025

Download Netgate pfSense product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM

No data available

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

Netgate pfSense is an open-source firewall and router software known for scalability, cost-effectiveness, and community support. It includes customizable packages for varied network management needs, offering solid performance and straightforward management for diverse setups.

Netgate pfSense provides an impressive range of functionalities including firewall capabilities, VPN options, and extensive customization through packages. Its low resource usage and high availability make it viable for businesses of all sizes, especially when dealing with tailored network demands. Despite its strengths, users suggest improvements in ease of use, mobile compatibility, and support for plug-ins. Enhanced centralized management, better documentation, and additional security features are frequent requests.

What are the key features of Netgate pfSense?

Scalability: Suits any network size from small home setups to large enterprises.
Open-source: Offers transparency and flexibility, allowing for community-driven development.
Firewall Capabilities: Provides robust protection against unauthorized access.
VPN Options: Supports secure remote connectivity with various VPN protocols.
Customizable Packages: Allows users to personalize functionalities to fit network needs.
High Availability: Ensures continuous network operations with redundancy features.
Load Balancing: Distributes traffic efficiently across multiple paths or connections.
Traffic Shaping: Manages bandwidth allocation to optimize network performance.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Significant savings due to low operational costs and open-source nature.
Performance: Reliable service delivery with minimal hardware demands.
User-friendly Interface: Intuitive design that simplifies complex network management.
Community Support: Access to extensive community resources for troubleshooting and advice.
Comprehensive Documentation: Detailed guides and tutorials to facilitate installation and configuration.

In education and healthcare, Netgate pfSense is employed for secure connectivity and efficient traffic management, accommodating distinct demands of remote access and content filtering. Organizations in these sectors often utilize features such as load balancing and VPNs to maintain secure and reliable network operations while integrating with services like Active Directory for streamlined identity management. Small to medium-sized enterprises benefit from its affordability and robust functionality, making it a go-to choice for managed service environments requiring effective network security and control.

Netgate

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

Nerds On Site Inc., RKC Development Inc., Expertech, Fisher's Technology, Ncisive, Consulting, CPURX, Vaughn's Computer House Calls, Imeretech LLC, Digital Crisis, Carolina Digital Phone, Technigogo Technology Services, The Simple Solution, SwiftecITInc, Rocky Mountain Tech Team, Free Range Geeks, Alaska Computer Geeks, Lark Information Technology, Renaissance Systems Inc., Cutting Edge Computers, Caretech LLC, GoVanguard, Network Touch Ltd, P.C. Solutions.Net, Vision Voice and Data Systems LLC, Montgomery Technologies, Techforce, Concero Networks, ASONInc, CPS Electronics and Consulting, Darkwire.net LLC, IT Specialists, MBS-Net Inc., VOICE1 LLC, Advantage Networking Inc., Powerhouse Systems, Doxa Multimedia Inc., Pro Computer Service, Virtual IT Services, A&J Computers Inc., Envision IT LLC, CommunicaONE Inc., Bone Computer Inc., Amax Engineering Corporation, QPG Ltd. Co., IT 101 Inc., Perfect Cloud Solutions, Applied Technology Group Inc., The Digital Sun Group LLC, Firespring

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Netgate pfSense

December 2025

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