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Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs OPNsense comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
316
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
Ranking in Firewalls
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
117
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OPNsense
Ranking in Firewalls
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 19.8%, up from 17.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 1.8%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OPNsense is 15.6%, down from 18.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 25, 2024
Effective threat prevention with responsive customer support
We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability. The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in…
SHUBHAM BHINGARDE - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 8, 2024
A tool to help businesses create a blockage for external traffic
The tool improved the security in our company's virtualized environment, as it was helpful in creating an additional layer of security for the organization and for the use of the internet. The tool was the most important product to be implemented in the organization. To be able for our organization to build our services, we need to operate inside a certain network while ensuring that the outside traffic gets blocked by using the firewall services from the tool, as it helps to create a secure network inside our company. Without the tool in our organization, our network would have been compromised. The aforementioned area consists of details related to how the tool helps with the workload protection aspect. I recommend the solution to others who plan to use it since it helps in areas where it helps block a particular website with the help of the firewall functionalities that it possesses. The tool also helps block outside traffic, and it is mandatory to implement a firewall as an organization grows for the smooth operations of business. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.
Akram Zaki Hussein - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 22, 2023
Robust network security and management offering a user-friendly interface, open-source flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, with challenges regarding initial setup and the absence of official support
The interface is user-friendly, but there's room for improvement in terms of intuitiveness. The bundle management aspect requires additional attention to make it more intuitive, especially for inspecting high-level traffic. This is crucial, especially for larger companies where the existing features might not be the most optimal choice, given limitations like printer constraints. For high availability, it's crucial to have a method in place where a designated component oversees the entire process. Given that OPNsense plays a pivotal role as a firewall, safeguarding against various threats, having a reliable backup ensures uninterrupted protection even if unforeseen events impact the primary virtual machine. It would be beneficial if OPNsense supported additional virtualization platforms like Hyper-V from Microsoft and VMware, similar to how Kaspersky has integrated them.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Initial setup is straightforward. There weren't too many issues with setting it up. It takes one hour or so."
"Secure, user-friendly, stable, and scalable network security solution. Installation is straightforward."
"The most valuable features are the policies, filtering, and configuration."
"Mainly the FortiGate reporting system is very good. It guides us through all the expectations of security. Fortinet provides us all that we need for security. Also, Fortinet FortiGate is a next-generation firewall. It is much more advanced than others."
"It's very fast and easy to configure."
"You can create multiple Virtual Domains (VDOMs), which are treated as separate firewall instances."
"The web filtering facility and application control are the most valuable features from the point of view of our clients. The VPN feature is also quite popular amongst our clients. Two-factor authentication is one of the good features in Fortinet. These features are important for the current scenario of security. Security has become a necessity nowadays. With cyber-attacks becoming more common, protecting an organization's data is one of the major tasks. It is also very stable and scalable, and it is very straightforward to configure. Their technical support is also good."
"The VPN is the most valuable feature."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its ability to deploy it on live physical hardware. Specifically, when providing firewall services for clients, we can leverage such hardware appliances to support multiple customers on the same hardware."
"The solution integrates well with other Fortinet products."
"One top feature is the ability to use the appliance as a WLAN controller for up to 10 access points with the new 5.6 firmware."
"The configuration, graphical interface and command line are easy to use."
"We use it to ensure that our network is properly protected from viruses and malware."
"The most valuable feature is the WAN optimization."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are the servers, analyzer, and track protection."
"The platform has enhanced our organization's security posture by providing effective threat protection, bandwidth management, and SDN capabilities."
"The initial implementation process is simple."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure."
"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."
"The graphic user interface is very good and it is user-friendly which makes the product easy-to-use."
"We have found pretty much all the features of the solution to be valuable."
"The DNS-level filtering is impressive for thwarting time scanners."
"I have found the solution has some great features overall, such as guest access capabilities, dashboards, and ease of use. There is plenty of documentation and support and it has the plugins that I needed."
"The tool's integration is more like a button press."
 

Cons

"One of the problems I was having was with user mapping, and it is an issue for which I have escalated tickets with Fortinet support."
"It should provide better visibility over the network and more information in the form of reports for the end users. Its installation should also be easier."
"The room for improvement is about the global delivery time period. Usually I need to wait for almost one month to deliver it overseas. So if you can shorten the deliver time it'd be great."
"The sniffing packets or packet captures, can be simplified and improved because it's a little confusing."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve if it had a cloud-managed solution."
"Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"One of the features that I would like to have is to do with endpoint production, it should be integrated. For example, the firewall gets notified of any kind of forensic event that needs to be done, such as if there is a ransomware attack and how it originated, all those records have to be available from the firewall, which is not."
"Their software support needs improvement. I would prefer to have better support for bug fixes. Sometimes, we open a ticket, and it is very difficult to get a solution. Specifically, we are not at all happy with their support for load balancing."
"There are certain GUI features that should be present but are not."
"VM should be more optimized."
"The costs could be lowered."
"Right now, we have two data centers that are a thousand kilometers apart. It would be nice to be able to string them together."
"In the next releases, it would be nice to see central cloud management."
"We have had some stability issues."
"The price and licensing of the solution can be better."
"The performance could be better. Some features need to have quality control when the switch is working. The dedicated bandwidth for some users is not reliable."
"The ability to set the VPN IP address would be a welcome addition."
"The solution would not be suitable for anything large-scale."
"There should be more technical documentation."
"We did not like the fact that you have to configure everything with the graphic user interface. We have used other firewalls, such as FortiGate, that you can configure via code. OPNsense is not easy to integrate. When you are deploying via GitHub or another source repository, this is not possible. That's one thing we didn't like much."
"There is room for improvement in SSL inspection."
"The logging could improve in OPNsense."
"The support for OPNsense is good because we have documents available on the internet. The support could improve a little."
"The scalability needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"
"The price of FortiGate support is too expensive."
"It's a very full-featured and it's priced well solution."
"Fortinet FortiGate gives you most of the features in one license."
"If the customer is looking for SD-WAN, it comes free with FortiGate."
"Here in Brazil, we're going through difficult economic times and the tax on the dollar is high. All the solutions from minor competitors are growing in the market. The prices have come more competitive."
"It was probably about $2,500 per firewall. It was all included. It included support, services, threat management software, and 24/7 FortiCare on it. Cisco products are more expensive."
"The product pricing is reasonable."
"Our license is yearly, but we're thinking of going monthly. I think it's somewhere around 100,000 for VM04. Nowadays, everyone wants to be a hacker, so we believe in security. That's why we also have third-party people that we involve to make sure that we're secure. I don't think the costs are too bad. You still want to get advice from people who worked in security for many years, so you add a third party. The third party also said they would give their share like 100K, or 200K or something like that, so I don't think it's too expensive for security. I think it just adds more trust."
"The price is expensive compared with other vendors, like Cisco and Huawei."
"Fortinet FortiGate-VM is a very expensive solution."
"The customer must buy his own license."
"The product is expensive. Users can opt for a one-year, two-year, three-year, or five-year subscription model when it comes to licensing."
"The pricing is really good."
"The price: It is a bit higher than the other competitors. This is why I started to look at other brands."
"There is an annual license required to use the solution."
"Its pricing is unbeatable in comparison to other firewalls. You can have a small instance that could be €80 a month with the hardware underneath. Azure Firewall and FortiGate are out of the question at this price. If you are on a public cloud, you need the underlying infrastructure. Other than that, there is no additional cost. If you have it on-prem, you have to buy the server or the appliance. The hardware cost is replaced with the infrastructure cost in the cloud. You also have costs for the public IPs and underlying VMs, but that's not related to OPNsense. It would be the same for a FortiGate deployment on Azure. You need a FortiGate license, and you need the underlying infrastructure that scales up depending on your needs."
"As an appliance, it's in the medium price range."
"It is not an expensive product. Basically, I deployed it because it was the fastest solution to satisfy our needs in open source."
"We are not paying any licensing fees. OPNsense is completely free for us."
"I would rate the pricing three out of ten."
"I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, especially considering the availability of a free community edition."
"It is a free solution, and when you compare it to alternatives like FortiGate, which is quite powerful but also costly, the value becomes evident."
"It is free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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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...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate-VM?
An enhanced security solution for any kind of alert that we have configured.
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...
What do you like most about OPNsense?
What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OPNsense?
I've used the free version. My computer with two network cards at home allows me to try as many different software op...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM
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Learn More

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Overview

 

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
1. Deciso B.V. 2. iXsystems, Inc.  3. EuroBSDCon  4. Netgate  5. Claranet  6. Voleatech  7. Open Systems AG  8. Securebit AG  9. Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH  10. AVM Computersysteme Vertriebs GmbH  Additional customers include: T-Systems International GmbH, Deutsche Telekom AG, Vodafone GmbH, 1&1 IONOS SE, OVHcloud, Hetzner Online GmbH, Strato AG, PlusServer GmbH, Host Europe GmbH, United Internet AG, 1&1 Versatel Deutschland GmbH, QSC AG, Bechtle AG, Cancom SE, Computacenter AG & Co. oHG, T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH, Atos SE, Capgemini SE, Accenture plc, IBM Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. OPNsense and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.