No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Palo Alto Networks CN-Series comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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-VM
Ranking in Firewalls
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
151
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series
Ranking in Firewalls
37th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 2.2%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is 0.5%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate-VM2.2%
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series0.5%
Other97.3%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Ehab Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Presales Consultant at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Unified security fabric has simplified multi-country deployments and strengthened threat response
FortiGate VM delivers exceptional performance and security with no degradation of service or protection (same features as the HW option). As part of the Fortinet Security Fabric, it extends across clouds and distributed locations, mitigating blind spots in virtual infrastructures. FortiGate VM can be rapidly deployed, managed through a centralized platform, and offers a range of purchasing options to suit every need. Also, FortiGate VM offers versatile deployment options across both public and private clouds, supporting all major public clouds including AWS, Azure, and Google as well as most hypervisors such as VMware, Hyper-V, and KVM. These deployments enable organizations to create scalable, high-performance firewalls that can be tailored to different virtualized environments and hyper-scale public cloud infrastructures. FortiGate VM integrates seamlessly with various infrastructure as code (IaC) tools such as Jenkins and GitLab, supporting security as code practices.
Ahmed_Shalaby - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cyber Security Engineer at Beta Information Technology
Application control excels and integration with monitoring system boosts efficiency
I am an integrator working with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series and Panorama. I have been involved with the implementation of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent. Application control is one of the most valuable features. Its monitoring capability…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It improves an organization because it's a single vendor solution for edge management."
"The product can scale."
"I would say personally I always recommend Fortinet; I will continue to due to the fact that the cost and the integration and the general user-friendliness are all impressive."
"Initial setup is very straightforward with a wizard, if needed."
"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."
"As a piece of tech, as a firewall, it's really good."
"We switched to FortiGate because it's straightforward and easy to manage and also has co-costing for customers."
"I'm very happy with this product and would rate it at a ten out of ten."
"The app inspection is very helpful for network security."
"The stability of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is excellent."
 

Cons

"The technical support is not very responsive and is an area that needs to be improved."
"The costs could be lowered."
"The log settings and filters could use some improvement."
"If we can get proactive support before the issues are identified by the customer itself, we can resolve it easily."
"There are areas for improvement because usually, most policies don't change much."
"If I could add one feature, it would be free security profiles."
"Sizing can be challenging for customers interested in using Fortinet FortiGate-VM."
"I have had a data issue with physical devices that could improve."
"I'd like to see more IOPs features."
"Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"With Fortinet FortiGate-VM you can bring your own licensing, or it can be paid on a yearly basis."
"The price of this product is great compared to others."
"The price is expensive compared with other vendors, like Cisco and Huawei."
"There are no additional costs beyond the standard fee."
"The cost of this product is too high."
"We have been waiting a long time for the vendor to give us licenses, it has been five months and we are still waiting. However, the price is reasonable."
"I find it quite reasonable."
"We can tailor the suitable license for the customer, whether they require UTB or enterprise features. The options are flexible based on their needs."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
11%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business74
Midsize Enterprise35
Large Enterprise43
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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 kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...
Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?
Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigate VM integrates well and has excellent centralized reporting. It is very easy to...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiGate-VM?
I am not involved in the pricing and costs associated with Fortinet FortiGate-VM, as those are handled by the CFO. We are in operations, and we just access the product as it is and take care of the...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
The pricing of Palo Alto Networks CN-Series is quite expensive, rating around eight on a scale of one to ten for cost.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
Palo Alto Networks CN-Series could improve on its pricing as it is quite expensive. The SD-WAN implementation using Panorama needs enhancement because it involves a specific plugin and configuring ...
What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks CN-Series?
I am an integrator working with Palo Alto Networks CN-Series ( /products/palo-alto-networks-cn-series-reviews ) and Panorama. I have been involved with the implementation of Palo Alto Networks CN-S...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Security7 Networks, COOPENAE
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Palo Alto Networks CN-Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.