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

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Sangfor NGAF comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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
Sangfor NGAF
Ranking in Firewalls
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 2.2%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sangfor NGAF is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate-VM2.2%
Sangfor NGAF1.1%
Other96.7%
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.
Zaid Farooqui - PeerSpot reviewer
CIO at Indus Motor Company
Enhanced threat detection with integrated security features and good support
We are using application firewalling, WAF, and SD-WAN. The capabilities are mostly within the box. For example, you will get web application firewall WAF as part and parcel of this. SD-WAN is also bundled. It integrates with their SIEM and SOAR solutions very nicely. Lastly, the pricing point is very cost-efficient as well.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I'm very happy with this product and would rate it at a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature is that its IPsec works perfectly."
"The maintenance part is definitely quite easy as we do not require any additional manpower to maintain this since it's quite simple and has the least required manpower based on an individual unit."
"GitDM, like FortiGate VM, provides similar features to FortiGate appliances or cloud solutions. However, FortiGate VM is more suitable for heavy traffic and inspection compared to GitDM. Unfortunately, FortiGate VM lacks a dedicated SPU for inspection, and all features rely on CPU and RAM."
"It provides an ease of management and configuration as well."
"The user interface, stability, and scalability are the most valuable features."
"One notable feature is the SD-WAN, which is a strong component of the FortiGate-VM. The fabric feature is also good, but not all customers use FortiGate's networking components, such as the switches."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are the ease of use, IPS system, application filter, web filtering, and email security. Additionally, there is a migration tool that other vendors do not provide. We only need to upload the configuration file to the tool, and it converts everything, except the passwords, and gives us the new configuration, which we can directly upload on the firewall. This migration process takes a maximum of 15 minutes."
"The top functionality is the reporting feature."
"In our hospital, Sangfor NGAF works well for us in terms of ensuring confidentiality and availability, which are crucial in the healthcare industry."
"The solution is quite safe and good, and furthermore, it is very good for different environments."
"Sangfor's tech features and technologies are more powerful than those of the other solution providers in terms of security. They also have big solutions in terms of cybersecurity."
"Particularly good in the DPI where we can inspect inbound and outbound traffic."
"The capabilities are mostly within the box."
"Sangfor NGAF specializes in ransomware detection and helps to protect our network from ransomware threats and malware."
"The level of support provided to local companies is good. They transform their application control and other settings according to that country."
 

Cons

"The user interface (UI) and the performance of interface both need improvement."
"Fortinet could improve the availability and delivery of its products. It takes four to six weeks for every purchase to arrive."
"FortiGate should be more customer friendly and budgeted better."
"Regarding the effectiveness of Fortinet FortiGate-VM in providing high-level security for high-level customers, we have some visibility issues, so it doesn't seem high level; there's definitely room for enhancement."
"One small thing I wish would improve is when I am going through event logs, it defaults to my cloud environment, and I have to switch it over to look at the local disk."
"The price of FortiGate-VM is high and should be more competitive."
"Capacity-wise, I think the solution's log storage area is something that needs to be increased since, by default, it stores logs for only seven days."
"The tool does not have a good name in the market, consisting of enterprise-class businesses, making it an area where the product lacks and needs to improve."
"Sangfor could improve by providing better real-time reporting, as the current reports don't offer the level of detail we need, especially for runtime insights."
"The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardware scalability, allowing for more storage and memory capacity."
"It would be ideal if the solution offered SD-WAN capabilities."
"The tool's support is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"I believe that IAM and NGFW need to merge into a single box, instead of there being two separate box solutions."
"They need to improve their research team and they need to study their data to analyze it and build the product."
"The user interface isn't user-friendly though."
"I think the GUI needs to be improved, there are a lot of areas where the panes do not make sense."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license can be purchased at intervals of one, three, and five years."
"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 price of the solution is competitive. Fortinet FortiGate-VM had a lot of advantages when it came to pricing. However, the competition has also geared up to a larger extent and it has become comparable now to the other solutions."
"I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM's pricing a six out of ten."
"The price of the solution could be less expensive. There are some features that have to be purchased separately that have their own license."
"At present, the SD-WAN licenses are on an annual basis."
"I find it quite reasonable."
"The price is similar to Symantec Endpoint, but it's more expensive than Forcepoint solutions. Fortinet is better than Forcepoint."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"In my opinion, the price of the tool is good in the Pakistani market. We can easily get discounts if needed."
"The product is very cost-effective compared to other brands or vendors."
"The price is unmatcheable."
"For over 2000 users, the cost is around 5000 to 6000 USD. If you want a web application firewall, you have to purchase an additional license for it."
"For four to five physical appliances for a licensed firewall, it costs approximately $4,000."
"The license of Sangfor NGAF can be purchased at different interval lengths, such as annually or three years. They offer a range of packages to choose from, such as combo or hybrid packages. We are using the complete solution package which includes IM, NGF and SSL VPN, and WAF."
"We purchased one year technical support and return to factory support, and we also purchased one-year technical support services. So those were additional."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Firewalls solutions are best for your needs.
909,099 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business74
Midsize Enterprise35
Large Enterprise43
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise10
 

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 Sangfor NGAF?
The licensing cost is quite high compared to other available firewalls in the market.
What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?
The cost of licensing is very high compared to other firewalls available here. There should be improvements in hardware scalability, allowing for more storage and memory capacity. Making the soluti...
What is your primary use case for Sangfor NGAF?
We are hosting applications over the platform, including websites and NAT traffic from our side. Because it's deployed in our data center, which is fully operational, we have various applications h...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM
Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Security7 Networks, COOPENAE
The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Sangfor NGAF and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,099 professionals have used our research since 2012.