Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Stormshield Network Security

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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:

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

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.

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Samuel-Mottet

EMEA Enterprise Solutions Architect at 11:11 Systems

User-friendly, easy to set up, and works very well for SMB customers

We are using VM01 most of the time, as we have more customers, although sometimes we can use VM02. In the EMEA region, we mainly have customers related to Fortinet FortiGate-VM. My favorite capabilities are VM01 and VM02. We use it in a hybrid cloud solution, meaning the customer on-premise is using another technology or the same. It's better for us if they are using Fortinet, and we don't face issues with this solution. 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. It's user-friendly and easy to set up. It's designed with the customer in mind. As someone who is precise, I understand the importance of selling the solution effectively while ensuring it meets the customer's needs. This means that my focus is on gathering customer feedback. It's not just about what I see; it's about understanding the customer's perspective. Customers often want to know how they can use the solution and how to set it up, which is the main concern I address. Fortinet Security Fabric's Real-time Threat Response capabilities are satisfactory; it's a good solution.

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Benjamin

Network Engineer at ACS2I

The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats

The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The wireless control is helpful."

"The solution provides good threat intelligence feeds."

"The technical support in our region is excellent."

"It is very flexible to use."

"It is useful for protecting and segregating the internal networks from the internet. Most of our customers also use the FortiGate client to connect to their offices by using the VPN client, and of course, they usually activate the antivirus, deep inspection, and intrusion prevention services. They are also using it for web filtering and implementing various policies dealing with forwardings, NAT, etc."

"I like that you are able to manage FortiGate from the FortiManager to create a more centralized environment."

"We are a visual effects company, and there have been a number of high profile security issues in our industry. This has brought us to a higher standard of security, which our clients are very keen on these days."

"The solution protects the environment from internal and external threats."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is the deployment; I applied best practices for deployment with Fortinet FortiGate-VM by the VPN connection into the site, on-premise and cloud or hybrid for segmentation of level of security, the perimeter and inside zone."

"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."

"Technical support is very helpful."

"The product can scale."

"The solution is very easy to set up. It doesn't take a lot of time and offers a quick deployment, so you can start using it almost right away."

"It is scalable because it is a virtual appliance. You can probably scale it up more."

"The technical support is very good."

"It's very easy to set up, even for more junior developers."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros

"A very robust product."

"This solution is quick and easy to configure."

"Ease of use is the best feature of the product."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page."

"Our organization's main concern is stability, and this is a stable solution."

"It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use."

"The scalability of the solution is good."

"I like how you can configure the rules. There is the task for the rules and a task for the network configuration. It also provides SMD filtering, and it can be integrated with the active directory for the users, their mission, and the VPN configuration. We are here in Sudan, and Stormshield didn't work in Sudan for more than a decade. Stormshield is a very strong firewall and very easy to configure and maintain. I am just working with the firewall solution, and we don't have any other solutions like endpoint solutions or something like that."

More Stormshield Network Security pros

Cons

"The setup is pretty complex and not easy to implement."

"The pricing of the solution is expensive, so it could be cheaper."

"The renewal cost is much higher than other firewalls. It is not reasonable."

"I mostly do administration, and I found Cisco to be the hardest major firewall manufacturer to deal with, with Fortinet FortiGate being the second hardest for me."

"The support system could be improved."

"It does not have key authentication for admin access."

"Though the tool's GUI is user-friendly, it can be considered as an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."

"The only issue that I have is with FortiNAC. The firewall is fine, but the FortiNAC interface is a little bit too jumbled or too complicated, not as straightforward as it is on the Fortinet FortiGate firewall and FortiAnalyzer."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"In the next release, we would like to see full integration with VMware NSX virtualized networks."

"There should be integration with an active directory — with Microsoft."

"In terms of room for improvement, logging could be improved."

"There should be more options to use lower-end models in a high availability configuration."

"The graphical user interface should be enhanced."

"The tech support calls were not the best and could be improved. There have been times when we felt as if we knew more about the device than the support person on the phone."

"The price is sometimes very expensive."

"Technical support could be better."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM cons

"The filtering configuration could be better. We have some difficulties with the filtering configuration and the filter extension. It's not that easy. It's not that straightforward. In the next release, I would like to see a reporting system. Stormshield doesn't have any tutorials on how to do the configuration and things like that. They just have documentation on the website. If you want to configure, for example, Cisco or Fortinet, you can find tutorials on YouTube. They show you how to configure the features, and so on. In Stormshield, there is nothing on social media or the internet on how to configure different things. The lack of documentation or the lack of material makes it difficult for others to adopt this solution."

"The biggest issue was their support department was not able to help us, then everything stops. This is a no-go area for me."

"Improvement is needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer."

"The SD card could be more secure."

"It could be better if it were more user-friendly. It's too complicated for us to use it. The price could be better as well."

"This is not a next-generation firewall."

"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."

"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."

More Stormshield Network Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license of Fortinet FortiGate should be reduced."

"It is an inexpensive solution."

"The setup cost was good. The Egyptian pound is declining, and upgrading Fortinet FortiGate yearly costs about $2000 USD, which equals one hundred Egyptian pounds. I maintain a business relationship with the vendor and receive support from them."

"The support subscription for the solution is annual. You are paying for support and there are two levels of support, professional and advanced."

"Fortinet is reasonable in pricing and licensing. Overall, FortiGate is affordable. The licensing fee can be a little high, depending on the budget for your project."

"Setup cost may be not so low, as you expect, because it depends on different factors, but TCO for 5 years may pleasantly surprise you."

"Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors."

"It's an expensive solution."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The best part of Fortinet is the license is bundled together, so it is easy to use and apply."

"There is a benefit in terms of the cost of using this solution because the price is very good."

"We don't have to pay for the licenses. But we might purchase licenses in the future."

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

"The price of the solution could be less expensive. There are some features that have to be purchased separately that have their own license."

"The price is similar to Symantec Endpoint, but it's more expensive than Forcepoint solutions. Fortinet is better than Forcepoint."

"At present, the SD-WAN licenses are on an annual basis."

"The product’s licensing must be a little cheaper."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pricing and cost advice

"The pricing could be better."

"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."

"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."

"I think the price is good."

"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."

"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."

"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

18%

Computer Software Company

18%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	130
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	70
Midsize Enterprise	31
Large Enterprise	35

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

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

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...

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 ...

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...

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 advice do you have for others considering Stormshield Network Security?

The tool is like a firewall and works well. I don't have any issue with it. I rate it an eight out of ten.

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 8% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Azure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 23% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos XGS vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 4% of the time

Sangfor NGAF vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 2% of the time

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Netgate pfSense vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 13% of the time

OPNsense vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 8% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 5% of the time

Zyxel Unified Security Gateway vs Stormshield Network Security

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Download Fortinet FortiGate-VM product report

Stormshield Network Security

October 2025

Download Stormshield Network Security product report

Also Known As

No data available

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM

NETASQ Firewalls

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

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

NETASQ's integrated intrusion prevention engine uses protocol conformity analysis, application filtering and antivirus analysis to inspect authorized traffic flows and strengthen application security. NETASQ enables you to establish and configure user-based security policies, giving you greater control over which network resources each user is authorized to access.

Stormshield

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

ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Stormshield Network Security