Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

Fortinet and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Fortinet is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.6, while Zscaler is ranked #25 with an average rating of 8.3. Fortinet holds a 1.8% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Fortinet FortiGate-VM and Zscaler Cloud Firewall compete in the cybersecurity market. Zscaler Cloud Firewall tends to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive features, albeit at a higher cost.

Features: Fortinet FortiGate-VM offers advanced threat protection, VPN capabilities, and versatile deployment options. Zscaler Cloud Firewall is known for its cloud-native architecture, seamless integration, and comprehensive threat coverage.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiGate-VM could improve its setup process, introduce better reporting tools, and simplify its initial deployment. Zscaler Cloud Firewall needs better documentation, improved performance during peak times, and addressing its occasional inconsistency in customer support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortinet FortiGate-VM has a complex setup but offers responsive customer service. Zscaler Cloud Firewall provides a smoother deployment experience due to its cloud-native design but has varied support quality.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiGate-VM is valued for competitive pricing and positive ROI. Zscaler Cloud Firewall, while more expensive, delivers substantial ROI through its advanced features.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

September 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:

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.1%, up from 18.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 1.8%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	20.1%
Fortinet FortiGate-VM	1.8%
Zscaler Cloud Firewall	0.4%
Other	77.7%

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.

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Sitti Ridzma Salahuddin

System Engineer at Trends and Technologies, Inc

Integrates seamlessly and helps with real-time threat response

Since the solution we offered was a complete suite with Fortinet FortiGate-VM, it was easier for them to manage because they have FortiManager as well. The main reason they wanted to position FortiGate in the cloud was so that they could easily deploy through FortiManager. That was the selling point we had for them. Especially for their multiple branches, where they had approximately 60 sites, and some assets were in AWS, it was really a good deployment opportunity. FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer were also part of that solution.

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Vikram Srirama.

Deputy General Manager at Sagility

A highly scalable solution that helps monitor and block undesired, non-standard traffic

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is a cloud-based solution. Zscaler Cloud Firewall is a good product. Since it's a SaaS product, most of the maintenance of devices is eliminated, and it is bundled with your secure web gateway. People should use Zscaler Cloud Firewall for their remote users or work-from-home users. Overall, I rate Zscaler Cloud Firewall a nine out of ten.

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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 technical support in our region is excellent."

"The scalability is easy with switches and access points that are basically plug-and-play for the most part."

"Fortinet FortiGate has many functions, and it is one of the best next-generation firewalls with an affordable cost than other vendors."

"The most valuable feature is the VDOM, which allows the customer to have multiple firewalls in a single campus."

"We have a redundant setup for failover, however, it has not had to fail over ever and we have not had a capacity issue."

"Initial setup is easy to configure."

"The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate was straightforward."

"Easy to use support and licensing portal as well as activation process."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are the servers, analyzer, and track protection."

"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."

"Good for the servers and can stop network attacks, including spam."

"The most valuable features are the web proxy for protection and web gateway for deployment."

"The ease of deployment and management is commendable."

"The IPS module is my favorite because of the security advantage reached with a few clicks and its automatic updates."

"The product is quite user-friendly so we didn't have a lot of issues that needed to be addressed."

"The product is easy to implement."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros

"It provides in-depth visibility into your network, ensuring that traffic flowing into your organization, be it from offices or individual users, is effectively filtered and secured through multiple layers of protection."

"The solution offers good sandboxing."

"If malicious traffic attacks our on-premises servers, then it gets blocked by Zscaler Cloud Firewall."

"Zscaler Cloud Firewall understands the applications in the current generation and adapts to the present generation cloud applications."

"Includes advanced tech protection."

"The technical support from Zscaler was excellent."

"Zscaler is still a very good product."

"Once you have Zscaler running you have access to configure it however you want."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"From my experience, I see that the datasheets of the Fortinet FortiGate portfolio need to be more accurate because correct sizing is essential."

"I often ask for help from the local provider. I haven't found the required efficient help."

"The scalability could be better."

"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."

"I would prefer to have more detailed logs within the FortiGate products themselves rather than relying on a separate tool."

"They could simplify their deployment process, especially when customers have existing devices."

"At the moment, if you don't integrate any third-party solution with a simple Fortinet FortiGate box, the box would not function as expected for superb protection."

"I would like reporting to be improved and should offer a lot more tools to monitor the products."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The price is problematic."

"Fortinet devices are acknowledged as highly potent and come with a notable cost. These devices offer extensive visibility, an array of configurations, and a range of security features. However, there's room for enhancement in their routing and switching security aspects, akin to Cisco's offerings. A noteworthy aspect here is Meraki, which offers cloud controllers. If FortiGate were to introduce a similar cloud management solution, it could strongly compete with both Meraki and Cisco products. Cisco operates in two sectors: enterprise and SMB. Particularly in the SMB market, they hold sway due to their convenient cloud management features. For instance, Meraki's cameras and wireless access points can be easily controlled through their cloud management portal. If FortiGate were to provide cloud-based management solutions for SMB customers, it could cater to a significant portion of the market, considering that a substantial number of customers fall within the SMB and mid-level enterprise categories."

"New versions are complicated with a big configuration."

"Interoperability could be improved."

"We'd like to have more customization and easier customization of policies."

"In the first two releases of FortiOS 5.6, we had some trouble with the SSL VPN service. Sometimes it stopped working, and the IPS daemon too."

"Price-wise, it could be slightly better, however, if you compared it to other makes and models of equal category, it is generally cheaper."

"The interface of the solution could be improved."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM cons

"The issue right now is probably that Zscaler is not providing web browser isolation. Another solution, Menlo, offers this. For one customer, we had to send traffic to Menlo to do the isolation for us. It was requested by the customer so that they could integrate any iframe. Zscaler needs to add this type of feature in their next release."

"There are several areas for improvement. Firstly, the GUI is outdated, with noticeable lags and delays, especially when generating reports for past transactions."

"If I can get rid of Jetscaler, I will use Twingate for sure."

"When it comes to customer support, there is room for improvement in Zscaler's service."

"The product could improve its integration with some legacy systems."

"Zscaler Cloud Firewall should have a better understanding of all dynamic cloud applications."

"We are having some issues with internet access being denied when organizational ID-based policies change. For example, a lower level employee ends up getting the same level of access as that of a higher level employee."

"I don't have the visibility of a control dashboard or a network management system."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is very cost-effective. You get features similar to other firewalls, such as Palo Alto, but at a lower price."

"Fortinet FortiGate allows you to purchase licenses for hardware and software."

"The licensing costs are very low."

"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."

"Some of our customers are using Sophos and SonicWall due to price concerns, as they can't manage the pricing of Fortinet FortiGate."

"There is no challenge in Fortinet FortiGate pricing."

"Its price is reasonable. They have a clear pricing policy. It is not complicated by the number of VPN users at a time. We know what the price is. The yearly subscription for the security license is rather high, but it is all included for whatever number of users you have and the kind of functions you need."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"There is a support fee that can be bought on a yearly or two-yearly basis. I don't think they do five years. The best benefit is that the same pricing is guaranteed for that duration. If you can afford it, I would recommend using the longest possible time span."

"There is an annual license required to use the solution."

"The pricing is really good."

"It is an expensive solution."

"For large enterprises, price is not a problem because they need that solution. However, in the Philippine market, many of our clients are still small to medium businesses, so the price can be challenging. The license for Fortinet FortiGate-VM costs 100K to 150K Philippine pesos per year for VM1 or VM2."

"The price is fair for what we get with FortiGate."

"There should be a reduction in the setup price and licensing costs."

"It is more expensive than its competitor, e.g. Sophos."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pricing and cost advice

"The licensing is on a yearly basis. It is somewhere around 30 or 40 pounds per user for our organization."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"Zscaler is priced too high compared to the cost of Fortinet."

"It is expensive for small businesses."

"It comes at a significantly reduced cost while ensuring control and effectiveness."

"The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the license in charges associated with the product."

"There are licensing costs, and I would not say that it's a cheap vendor."

"It is not the most budget-friendly solution, but it's important to consider its overall value."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	261
Midsize Enterprise	99
Large Enterprise	143

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	68
Midsize Enterprise	30
Large Enterprise	33

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	12

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

Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...

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What do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors. However, it offered moderate value for money.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 19% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 10% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

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 4% of the time

Sophos XGS vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 4% of the time

Zyxel Unified Security Gateway vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 13% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 11% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

OPNsense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

September 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

September 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate-VM product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

August 2025

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

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

Zscaler enables the world’s leading organizations to securely transform their networks and applications for a mobile and cloud first world. Its flagship services, Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access, create fast, secure connections between users and applications, regardless of device, location, or network. Zscaler services are 100% cloud-delivered and offer the simplicity, enhanced security, and improved user experience that traditional appliances or hybrid solutions are unable to match. Used in more than 185 countries, Zscaler operates the world’s largest cloud security platform, protecting thousands of enterprises and government agencies from cyberattacks and data loss.

Check more details: https://www.zscaler.com/produc...

Zscaler

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

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

September 2025

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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