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FortiSASE vs Fortinet FortiGate comparison

 

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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.8
Fortinet FortiGate delivers cost efficiency, improved security, and management simplicity, leading to high user satisfaction and significant ROI.
Sentiment score
3.3
FortiSASE provided cost-effective solutions, quick integration, and seamless hybrid workflows, saving time and costs compared to alternatives.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
With FortiCASB, we manage to save around 50% on our budget compared to other products.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Fortinet FortiGate's support is valued for responsiveness but needs improvement in consistency, speed, and technical competence.
Sentiment score
6.0
FortiSASE support is knowledgeable but often slow, with mixed user satisfaction, and improvements needed in response times and documentation.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
I am totally satisfied with their response time and support quality.
Solution Architecht at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
If there is a solution in the market, the people supporting it should be technical enough to resolve issues at their first level or second level, or at least at the third level.
Head Vice President, Delivery at Gehnax Technologies LLP
At a high level, they deliver the intended information, but I still need their representatives, particularly sales engineers, to provide detailed explanations, as the documentation may not cover every area that all audiences might be looking for.
Senior Manager at CTC Global Sdn Bhd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate offers excellent scalability with flexible deployment options, though hardware scalability may require planning or upgrades.
Sentiment score
5.7
FortiSASE offers scalable, user-friendly management, effortless expansion, and adaptability, ideal for enterprises, with minor third-party integration concerns.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
FortiSASE is a very scalable solution because it licenses every user individually.
Co-Founder & General Manager at Beta Integrated Solutions
If the customer is within the Fortinet ecosystem, they are generally good for scalability.
Senior Manager at CTC Global Sdn Bhd
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate is a reliable, stable platform needing careful configuration to avoid occasional bugs during updates.
Sentiment score
5.4
FortiSASE's stability has mixed reviews, with some praising reliability and others reporting glitches and connection issues.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
They maintain high availability using numerous data centers globally.
IT Network, Security Engineer at Zuken Netwave
FortiSASE is not stable yet and is in the learning stage.
Head Vice President, Delivery at Gehnax Technologies LLP
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users seek better integration, pricing, stability, security, support effectiveness, GUI ease, and documentation improvements.
FortiSASE requires enhancements in security, compatibility, pricing, user-friendliness, and cloud management, with issues in installation and licensing.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
FortiSASE implementation is too complex where other products take two to three months or maximum four months to implement, FortiSASE took more than double that time.
Head Vice President, Delivery at Gehnax Technologies LLP
If third-party vendors could be integrated and supported, enabling two-way communication, it would greatly enhance the solution compared to competitors such as Netskope and Zscaler.
Senior Manager at CTC Global Sdn Bhd
While connectivity from outside to inside is okay, inside to outside is not.
IT Network, Security Engineer at Zuken Netwave
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, scalable solutions with competitive pricing, yet some users find advanced feature costs high.
FortiSASE pricing is debated, viewed as high by some and competitive for existing Fortinet users, with regional cost nuances.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
FortiSASE is an expensive product and the cost is indeed high.
IT Manager at PTECH
The pricing for FortiCASB is competitive and not expensive.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
When combining everything for a full SASE solution, I notice the pricing becomes quite high.
Product & Services Integrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers strong security, SD-WAN efficiency, and user-friendly management, valued for cost-effectiveness and integration with Fortinet products.
FortiSASE offers seamless remote work, AI security, integration with Fortinet's ecosystem, scalability, and comprehensive management features at competitive pricing.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks.
Sales & Support at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The important aspects are twofold. One is authorization, and the second is access control.
IT Network, Security Engineer at Zuken Netwave
FortiCASB is user-friendly and integrates well with other Forti-products, providing enhanced management capabilities.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
In FortiSASE, these features are bundled, and since they are tightly integrated with the firewall, SD-WAN works without additional payment.
Head Vice President, Delivery at Gehnax Technologies LLP
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
591
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
FortiSASE
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Fortinet FortiGate and FortiSASE aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Fortinet FortiGate is designed for Firewalls and holds a mindshare of 15.1%, down 21.7% compared to last year.
FortiSASE, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), holds 6.0% mindshare, down 7.7% since last year.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate15.1%
OPNsense8.5%
Netgate pfSense8.0%
Other68.4%
Firewalls
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
FortiSASE6.0%
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks10.2%
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform8.8%
Other75.0%
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
 

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Engineer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Unified security and sd-wan have improved uptime and cut wan costs for multi-site branches
Users report stability issues in certain versions, which requires regular updates. Real-world attacks have also highlighted the need for urgent patching of vulnerabilities.Fortinet FortiGate, while a powerful and feature-rich web firewall, could improve in areas like firmware stability, documentation, and ease of use. The learning curve can be steep for some users. For beginners, support quality can vary, and frequent updates with occasional vulnerabilities call for careful patch management. However, once Fortinet FortiGate is configured, it remains highly reliable and efficient. Customer support needs improvement, as I find it very slow, with reports from other users reflecting that customer support is inadequate.
LK
Head Vice President, Delivery at Gehnax Technologies LLP
Implementation complexity challenges are addressed and bundled solution offers significant ROI
For other solutions such as FortiAnalyzer and FortiSIEM, integration is easy, but it's not straightforward due to license complexity. As FortiSASE is new in the market in India, if you want to use a Delhi data center, you need a separate license, and if you have a different kind of firewall, you cannot transfer your license from one box to another box. FortiSASE implementation is too complex where other products take two to three months or maximum four months to implement, FortiSASE took more than double that time. The product appears to have been launched without being tested properly in real market conditions. While testing may have been done in lab environments, real-time scenarios seem to be missing from this solution. The SPA licenses are limited to the box UTM, UTM make and model. If someone has a UTM currently and plans to upgrade or downgrade in the coming year after procuring the SPA license for three years, they cannot transfer those licenses to another box, which is a challenge that needs improvement.
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business368
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise193
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise6
 

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 at large. In my opinion, Fortinet would be the best option and l use Fortinet too...
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 the firewalls change every 5 to 7 years as stated but you really do need to upg...
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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiSASE ?
The pricing, licensing, and setup costs of FortiSASE are very advantageous if you are already a Fortinet customer. If you have FortiGate, the Fortinet firewall, it will be a very good solution for ...
What needs improvement with FortiSASE ?
I think Fortinet can improve FortiSASE in two main areas: one is enhancing the Secure Web Gateway module, and the second is providing more advanced data classification options since the current DLP...
What is your primary use case for FortiSASE ?
I would describe the use case for FortiSASE as replacing traditional SSL VPN with ZTNA, which enhances Zero Trust Network accessibility for users in any remote location. For example, a user in Indi...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
 

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
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