Fortinet FortiGate vs Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 17, 2022
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Ranking in Firewalls
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
314
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (1st)
Palo Alto Networks NG Firew...
Ranking in Firewalls
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
165
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2024, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 22.6%, up from 18.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is 2.1%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls
Unique Categories:
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
19.7%
WAN Edge
21.4%
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

Ubeyd  Kara - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 25, 2023
They're easy to manage and more affordable than competing solutions, but there are some stability issues
FortiGate is easy to deploy. The deployment time varies depending on the customer's network topology. How many policies does the customer require, and what kind of license do they have? FortiGate is easier than Palo Alto Networks and Check Point and takes less time. We typically start by analyzing the customer's topology and understanding their requirements, including policies, routines, etc. We implement the device once we know what the customer needs. One engineer is usually enough to deploy FortiGate in a small or medium-sized environment. An enterprise project requires a more detailed analysis of the network requirements before implementation. That can take two or three days. Once we understand the network, it may take another two or three days to configure the device and one or two days to implement it.
TM
May 1, 2023
We can manage everything from a single pane of glass, deploy all that out, and make sure it goes through each firewall and updates correctly
In general, it's one of the better firewall brands out there. It definitely has the investment and the dedication of the Palo Alto team to constantly improve their product and move forward. They're not a static company, like some of the other companies out there, and that's why I like them. From a firewall perspective, there is a unified platform that natively integrates all security capabilities, which is good because there is a single pane of glass. I don't have to go to every single firewall to look at certain things. I don't have to go to every single firewall to deploy rules. I can use Panorama to deploy the rules, so it's a one-stop job type of thing. For securing data centers consistently across all workplaces, all next-gen firewalls pipe into the same Panorama centralized management solution. We can manage everything from a single pane of glass, deploy all that out, and make sure it goes through each firewall and updates correctly. That's huge. If you had to do it manually and you had thirty locations, that'd be like a day's job versus thirty minutes. Having a centralized platform where they all feed into the Panorama solution significantly drops firewall-by-firewall management. We can use the Panorama solution to communicate with all of them.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I only deal with it from a security analyst's point of view. I don't really get into the features of the actual FortiGate. From the security point of view, it works, and it does its job."
"The main reason why I purchased the particular unit was that it had good reviews and what other people were saying as far as its completeness and its leading capabilities in terms of endpoint security was very good."
"Centralized monitoring, policy management, and virtualized appliances allow us to take control over our public and private infrastructure."
"FortiGate is more feature-rich and has a broader range of hardware. T"
"You can purchase switches and you don't need to do anything with them. You just put in the firewall and the switches get all the policies and rules that you already have in the firewall. With Fortinet, you just connect the FortiSwitch to the Fortinet and that's it."
"It is easy to manage, and it doesn't need much knowledge from the team. It is a stable device, and there are many features that are included out of the box."
"The dashboard I have found the most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate."
"Good load balancing feature."
"The payload is a very valuable feature."
"The Unified Threat Management (UTM) module, which consists of the basic firewall and IPS services, is what the majority of our customers use in Palo Alto Firewall."
"GlobalProtect and App-ID features are very good."
"In general, I appreciate the regular firewall function of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls."
"I like that it has high security."
"I typically get involved with it when it comes to audit and compliance and having to gather evidence of those firewalls, routers, and rule sets. The evidence that I typically need is there."
"The most valuable feature is the security provided by the ATP."
"I'm using most of its features such as antivirus, anti-spam, and WAF. I'm also using its DNS Security and DNS sinkhole features, as well as the URL filtering and application security features."
 

Cons

"In the future, I would like to see improvements made to cloud-based management."
"There are SD-WAN network monitoring, SD-WAN features, Industrial Databases, Internet of Things, Detection, etc., however, we do have not licenses for those features. We thought that if you bought a product, you should have all of the features it offers. Why should you need to make so many extra purchases to enable features? They should have one price for the entire offering."
"The monitor and the visibility, in this proxy, is very weak."
"We would like to have the ability to disable some of the security functionalities."
"To the best of my knowledge, Fortinet does not have a CASB solution and Fortinet does not have a Zero trust solution."
"They sometimes hide some features and if you want to enable them, you have to go in the CLI, enable the feature and configure it through the CLI. Customers, typically, like everything to be done by the GUI."
"Improvement is needed in the Web Filter quotas to restrict users with allocated quotas."
"They need to improve their technical support."
"The machine learning in Palo Alto NG Firewalls for securing networks against threats that are able to evolve and morph rapidly is good, in general. But there have been some cases where we get false positives and Palo Alto has denied traffic when there have been new updates and signature releases. Valid traffic gets blocked. We have had some bad experiences with this. If there were an ability, before it denies traffic, to get some kind of notification that some traffic is going to be blocked, that would be good."
"There is a web-based GUI to do management, but you need to know how the machine or firewall operates. There are hundreds of different menus and options. I have used other firewalls before. Just implementing or designing a policy with Palo Alto, if you want a certain port to be open to different IP addresses, then that could take 20 to 25 clicks. That is just testing it out. It is quite complex to do. Whereas, with other places, you tell it, "Okay, I want this specific port open and this IP address to have access to it." That was it. However, not with Palo Alto, which is definitely more complex."
"Support should be improved, wait times can be long."
"It would be better to have more tools to control Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls. We don't have too many tools to access Palo Alto. For example, the IT team doesn't have access to it. We can see it physically and see if it's running or not. We need to contact a special team to receive that information. I would also like to see more reporting in the next release."
"I wish that the Palos had better system logging for the hardware itself."
"When there was change from IPv4 to IPv6, some of the firewalls still didn't support IPv6. In North America, we have seen most customers are using IPv6, as they are getting the IPv6 IPs from their ISPs. Sometimes, when they go through the firewall, it denies the traffic."
"Technical support can be faster at responding."
"The solution has normal authentication, but does not have two-factor or multi-factor authentication. There is room for development there."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet is the least expensive solution."
"Its pricing is good. It's average or normal as compared to Palo Alto and Check Point firewalls."
"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."
"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"
"The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable for an SME."
"Fortigate's pricing is competitive."
"Pricing and licensing is a little bit complicated in FortiGate. They are always on the higher side. This is one issue that we always raise with the company that they should reduce the price according to Indian market requirements. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"Definitely look into a multi-year license, as opposed to a single-year. That will definitely be more beneficial in terms of cost... Palo Alto is definitely not the cheapest, but if you scale it the right way it will be very comparable to what's out there."
"Its price should be improved."
"The pricing is straightforward with no hidden costs."
"After the hardware and software are procured, it is the AMC support that has to be renewed yearly."
"If the cost is your main priority, Palo Alto would be a bit high. However, if you are ready to hear about return of investment, then I would convince you to go for Palo Alto."
"The pricing is competitive in the market."
"On the lower end, it's likely to cost $15,000 for renovation and support."
"Palo Alto is like Mercedes-Benz. It is quite expensive, but the price is definitely justified."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
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
Educational Organization
21%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 a better choice, Azure Firewall or Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?
Azure Firewall Vs. Palo Alto Network NG Firewalls Both solutions provide stellar stability and security. Azure Firewall is easy to use and provides excellent support. Valuable features include int...
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 is better - Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls or Sophos XG?
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls have both great features and performance. I like that Palo Alto has regular threat signatures and updates. I also appreciate that I can just import addresses and URL...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
Palo Alto NGFW, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. Amazon Web Services 2. Microsoft 3. IBM 4. Cisco 5. Dell 6. HP 7. Oracle 8. Verizon 9. AT&T 10. T-Mobile 11. Sprint 12. Vodafone 13. Orange 14. BT Group 15. Telstra 16. Deutsche Telekom 17. Comcast 18. Time Warner Cable 19. CenturyLink 20. NTT Communications 21. Tata Communications 22. SoftBank 23. China Mobile 24. Singtel 25. Telus 26. Rogers Communications 27. Bell Canada 28. Telkom Indonesia 29. Telkom South Africa 30. Telmex 31. Telia Company 32. Telkom Kenya
SkiStar AB, Ada County, Global IT Services PSF, Southern Cross Hospitals, Verge Health, University of Portsmouth, Austrian Airlines, The Heinz Endowments
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.