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Fortinet FortiGate vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

Fortinet and Stormshield are both solutions in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category. Fortinet is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.5, while Stormshield is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0. Fortinet holds a 28.6% mindshare in UTMU, compared to Stormshield’s 4.1% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Stormshield users who would recommend it.
Fortinet FortiGate
Read 589 Fortinet FortiGate reviews
  • 72,790 Views
  • 13,830 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
Stormshield Network Security
Read 18 Stormshield Network Security reviews
  • 3,054 Views
  • 1,405 Comparison Views
85% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Fortinet FortiGate and Stormshield Network Security are top contenders in the cybersecurity solutions industry. Fortinet FortiGate often has an advantage due to its superior threat protection features, while Stormshield Network Security excels in comprehensive security policy management.

Features: Fortinet FortiGate is equipped with next-gen firewall capabilities, robust VPN support, and efficient SD-WAN features. Stormshield Network Security offers flexible network segmentation, multi-layer security measures, and seamless integration with existing systems.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiGate could enhance user interface intuitiveness, offer more customizable reporting tools, and reduce the complexity of initial setup configurations. Stormshield Network Security might improve by expanding cloud integration capabilities, offering more comprehensive real-time threat analytics, and enhancing remote management features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortinet FortiGate enables an easy deployment process with extensive support options, facilitating rapid business integration. Stormshield Network Security provides a straightforward deployment model, focusing on flexibility to support different network structures. Users report Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is more consistent compared to Stormshield's variable support quality.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiGate is viewed as a budget-friendly solution, offering a balanced initial investment with high returns from its advanced security capabilities. Stormshield Network Security generally has higher upfront costs but provides long-term cost savings through scalable architecture and integrated solutions, potentially offering better ROI for large deployments.

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To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate vs. Stormshield Network Security Report (Updated: April 2026).
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate vs. Stormshield Network Security
April 2026
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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
Ranking in Unified Threat Management (UTM)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
589
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)
Stormshield Network Security
Ranking in Unified Threat Management (UTM)
12th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Unified Threat Management (UTM) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 28.6%, down from 37.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Stormshield Network Security is 4.1%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Unified Threat Management (UTM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate28.6%
Stormshield Network Security4.1%
Other67.3%
Unified Threat Management (UTM)
 

Featured Reviews

Abhinandan Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Abhinandan Yadav
Network Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Pvt Ltd
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.
Read full review
Zsolt Jónás - PeerSpot reviewer
Zsolt Jónás
System Administrator at NaxoNet
Advanced GUI and layered security have supported compliance and simplified intrusion prevention
I haven't had a task that I couldn't solve with Stormshield Network Security. The active-active high availability solution would be beneficial because currently, if you build a high availability solution with Stormshield Network Security, you have a main device and another one is a backup device. The HA can switch between them, but it would be good to have a master-master solution, not just a master-slave one. I could set a URL that I can call to update the DNS record. Currently, Stormshield Network Security devices support DynDNS, which is not a usual feature request from a server environment. I have my own solution instead of DynDNS because I don't prefer it, so I have my own service for that. However, the GUI does not support using a custom service instead of DynDNS. I had to solve it in the console on Stormshield Network Security device, but it would be much better if it was reachable on the GUI. I had to figure out a trick for the IPsec configuration. In the IPsec config, we have to provide the remote side's IP address, but it's always changing. This means that an office, for example a company that has an office but without a fixed IP address, cannot be used with IPsec VPN.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most useful features of Fortinet FortiGate IPS are you can create a virtual firewall within it, most other firewalls do not have this feature. You are able to manage your network and have network segmentation within your firewall. Additionally, you can create virtual switches within the firewall and have policy management, such as firewall and access policy."
"With Fortinet FortiGate, we improved security significantly."
"It is complemented by other equipment, such as the Fortinet switch, and it is integrated with other tools that help to prevent cyberattacks, including a web filter, IPS, and application control."
"It's a flexible solution."
"When you start looking at the cost of the license for all the things that you get, Fortinet is by far the best option."
"Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features are the UTM package which provides internet blocking restrictions and load balancing. Additionally, the solution is easy to use and the security reporting is good. The security fabric which they have launched Fortinet FortiGate IPS, it's very good in terms of giving details."
"I like Fortinet FortiGate's antispam filter, SPN, and clustering features."
"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are that it does the job effectively and protects our environment."
More Fortinet FortiGate pros
"The performance of this solution is good."
"I like that it works fine. Stormshield is a very good solution."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"The multi-layered security approach of Stormshield Network Security is a good one and has helped with compliance."
"Fortinet, Dell SonicWall and Check Point because these products offer a wide range of features that are not available with Netasq."
"This solution is quick and easy to configure."
"Our organization's main concern is stability, and this is a stable solution."
More Stormshield Network Security pros
 

Cons

"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."
"They really need to work on their support."
"Technical support is a little slow and needs to be improved."
"I would like the deployment and integration of this product to be easier. We should be able to deploy the features more easily and have different types of access."
"Some features of Fortinet FortiGate are actually fee enabled that are inconvenient for deploying in production. Other issues relate to isolation with Cisco products and your server."
"Currently, FortiGate is providing SSL VPN. But they're missing some features that are available in Palo Alto's SSL VPN."
"Fortinet could improve the windows opener or the virtual IP solutions for opening windows. The virtual IP settings need improvement as firewalls are trending in new development directions."
"The product’s price is high."
More Fortinet FortiGate cons
"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."
"The technical support for this solution in Poland is not good."
"The SD card could be more secure."
"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."
"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."
"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."
"A more user-friendly interface would be helpful."
"Improvement is needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer."
More Stormshield Network Security cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its pricing is competitive with other solutions."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. Its one-year license cost is competitive with three and five-year licenses offered by other products."
"The price for the Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable. Secure SD-WAN is free of charge. If you have their firewall, it's free of charge. It's very tempting."
"The solution is more expensive than Sophos. It could be cheaper. The licensing is on a yearly basis. We have had it for about three years. We must only pay extra for the license, additional requirements, and the hardware box."
"For the performance that we get, the price is reasonable. There are cheaper options, but they may not deliver the same kind of performance that we want. For the performance they provide, the price is acceptable."
"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten"
"Cost-wise, there is not much difference from Sophos, but feature-wise, we get more features."
"I pay €1,200 per year for the license along with Fortinet's 81E firewall appliance. I would rate this pricing as 3/5 stars, and I believe the price is reasonably similar to its competitors in the market, being somewhere in the middle."
More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
"The pricing could be better."
"I think the price is good."
"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."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user216600
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…
Read full review
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business365
Midsize Enterprise135
Large Enterprise191
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise2
 

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...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
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.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate Logo
Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate
Compared 18% of the time
Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate Logo
Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate
Compared 12% of the time
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate Logo
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate
Compared 4% of the time
Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate Logo
Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate
Compared 4% of the time
OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate Logo
OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate
Compared 3% of the time
More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors
Netgate pfSense vs Stormshield Network Security Logo
Netgate pfSense vs Stormshield Network Security
Compared 9% of the time
Sophos Firewall vs Stormshield Network Security Logo
Sophos Firewall vs Stormshield Network Security
Compared 6% of the time
Sophos UTM vs Stormshield Network Security Logo
Sophos UTM vs Stormshield Network Security
Compared 6% of the time
OPNsense vs Stormshield Network Security Logo
OPNsense vs Stormshield Network Security
Compared 6% of the time
WatchGuard Firebox vs Stormshield Network Security Logo
WatchGuard Firebox vs Stormshield Network Security
Compared 5% of the time
More Stormshield Network Security Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
April 2026
Fortinet FortiGate reportDownload Fortinet FortiGate product report
Buyer's Guide
Stormshield Network Security
March 2026
Stormshield Network Security reportDownload Stormshield Network Security product report
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
NETASQ Firewalls
 

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?
  • VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
  • Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
  • Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
  • Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
  • Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
  • SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.
What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?
  • Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
  • Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
  • Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
  • Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

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
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate vs. Stormshield Network Security
April 2026
Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate vs. Stormshield Network Security
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Stormshield Network Security and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
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