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Fortinet FortiGate vs Stormshield Network Security vs WatchGuard Firebox 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:
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Benjamin - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Rajesh  Makwana - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient bandwidth management and secure network access with a strong firewall
The primary use case of the Firebox mainly revolves around bandwidth management, unnecessary web blocking, application control, and protection against brute force attacks. It is also implemented for load balancing, SD-WAN, and branch-to-branch connectivity from one location to another. We also use…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, the pricing of the solution is very good. The product offers good value."
"I like Fortinet FortiGate's antispam filter, SPN, and clustering features."
"Good performance, stability, and virtual domain ability."
"The SD-WAN feature of Fortinet FortiGate has been most impactful in maintaining our network's integrity."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the different types of profiling. It has been the most effective for me. The WAF and the antivirus profile are the most effective in network protection."
"FortiGate is very simple to manage and easy to use."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are it is one of the most mature firewalls in the UTM bundle."
"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."
"The most valuable features are the IPS, the firewall function, and the price."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page."
"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."
"The solution has improved my organization because I can see what traffic is happening and I can use it to block and prevent attacks."
"Ease of use is the best feature of the product."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use."
"Our organization's main concern is stability, and this is a stable solution."
"WatchGuard Firebox's two-factor authentication feature is particularly useful and provides an added layer of protection."
"The Firebox offers valuable features such as network security, URL filtering, UTM features, intrusion prevention and detection, and authentication."
"The interface is very good."
"WatchGuard is very user-friendly. It provides us with all of the security services we need."
"After conducting several tests I found the antivirus is working very well. Additionally, they have a very interesting feature, DNS WatchGuard, which is checking DNS requests for phishing, among other things, and it has caught a lot of unwanted attempts and attacks."
"The tool's most valuable feature is the dashboard."
"The set up was quite straightforward and we handled it in-house. It took a few hours to deploy the product."
"Among the most valuable features is the ease of use — love the interface — of both the web interface and of the WatchGuard System Manager."
 

Cons

"Fortinet FortiGate can be integrated with different platforms. They have integrations in place, but I can't say they're 100%."
"The configuration part was challenging, especially converting configurations from another OEM to FortiGate."
"The support we receive when we need to upgrade is not satisfactory and has room for improvement."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve the user interface. There should be more functionality and options through the GUI."
"Some configuration elements cannot be easily altered once created."
"I find the management console not very straightforward, so that's an area where Fortinet FortiGate can improve. They should simplify it and make it more user-friendly."
"Fortinet FortiGate is not a scalable solution, as they give you a number and each box comes with concurrent connections; if you need to expand, you have to change the box."
"The solution lacks multi-language support."
"The SD card could be more secure."
"The product must improve its pricing."
"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."
"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."
"The biggest issue was their support department was not able to help us, then everything stops. This is a no-go area for me."
"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."
"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."
"A more user-friendly interface would be helpful."
"The licensing can be a bit expensive."
"I would like to have a little more control over access points and the ability to see the bandwidth that is passing through a specific access point. We are not able to see that. We can see what traffic is passing through the Firebox itself, but we can't identify if it is coming from a particular access point or not."
"Since WatchGuard acquired Panda, there may be synergies in consolidating both solutions under a single name to reduce customer confusion."
"They could expand the amount of applications that are on the list, but it's pretty intensive anyway, so it's pretty good."
"The solution isn't what I would consider feature-rich."
"I would like to see faster automatation."
"The solution is a bit confusing and there are unusual complications with setup."
"An area for improvement is that when we use a web administration link, there is no security."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"We find the most valuable aspect of this solution is the price. It is affordable, and cheaper than other firewalls."
"The price of FortiGate is good."
"The price is really low. It's cheap in comparison to the cost of Cisco or CheckPoint, for example."
"We are on an annual license to use Fortinet FortiGate."
"It has a competitive price."
"Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors."
"I think that the pricing is fair."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
"The pricing could be better."
"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."
"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
"We pay about $3,500 every three years."
"There is an additional cost for support on top of licensing. When I bought my new unit, I received additional time added to my support."
"The solution is cheap."
"We paid $4000 in AUD for WatchGuard Firebox per year. There were no additional costs."
"The solution is not expensive and customers pay for a yearly license."
"It's an affordable tool"
"The subscription that was purchased is for three years, but it is usually for one year at a time."
"It has a very good price. It is not the most expensive one, and it is also not the cheapest one. It is just spot-on in terms of price."
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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
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Retailer
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of ou...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
NETASQ Firewalls
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, WatchGuard Application Control, WatchGuard Data Loss Prevention, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus, WatchGuard Intrusion Prevention Service
 

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
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls. Updated: August 2025.
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