Fortinet FortiGate vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

Fortinet and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Fortinet is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.5, while Zscaler is ranked #37 with an average rating of 7.5. Fortinet holds a 19.1% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

Fortinet FortiGate

Read 580 Fortinet FortiGate reviews

67,755 Views
53,526 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Read 19 Zscaler Cloud Firewall reviews

1,228 Views
1,191 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiGate

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Fortinet FortiGate and Zscaler Cloud Firewall are competing in the network security category. Fortinet FortiGate seems to have the upper hand with its robust support, while Zscaler Cloud Firewall is notable for its advanced features.

Features: Fortinet FortiGate delivers strong on-site security with comprehensive threat protection and high performance, along with extensive application control. Zscaler Cloud Firewall excels in cloud-native capabilities, seamless scalability, and comprehensive inspection services.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiGate could enhance its cloud integration, ease of deployment, and reduce upfront costs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall might improve in offering more competitive pricing, enhancing on-premise support, and expanding feature sets for specific industries.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortinet FortiGate requires on-premise appliance deployment, which can be time-intensive but benefits from effective customer support. Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers a cloud-based model, allowing quicker implementation with streamlined customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiGate involves higher upfront hardware and setup costs, with a gradual ROI through solid performance. Zscaler Cloud Firewall delivers ROI through flexible subscription models, reduced hardware expenses, and cost predictability, making it attractive for long-term financial considerations.

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

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

December 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

5.8

Fortinet FortiGate offers cost-effective, robust security, reducing expenses, enhancing efficiency, easy implementation, quick ROI, and improved network management.

Sentiment score

1.0

Users experienced cost reductions, improved security, enhanced performance, easier scalability, better threat protection, simplified management, and efficient resource utilization.

Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

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.

Bart Homblé

BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks

It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.

Bernard Samontanes

Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Zscaler Cloud Firewall report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.6

Fortinet FortiGate's customer service is generally praised for responsiveness, though some users experience delays in critical situations.

Sentiment score

5.0

Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers responsive and knowledgeable support, though occasional escalations might cause delays, with room for improvement.

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.

Alexandre Menezes

IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

AnishKumar

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.

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

The response and support are sometimes inadequate, which detracts from the overall experience of an otherwise impressive solution.

Carlos Snel

Director at Aquila ICT Solutions

The technical support from Zscaler was excellent.

KashyapGhotane

Cyber Security Architect at Accenture

For more quotes and insights, download the Zscaler Cloud Firewall report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Fortinet FortiGate is scalable and popular for SMEs but requires careful design and may incur scaling costs and licensing constraints.

Sentiment score

5.3

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is scalable and easy to manage, praised for performance and user satisfaction across various regions.

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.

Ian Manton

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.

reviewer2667480

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.

FatmaSamy

General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

In this case, Twingate will be very easy compared to Zscaler.

reviewer2641644

IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Zscaler Cloud Firewall report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Fortinet FortiGate is praised for its stability, with effective long-term performance and improvements in newer firmware versions.

Sentiment score

6.4

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is stable, reliable, and well-rated, with minor performance issues and redundancy minimizing outages.

We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.

Ricardo Biggs

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.

AnishKumar

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.

Juan Frias

CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

There were some stability issues due to occasional latency and lags, particularly with the GUI and report generation.

KashyapGhotane

Cyber Security Architect at Accenture

For more quotes and insights, download the Zscaler Cloud Firewall report

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate needs enhanced UI, simplified licensing, improved performance, reporting, third-party integration, and expanded automation features.

Zscaler Cloud Firewall needs improved features, better integration, enhanced support, wider coverage, affordable pricing, and a modernized interface.

When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.

Taha Turkestani

Senior IT specialist at SAUDIA ALIRLINES

These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.

MURALI NIDAMANURI

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.

Elvis Mahadeo

Senior Systems Engineer at Caribbean Development Company

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

For now, there is no dashboard or network management system available for Twingate.

reviewer2641644

IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees

The reverse proxy feature for Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is missing.

KashyapGhotane

Cyber Security Architect at Accenture

I believe the integration of AI could improve the dashboard by making it more agile and effective in monitoring and predicting threats.

Carlos Snel

Director at Aquila ICT Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Zscaler Cloud Firewall report

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Fortinet FortiGate costly initially, but cheaper overall, despite some high renewal and setup costs.

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is flexible yet expensive, valued for tiered packages, with prices affected by user count and features.

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.

AiméKouchade

Network & System Admin at Invoke Studios

It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.

NilsPaley

IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1

It is about 20% cheaper.

MithatBulut

Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors.

KashyapGhotane

Cyber Security Architect at Accenture

For more quotes and insights, download the Zscaler Cloud Firewall report

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate provides robust, flexible security solutions with key features like web filtering, SSL VPN, SD-WAN, and centralized management.

Zscaler Cloud Firewall offers advanced threat protection, simplified management, and seamless integration, enhancing security with flexible policy customization and traffic control.

These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.

Syed Ali Waqas

Head IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions

The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.

Viraj Fernandopulle

General Manager Group IT at DART GLOBAL LOGISTICS PTE. LTD.

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.

VINAY GUJARATHI

Owner at Mindware Computer Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiGate report

It is really customized, a security policy that can be applied to the users so they can access only the resources I enable them.

reviewer2641644

IT Security at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees

Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants.

Carlos Snel

Director at Aquila ICT Solutions

The biggest advantage of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is its consolidation of products.

KashyapGhotane

Cyber Security Architect at Accenture

For more quotes and insights, download the Zscaler Cloud Firewall report

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Ranking in Firewalls

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

580

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Ranking in Firewalls

37th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 19.1%, down from 20.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.5%, 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	19.1%
Zscaler Cloud Firewall	0.5%
Other	80.4%

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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Carlos Snel

Director at Aquila ICT Solutions

Has streamlined secure deployments across large enterprises while offering reliable protection and intuitive management

The centralized management console, also referred to as the Zscaler dashboard, impacts the ability of my customers to respond to security incidents significantly. I see it as user-friendly, and clients are really happy with using it, which motivates them to keep using Zscaler Cloud Firewall because they enjoy the GUI. It's very intuitive, making it easy to navigate alerts and incidents. My clients rarely have questions about where to find specific information once Zscaler Cloud Firewall is running. The interface speaks for itself, requiring little to no additional training, which is a major plus. Advanced threat protection features in Zscaler Cloud Firewall are practically the key component that every customer wants. Unfortunately, it is an option and not included in the basic package. Clients need to pay for the next higher bundle to access it, but practically all clients I have dealt with want this feature 100%. Regarding visibility, I can confirm that Zscaler Cloud Firewall indeed includes a feature for application layer visibility embedded in the service. It provides visibility into what you're doing, which is especially interesting nowadays when discussing AI tools, as companies do not want their employees to copy-paste sensitive information into AI systems. We have seen cases such as Samsung's chip design where sensitive info got exposed. The visibility of applications, including cloud applications and AI tools, is significant for compliance with data policies, and you can also run reports and alerts on it.

Read full review

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Comparison Review

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

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Transportation Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	132
Large Enterprise	188

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
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 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

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, datacenter and endpoint. In between you have branch office. So blending EPP and firew...

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

What needs improvement with Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

In terms of improvements for Zscaler Cloud Firewall, I think every product has needed enhancements over time, and current functions continuously evolve. I believe the integration of AI could improv...

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 7% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 11% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 8% of the time

OPNsense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

Huawei NGFW vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 6% of the time

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

December 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

December 2025

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

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

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

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

December 2025

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