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Fortinet FortiOS vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiOS
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (18th)
Stormshield Network Security
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (13th)
 

Featured Reviews

MS
Associate Director IT Operations at Procento
Single-pane management has simplified firewall control and has improved risk mitigation
I would not say that Fortinet FortiOS is not very scalable. Generally, what happens is that for enterprises, we hire consultants who do the capacity planning and sizing to determine what kind of firewalls to put in place. At the same time, it is not only the number of users; it also depends on the number of WAN links coming in and everything, because we have been using Fortinet for bandwidth shaping and many other bandwidth-related functions. They should improve their machine learning AI capabilities of Fortinet FortiOS because there is too much competition. Other players are also improving and making a lot of changes in their UI and overall operating system.
Zsolt Jónás - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"All networks are security-driven, we get throughputs and security. We feel that the people at Fortinet are easy to deal with from a support standpoint. If they need to jump in and help us, they're very willing to do that. Their email filtering, their data loss prevention, their intrusion prevention, type of products in the newest OSs has been outstanding."
"The most valuable features are the intrusion prevention system and the anti-virus."
"It's simple to use in terms of inbound and outbound traffic management, traffic shaping, and connectivities, as well as the VPN."
"This is an easy means of setting up high-availabilty firewall protection."
"FortiOS' most valuable features are management, security, and easy updates with no downtime."
"It has worked well for us overall, and we are happy with its capabilities."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the granular control and their interoperability is good."
"Feature-wise, the solution is strong, with SD-WAN, site-to-site VPN, load balancing, and application-based load balancing, and it is very user-friendly."
"I like how you can configure the rules. There is the task for the rules and a task for the network configuration. It also provides SMD filtering, and it can be integrated with the active directory for the users, their mission, and the VPN configuration. We are here in Sudan, and Stormshield didn't work in Sudan for more than a decade. Stormshield is a very strong firewall and very easy to configure and maintain. I am just working with the firewall solution, and we don't have any other solutions like endpoint solutions or something like that."
"The multi-layered security approach of Stormshield Network Security is a good one and has helped with compliance."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page."
"The solution has improved my organization because I can see what traffic is happening and I can use it to block and prevent attacks."
"This solution is quick and easy to configure."
"I can see what traffic is going on. I can easily block any programs from attacks."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"This product has improved the way our organization functions."
 

Cons

"Technical support has issues with knowledge base at the first tier. It sometimes takes hours of explanation before support fully understands and can troubleshoot or escalate problems."
"I would like to see more statistics in the monitoring part."
"The report and policy optimization tools can be improved in the next release."
"Fortinet FortiOS can improve by limiting the need for the CLI and GUI combination. The more functions they can have on the GUI and less on CLI would be helpful."
"Right now, we have to contend with CLI. We'd like it to be easier. We need the features to be in a UI."
"Their technical support needs improvement."
"FortiOS doesn't work well with all browsers. I think they need to do a better job of making it compatible with the various browsers that are out there."
"It could more scalable for the lower end users."
"This is not a next-generation firewall."
"The SD card could be more secure."
"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."
"Being more cost effective. I went with a pair of Watchguard M300 recently when buying a new firewall cluster for our own use because it was way cheaper than NetASQ/Stormshield N700 while being faster, and it offers true multi-master firewall clustering if needed."
"One thing, though, is that not all the fields are activated yet and we were informed that it will take at least one month."
"The technical support for this solution in Poland is not good."
"An application firewall like other next generation firewalls have."
"Improvement is also needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer, they're not very responsive when it comes to technical support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The best solution in the category including the price in Thailand is Fortinet FortiOS."
"It would be better if it were cheaper. We have the firewall in our office, and the license is expiring in 20 to 25 days. We got a quote for almost 80,000 Pakistani Rupees, which is a little costly."
"I am on a two-year contract and I pay annually for Fortinet FortiOS."
"We pay an annual license fee. It is rather expensive so I would like to perhaps see a drop in price in the future."
"The price of Fortinet FortiOS is reasonable and it is paid annually. You are able to select the features that you want."
"The program is expensive."
"The support contracts are usually about $100 - $200 a device."
"The scalability of Fortinet FortiOS is good. However, central management is intuitive for the end-users. We had a lot of questions about central management, and sometimes they didn't use it and did their firewall management directly on FortiGate instead of using Fortinet FortiOS."
"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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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
17%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiOS?
I rate the pricing for FortiOS as eight or nine out of ten. It is an affordable solution for us.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiOS?
I would not say that Fortinet FortiOS is not very scalable. Generally, what happens is that for enterprises, we hire consultants who do the capacity planning and sizing to determine what kind of fi...
What needs improvement with Stormshield Network Security?
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 so...
What is your primary use case for Stormshield Network Security?
I already use Stormshield Network Security, and I am now looking for a new solution. I am already working with Stormshield Network Security, and the official reseller of Stormshield.
What advice do you have for others considering Stormshield Network Security?
The pricing is increasing, and I would say it is a bit expensive. Palo Alto and others are much more expensive, but Stormshield Network Security is also not inexpensive. My overall review rating fo...
 

Also Known As

No data available
NETASQ Firewalls
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiOS vs. Stormshield Network Security and other solutions. Updated: October 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.