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Fortinet FortiSandbox vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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 FortiSandbox
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Threat Deception Platforms (7th)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSandbox is 9.4%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 2.7%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

Abdelhamid Saber - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced network security with adaptable integration and really good support
We use FortiSandbox for scanning files and images that pass through our networks. It integrates with different devices, such as five adapters and other Fortinet devices It is time-saving and more secure. It saves us from a lot of antivirus and anti-malware issues. The adapter is beneficial as it…
RonnieYazdani - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly CLI and efficient dashboard streamline operations with robust security features
I find Palo Alto Networks VM-Series easy to deploy, and none of my customers have had significant complaints. My customers have high certifications provided by Palo Alto Networks. The friendly dashboard and the ability to easily command and use the CLI make Palo Alto Networks VM-Series a better product. It offers robust solutions, making it valuable to my customers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is an easily scalable solution."
"Fortinet FortiSandbox puts suspicious files in quarantine, analyzes for virus risks, and lets them out of quarantine if it detects no risk."
"The product is great. It can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises."
"Integration is one of the solution's most valuable aspects. You can integrate even third-party solutions so that they can send the information or files they quarantine through the FortiSandbox"
"The most valuable feature was the EDR, endpoint detection and response."
"Fortinet FortiSandbox is faster than other sandbox solutions."
"The GUI makes administration tasks straightforward."
"The solution is very good because it catches a lot of threats in emails."
"Scalability is a strength of Palo Alto VM-Series."
"The most valuable features are the User ID, URL filtering, and application filtering."
"In the newer version, there are 3850s, all of them are scalable. They fit better into the medium or small businesses."
"It offers a single pane of glass for all the different types of installations."
"Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team."
"It is very stable. It is fairly easy to use."
"The filtering feature is good."
"We now know a lot more detail about what our users are doing on the network."
 

Cons

"At least once a week we have a false alarm. This needs to be adjusted so that we get fewer of these occurrences."
"Fortinet FortiSandbox can improve by decreasing the time of analysis response. Other solutions have a better response time, such as WildFire."
"The reporting tools could be improved in Fortinet FortiSandbox."
"Product could include a user interface and be made simpler for customers to configure."
"The licensing can be very confusing. It needs to be simplified."
"Most people are confused about how to use the right integration of the right Fortinet product."
"I don't know if it is viable to do an improvement like this. When there are passwords in the password-protected files, it can't scan them or do things like this. I don't know if an algorithm or something else could make it better. Nowadays, many legitimate office documents have passwords."
"The response time from technical support should be improved."
"The product needs improvement in their Secure Access Service Edge."
"When managing the firewall, it involves a Strata Cloud web browser that requires improvement to enhance deployment ease and call center efficiency."
"They made only a halfhearted attempt to put in DLP (Data Loss Prevention)."
"Palo Alto should update their documentation to make it more readable and provide easier-to-follow instructions through videos."
"There are various reports that come with the box or with the VMware, but you can only run them daily."
"In the next release, I would like to see better integration between the endpoints and the firewalls."
"AWS doesn't integrate well with third-party firewalls."
"The initial setup of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series was somewhat challenging, requiring extensive documentation review. I rate it a six out of ten for ease."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product's pricing a five or six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high."
"Fortinet FortiSandbox is a nominally priced product, so I would not say that it is a very cheap tool."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Fortinet is more reasonable than Palo Alto."
"The solution is unavailable at a lower cost and can be difficult to deploy."
"The price of Fortinet FortiSandbox is not expensive."
"There are additional costs, which isn't included in the licensing fee."
"Altogether, it is about €10,000 for the Sandbox and Email Gateway."
"For what you get, it does do what it says. It is a good value for an enterprise firewall.​"
"Palo Alto is more expensive than other products."
"When you have a client compare box against box, a lot of times Palo Alto is a bit more expensive, but its network firewalls have a very rich ratio."
"The VM series is licensed annually."
"One of the factors for selecting Palo Alto was they had flexible pricing. They had a pay-as-you-go model. Comparable to other products, such as Check Point, the price point was definitely a plus."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is the most expensive tool among competitors"
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is notably cheaper than other firewall vendors, except Fortigate."
"The pricing and licensing of this product on AWS for a three-year commitment is a great deal, if you can plan that far ahead."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSandbox?
The real-time analysis capability of FortiSandbox is beneficial for email analysis.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSandbox?
I think it's affordable. For the six to seven months of usage, the cost has been reasonable.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSandbox?
We sometimes face a delay in email scanning due to not having multiple virtual machines. Improvements could be made in dynamic scanning, scanning all email components such as URLs and attachments, ...
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...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the overall cost is reasonable. Azure Firewall offers a solid threat awareness, can...
 

Also Known As

FortiSandbox
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lush, Barnabas Health, Options, Riverside Healthcare, Hillsbourough County Schools, Columbia Public Schools, Schiller AG
Warren Rogers Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSandbox vs. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.