Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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)
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Threat Deception Platforms (6th)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSandbox is 5.4%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 2.3%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiSandbox5.4%
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series2.3%
Other92.3%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

Abdelhamid Saber - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security & Infra Technology Systems Engineer at BARQ Systems
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…
AV
Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services
Enhance cybersecurity for large enterprises using advanced threat management
An improvement could be the integration of security intelligence with Palo Alto cloud via APIs. This would allow IOCs, domains, and hash values to be automatically entered, reducing manual entry. Integration with CSIRT across all use levels would make it easier for administrators to stay updated on the blocked entities without manual intervention.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Compared to other solutions, it's easy to configure and implement because of the templates. The timing of scanning files is faster."
"The scanner office document as well as PDF are useful. The most valuable thing is that you can emulate different operating systems without having the danger of getting something infected. It emulates several operating systems, and as a result, you either get the file or you don't get the file."
"The solution extracts an attached file before reaching the user and notifies the user if there's something malicious in the attachment received along with an email."
"The most valuable feature is the protection and the way it works, the technology is what I like the most."
"The initial setup of Fortinet was easy, more so than other products, and it has been very easy to work with Fortinet, especially compared to other solutions."
"The GUI makes administration tasks straightforward."
"Fortinet FortiSandbox is scalable."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The VM-Series reports how much bandwidth a particular IP is using. You don't need to regularly log into a website, like a Cisco command, to see what kind of ACL it's getting. There isn't an ACL use portal event. You can go there and see how much my ACL has been getting me."
"The most valuable feature is the Posture Assessment."
"The main advantage of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series stems from the fact that you can access it with the help of cloud services."
"It scales linearly with load and no issues."
"The tool's cloud version makes application migration easy."
"The most valuable features are web control and IPS/IDS."
"It allows us to see all our traffic to properly secure it and only allow what is needed through the firewall."
"It is very stable. It is fairly easy to use."
 

Cons

"At least once a week we have a false alarm. This needs to be adjusted so that we get fewer of these occurrences."
"Most people are confused about how to use the right integration of the right Fortinet product."
"If updated, Fortinet FortiSandbox could cover other risks."
"The main area of concern in Fortinet FortiSandbox is its detection capabilities."
"The delivery feature in my country is extremely bad."
"It should be easier to import custom virtual machines. Some of the VMs that are in FortiSandbox don't have the applications that we have in our environment. We need to import a VM with specific applications that we use in our environment. Have all the licenses because this is a real environment. You need a license for the Windows client you run on it. It's possible to import custom VMs, but it's a pain to do it. I would like a tool that simplifies the process."
"For the MSSPs, it would be great if the product could display all the threat chains on a dashboard since it is an area where the tool is currently lacking."
"Not practical for real-time web traffic analysis because users won't wait for the FortiSandbox to complete its analysis before accessing content"
"The user interface could use some improvement."
"The product's AIOps process needs improvement."
"Palo Alto should update their documentation to make it more readable and provide easier-to-follow instructions through videos."
"We don't know how it will scale once we start putting more load on it."
"It is not very easy to scale up the solution."
"The solution must improve Zero Trust integration and use cases."
"There is no proper support channel to follow up on cases."
"The implementation should be simplified."
 

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."
"There are additional costs, which isn't included in the licensing fee."
"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"The solution is not expensive at all."
"We are on an annual license to use the solution. We have an additional feature that is integrated with S5, which is working well."
"The price of Fortinet FortiSandbox is expensive."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Fortinet FortiSandbox is a nominally priced product, so I would not say that it is a very cheap tool."
"Sometimes, it's cheaper to buy a new firewall with licensing instead of renewing the licenses of an old firewall."
"It is not the cheapest on the market. The total cost for two firewall instances is $75,000. This includes licenses, deployment fees, and support for two years."
"The VM series is licensed annually."
"Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is the most expensive tool among competitors"
"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."
"For what you get, it does do what it says. It is a good value for an enterprise firewall.​"
"Regarding pricing, I initially downloaded the product for feature comparison purposes, not specifically due to pricing concerns. However, the current licensing model can be a sore point as we're paying for features we're not fully utilizing. Simplifying the pricing structure would be beneficial, especially given the duplication of services in some cases, leading to increased costs."
"This is not the cheapest firewall but it's not the most expensive of the options on the market."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) solutions are best for your needs.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise24
 

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: December 2025.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.