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

Fortinet FortiSIEM vs Sentinel comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 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 FortiSIEM
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sentinel
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
13th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSIEM is 3.3%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sentinel is 3.4%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Oliver Jackson - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems monitoring enhanced by firewall and intrusion detection features
My primary use case for Fortinet FortiSIEM is systems monitoring and alerting. I use it for standard functions like log monitoring, incident detection, and notification.  My customers are mostly medium-sized enterprises ranging from engineering companies, mining companies, independent schools, and…
JaideepSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
An automated solution that helped me detect threats in less than half the time it used to take
Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network. We also got multiple kinds of logs. By running some queries from the logs, we could find and fix the anomalies in the environment. Sentinel's threat visibility was great at telling us if we had something going on in our environment. We had to set up alerts in our environment based on the logs. If we had the right alerts set up, we got notified about threats and where security was lacking, so we could also take care of that. Sentinel's threat intelligence helped us prepare and take proactive steps for potential threats before they hit. Having preparation before a threat has helped our security operations. When I was using it, I used to keep going into my dashboards and looking for any threats on a weekly basis, or maybe two or three times a week. Based on that, we would recommend certain changes to the server and infrastructure teams to block or allow some ports. Sentinel's threat intelligence helped plan security against risks.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the most valuable features is that we can combine SOC and NOC operations in the same tool. We can provide NOC and SOC services in the same tool for two separate teams. There are plenty of third-party solutions that integrate with FortiSIEM. All these solutions already have a ready integration, and we have the possibility to create a custom connector for these solutions. Its reports are also very good."
"The product is quite well-organized. The GUI makes it easy to navigate."
"The solution is easy to use and user-friendly."
"It provides extensive logging and record-keeping for internal networks, cloud applications, and services as well as perimeter physical network security."
"The most valuable features for us are the built-in reports and alerts, along with the extreme flexibility in reporting and rule generation."
"FortiSIEM helped us discover all the threats at the time that were attacking the IT services of the company. We now have multiple-level authentication."
"The most valuable feature is the anomaly-reporting alarms."
"The tool's most valuable feature stems from the fact that I can see a complete analysis, like all the incidents that have happened, and it detects everything in real-time."
"The tool is simple to use."
"The stability is phenomenal and we never had any issues with downtime or even had to restart."
"The most valuable feature is the flexible log for identifying security threats inside an application. Sentinel is very good at this."
"The solution's Kusto Query Language (KQL) execution time is pretty good."
"The solution lets us get all the logs properly and regularly monitor customer infrastructure."
"One of the most valuable features is the business intelligence engine. It's very important because it keeps track of everything that's happening and alerts us if something is different than expected. The first time I used it, I was shocked at how well it performed. Another valuable feature that I think makes this product worth the price you pay for it is that it connects to basically every system that provides some form of logging, and it's very easy to set up what triggers this."
"It makes everything easier by automating some tasks and growing with our needs."
"Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network."
 

Cons

"The process of installing Fortinet FortiSIEM and the customization of the alerts take too long."
"Areas for improvement would be the ease of use and the integration with Fortinet's own products."
"FortiSIEM could be better integrated with other vendors."
"With FortiSIEM, the issue has to do with the ways we can generate a report. It's not as flexible compared to that with other SIEM tools, like Splunk."
"The biggest thing that could be better is a quicker response to support cases."
"It's difficult to integrate unsupported devices with FortiSIEM compared to QRadar. It's easier to integrate and develop processes in QRadar. It's harder to develop a custom process in FortiSIEM."
"The solution's interface could be modernized and improved."
"The built-in APIs in Fortinet FortiSIEM are somewhat lacking and could be improved for better integration with external ITSM products."
"The dashboard and customer view should be improved"
"There are still a few vendor-specific devices for which Sentinel needs to work on integration, such as Netskope devices."
"The solution does not allow outsourced authorizations."
"This product's connection to certain types of cloud systems could be improved. We can do Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, but there are a lot of other things happening in the cloud that we do not connect well enough to. This product could be improved with better connection to cloud-based solutions."
"You need a lot of Unix scripting knowledge in order to manage the tool, which is one of the main issues that we faced."
"I would like to see a better reporting work structure on the dashboard."
"There is no integration in the web-side of the tool."
"I rate Sentinel a six out of ten for scalability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is expensive. The license is scalable. If there are 10 devices it is simple to license."
"This is probably more on the lower cost end of the spectrum compared to competing products. Fortinet's license model is based on events per second, which makes sense, but that's not typical. It makes it very hard to calculate what your costs are going to be as you scale the platform because some log sources, such as firewall logs, are very noisy, and there are lots and lots of events per second, but some of them are not. So, it becomes a bit of a science experiment trying to guess what your costs are going to be as you scale the solution. This is where other competing products perhaps have a more straightforward license model."
"Manageable, however would be better as pay as you go versus CapEX."
"Its price can be better. We are Fortinet partners, so we can get discounts, but its price can be an issue at the beginning for others. There is a licensing scheme for every case. There are three licensing schemes that we can choose from."
"The tool is really expensive. For what the tool does for our team, the price is fair."
"Pricing is acceptable for more than 90% of our customers, as they normally get discounts."
"They have a yearly subscription."
"Please be cheaper and more simplified."
"The solution’s pricing is aligned with its competitors."
"We receive a pricing discount because of our ongoing partnership with Micro Focus."
"Sentinel's slightly on the expensive side."
"We inquired about getting support from the vendor, Micro Focus, but the cost was very high."
"Sentinel is moderately priced."
"Sentinel is a subscription-based solution."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions are best for your needs.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Fortinet FortiSIEM needs to provide better API integrations to users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSIEM?
The pricing is reasonable, which is why it is preferred by government customers. Windows agent licenses cost around 3,000 Rupees per device per year.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Fortinet FortiSIEM should broaden its remediation part to include more features for incident management. Currently, to manage repetitive incidents or for remediation, I need to use a separate softw...
What do you like most about NetIQ Sentinel?
The solution lets us get all the logs properly and regularly monitor customer infrastructure.
What needs improvement with NetIQ Sentinel?
There are still a few vendor-specific devices for which Sentinel needs to work on integration, such as Netskope devices. Also, we often face region-wise outages during operation due to product team...
 

Also Known As

FortiSIEM, AccelOps
NetIQ Sentinel, Novell SIEM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

FortiSIEM has hundreds of customers worldwide in markets including managed services, technology, financial services, healthcare, and government. Customers include Aruba Networks, Compushare, Port of San Diego, Cleveland Indians, Infoblox, Healthways, and Referentia.
Faysal Bank, GaVI, Handelsbanken, ISC Mªnster, Lambeth Council, Swisscard, The Municipality of Siena, Tukes, University of Dayton, University of the Sunshine Coast
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSIEM vs. Sentinel and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.