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FortiSASE vs VMware SASE 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

iboss
Sponsored
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (5th), Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), ZTNA as a Service (8th)
FortiSASE
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware SASE
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
21st
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category, the mindshare of iboss is 2.0%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiSASE is 7.3%, up from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware SASE is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
FortiSASE7.3%
iboss2.0%
VMware SASE0.3%
Other90.4%
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
 

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford - PeerSpot reviewer
It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless
One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured
Yusuke Murasato - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient access control and authorization with easy configurations
The important aspects are twofold. One is authorization, and the second is access control. FortiSASE can operate in a cloud environment with client certificates for authorizations and access control using features like PostureCheck. The service assesses device security, checking updates on antivirus software and confirming Windows OS specifications. I can use it anywhere I want as long as I have an Internet connection. It's very easy to configure the environment.
Murat-Alici - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable solution that can be deployed in less than an hour
The solution's technical support is not good enough. The support offered by VMware for end customers is not enough. Support from VMware should be made available to our company with just one email or call since VMware currently has a very complex website. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"From a use-case scenario, what I like the most is the plug-in. I like the fact that we can do the filtering of these devices offsite independent of the network they are connected to, and we do not have to have traffic coming back inside our network."
"The iboss system is highly reliable. The false positive rates are small compared to some other systems we've experienced through other partner agencies who use competing solutions."
"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."
"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."
"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."
"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device."
"Granular setup, which was able to set different levels of filters using the OUs in the AD."
"The console is cloud-based, which is something I really appreciate."
"I find Fortinet to be competitive with its firewalls."
"The best feature of FortiSASE is SD-WAN."
"It has AI-based detections for any signature-less virus or any unknown vulnerabilities."
"We built a local node in Jordan, which is the main advantage. The data is localized in-country."
"We utilize the web filtering part of FortiCASB for our network security."
"The integration with the company's existing security infrastructure enhanced our security posture since it was a straightforward process."
"It's very stable."
"The product can scale."
"It is a stable solution."
 

Cons

"I am currently doing a PoC of the zero trust aspect of it. Compared to other similar solutions, it is hard to get around each feature. It takes a while to get used to it."
"The reporting feature needs improvement."
"Their on-premise hardware's network interface is capped at one gigabit, which is sort of a problem. If you stand a filter up where all traffic flows through that, according to them, in order to go above a gigabit, you have to have multiple devices, which in today's IT seems a little bit silly. They could easily put in an SFP port into their device that could accommodate 10 gigs or at least offer a box."
"Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device and filtering did not always work correctly."
"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."
"Fold that in with the risk intelligence they're getting from all of the different subscriptions they are a part of. Now, these security companies subscribe to things like emerging threats, databases, etc. You can fold all this intelligence to decide what's happening on an endpoint. I would love to see them start moving into that space. That would compete directly with Microsoft. Maybe that's why they haven't. Having that ability native within the solution would be great. The other area in which I would love to see improvement is more detailed descriptions of why they block websites."
"SSL decryption: We had issues with learners using apps instead of using web browsers. This type of encryption is tough for any appliance in a BYOD environment."
"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."
"The GUI and connectivity, along with the support offered, are some of the areas of concern in the product where improvements are required."
"While connectivity from outside to inside is okay, inside to outside is not."
"FortiSASE is an expensive product and the cost is indeed high."
"The main concern is that if the client is using another firewall, they cannot establish a private channel with the Cisco cloud."
"There are some issues at the agent level, and then we have to sign out and sign in."
"The current high-tech version of FortiSASE is not recommended due to its heavy loading."
"Some of the solution's back-end connectivity and visibility are not robust and could be improved."
"FortiSASE is an expensive product and the cost is indeed high."
"The upgrade feature of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."
"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."
"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."
"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."
"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."
"I can only speak about the pricing for education users because we get discounts. Other users aren't going to get the same price, but FortiSASE is competitive with the other products out there. All the solutions came in at the same price, so it just came down to the product that works best for us."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is high price, and ten is low price."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?
For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company Exxon...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
Previously when I used iboss, we did the POC for iboss for ExxonMobil. Four or five people wanted to move from our ol...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern. There are cheaper alte...
What do you like most about FortiSASE ?
The integration with the company's existing security infrastructure enhanced our security posture since it was a stra...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiSASE ?
The pricing, licensing, and setup costs of FortiSASE are very advantageous if you are already a Fortinet customer. If...
What needs improvement with FortiSASE ?
The secured browser of FortiSASE has room for improvement. Palo Alto has a more mature security browser than Fortinet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware SASE?
I had an idea about the pricing of the product when Dell purchased VMware, but presently, I have no idea about the pr...
What needs improvement with VMware SASE?
The upgrade feature of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.
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Find out what your peers are saying about Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks, Netskope and others in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). Updated: August 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.