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Fortinet FortiGate pros and cons

Vendor: Fortinet
4.2 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Fortinet FortiGate offers excellent security features, including intrusion prevention and threat detection, highly regarded by users for improving network safety.
Fortinet FortiGate's easy deployment and management allow organizations to set up and scale efficiently, reducing the need for extensive IT resources.
Integration capabilities with other Fortinet products enhance network security and performance without additional complexity, making it appealing for comprehensive systems.
The SD-WAN feature of Fortinet FortiGate significantly improves network performance and efficiency by optimizing and simplifying WAN management.
Fortinet FortiGate delivers good value for money with affordable pricing compared to competing firewalls, making it a cost-effective choice for organizations.

CONS

Fortinet FortiGate struggles with scalability, requiring box changes for expansion.
Licensing and pricing are significant concerns, with calls for simpler models and better cost structure.
Technical support is often inadequate, slow, and needs improvement in responsiveness and quality.
Firmware updates frequently introduce bugs, leading to stability issues and dissatisfaction.
Security feature weaknesses are noted, with comparisons to competitors like Palo Alto highlighting deficiencies.
 

Fortinet FortiGate Pros review quotes

it_user3483 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at Unify Square
Feb 27, 2018
A strong point of FortiGate is that the graphical interface is complete and easy to use, especially if we think there is a list of operations that we are able to perform inside.
AL
Network Security Coordinator at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jul 11, 2017
LinkGreat firewall capabilities
SC
ICT Manager at a aerospace/defense firm
Jan 24, 2017
You can create multiple Virtual Domains (VDOMs), which are treated as separate firewall instances.
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,192 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user677703 - PeerSpot reviewer
Superintendent, Process Automation and Safety at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Jun 4, 2017
Allows for firewall rules to be programmed and named in a way that makes it “readable”
it_user454521 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy Chief Manager at a newspaper with 5,001-10,000 employees
Jun 15, 2017
Unified Threat Management (UTM) features.
Jul 10, 2017
Layer-3 firewall and routing are the most valuable features.
MT
CEO & Sr. Information Security Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Jul 12, 2017
One of the valuable features is a standardized OS.
AC
Engineering Manager at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees
Sep 19, 2017
UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome.
IY
Assistant Manager (Infrastructure) at SISTIC
Sep 10, 2018
Easy to use support and licensing portal as well as activation process.
CA
Director at a integrator with 11-50 employees
Oct 30, 2020
Advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless and simple integration into a large network.
 

Fortinet FortiGate Cons review quotes

it_user3483 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at Unify Square
Feb 27, 2018
With FortiGate, the main complaint that I have heard is about the technical support.
AL
Network Security Coordinator at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jul 11, 2017
Stability and technical support are the two major issues I have found with Fortinet.
SC
ICT Manager at a aerospace/defense firm
Jan 24, 2017
I could not configure sFlow from the FortiGate graphical user interface. I realized that the sFlow configuration is available only from the CLI, and discovered that sFlow is not supported on virtual interfaces, such as VDOM links, IPsec, or GRE.
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,192 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user677703 - PeerSpot reviewer
Superintendent, Process Automation and Safety at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Jun 4, 2017
It would be nice if backups could more easily migrate between different models.
it_user454521 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy Chief Manager at a newspaper with 5,001-10,000 employees
Jun 15, 2017
NGN, reporting and controls.
Jul 10, 2017
They should improve high CPU and memory usage that occurs.
MT
CEO & Sr. Information Security Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Jul 12, 2017
It claims it does DLP, but the degree and level of controls are very basic.
AC
Engineering Manager at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees
Sep 19, 2017
MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA.
IY
Assistant Manager (Infrastructure) at SISTIC
Sep 10, 2018
I would like to see improvements made to the dashboard and UI, as well as to the reporting.
CA
Director at a integrator with 11-50 employees
Oct 30, 2020
I think there could be more QoS features