We use Fortinet FortiGate SWG to secure both Internet-facing and internal applications.
Cyber Security Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
A cloud solution for Internet-facing applications but is expensive
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The web solutions are the most important features.
What needs improvement?
The solution could add API protection.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate SWG for a year.
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Fortinet FortiGate
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Support is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The deployment depends on the requirements. It takes a minimum of one day to complete.
What about the implementation team?
The initial setup is managed by a partner.
Three to four people are enough for setup, depending on the tools. You need a network engineer, a partner, and a firewall engineer to install.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive. It comes with a yearly subscription, which includes support and everything.
What other advice do I have?
Maintenance is easy. One person is enough to do the regular maintenance, but two are suitable for feasibility.
The product is good. It does the job of what is said. It is very stable and reliable. One should consider based on the POC and their requirement, but for our requirement, FortiGate was the one to go for.
We use it for Internet-facing applications and web-based applications. We use it more as a web solution. There might be other use cases or other requirements for other companies.
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Vice President, Head of B2B Marketing Department at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Is highly stable and provides a good user experience
Pros and Cons
- "The product is highly stable."
- "Fortinet FortiGate SWG's costs need improvement."
What is most valuable?
The product provides a good user experience.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet FortiGate SWG's costs need improvement. Also, there could be an efficient feature for solution consulting to answer queries related to architecture design.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is suitable for enterprise customers. The solution architecture takes a bit of time to scale as it is a new product in the market. The customers need more experience working with it. I rate its scalability a five out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
FortiGate provides the technical support services. However, customers have an SLA agreement with us, and we have an SLA agreement with FortiGate. Thus, it takes longer to establish efficient communication between them.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The platform requires a few months to design the architecture.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive compared to Cisco.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend Fortinet FortiGate SWG and rate it an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.
CTO at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Has an easy initial setup process and good security features
Pros and Cons
- "The product has the most valuable configuration, offloading, and security features."
- "Fortinet FortiGate SWG's SSL offloading features need improvement."
What is most valuable?
The product has the most valuable configuration, offloading, and security features.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet FortiGate SWG's SSL offloading features need improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Fortinet FortiGate SWG for five years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I recommend Fortinet FortiGate SWG to larger companies as the lease line is expensive. It is suitable for companies who are running web applications. It is not a necessity for small businesses.
How are customer service and support?
The product's tier-one support process is time-consuming. It takes time to reach the right person to sort out the issues.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously worked with a product related to SSL offloading and caching through a reverse proxy. Currently, we are serving the small and medium-sized business (SMB) segment, where the requirements and infrastructure may not necessitate SSL offloading and related features due to the absence of web servers within their networks. Simpler and more streamlined solutions suffice for their requirements in such cases.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup process is easy. It takes two or three hours for basic implementation. At the same time, it takes around two days to perform a clone test. It includes fine-tuning, optimizing, and transforming it to the environment once stabilized.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate SWG an eight out of ten. It has a lower failure rate in terms of configuration. Once it is configured, it keeps running for years. However, they have increased the process by almost 60% to 70%.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Network administrator at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Provides efficient features for malware analysis, but its pricing needs improvement
Pros and Cons
- "The product has an inbuilt IPS software. We can configure it to block specific anonymous attacks that are happening."
- "They should provide us with a CSV number for patch updates. It will help us block specific signatures as well."
What is our primary use case?
We use the FortiGate IPS solution to analyze malware. When we receive attacks, we analyze the IPs.
What is most valuable?
The product has an inbuilt IPS software. We can configure it to block specific anonymous attacks that are happening.
What needs improvement?
They should provide us with a CSV number for patch updates. It will help us block specific signatures as well.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate IPS for four years. We are using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable, but we need to monitor IPs as new patches are released daily. Attackers will use these new patches to develop new attack methods and signatures. We need to ensure that our FortiGate IPS is up-to-date with the latest patches. We can get the logs and see if anything we have detected is suspicious. It includes programs, applications, files, or anything else. We investigate suspicious activity and act appropriately, such as blocking IP addresses or updating policy analytics.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable. I sometimes have enterprise clients, but my client base is mostly small businesses. We have to implement the entire setup for them. In addition to the endpoint solution and firewall, we need to create IP addresses for users and define their services. Then, we can protect these resources from FortiGate by enabling the IPS upgrade.
How are customer service and support?
There is a customer support portal number. We can create a case there and upload our details. They provide support services instantly.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. The default CSV is already updated so that we can block those threats. We have to update the block list from the policy settings.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive. I rate its pricing a six out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
Enterprises use Fortinet FortiGate IPS because it protects government or critical infrastructure networks. For small businesses, IPS may be sufficient. Overall, I rate it a six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
Arquiteto Pré Vendas - Soluções Digitais - Cyber Security at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Comes with a valuable content filtering feature and helped reduce tickets at our operations center
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to implement and easy to configure. The most valuable feature is FortiGate’s content filtering."
- "The price could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
I’m using Fortinet FortiGate SWG to study it as a proposal for our clients in Brazil.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution reduced a few tickets from our operations center, and we're able to work better with flash incidents.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to implement and easy to configure. The most valuable feature is FortiGate’s content filtering.
What needs improvement?
The price could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I’ve used the solution for four years and I’m currently using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate FortiGate SWG’s stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate FortiGate SWG’s scalability an eight out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The solution is easy to use, and it’s a great solution. I rate Fortinet FortiGate SWG a ten out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward.
What was our ROI?
I have seen an ROI using FortiGate SWG.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Manager at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees
Scalable platform with efficient filtering features
Pros and Cons
- "FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) 's most valuable features are reporting and filtering."
- "The product's data guard feature should support a USB port when the internet connection is unavailable."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product for security and filtering purposes.
How has it helped my organization?
The product helps block multiple ports during ransomware attacks.
What is most valuable?
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) 's most valuable features are reporting and filtering.
What needs improvement?
The product's data guard feature should support a USB port when the internet connection is unavailable.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the platform's stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Our organization has 500 FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) users. We utilize the platform 24/7. I rate its scalability a ten out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The platform's initial setup process is easy. I rate the process a ten out of ten. It takes a couple of days. The deployment involves integrating it with SSO in FortiGate. It helps with filtering access to user accounts through Active Directory. One executive is required for deployment. Additionally, one executive is needed to take care of packet updates for maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented the product with the help of our in-house team.
What other advice do I have?
I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Network Presales Engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
A scalable solution that allows easy integration with Fortinet defense systems
Pros and Cons
- "I like the common administration and the possibility of adding Fortinet defense systems."
- "I see problems with the licensing. If I have to add a new feature, we need to add a license."
What is our primary use case?
We use FortiGate Next Generation Firewall first and foremost for the main site's security, remote sites, and establishing the connection between the firewalls they use. More recently, we have been using it when implementing SD-WAN.
How has it helped my organization?
The total ownership of equipment has several benefits when using one platform for administration. Training is then more focus-oriented to technology like Fabric. From the operations point of view, we have better savings by using this solution.
What is most valuable?
I like the common administration and the possibility of adding Fortinet defense systems.
What needs improvement?
I see problems with the licensing. If I have to add a new feature, we need to add a license. There may then be extra costs for our maintenance budget.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for the past five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortigate is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
FortiGate is a very scalable solution.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used SonicWall. We switched to FortiGate looking for better security technology, and better fabric technology based on security. In this approach, FortiGate is still better than SonicWall.
How was the initial setup?
With the initial setup, it's important to sit with the team to establish the application and the main issues to get the best possible script to implement in Fortinet equipment. We had to spend some time to implement it better.
Deployment could take one week, depending on the site, or even three weeks to implement the solution. Around four people were involved in the deployment.
What about the implementation team?
We contacted an external company to provide some professional services through engineers who have better experience in certain kinds of implementations.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is better compared to other solutions like Check Point, Arista, or Cisco.
What other advice do I have?
To anyone who plans on supporting this solution, refer to training resources in the Fortinet training center. There are people who have some experience that could provide some guidelines to people who start with basic issues and basic tasks, to then grow with experience by implementing some maintenance windows. I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Information Security Manager at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
The solution helped improve our security through its encryption and integrated security features
Pros and Cons
- "There are multiple features I have found to be valuable, such as encryption and integrated security features."
- "The management consoles can be improved."
What is our primary use case?
I use FortiGate Next Generation Firewall for network protection using its DMZ network.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has helped our network security.
What is most valuable?
There are multiple features I have found to be valuable, such as encryption and integrated security features.
What needs improvement?
The management consoles can be improved. I have used them before, and they are not so good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall for over two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the solution eight out of ten points for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution eight out of ten points for scalability. Over 200 people use it, some of whom are in IT.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used Palo Alto more than a year ago at my previous job.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy, I rate it a nine out of ten. Deployment took several days, involving one or two people. The steps involved in the process are design, configuration and implementation, testing and implementation, and also some fine-tuning.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would rate pricing to be about four or five out of ten, it is reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution because the price is reasonable and the performance is quite good. Overall I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
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Updated: December 2025
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