Fortinet FortiGate Reviews and Pricing

it_user1296954

Senior Scientist at Ats, iNC.

Feb 28, 2020

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Good SSL-VPN, anti-virus, and anti-malware protection

Pros and Cons

"SSL-VPN is very useful for us and has been very reliable."

"The user interface could be improved to make it less confusing and easier to set up."

What is our primary use case?

FortiGate is used as the primary firewall and malware detection device for the company.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution allows solid VPN service for access from the field, and the anti-virus/anti-malware detection works well.

What is most valuable?

SSL-VPN is very useful for us and has been very reliable.

What needs improvement?

The user interface could be improved to make it less confusing and easier to set up. There are too many pull-down menus.

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Fortinet FortiGate

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For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using FortiGate for five years.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1112532

President at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

Jun 7, 2019

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A solution that impresses our customers and saves them money in the long run

Pros and Cons

"This is a quality product with ok support, and it is better than the competition we've tried."

"FortiOS is not simple."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use for this solution is as an SMB boundary firewall, and we now use their Security Fabric.

How has it helped my organization?

This is a quality product with ok support, and it is better than the competition we've tried.

What is most valuable?

Security Fabric makes VLANs a breeze. It impresses customers, as well as saves them money over the long run when comparing apples to apples.

What needs improvement?

FortiOS is not simple. Too many people think it should be simple to use, but the complexity of the product makes that impossible.

For how long have I used the solution?

Seventeen years.

How are customer service and technical support?

The support for this solution is ok.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

April 2025

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.

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849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Mohamed Abdullah

Senior Security Engineer at crystal networks

Apr 4, 2019

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Enables us to load balance more than six internet lines but they should develop better visibility, monitoring, and reporting

Pros and Cons

"Customers want to load balance more than eight lines or six internet lines. FortiGate is the only solution that can accomplish this."

"The monitor and the visibility, in this proxy, is very weak."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is as a firewall.

How has it helped my organization?

Customers want to load balance more than six internet lines. FortiGate is the only solution that can accomplish this.

What needs improvement?

The monitoring and the visibility, in this proxy, is very weak. I would for them to develop better visibility, monitoring, and reporting.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's not always stable. When there's heavy traffic, we get hardware problems.

How are customer service and technical support?

Their technical support is very good.

How was the initial setup?

The configuration was very easy. I didn't have any problems with it.

It depends on the project, but I don't need a lot of resources to maintain it. One or two staff are enough to deploy and maintain it.

What about the implementation team?

I integrated it myself.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Our licensing costs are on a yearly basis.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it a seven out of ten. Not a ten because of the monitoring and the stability issues.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.

it_user181989

Technical Consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Feb 17, 2015

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Very easy to manage and understand

What is most valuable?

SSL VPN, Site to Site VPN, UTM features and web override are nice features.

What needs improvement?

They need to improve a bit the SSL VPN to integrate with Sharepoint single sign on, with form base, Windows claim base and SALM base authentication.

For how long have I used the solution?

For the last 3 years

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Yes but that was resolved.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Yes, sometimes the CPU and memory get to 99% utilization but when this happens no users are working and no updates for windows are configured.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Yes, somewhat.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

The level of customer service is bad because support is very pathetic.

Technical Support:

Support is very pathetic.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward

What about the implementation team?

In house

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user399990Senior Network System Administrator at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

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Mar 4, 2016

You have faced problem with which fortinet device (Model No)..?

Alan Chavira

Engineering Manager at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees

Sep 26, 2017

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Great product with too many features at the right price

Pros and Cons

"UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome."

"MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA."

How has it helped my organization?

Simplifies administration and upgrades overall security.

What is most valuable?

UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome.

What needs improvement?

MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No.

How is customer service and technical support?

Great support. It's quite good in Mexico.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward.

What other advice do I have?

Great product with too many features at the right price.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer690582COO/CTO at a pharma/biotech company with 11-50 employees

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Nov 1, 2017

I have used Fortigates for 6 years. Like you, similar experiences augmented by an additional support subscription due to my early learning curves. What I did not realize was the speed compromises with all the security apps active - if I have a Verizon FiOS true Gig subscription, my speed was tapered down to 100 Mbps or less. That is a 90% reduction. With 6 users multiplied by cell phones accessing the same WiFi, you can imagine the data speeds we were actually working with.

So, I picked WatchGuard, the T70 specifically. The data speeds with everything turned on remains near the subscription (1 Gig) and I have the same types of protections as the Fortigate. It is too early to report the reliability and other specs since this has changed only in the last week, but the specs tell me a lot that helped me to understand what I missed on my first go-around with Fortigate. Don't get me wrong, I had zero issues over the last 6 years to Fortigate's credit. However, that speed compromise doesn't work for me. Perhaps I missed something, but my support knows the product and there were no adjustments available, other than turning certain features off. I couldn't afford that security risk, not these days.

it_user69351

Network Engineer at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Nov 18, 2013

Fortinet vs. Palo Alto

I work with both Fortinet and Palo Alto.  For me, the advantage of Palo is visibility, reporting and user authentication. Fortinet is easier and faster to configure.  A commit on a Palo Alto is very long when we are used to have a direct modification of Fortinet.  Virtual wire on Palo Alto is much more easier than transparent mode of Fortinet, it's really useful to prepare an integration or a demo in real situation and the tap mode is cool for that too.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1595280

System Admins at a non-profit with 1-10 employees

Jun 9, 2021

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Plenty of features, high throughput, but difficult to upgrade

Pros and Cons

"The solution is stable."

"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."

What is most valuable?

I have found the IPS, antivirus, and the feature that allows you to have a firewall in the same appliance most valuable. Additionally, the solution has good throughput and can handle many types of operations, such as VPNs and firewall rules.

What needs improvement?

There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution within the past 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support could be improved. There is a long waiting time for a resolution.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Fortinet Fortigate a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Reviewer3147

Network Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Nov 12, 2018

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The most valuable feature is the policy routing and application control

Pros and Cons

"The most valuable feature is the policy routing and application control."

"The UI could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is for our small company. It is basically for users on the LAN-side. So, it is just for browsing mostly.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the policy routing and application control. In addition, the firewall will act as a call-switch. So, the performance within the LAN is good.

What needs improvement?

The UI could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

How are customer service and technical support?

We sometimes wait 30 to 40 minutes to get a tech engineer. But, then they are pretty good. Whenever I call for a problem they will assist me and correct me and they will fix up the call. Only one they are sure we have solved the problem will they disconnect from the call. Whenever the issue arises, they're available to help.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I also have prior experience with SonicWall.

How was the initial setup?

The initial implementation was straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I do not have personal experience with the pricing of the solution because my boss has been taking care of that aspect of the relationship with the solution.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

SonicWall has a better UI solution.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.