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Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros and cons

Vendor: Fortinet

4.2 out of 5

137 reviews
98% willing to recommend

Pros & Cons summary

Fortinet FortiGate-VM delivers high network throughput and cutting-edge security technology at a competitive price. User-friendly deployment and virtual appliance capabilities offer flexibility and scalability but face issues with IPSec Module scalability and opaque pricing. Praise focuses on ease of integration, yet improvements are needed for SIEM compatibility and interoperability. Valuable features include UTM, IPS functionality, and centralized management. Enhancements in technical support response and proactive security measures are recommended.

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Fortinet FortiGate-VM offers an easy and quick setup process, making deployment highly efficient and manageable.

Its scalability as a virtual appliance allows for extensive customization and adaptability to meet specific client needs.

The robust security features, including IPS, antivirus, and SD-WAN capabilities, enhance protection and network efficiency.

The integration capabilities within the network environment, along with centralized reporting, provide comprehensive solutions for network management.

The support from Fortinet's dedicated technical team ensures swift resolution of any challenges, enhancing customer satisfaction.

CONS

Fortinet FortiGate-VM encounters scalability issues, particularly with IPSec module tunnels freezing, impacting its efficiency.

The pricing model of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is considered expensive and lacks transparency, creating confusion regarding package inclusions.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM lacks sufficient integration options with other vendor products, posing challenges in compatibility and functionality.

Technical support for Fortinet FortiGate-VM is noted to be inadequate, with delays in response and insufficient assistance provided.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM experiences stability concerns, especially when sized improperly, impacting overall performance and reliability.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM Pros review quotes

JJ

IT Security Analyst at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees

Nov 16, 2023

I appreciate FortiGate's flexibility, which allows for centralized management through FortiManager.

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PS

Owner / Principal Consultant at Stratus Concept LLC

Jan 19, 2022

I did like the ability to back up the configuration into the cloud, as opposed to having to store the configurations or just downloading them, the backups, to local devices.

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RD

Richard Domikis

Chief Technology Officer at cornerstone defense

Apr 1, 2021

It's a relatively simple product that is easy to use. It's not overly complex.

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Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate-VM Reviews and More

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

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KO

Network Administrator at THK Co Ltd

Oct 21, 2025

The features and capabilities of Fortinet FortiGate-VM that I have found most valuable are not only specific to Fortinet FortiGate-VM, but generally for most sites: a valuable web filter and DNS filter work together.

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reviewer2229024

Re Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

Oct 6, 2025

Since then, we have been working with Fortinet FortiGate as our primary solution for firewalls.

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William Nogueira

IT Security Specialist at a agriculture with 1,001-5,000 employees

Dec 11, 2023

The Intrusion Prevention System and the web filtering are both working well.

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reviewer1224273

Manager Information Technology at a media company with 51-200 employees

Jan 29, 2020

FortiGate is a nice and very good product.

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reviewer1641246

Senior Security Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Aug 5, 2021

It's very easy to set up, even for more junior developers.

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EMEA Enterprise Solutions Architect at 11:11 Systems

Oct 17, 2025

It's user-friendly and easy to set up, designed with the customer in mind, and works effectively for setting up a VPN connection between both sides and using it for SSL VPN connections for remote users without encountering vulnerabilities.

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EX

Director at Treasure Technology

Jun 15, 2020

While the stability maybe isn't quite to the level of Cisco, it is a very cost-effective solution. It's cheap compared to Cisco.

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Show 10 more reviews (out of 132)

Fortinet FortiGate-VM Cons review quotes

JJ

IT Security Analyst at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees

Nov 16, 2023

Fortinet needs to overhaul its documentation.

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PS

Owner / Principal Consultant at Stratus Concept LLC

Jan 19, 2022

Now they do have the ability to pop up a command line, which is nice, however, the fact that you can't do everything within the GUI is probably a problem.

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RD

Richard Domikis

Chief Technology Officer at cornerstone defense

Apr 1, 2021

The product does not have a good graphical interface.

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Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate-VM Reviews and More

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

872,655 professionals have used our research since 2012.

KO

Network Administrator at THK Co Ltd

Oct 21, 2025

It is not easy to set up these Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes properly because we didn't have previous experience with this kind of solution.

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reviewer2229024

Re Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

Oct 6, 2025

There are areas for improvement because usually, most policies don't change much.

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William Nogueira

IT Security Specialist at a agriculture with 1,001-5,000 employees

Dec 11, 2023

The debugging and troubleshooting has room for improvement.

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reviewer1224273

Manager Information Technology at a media company with 51-200 employees

Jan 29, 2020

FortiGate should be more customer friendly and budgeted better.

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reviewer1641246

Senior Security Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Aug 5, 2021

Their offering for MFA isn't the cleanest.

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EMEA Enterprise Solutions Architect at 11:11 Systems

Oct 17, 2025

Regarding the effectiveness of Fortinet FortiGate-VM in providing high-level security for high-level customers, we have some visibility issues, so it doesn't seem high level; there's definitely room for enhancement.

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EX

Director at Treasure Technology

Jun 15, 2020

The stability could be improved. I find Cisco to be more stable than Fortigate, which is I major differentiator between the two.

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Show 10 more reviews (out of 128)

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