We use the solution for our private cloud.
CEO at Easyteam
A flexible and scalable solution that easily integrates with the network infrastructure
Pros and Cons
- "It’s easy to integrate the solution with our network infrastructure."
- "We face some issues with the IPsec connection during replication."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
We use Fortinet for everything in our organization. Our organization has Fortinet experts. The virtualized network features work fine. The flexibility is fine. It’s easy to integrate the solution with our network infrastructure.
What needs improvement?
We face some issues with the IPsec connection during replication. It must be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for six months.
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
September 2025

Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate-VM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
867,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is fine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s scalability an eight out of ten. We have many users in our organization.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is complex because we use CLI. The solution is cloud-based. We have moved our on-premise VM to a private VM.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have used Netgate. I prefer Fortinet FortiGate-VM.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Director at Optimity company limited
A decently stable tool that is available at a reasonable price compared to what its competitors offer
Pros and Cons
- "The product's initial setup phase was easy."
- "The scalability feature of the solution has certain shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution in my company mostly as a firewall product.
What is most valuable?
The strong point of the solution is that Fortinet FortiGate-VM is a good tool to spend money on, as its price is not as high as the ones offered by Palo Alto. Compared to Palo Alto's performance, most people like Fortinet FortiGate-VM. In general, Fortinet FortiGate-VM is a tool that is available for a good price, and its performance is comparable to that of Palo Alto and Check Point.
What needs improvement?
I believe that Fortinet FortiGate-VM makes improvements on a quarterly or yearly basis.
In Fortinet FortiGate-VM, the area around the configuration, performance monitoring, and GUI are not as easy as in Palo Alto. Fortinet FortiGate-VM's configuration part, performance monitoring, and GUI are areas where improvements are required.
The scalability feature of the solution has certain shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for more than ten years. I work as the solution's system integrator. I use the solution's latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a six or seven out of ten.
My company deals with customers with various ranges regarding the number of users who use the solution. Some of the customers I deal with and who use the solution have around 500 users.
My company plans to increase the number of users of the solution in our company.
How are customer service and support?
I am not about the online support services offered by Fortinet FortiGate-VM, but our company deals with local support for the solution, which is very good.
I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
As a system integrator, my company not only provides services for Fortinet FortiGate-VM but also for products like Palo Alto and Check Point.
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup phase was easy.
The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.
The product's installation phase takes three hours if our company's customers provide us with all the prerequisites required for the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cost-wise, I would describe Fortinet FortiGate-VM as a tool that is available for a good price.
Two years ago, the price for the license of the product was affordable, but I think that in the present time, there has been an increase in the price of the product by around 30 percent, making it an expensive tool in the process. I rate the product price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price.
What other advice do I have?
My team consists of around 15 engineers who help me take care of the technical aspects of the product.
I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. I rate the overall tool an eight and a half to 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.
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
September 2025

Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate-VM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2025.
867,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Network Architect at Bouygues telecom
Provides robust web filtering capabilities and has an easy setup process
Pros and Cons
- "It offers the same robust features and functionality in virtual, on-premise, and traditional data center environments."
- "They could simplify the troubleshooting process."
What needs improvement?
They could simplify the troubleshooting process. Troubleshooting requires expertise, often necessitating the command-line interface (CLI). It could be more advanced and easier to use than other products.
Additionally, they could enhance support capabilities and a facility to communicate efficiently with the team.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. However, there are a few areas of improvement. I rate the stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is best in terms of pricing for small and medium-sized companies, where it stands out as a cost-effective and feature-rich solution. For larger enterprises, we emphasize the potential benefits of complementing FortiGate-VM with additional firewalls, such as Palo Alto, to enhance security and address potential vulnerabilities.
I rate the scalability a nine out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup process is easy. It can deployed on the cloud and premises based on the client's requirements.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There are products like Cisco Meraki that are more inexpensive than Fortinet FortiGate-VM. However, it provides better security features. Palo Alto's pricing is similar to that of the FortiGate-VM regarding quality for security features. It is reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
FortiGate VM in a cloud infrastructure provides security benefits. It offers the same robust features and functionality in virtual, on-premise, and traditional data center environments. It protects against external attacks and internal threats through features such as web filtering, secure application filtering, and antivirus capabilities. These functionalities collectively enhance security measures, safeguarding against various potential risks.
It is extensible, as we can add as much functionality as we require. It is simple to add more resources. It has a flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model.
I rate it an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Chief Information Security Officer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
The product that is easy to maintain and offers intuitiveness to users
Pros and Cons
- "The product is easy to implement."
- "The stability of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
What is our primary use case?
Fortinet FortiGate-VM was used for our company's customers, but presently, most of our clients use Sophos UTM.
My company's clients use Fortinet FortiGate-VM to protect their entire internal network.
What is most valuable?
Fortinet FortiGate-VM has very good features. The most important factor about the product is that it is very intuitive. Fortinet FortiGate-VM is very handy compared to Check Point and Palo Alto.
With Fortinet FortiGate-VM, you get all the tools in the basic package, so there is no need to get a special platform for each component, which makes it much easier to implement.
What needs improvement?
The stability of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required.
The response time of the technical support team is an area of concern where improvements are needed.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for a few years. My company has a partnership with Fortinet.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
There are certain issues that users may face when they update Fortinet FortiGate-VM due to some bugs.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Considering that the machines work with the same operating system and in the same method in an environment, the use of the scalability feature is very easy.
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
I work with our company's small, medium, and enterprise-sized clients who use the solution.
How are customer service and support?
At times, you can get a quick answer from the support team, but for some cases or issues, it takes a long time for the technical team to respond.
I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have experience with Check Point and Palo Alto. The first firewall that my company worked with was Check Point, and we have used it for many years.
How was the initial setup?
The product is easy to implement.
The solution is deployed on the cloud and on an on-premises model.
The complexity of the organization determines the time required to deploy the solution. Basically, it takes three hours to deploy the product, and for a big company, it takes two days.
One good engineer is enough to take care of the deployment phase of the product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of the product depends on a company's negotiation skills, and if a company can't get it at a good price, there are other tools that can be purchased from the market.
I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price.
Our company needs to make either a yearly or a three-year payment towards the licensing charges attached to the product. There are no additional costs attached to the solution apart from the tool's licensing charges.
What other advice do I have?
Fortinet FortiGate-VM is a very good product.
The maintenance of the product is very easy. One person is required to take care of the maintenance of the product.
I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. Before buying the product, people should consider the ease of implementation Fortinet FortiGate-VM offers.
Check Point is the best when it comes to monitoring and investigating logs. In general, the most important thing users should consider is that the implementation part should be good, for which Fortinet FortiGate-VM is the best.
I rate the overall tool 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. Partner
Director - User Experience Design at HighRadius
An easy-to-operate tool to manage firewall installation and endpoint connectivity
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is easy to operate."
- "Capacity-wise, I think the solution's log storage area is something that needs to be increased since, by default, it stores logs for only seven days."
What is our primary use case?
I use Fortinet FortiGate-VM in my company to manage firewall installation and endpoint connectivity.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is easy to operate.
What needs improvement?
If a user makes any changes, it will immediately have an effect on the solution. If a user makes any changes in a product like Palo Alto, there is a need to push those changes to the firewall and apply commit changes, which shows the configuration part, making it a good feature since it sometimes helps, considering how a user may make small errors.
Errors made by a user get applied when using Fortinet FortiGate-VM. In the production environment, if a user makes any changes in a live environment, there is a need for the user to be very alert. The aforementioned area can be considered for improvement in the solution. Palo Alto is good for the production environment.
Capacity-wise, I think the solution's log storage area is something that needs to be increased since, by default, it stores logs for only seven days. The compliance team in our company needs to check the logs, which may be older than ninety days. Though the tool provides a storage hard disk with enough space, in our company, we can't store logs.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for more than three years. My company is a customer of the product.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
As my company uses an active-passive deployment in our environment, we did not face any stability-related issues with the product. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Around 4000 to 6000 employees in my organization use the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
I rate the product's initial setup phase a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is a difficult setup phase, and ten is an easy setup phase.
The solution can be deployed in an hour or two.
What about the implementation team?
I deployed the solution by myself in my organization.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is a medium-priced product.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Compared to the other VMs in the market, Fortinet FortiGate-VM is very easy to use.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Chief Executive Officer at SST Infotech India Pvt Ltd
It's a solidly stable device with minimal downtime
Pros and Cons
- "We like FortiGate-VM's IPS features and its ability to create multiple virtual firewalls."
- "Fortinet support needs improvement. The response times are lackluster. Fortunately, the product is stable and we seldom have issues. Also, it takes months for them to deliver hardware when we order it."
What is our primary use case?
We have a private cloud environment with two firewalls and a physical host with a total storage capacity of approximately 5 terabytes running on VMware. The private cloud is a payment services gateway processing transactions from 1,500 outlets nationwide. We have around a thousand virtual machines, and all of them use Fortinet.
What is most valuable?
We like FortiGate-VM's IPS features and its ability to create multiple virtual firewalls.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used FortiGate-VM for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is one area where Fortinet stands out. We don't see dropped sessions or downtime. The hardware is extremely stable, and our utilization stays well below the limits.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
You need to upgrade your box to scale, but it's easy to migrate from one to the other.
How are customer service and support?
Fortinet support needs improvement. The response times are lackluster. Fortunately, the product is stable and we seldom have issues. Also, it takes months for them to deliver hardware when we order it.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
It's easy to install and configure FortiGate-VM. One engineer can finish the job in half a day.
What was our ROI?
You will recover your investment if you purchase the right size and use it for six or seven years. However, you'll lose money if you need to replace or upgrade the box after three years. It's critical to buy the correct size from the start.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
FortiGate-VM is a little expensive compared to Sophos. You pay a fixed license for the box, but there are various options if you need to upgrade.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM nine out of 10. It's a solid product overall, but Fortinet support has a lot of room for improvement. I wouldn't recommend it for an enterprise use case. It might work, but you should test it first. They have various options, so you should pick one that meets your business requirements and your environment.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
General Manager at Vodafone Idea Ltd.
Highly versatile, suitable for all size companies, and excellent support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are its flexibility and scalability. This solution is available as a license, which allows us to activate it based on the specific needs of the customer. This gives us and the customer a great deal of versatility and customization options."
- "There is always room for improvement in any solutions, including Fortinet's FortiGate-VM. Although the solution claims to have a superior throughput compared to other OEMs, upon closer examination and comparison, there is potential for significant improvement in this area. In today's rapidly evolving technology world, it is important to continuously strive for enhancement and development, and I believe Fortinet can make significant strides in this direction for the FortiGate-VM."
What is our primary use case?
The use case of FortiGate-VM is primarily for securing the perimeter of private clouds in the dedicated environment created for customers. This can be achieved through a virtual appliance or physical hardware solution. Beyond only perimeter security, some customers also require DDoS services, and FortiGate-VM can provide this through its own solutions that can be combined and offered as a bundle to meet the specific needs of the customer.
The solution can be deployed on-premise and on the cloud too.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are its flexibility and scalability. This solution is available as a license, which allows us to activate it based on the specific needs of the customer. This gives us and the customer a great deal of versatility and customization options.
What needs improvement?
There is always room for improvement in any solutions, including Fortinet's FortiGate-VM. Although the solution claims to have a superior throughput compared to other OEMs, upon closer examination and comparison, there is potential for significant improvement in this area. In today's rapidly evolving technology world, it is important to continuously strive for enhancement and development, and I believe Fortinet can make significant strides in this direction for the FortiGate-VM.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for approximately 18 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
I rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate-VM an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable, it can be easily and effectively expanded as the customer's requirements grow and change. This makes it an incredibly agile solution that can be tailored to meet even the most demanding demands. There is some room for improvement in this area.
The solution is suitable for small to enterprise-sized companies.
I rate the scalability of Fortinet FortiGate-VM an eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Fortinet FortiGate-VM is excellent, it is one of their strongest points.
I rate the support from Fortinet FortiGate-VM a nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of the solution is simple because everything comes with GUI. The entire infrastructure for the customer is simple to set up with the GUI.
The choice between an on-premise or cloud solution is a decision that ultimately depends on the specific needs and requirements of the customer. Currently, there is a trend towards utilizing cloud-based products as they offer a wider selection and can be easily deployed. On the other hand, some customers may prefer an on-premise setup, which involves deploying physical equipment on the customer's premises or a virtual machine from an OEM. The cloud solution offers greater agility, flexibility, and speed but can also present challenges, especially in the semiconductor industry where delivery times may be longer due to stress in the market. In conclusion, both options have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the decision between them should be based on the specific requirements of the customer.
Taking into consideration the magnitude of the entire implementation, the deployment process could potentially take approximately three weeks, assuming all necessary components are readily available for the physical setup. After this stage, the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) phase commences, which may last for an additional week. Subsequently, before the final implementation into production, the customer would conduct a final UAT to ensure all elements have been successfully deployed and functioning as intended.
I rate the initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate-VM an eight out of ten.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of the solution is competitive. Fortinet FortiGate-VM had a lot of advantages when it came to pricing. However, the competition has also geared up to a larger extent and it has become comparable now to the other solutions.
In terms of security, it is crucial to understand that the cost of security measures should not be the sole determining factor. The security of your overall infrastructure and setup must be a top priority, regardless of the price of security appliances or OEMs. However, when considering the entire solution, including the security infrastructure, the cost will play a crucial role in the final decision-making process.
It is imperative to choose the best available options, but the cost of the entire solution should not be exorbitant and prevent it from gaining approval from clients.
I rate the price of Fortinet FortiGate-VM an eight out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
When evaluating the overall solution, it is important to consider both the benefits and drawbacks. Fortinet FortiGate-VM presents a multitude of advantages that make it a fantastic product choice. It offers exceptional stability, a scalable design, and unparalleled support from the manufacturer. It is with great confidence that I wholeheartedly recommend Fortinet as a reliable and valuable solution.
I would recommend this solution to others as long as it's fulfilling the requirements of the customer.
I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. MSP
Network Engineer at MDS Arabia
Has the option to choose either a default or create a self-description
Pros and Cons
- "Regarding specific features, I appreciate the option for external selection, where you can choose either to use a default or create a self-description. This simplifies the process compared to other vendors that require creating a test extension profile and then applying it to the installation. With FortiGate, there is a streamlined approach. From the benefits perspective, clients mainly see cost reduction, especially with FortiGate VM Firewall, as it eliminates the need for additional hardware."
- "The product is satisfactory. I haven't identified any features to improve, and based on the number of deployments I've handled with FortiGate-VM, there haven't been any complaints from the customer's side."
What is our primary use case?
We use Fortinet FortiGate-VM for a constrained firewall and comprehensible security solution. Currently, I'm involved in implementing FortiGate and FortiManager for a customer project over the past month, and Fortinet has proven to be quite effective in this regard.
What is most valuable?
Regarding specific features, I appreciate the option for external selection, where you can choose either to use a default or create a self-description. This simplifies the process compared to other vendors that require creating a test extension profile and then applying it to the installation. With FortiGate, there is a streamlined approach. From the benefits perspective, clients mainly see cost reduction, especially with FortiGate VM Firewall, as it eliminates the need for additional hardware.
What needs improvement?
The product is satisfactory. I haven't identified any features to improve, and based on the number of deployments I've handled with FortiGate-VM, there haven't been any complaints from the customer's side.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for the past five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet is a stable and user-friendly solution. The configuration is straightforward, and it provides a secure environment. I recall a challenge where a customer was using VDOM to segment their networks, but faced issues with communication between firewalls. Through online research, I discovered a tool to replace Fortinet, and it resolved the issue. During a critical migration for a large customer with six hardware firewalls, Fortinet proved reliable and prevented the possibility of mistakes. The GUI interface is well-organized, especially the security tab, making it easy to navigate. Fortinet simplifies network and security tasks, making it accessible for those with a basic understanding of networking and security concepts. Overall, as a vendor, Fortinet stands out for its streamlined approach, avoiding the need to navigate between multiple locations for configuration.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't personally tried Fortinet's technical support, but according to my colleague who has used it, the experience was not positive. He mentioned that the support process is not as direct and efficient as Cisco's. In Cisco, when there's an issue, you can call, initiate a case, and the support engineer can join you directly for troubleshooting. However, with Fortinet, it seems the process involves working on the case independently, and the support requests are assigned to different engineers.
How was the initial setup?
Fortinet installation and configuration instances are not complicated at all. For the initial setup, I have two options: I can either edit it from the CLI directly or go through the GUI in the ASHA setup. Having these two options is convenient and works well for me. I handle the deployment process independently. Once I ensure that all the necessary requirements, such as IP configurations and external/internal network settings, are ready, I can complete the deployment in around one to two hours. The process is straightforward and doesn't require additional resources. To understand the firewall verification and its communication within the internal network, I focus on factors like whether it should be isolated or placed between the firewall and terminal network. Traffic protocols like OSBAM play a crucial role, and configuring it is both easy and efficient. For external network communication, configuring interfaces, especially when dealing with an ISP's line, is straightforward. The SD WAN features in FortiGate-VM are significant. Connecting two firewalls involves attaching them to an SD WAN profile, and then applying the configuration to ensure seamless communication without complexities. Additionally, for VPN connections, the VPN wizard simplifies the process, eliminating the need to worry about encryption or authentication codes.
Working with platforms like Azure is also hassle-free, involving basic steps such as entering IPs and selecting suitable sites. Comparatively, this process is more streamlined than other vendors where creating phase one and testing are often required for VPN connections. Overall, the FortiGate-VM deployment is straightforward, allowing for easy troubleshooting of errors and identification of hardware locations.
What other advice do I have?
When advising the team for cost reduction, I suggest going with the VM if there's no budget. However, if there is a budget, I recommend purchasing the hardware. For all vendors, technically speaking, hardware is considered better than VM. However, for Fortinet, the difference between VM and hardware is mainly budget-related. If the customer has a budget, it's advisable to purchase the hardware. When recommending from the sales team's perspective, if the customer has a budget, they will suggest going with hardware. If there's no budget, the recommendation is to opt for VM, especially if the customer is working with Azure or AWS. The difference between VM and hardware lies primarily in patches, and overall, everything is satisfactory. One aspect worth noting is that during VM deployment, checking connectivity between the hypervisor, distribution switch, and network firewall is required. In contrast, for hardware, once the configuration is complete, connectivity is straightforward.
As for my overall rating of the FortiGate VM solution on a scale from one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I would rate it as a ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Implementer

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Updated: September 2025
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