We use the solution as a firewall, and in conjunction with Fortinet FortiMail.
Director at REDCO
Easy setup and configuration, with a good interface, responsive support, and extensive configuration options
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is very easy to configure and has a good interface, plus it offers more configuration options than other vendors."
- "I would like to see fewer bugs. If you use the box with its basic features, the solution is straightforward and stable, but you can run into bugs when using newer features or in more complex use cases. They included a DNS filter as a new feature, and I had issues that required raising a ticket with customer support."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The solution is very easy to configure and has a good interface, plus it offers more configuration options than other vendors.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see fewer bugs. If you use the box with its basic features, the solution is straightforward and stable, but you can run into bugs when using newer features or in more complex use cases. They included a DNS filter as a new feature, and I had issues that required raising a ticket with customer support.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for between 10 and 12 years.
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiOS
June 2026
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiOS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
902,417 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. There are occasional bugs, but support is very quick and helpful in resolving these issues.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
A medium 100 or 200 Series box costs around $3000, and the software cost is around 55% of the hardware cost.
What other advice do I have?
Depending on the situation, performance issues may require changing out the box.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
Network Engineer at Pyramid IT Solutions Pvt Ltd
Security solution that is user friendly and offers comprehensive integrations
Pros and Cons
- "This is a user friendly solution and offers comprehensive integrations."
- "The reporting for this solution could be improved. It could also be more stable and offer better pricing."
What is most valuable?
This is a user friendly solution and offers comprehensive integrations.
What needs improvement?
The reporting for this solution could be improved. It could also be more stable and offer better pricing.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for five years.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support for this solution is good and user-friendly.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Installation takes two minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
If you are able to afford it, I would recommend Fortinet.
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 FortiOS
June 2026
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiOS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
902,417 professionals have used our research since 2012.
It has optimized the WAN environment for connecting users to the application
Pros and Cons
- "Fortinet has optimized the WAN environment for connecting users to the application."
- "We switched to Fortinet because it's easy to use and deploy, and in recent years, Fortinet has worked to combine the SD-WAN and next-gen firewall into one device, improving the ease of use."
- "Fortinet's central management needs to be improved. FortiManager's technical tool provider ability should manage all Fortinet security products. Right now, FortiManager only manages the configuration of FortiGate."
What is our primary use case?
Fortinet's SD-WAN connects the user to the application or app server on-prem or the cloud.
How has it helped my organization?
Fortinet has optimized the WAN environment for connecting users to the application.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet's central management needs to be improved. FortiManager's technical tool provider ability should manage all Fortinet security products. Right now, FortiManager only manages the configuration of FortiGate.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Fortinet for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet's performance is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Fortinet is scalable. We can increase the scalability in the help center. We have 500 to 600 users now, but we plan to grow to 700 or 800 users in the next two years.
How are customer service and support?
I'm satisfied with Fortinet support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We switched to Fortinet because it's easy to use and deploy. In recent years, Fortinet has worked to combine the SD-WAN and next-gen firewall into one device, improving the ease of use.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up Fortinet is straightforward. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to deploy. We have a team of five engineers to deploy, maintain, and manage Fortinet.
What about the implementation team?
We deployed Fortinet ourselves.
What other advice do I have?
I rate FortiOS nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
User-friendly interface, high performance, and low maintenance
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the ease of use and user-friendly interface."
- "Some features I have found to be hidden and cannot be accessed through the graphical user interface, you can only access them through the command-line interface (CLI). All the features should be accessible through the graphical user interface."
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the ease of use and user-friendly interface.
What needs improvement?
Some features I have found to be hidden and cannot be accessed through the graphical user interface, you can only access them through the command-line interface(CLI). All the features should be accessible through the graphical user interface.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiOS for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiOS is a stable solution and it has high performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability depends on the cloud provider of Fortinet FortiOS, such as Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure. They need to work according to their SLA.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment of Fortinet FortiOS is simple. The speed of the deployment depends on a lot of factors, such as a number of policies, features we need to enable, and security specifications.
What about the implementation team?
I do the deployment of Fortinet FortiOS and since it is on the cloud there is no maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Fortinet FortiOS is reasonable and it is paid annually. You are able to select the features that you want.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiOS a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
CEO at OmniNet Systems
Useful control, reliable, and beneficial interoperability
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the granular control and their interoperability is good."
- "Fortinet FortiOS can improve the GUI and remove the command line interface. All the functionality should be available from the GUI. Day-to-day management can be tough for IT administrators. Additionally, the reporting is not very good."
What is our primary use case?
Fortinet FortiOS is the operating system(OS) for the appliance to work.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the granular control and their interoperability is good.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet FortiOS can improve the GUI and remove the command line interface. All the functionality should be available from the GUI. Day-to-day management can be tough for IT administrators. Additionally, the reporting is not very good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiOS for approximately 10 years.
How are customer service and support?
I have not used support very often. I have been able to figure out the problems myself.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used other solutions, such as SonicWall. I have found SonicWall's GUI to be less complicated than Fortinet FortiOS.
How was the initial setup?
If I have to implement through the Fortinet FortiOS I have to go through multiple screens. For example, if I need to configure a simple VPN, and a site-to-site Sec VPN channel, in Fortinet FortiOS, I may have to go through multiple GUI pages or screens. Whereas, in SonicWall, everything can be done on one page.
When comparing the ease of configuration and management, with SonicWall, I find Fortigate needs some improvement. If it was improved it would make it a lot easier for implementers.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution to others.
I rate Fortinet FortiOS an eight out of ten because the reporting, configuration, and management for the IT administrators could improve.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Systems manager at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Effective policy management and straightforward implementation
Pros and Cons
- "I have found the most valuable features to be the policies, cache, and the SD-WAN."
- "Fortinet FortiOS is highly stable."
- "Fortinet FortiOS could improve by having better authentication methods with Microsoft or Google Services."
What is our primary use case?
I am using Fortinet FortiOS as my main firewall.
What is most valuable?
I have found the most valuable features to be the policies, cache, and the SD-WAN.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet FortiOS could improve by having better authentication methods with Microsoft or Google Services.
In an upcoming release, they could improve the user interface.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiOS for approximately three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiOS is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have found Fortinet FortiOS is scalable.
We have approximately 500 users using this solution in my organization. We might increase usage in the future.
How are customer service and support?
I am only using the resellers' support, not the Fortinet support.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation is simple and the full implementation took approximately three days.
What about the implementation team?
We use integrators for the implementation of the solution.
We have three staff members that handle the deployment of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am on a two-year contract and I pay annually for Fortinet FortiOS.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to those wanting to implement this solution is to use a good partner that can help set up and troubleshoot the solution.
I rate Fortinet FortiOS an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Infrastructure at 4 Seniors Brasil
Useful UTM features, good interface, and beneficial controls
Pros and Cons
- "The interface is good."
- "Most of our clients prefer to use FortiGate because of all the security features."
- "There are some features for FortiGate using FortiOS that can only be enabled via a command line. These aren't very advanced features they have been part of FortiOS for quite some time but they still aren't accessible from the graphical user interface. It makes it a little bit harder than it should be for us to manage the solution. That's my main concern with the user interface. Another concern we have is some elements for the user interface, if they're not properly configured, it could lead to hardware and performance degradation."
What is our primary use case?
Most of our customers that we implemented Fortinet FortiOS for we support and manage the FortiGate. Most of them use all the UTM features, such as web features, application control, intrusion prevention, and SSL inspection. We do have some customers who do not use these features. They mostly use IPsec, VPN concentrator, but no security features, we only have two specific cases. Most of our clients prefer to use FortiGate because of all the security features.
What is most valuable?
The interface is good.
What needs improvement?
There are some features for FortiGate using FortiOS that can only be enabled via a command line. These aren't very advanced features they have been part of FortiOS for quite some time but they still aren't accessible from the graphical user interface. It makes it a little bit harder than it should be for us to manage the solution. That's my main concern with the user interface. Another concern we have is some elements for the user interface, if they're not properly configured, it could lead to hardware and performance degradation.
We have had some cases where the entire hardware is at a lockout. This means the CPU is 100% consumed and requires a reboot because of a malfunction with the graphical user interface dashboard widget. This is something that we saw a few years ago. We haven't had any new experience with this same issue. However, I'm not sure if that's because Fortinet fixed them, or because we have mow avoid using those specific regions.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Fortinet FortiOS within the last 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiOS is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have found Fortinet FortiOS to be scalable.
We have approximately 200 users using this solution.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used work with many antivirus solutions, such as Trend Micro, CrowdStrike, and Kaspersky. The antivirus engine could use some improvement when comparing Fortinet with other vendors.
How was the initial setup?
I have been doing the installation of Fortinet FortiOS for five years and I am used to doing them. For someone who is new, I do see some difficulties for them to learn how to do it.
The process could be better.
What about the implementation team?
For approximately 200 employees we have at least two engineers and some junior analysts for the day-to-day operation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The Fortinet solutions can be a bit expensive.
What other advice do I have?
The most advanced solution Fortinet has is intruder prevention.
My advice to those wanting to implement Fortinet FortiOS is they should do a site survey, but not exactly the site survey. They need to study and scale the environment for which they want to implement the FortiGate solution. FortiGate solutions aren't exactly cheap, but if they undersize the environment and they purchase or implement FortiGate solutions that are not good enough power-wise for the environment that's being used, it could lead to problems. Although it is a stable solution, it is prone to lockouts if it goes above the recommended use cases. Proper sizing of the environment is very important.
I rate Fortinet FortiOS an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
DevOps at Halcom
Great user experience, good GUI, and stable
Pros and Cons
- "The user experience is great, and the graphical user interface is also good."
- "There are some issues with the performance. We also had some issues while updating the firmware."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for our corporate network's protection.
What is most valuable?
The user experience is great. The graphical user interface is also good.
What needs improvement?
There are some issues with the performance. We also had some issues while updating the firmware.
The download options can be better. While downloading VPN clients, it is a little bit difficult to get different versions. You need to log on and search.
Their support can be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We have had both good and bad experiences with them. Their support could be better.
How was the initial setup?
I never set it up from the beginning. I joined in the middle of this project.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is not cheap; it is also not expensive. It is somewhere in the middle.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
They had already decided on Fortinet when I joined the project.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution. I would rate it an eight out of 10.
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.
Senior Network Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to use, straightforward deployment, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are the ease of use, and the overall simplicity, everyone can use it with a small introduction."
- "The technical support is good. However, during the holidays they can get a little slow to respond."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Fortinet FortiOS for our core network next-generation firewall.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the ease of use, and the overall simplicity, everyone can use it with a small introduction.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiOS for approximately 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiOS is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
We have approximately five administrators that are using the solution in my organization.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good. However, during the holidays they can get a little slow to respond.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is straightforward and simple to deploy.
What about the implementation team?
I can do the implementation myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution could have a better licensing model. It's a bit more expensive than other solutions. The annual subscription is very pricy in Fortinet. The cost could be reduced.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Fortinet FortiOS a nine 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.
President at a manufacturing company with self employed
Site-to-site VPN is useful
Pros and Cons
- "I personally think the site-to-site VPN is the most useful feature. A lot of firewalls have that, but to me, that's one of the features that's essential."
- "I find Fortinet to be on the higher end of the scale in terms of technical support."
- "FortiOS doesn't work well with all browsers. I think they need to do a better job of making it compatible with the various browsers that are out there."
What is our primary use case?
We typically use the Fortinet hardware firewall, and the FortiOS runs inside of that. We're usually working in a small or medium-sized business environment. So we use it for remote access, access from the LAN to the WAN, and site-to-site VPN.
What is most valuable?
I personally think the site-to-site VPN is the most useful feature. A lot of firewalls have that, but to me, that's one of the features that's essential. Either you want to just do some basic routing or use one of these kinds of practices.
What needs improvement?
FortiOS doesn't work well with all browsers. I think they need to do a better job of making it compatible with the various browsers that are out there. I see weird stuff happen sometimes.
It doesn't crash the router bin itself, but it typically takes some time. Sometimes I'll have to reboot the router to get it working with a browser again. This is maybe just a problem with older versions. I can't say anything about the recent versions of the FortiOS, but over the years, I've seen weird stuff. This is mainly just a problem with the browser interface. I've never had a problem with the command line.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think FortiOS is scalable. It's not a Cisco product, but it's a solution that's easy to deploy and manage at scale. You can build as your business would grow. You could go to a higher unit without much effort. Migration is clean in terms of going from small to big units. You typically have to just configure again, but it's not difficult to do. There isn't a whole different set of OS commands between different models.
How are customer service and technical support?
I find Fortinet to be on the higher end of the scale in terms of technical support. I don't know if I'll give them an A-plus, but I'd probably give them an A. Relative to other companies out there, like Microsoft, Intuit, and some of the other support agencies or ISPs that we deal with, their support is better than most.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate FortiOS a seven or an eight.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiOS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
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Updated: June 2026
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