We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiOS and WatchGuard Firebox based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The stability and scalability of this solution are satisfactory. Its SD-WAN, VPN, and URL filtering features are very useful."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ability to work in proxy mode, which other solutions, such as Palo Alto cannot. There are some features that are better that come at no extra license or subscriptions cost, such as basic SD-WAN. The DLT is useful, other solutions have the same feature too, such as Palo Alto."
"One of the valuable features is a standardized OS."
"We are a visual effects company, and there have been a number of high profile security issues in our industry. This has brought us to a higher standard of security, which our clients are very keen on these days."
"We use a southern institution that's audited for IT security and the reporting that automatically comes off the unit makes it much easier to meet compliance standards and makes it easier as far as the amount of time that has to be spent to compile that information. If you get your reporting set up correctly when you initially set it up, you just select the one you want and hit print. The auditing trail on it is the best feature."
"I like that you are able to manage FortiGate from the FortiManager to create a more centralized environment."
"I like that they have given me a solution at a fair price."
"This solution has solid UTM features combined with a nice GUI."
"We found the initial setup to be straightforward."
"This is an easy means of setting up high-availabilty firewall protection."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the SD-WAN, SSL inspection, and IDS/IPS functions."
"The SSL VPN is fee for use is most attractive."
"The most important features of Fortinet FortiOS are the ability to block and make white and black lists. Additionally, the filtering of user access to websites is useful."
"Firewall and overall management are valuable features."
"The solution is very easy to configure and has a good interface, plus it offers more configuration options than other vendors."
"Performance-wise, I think FortiOS is much better than its Juniper counterpart. Based on our actual experience and performance metrics, FortiOS-based products are much better than Juniper."
"The most valuable features are the VPN and web blocker security."
"The most valuable features of the WatchGuard Firebox are all the security and updated features. You are able to configure the solution from the cloud platform and the application and web interface are very nice."
"The product's usability is good. It is straightforward and simple. One of the benefits is that it is easy to navigate and intuitive."
"Because we bought two firewalls... we need a central place to manage the policies and deploy them to both devices. It's good that it provides a system management console that is able to manipulate and manage policies in one place and deploy them to different locations."
"The solution simplifies my business. Normally, for administration, we are using NetApp System Manager on Window since it's easy to create new policies. In a short amount of time, you can create new policies based on new requirements. For example, in the last few months, many requirements changed due to the coronavirus, adding the use of new services, like Office 365, and eLearning tools, like Zoom."
"The Dimension control, the one-spot reporting and control, has been nice. It's been easy to go in and make sure people are doing what they're supposed to be doing and that only the right stuff is getting in."
"WatchGuard Firebox is easy to configure and has a nice user interface."
"The solution has a useful traffic monitor."
"The non-error conserve mode has room for improvement."
"I haven't had a single issue since using Fortinet."
"If they had better integration with security products, such as Cisco ISE or Rapid Threat Containment, then it would be an improvement."
"In the next release, maybe the documentation on how to use this solution could be improved."
"The integration with third-party tools may be something that they should work on."
"The process of configuring firewall rules appears excessively complex."
"The scalability could be better."
"The initial setup and configuration are not intuitive and require training."
"Real-time threat monitoring is not there."
"They need to integrate more with the SD-WAN."
"We had assistance from one person from our local vendor for the implementation."
"There is some room for improvement in the support."
"I would like to see smaller and more frequent updates."
"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."
"Fortinet FortiOS could improve by having better authentication methods with Microsoft or Google Services."
"Fortinet FortiOS can improve the monitoring function, it could be more accurate, easy to use, and understandable."
"There could also be better reporting. For example, there should be more out-of-the-box management reports."
"The data loss protection works well, but it could be easier to configure. The complexity of data loss protection makes it a more difficult feature to fully leverage. Better integration with third-party, two-factor authentication would be advantageous."
"A 12-hour power outage... got our batteries."
"It's very hard to get information from their website, for exactly what I need to do. Sometimes I end up having to open a lot of support tickets... It's a navigational issue which makes it hard to find what I'm looking for and it's just so broad."
"I would like to see more simplified management of the firewall... It's a complicated system to use."
"The level of support from WatchGuard is not as good."
"The solution can improve by adding a feature to tag a MAC address of a computer system in the policy and more IP configuration settings."
"I'm not really impressed with the reporting side of it. It may be something I just haven't figured out very well, but it's hard to filter down on reporting of the actual valuable information that you would want. There is a lot of information out there so you have to have some kind of tool capture it and then filter through. So far, I haven't found the reporting side of the WatchGuard to be that user-friendly."
Fortinet FortiOS is ranked 15th in Firewalls with 73 reviews while WatchGuard Firebox is ranked 13th in Firewalls with 79 reviews. Fortinet FortiOS is rated 8.4, while WatchGuard Firebox is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiOS writes "Provides effective filtering features, good stability but initial setup is moderately challenging". On the other hand, the top reviewer of WatchGuard Firebox writes "Offers a streamlined deployment, intuitive interface and robust security features". Fortinet FortiOS is most compared with Fortinet FortiManager, Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Fortinet FortiWeb and Darktrace, whereas WatchGuard Firebox is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, OPNsense, SonicWall TZ and Meraki MX. See our Fortinet FortiOS vs. WatchGuard Firebox report.
See our list of best Firewalls vendors and best Firewalls vendors.
We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
