We performed a comparison between Cisco Secure Firewall and Fortinet Fortigate based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Fortinet Fortigate comes out on top. Its ease of deployment combined with its solid set of features and excellent service and support ratings make it a more desirable solution than Cisco Secure Firewall.
"The VPN feature is the most valuable to us because it accomplishes the task well. We're able to do everything we need to do."
"The stability of the product is good."
"IPS and Snort are very important because they also differentiate Cisco from other vendors and competitors."
"This solution is easy to use if you know how to set it up."
"The transparency of the single UI to ensure security. A product has to be simple so that an administrator can use it."
"Firepower has reduced our firewall operational costs by about 25 percent."
"The user interface, the UI, is excellent on the solution."
"The configuration support is very good. You can find a lot of configuration samples and troubleshooting tips on the internet, which is very good."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are remote access, web filtering, and IPS."
"The product offers very good security."
"We can use our devices to check all of the perimeters. It secures email websites."
"Fortinet has a very good solution for Secure SD-WAN. One very good feature is that they have robust and simple FortiOS through which they provide all solutions. That's their strength. There's not much complexity involved with the Secure SD-WAN solution of Fortinet as compared to Cisco's solution, which has a lot of flexibility but complexity also comes with that flexibility."
"We have been able to offer several services to customers in a single box."
"The most valuable features are the enterprise modeling and the simple interface."
"The simplicity of the configuration and the stability of the product are most valuable. The VPN concentrator is very useful."
"Unified Threat Management (UTM) features."
"The content filtering on an application level is not as good as other solutions such as Palo Alto."
"The price can be better."
"Maybe the dashboard could be a bit better."
"I wouldn't give them a ten. Nobody is perfect. I'll give them a nine because they help me with any issues I've had."
"I wish the Cisco interface was not so granular. Check Point was easier to create specific rules than with ASAv."
"Third-party integrations could be improved."
"It would be good if Cisco made sure that the solution supports all routing protocols. Sometimes it doesn't."
"It's not unexpected, but it's a common scenario where customers request dual layers of security. For instance, when dealing with regulatory compliance, especially in financial sectors regulated by entities like the Central Bank, having two distinct units is often mandated. If a client predominantly uses a solution like Palo Alto, they may need to incorporate another vendor such as Cisco or Forti. Importantly, there's a significant disparity in interfaces and management platforms between these vendors, necessitating careful consideration when integrating them into the overall security architecture"
"The process of configuring firewall rules appears excessively complex."
"Security is a continuous process. In every product, there is a requirement for improvement. Its pricing should also be improved according to Indian market requirements. They must also improve on the reporting part. Its reporting can be more precise. If we can get a real-time report in a specific format, it will be helpful for customers to know about the current status of their security."
"The support from Fortinet FortiGate could improve. They are not easily accessible when we need them. They could improve their response time."
"The security of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"Fortinet already improved FortiGate, but in the current market, many brands of security devices have improved together. Fortinet still needs to catch up with market standards. Fortinet is lacking in features in comparison to competitors."
"We have an issue with hotel guest vouchers."
"The feedback that I have received is that the performance could be better, and the user experience is not as good compared to a previous solution we used. It could be more user-friendly. Of course, it still works fine for our operations."
"It should provide better visibility over the network and more information in the form of reports for the end users. Its installation should also be easier."
Cisco Secure Firewall is ranked 4th in Firewalls with 404 reviews while Fortinet FortiGate is ranked 2nd in Firewalls with 306 reviews. Cisco Secure Firewall is rated 8.2, while Fortinet FortiGate is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco Secure Firewall writes "Highlights and helps us catch Zero-day vulnerabilities traveling across our network". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate writes "It's a reliable solution that's easy to install and cheaper than competitors ". Cisco Secure Firewall is most compared with Palo Alto Networks WildFire, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, Sophos XG and Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, whereas Fortinet FortiGate is most compared with Sophos XG, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, Check Point NGFW and WatchGuard Firebox. See our Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Fortinet FortiGate report.
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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.