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AWS Direct Connect vs Fortinet FortiClient comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Direct Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
11th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiClient
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (8th), Endpoint Compliance (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.7%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 4.7%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiClient4.7%
AWS Direct Connect1.7%
Other93.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2231871 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Offers secure high-bandwidth connectivity without internet-related risks
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The customer, from the customer side to AWS, receives an ethernet point-to-point connection, and that is it. The interface and everything along with the communication with AWS, the customer has to do by themselves to build the routes and everything. The connection speed that our clients are using ranges from 100 megabits up to 10 gigabits. The main concern is the port costs. Clients do not report technical problems, so it is mainly always an issue of money. The solution is nice, but sometimes they avoid it because the port costs are high. This is not a problem AWS has exclusively; Azure has the same costs, and these port costs are quite expensive. I would rate this review as an 8 out of 10.
KL
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
Remote access has become seamless and secure while deployment remains simple for our users
Performance could be improved today. People are now moving toward SASE, which stands for Secure Access, Secure Edge Solution. Fortinet also has that offering, which would be easier since it operates through the cloud, acting as a first line of defense. When the user connects to the internet, they connect to the cloud first for posture assessment and monitoring before connecting to the outside world. The impact is significant because nowadays people are adopting SASE. During COVID time, many users were trying to connect back to their office, causing the performance or CPU utilization of the firewall to increase tremendously, which slowed down performance. I have not worked with endpoint telemetry in Fortinet FortiClient that could have been helpful for threat mitigation.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"AWS Direct Connect offers higher security options by avoiding internet-related problems such as DDoS attacks and provides stable bandwidth."
"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."
"Direct Connect provides an improved connection quality and a diversified link, which contributes to high availability and failover capabilities."
"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."
"It is a stable solution."
"AWS VPN is cost-effective and affordable; it has the security regulation with 3DES protocol, and they have the security protocol required to encrypt the information in the link."
"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."
"The most useful features are the reports that come from the end user's machines and devices, and you have everything in one place to tell you what's happening on the network."
"We use this to connect the data VPN from the remote office to the headquarters."
"The configuration is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature of FortiClient is its user-friendly interface that allows easy navigation and access to all endpoint devices."
"It is very powerful."
"It's pretty stable, and I don't have any problems with it."
"The solution is stable, we have not had any issues in the time we have been using it."
"It's got a very friendly user interface."
 

Cons

"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"AWS Direct Connect is straightforward and performs well for me."
"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."
"One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high."
"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"We encountered issues with the connection. The VPN was not connecting on multiple occasions."
"Its terminologies are challenging to interpret."
"Compatibility issues between different versions."
"The licensing feature of the product requires improvement since whenever the license expires, the tool logs out its users automatically, irrespective of whether they are on the network or not, which can be problematic for me."
"There is lagging in some of the authentication tools to support the newer versions, this is happening because they are not supported."
"Sometimes there are issues when we are trying to connect. The error doesn't give us the proper feedback."
"The solution could improve by providing analytics or more detailed reports."
"The software inventory part is not yet up-to-date. It doesn't have a great interface, which is a disadvantage. I wish we could leverage it, but we don't use it at all because it's not that reliable."
"It has a horrible performance. It is one of the most unstable VPNs I have ever used."
"The tool becomes slow occasionally, and this should be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."
"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"Pricing is an area that I would like to see improved, as it could be lower."
"Generally, Fortinet is not cheap. The features that are available for free are only for FortiClient VPN clients, not other solutions. It includes web security, antivirus, and one more feature."
"It is not that expensive. It was within the range. A dollar per user per month is nothing."
"Its pricing is good. One thing that has always attracted us to the Fortinet range of products is that their pricing is very competitive. Our particular licensing is on a yearly basis. However, as part of this project, we did pre-purchase three years of maintenance and support at a fairly significant discount."
"FortiClient is costly."
"I don't know it by heart, but it is comparable to other solutions. It is based on the number of clients. It is probably 50 Euros per year per client. It greatly depends on the number of clients you're handling because the more clients you are ordering it for, the cheaper it will be."
"The solution is more cost efficient than Cisco, as FortiGate tends not to charge for the client license, which allows one to make free use of whatever is supported on the device."
"I don't have the licensing schema for the VPN solution because we just purchased the VPN gateway."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
15%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?
One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high. It is primarily a budget issue because while the solution is effective, the port costs ...
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
Our customers primarily use AWS Direct Connect for hybrid cloud solutions. They have parts of their equipment in their on-premise data center, while also using AWS infrastructure for backups, datab...
What advice do you have for others considering AWS Direct Connect?
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The c...
How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection because it continually scans servers for emerging vulnerabilities, which gives...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiClient?
The solution is not cloud-based; it comes from the firewall itself.
 

Also Known As

No data available
FortiClient
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Direct Connect vs. Fortinet FortiClient and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.