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Cisco Security Cloud Control vs FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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

Cisco Security Cloud Control
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
FortiGate Cloud-Native Fire...
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Firewall Security Management category, the mindshare of Cisco Security Cloud Control is 3.9%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) is 3.2%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewall Security Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF)3.2%
Cisco Security Cloud Control3.9%
Other92.9%
Firewall Security Management
 

Featured Reviews

FS
Security Engineer at Metrobank
Automation reduces intervention and speeds up threat prevention
Our primary use case for Cisco Defense Orchestrator is the automation of playbooks. We primarily use it for this purpose to streamline processes The most valuable feature is the automation, as it reduces user intervention and allows us to focus on other tasks. Since the system is automated,…
Andrew_Jackson - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems engineer at The IT Team (New Zealand)
Centralized management has streamlined access for staff and support has consistently addressed issues quickly
I see areas for improvement, particularly around the SSL VPN. It is a tool that we have used quite heavily, but it has a lot of vulnerabilities and they are starting to be dropping support for it. So we kind of see that they have left a vacuum by removing that feature. The VPN feature is indeed the main concern so far. Security around it is a concern, and then the fact that they have just dropped it and have not really provided a solution that fits for us. Their solution was either IPsec or ZTNA, which is not as flexible as the SSL VPN was for our customers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The bulk changes feature is definitely the most valuable."
"For one particular client, we had almost a 20 percent remediation on some of their equipment as a result of all kinds of attacks from the desktop department, and we got them down to a zero percent remediation."
"We use a lot of image upgrades. We take some 20 devices and then we update everything at once, including the policies. We apply policies for groups. For certain groups, like anti-viruses, we send out policies and apply them to every single device. It's really easy and simple."
"When we're looking to the policies, it identifies the shadow rules. It notifies us about anything that will supersede other rules."
"The ability to see the uptimes on the different VPNs that we have configured for site-to-site."
"If we have a firewall go down, I can hop into CDO, pull the latest configuration off and apply it. That's really good. It helps save time."
"There are a lot of templates that are already built-in. They give you quick-to-create and quick-to-apply policies that are typically a little more complicated for people."
"This product provides excellent centralized device controls and reporting."
"FortiGate has provided us with a good experience, making it the best firewall for our needs."
"FortiGate provides features such as Internet connections, monitoring, VPN, WiFi management, and centralized management system with FortiManager."
"The solution is very advanced and has good monitoring features."
"The solution can scale well."
"I have configured some SD-WAN features, and it's worked pretty well. It manages pretty well, connecting all links to the firewall. It can lower balance and traffic management."
"The important part of FortiGate CNF is the UPM. It has a significant impact on the network by providing additional attributes such as a binder filter. This feature is very beneficial."
"The focus is on the comprehensive coverage of threats and the reliability of the chosen solution. Ease of use and familiarity are crucial."
"The people I work with appreciate the stability of FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF), as they love its reliability."
 

Cons

"They can centralize all products and provide a correlation about an incident and the response. They can also provide an on-premises solution. Currently, Cisco Defense Orchestrator is just for cloud deployments, not for on-premises deployments. Customers have to manage it on the cloud. We are based in Vietnam, and most of the customers here prefer to have on-premises deployments. Customers, especially from banking and government sectors, do not prefer to do anything on the cloud. Some of the small enterprises use the cloud."
"Right now, there's no benefit to doing changes through CDO; it doesn't save me time."
"We had some MX devices that were blocking Windows Update from happening. We found out it was a Meraki issue, but it would have been nice if it had been flagged for us: "Hey, these updates are failing because the MX is blocking it." It wasn't a huge problem, but there was a loss of our time as well as the fact that the updates didn't get pushed out... It would have been nice if CDO had let us know that that was an issue."
"Cisco Defense Orchestrator can improve by providing more support for third-party security components."
"If I make a change locally to the firewall, CDO gives an alarm or an error message and says there's a change in compliance: "The firewall has this configuration but the last time it was compiled it had that configuration." That view of new changes versus the old could be better... I had to log in manually, locally on the firewall, to check which version, which configuration was actually running. I couldn't see it in CDO."
"When logging into the device, we sort of had problems with it staying in sync. If somebody made a change onsite, it wouldn't do an automatic sync. It would have to wait, as you would have to do a manual sync up."
"I'd like CDO to be the one-stop-shop where we could do all the configurations easily. It would be nice, for ASA upgrades, if we could do them from a central repository and not have to reach out to Cisco. That would be a definite plus."
"Cisco Defense Orchestrator should be made more user-friendly overall. Currently, to use it effectively, one must be specific with the rule set that needs to be set up."
"There are some bugs that need to be fixed, and they can take some time to resolve."
"The solution is not stable in terms of switching."
"For scalability, if the hardware isn't fit or working, the box needs changing."
"They should offer more affordable renewal options or flexible plans for license upgrades."
"Unfortunately, FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) is not very scalable. For businesses that grow or develop further, only about ten percent can handle the increase."
"The solution needs to improve on box clustering and IPS configuration."
"I'd like them to add a DNS option for FortiGate."
"The prices for FortiGate are way too high and are perceived as overpriced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is about a $100 per year for an ASA 5506 firewall, and from there it keeps going up if you have a bigger box. For example, the 5516 is $200 to $300 per year."
"After our free trial was done we got a subscription for three years and it was under $3,000 or so. It's part of the EA we already paid for, so I don't know what it would be if it was a la carte."
"I work with a lot of clients, and the price or value of the Cisco Defense Orchestrator can vary from one client to another. If you have a lot of Cisco solutions, the price of the Cisco Defense Orchestrator is justified. Whereas if you have some security components from other vendors, such as Check Point or Palo Alto. This solution would be a pretty expensive proposition considering that they don't integrate with them well."
"If you compare to what is available on the market, they are in the same range with respect to pricing."
"It's around £500 per unit for a three-year license."
"It is covered under the CIsco Enterprise License Agreement (ELA). So, it is licensed and ours."
"The pricing is competitive."
"The tool's licensing costs are cheap and yearly."
"It is an expensive platform."
"FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall is not an expensive solution."
"FortiGate's price is really good."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco Defense Orchestrator?
Cisco Defense Orchestrator should be made more user-friendly overall. Currently, to use it effectively, one must be specific with the rule set that needs to be set up. Additionally, I suggest impro...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Defense Orchestrator?
Our primary use case for Cisco Defense Orchestrator is the automation of playbooks. We primarily use it for this purpose to streamline processes.
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Defense Orchestrator?
Those who want to use Cisco Defense Orchestrator should build their own use case and see if it fits their environment. The most significant benefit for us is the response time because it automates ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF)?
When it comes to pricing of FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) in the cloud, it is pretty fair because it is based on our usage, so you are just paying for what you use. I think it is ...
What needs improvement with FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF)?
In terms of what can be improved in the native firewall, I think the logging portion is not easy to find when it comes to identifying what is causing the blocks when I set a new firewall. Sometimes...
What is your primary use case for FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF)?
My use cases for FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) involve protecting my resources.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Defense Orchestrator, CDO
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Insurance Company of British Columbia, Shawmut
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Security Cloud Control vs. FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.