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Cisco Security Cloud Control vs Fortinet FortiGate Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

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
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiGate Cloud
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Firewall Security Management category, the mindshare of Cisco Security Cloud Control is 2.5%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate Cloud is 4.5%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewall Security Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate Cloud4.5%
Cisco Security Cloud Control2.5%
Other93.0%
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,…
FS
Security Engineer at Exclusive Networks
Cloud logs have supported long-term auditing but security vulnerabilities still raise concerns
It depends on the user. When he needs maybe data retention for one year, for three months or more, I recommend Fortinet FortiGate Cloud. If he doesn't want to set the log on FortiAnalyzer, I will recommend him with Fortinet FortiGate Cloud. It depends. As I mentioned before, if they don't have a syslog server or any other SIEM, I will recommend it. If they need an audit for one year of data retention, I will recommend it because it's worth the money for one year of log retention. It's straightforward. If I enable Fortinet FortiGate Cloud feature on the FortiGate on-premise or VM, it will copy the configuration on the cloud. Depending on my license, I can configure it or have it as read-only with a limited license. That's one of the main purposes of Fortinet FortiGate Cloud for me. The report doesn't have many templates, but the log retention is so good with one-year retention. If you compare it with the FortiAnalyzer or maybe with any other product such as a FortiSIEM template, with the limited license, you only get the 360 template, it's called. I think the security function, I mainly use it for configuration purposes and log retention purposes. The security is the same as the VM or the hardware, I think. The sandbox. I think it has it, but not a lot if you only have the default capability with only 10 files per minute. I think the user needs to be selective with the files that they want to send to the sandbox on the cloud.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the upgrade feature. That is pretty valuable to me because I have dual ASAs and when I go through CDO it does it for me pretty well. It's all done in the back-end and I don't really have to be involved. I just initiate, pick the image, and I pick when I want it done and it just does it, whether I have a single ASA or have a dual ASA."
"When we're looking to the policies, it identifies the shadow rules. It notifies us about anything that will supersede other rules."
"We have quite a few Active Stone by pairs. If they fail over... I'll see that there's a change on it and I'll have a look. The only change on it is that now this one is the standby, it took over the active role. I can go into that firewall and find out what happened... and troubleshoot based on that. That's pretty cool too."
"If our server is blocked, this solution shows us why it is blocked and allows us to update the network routing."
"With Cisco Defense Orchestrator, we can manage the complete Cisco Security solution. It provides a simple and centralized way to manage all products."
"The most valuable feature is being able to do centralized upgrades on the ASAs. We can select all of those ASAs, and say, "Upgrade these ASAs at this scheduled time." It will copy down the ASA image, ASDM image, and then do the upgrade and failovers, and then put it all back into service as required at a scheduled time. It automates that process for us."
"The bulk changes feature is definitely the most valuable."
"The ability to do operations on multiple firewalls at once is valuable because it saves time and mental effort. The solution's ability to make bulk changes makes it very convenient to manage things at once on multiple targets."
"This is a vast system that includes a lot of features."
"The tool is a mature product, ahead of brands like Sophos, though not quite at the Palo Alto or Checkpoint level. I'd rate it nine out of ten for being cost-effective and offering features similar to high-end options."
"FortiGate Cloud's most valuable feature is that it's 100% managed."
"The solution responds more quickly to attacks or issues in the field."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate Cloud are ease of use and the simplicity of maintenance and configuration. Additionally, the modularity of the solution is very easy to handle, it is convenient."
"The sandboxing feature is very important."
"The main feature of FortiGate Cloud is that you don't need open ports for remote administration or management of FortiGate."
"The most effective features for managing cyber threats are IPS and application control."
 

Cons

"Cisco Defense Orchestrator should be made more user-friendly overall."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"The dashboard needs to be more customizable to provide better reporting for our network."
"Cisco Defense Orchestrator can improve by providing more support for third-party security components."
"They need to work on the user interface. It needs to be improved to make it more user-friendly."
"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."
"The solution’s pricing and stability could be improved."
"The interface and dashboards should improve in Fortinet FortiGate Cloud. Other solutions have better graphical interfaces."
"The product is not recommended on the basis of technical parameters. It is very tough to authenticate."
"Improving the platform's intuitiveness and consolidating functionalities, such as reporting and firewall features, could enhance user experience and reduce the need for multiple product purchases."
"Currently with the solution, if you want to manage more than one FortiGate you have to use a VM, and a VM can control up to 10."
"FortiGate Cloud could be improved with increased granularity for our control."
"Its price should be better."
"There are some areas that need improvement regarding customer support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is covered under the CIsco Enterprise License Agreement (ELA). So, it is licensed and ours."
"It's around £500 per unit for a three-year license."
"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."
"If you compare to what is available on the market, they are in the same range with respect to pricing."
"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."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate Cloud is reasonable when compared to Juniper and others, we are happy. We have a three-year subscription."
"The price of the solution is high compare to competitors."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a one or two. The pricing is suitable for our company."
"We pay around $19,000 a year and do not pay for extra technical support."
"The solution is neither cheap nor expensive."
"All the consulting and deployment charges are included in the product's licenses. There are no additional costs."
"While pricing could be more competitive, it ultimately depends on the client's budget and specific feature requirements."
"Fortinet has only an annual payment method. There is no monthly payment option. They have only one standard license without any additional features."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
30%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Performing Arts
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business50
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise22
 

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 do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate Cloud?
Fortinet FortiGate Cloud has valuable firewall, SSL VPN, and web filtering features.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiGate Cloud?
I am very satisfied with the price and licensing cost of Fortinet FortiGate Cloud, rating it an eight out of ten.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiGate Cloud?
Some disadvantages include future limitations, issues with FortiAnalyzer, and data residency concerns, which create less control. I think Fortinet FortiGate Cloud could benefit from additional feat...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Defense Orchestrator, CDO
FortiCloud, FortiGate Cloud
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Insurance Company of British Columbia, Shawmut
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Security Cloud Control vs. Fortinet FortiGate Cloud and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.