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Citrix Secure Private Access vs Fortinet FortiGate comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 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

Citrix Secure Private Access
Ranking in ZTNA
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiGate
Ranking in ZTNA
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
594
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the ZTNA category, the mindshare of Citrix Secure Private Access is 3.0%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 7.1%, down from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ZTNA Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate7.1%
Citrix Secure Private Access3.0%
Other89.9%
ZTNA
 

Featured Reviews

SK
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
Zero trust architecture strengthens security with seamless login experiences and reliable global access
The solution requires proper configuration and policy enforcement to avoid excessive access restrictions. Some applications may need additional integration efforts for seamless access, and I may face restrictions if device posture fails compliance checks. The licensing cost could be higher compared to traditional VPN solutions, and advanced features may require premium tiers and add-ons. Initial setup and policy tuning can be complex, especially in large environments.
Yati Gharat - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at Litmus
Unified security management has simplified data center protection and optimized branch connectivity
In my opinion, a potential area of improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is that while it has a pretty good dashboard, which is not an issue as such, when we talk about hardware parameters, sometimes the hardware gets pretty heated up. Given the amount of traffic going through it, that is fine. However, the heat of the hardware has to be looked into. Fortinet FortiGate firewall is good, but other products like the switching part and all that fabric, in handling very audio-video traffic, sometimes it struggles on the switching part, but on the routing part, it is fine. On the firewall part, it is good; there is no issue as such up till now. Additionally, I suggest that Fortinet can add software which is in a controlled way, particularly regarding AI and ML. It should not happen that the AI/ML takes certain decisions which are not beneficial for the organization. The control should remain with the team members who are responsible for configuring this firewall.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It provided us the same experience anywhere on any device."
"Virtual desktops and virtual apps are most valuable."
"It is easy and simple, and it has got an easy interface. It is not hard to learn. With just three clicks, you log in, and you're there."
"The most valuable feature of Citrix Secure Private Access is its Zero Trust architecture, which enhances security by granting access based on identity and device posture."
"The convenience of being able to work from home is most valuable; it is not really different from working in the office, it is easy and simple, and it has got an easy interface."
"Our company uses the solution to prevent traffic that is not supposed to be traveling through our firewalls, and when we find log issues, we easily fine tune the IPS to block that traffic so it cannot penetrate our environment."
"FortiGate is a rapidly growing vendor with a wide range of ready-to-use products. Their delivery time is remarkably quick, usually between two to four weeks."
"Fortinet FortiGate has reasonable pricing and is easy to operate; it is efficient and represents the future for security, including cloud security and branch-to-cloud security."
"I like its ability to prevent external intrusion into our database. It's so fun."
"The most useful features in Fortinet FortiGate are the security features, where we can analyze what kind of traffic is inside our network, and we also utilize ZTNA for limiting and managing our network access."
"The web tutor and automatic rules by schedule are good features."
"Customers keep on improving their licenses. The solution remains scalable and flexible. On-premises deployments may have some limitations. However, cloud deployments offer a high degree of flexibility."
"The application control features, such as Facebook blocking and Spotify blocking, are the most valuable."
 

Cons

"The licensing cost could be higher compared to traditional VPN solutions, and advanced features may require premium tiers and add-ons."
"INGPU for engineering software is an area of improvement. There should be better licensing options."
"When we go to print, we have to go through secure print. The secure printing kind of takes a while. It is a little latent."
"An area for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is that their support needs to be more customer friendly."
"I wish that they could integrate zero-trust technology into Fortinet FortiGate. I am not sure whether it has been done already, but if they could implement that, it would help significantly."
"Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"Improvements for Fortinet FortiGate could be made by making it easier to implement on networks and simpler to add users and accounts that utilize this solution. That's basically the only challenge that I see."
"The documentation available for Fortinet FortiGate should be improved"
"The performance could be a bit better. Right now, I find it to be lacking. Having good performance is very important for our work."
"One area of improvement I've noticed is the lack of built-in monitoring capabilities in the firewall. Currently, we rely on third-party solutions for monitoring purposes. However, I believe the firewall itself has the potential to do a better job in this aspect. Another aspect of Fortinet that concerns me is related to redundancy. We have a setup with two firewalls working in parallel, which requires a highly adaptable configuration. However, it feels unfair that clients need to purchase two licenses, especially when one of the firewalls serves as a backup. We have noticed that other manufacturers have different policies on this matter."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution. However, my issue is the performance only. When I use all the profiles, this affects the performance. From the beginning, I should have had a better sizing of the box."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are costs in addition to the standard licensing fees. They should provide better licensing options."
"When comparing this solution to others, I would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of pricing. However, the issue of requiring a separate license for redundancy is a drawback, and I would rate it a nine out of ten."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is the lowest in the market."
"They need to be competitive with other solutions."
"No comment."
"Fortinet is competitive price-wise."
"Price-wise, it's at a good price point for our market."
"The price of the license and warranty can be better because it is very expensive."
"It has been two years. I don't remember the actual price, but it was affordable. We buy the boxes and then use the license for three years."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Construction Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business372
Midsize Enterprise138
Large Enterprise195
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Citrix Secure Workspace Access?
The solution requires proper configuration and policy enforcement to avoid excessive access restrictions. Some applications may need additional integration efforts for seamless access, and I may fa...
What is your primary use case for Citrix Secure Workspace Access?
I primarily use Citrix Secure Private Access ( /products/citrix-secure-private-access-reviews ) for Zero Trust Network Access ( /categories/ztna ), granting access based on user identity, device se...
What advice do you have for others considering Citrix Secure Workspace Access?
I rate Citrix Secure Private Access overall at eight. Although Citrix licensing can help customers save costs where Citrix environments are present, improvements are necessary given the competition...
Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage at large. In my opinion, Fortinet would be the best option and l use Fortinet too...
What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?
From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know the firewalls change every 5 to 7 years as stated but you really do need to upg...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
 

Also Known As

Citrix Secure Workspace Access, Citrix Access Control, Citrix Secure Internet Access
Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Messenger
Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix Secure Private Access vs. Fortinet FortiGate and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.