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F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Fortinet FortiNAC comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.8
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager offers cost savings, quick ROI, and enhances security by ensuring crucial access and reducing costs.
Sentiment score
6.4
Fortinet FortiNAC boosts security and ROI by streamlining processes, reducing costs and effort, and ensuring authorized network access.
We have saved resources and time, and we have also secured our network, confirming we have a return on investment.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Computer Manufacturing (ECM)
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
F5 BIG-IP APM customer service receives mixed reviews, with some praising responsiveness and others citing delays and communication issues.
Sentiment score
7.2
Fortinet FortiNAC support varies by region, praised for responsiveness but criticized for delays and communication issues.
If there is a solution, they don't always communicate it.
Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Most of the technical support is managed in-house due to our extensive experience with F5 products.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
F5 technical support is responsive and helpful.
Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited
They provide sessions to help with various questions.
Network &Security Engineer at Natioanal Drug Authority Uganda
Fortinet FortiNAC's customer support is very good, as is typical from Fortinet.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Computer Manufacturing (ECM)
They could do more to improve, not because of the product itself but because of the support they provide.
Senior Cyber Security Engineer at Beta Information Technology
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
F5 BIG-IP APM scales for diverse deployments, offering flexibility and effective tools, though hardware limitations might challenge scalability.
Sentiment score
7.5
Fortinet FortiNAC is praised for scalability, supporting easy network expansion for enterprises, highly rated by users despite licensing impacts.
The product's flexibility and company culture contribute to resolving these challenges.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
I would rate the scalability of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) between seven and eight.
Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited
The pricing model makes it challenging as the cost is substantial due to the per-node licensing model.
Network &Security Engineer at Natioanal Drug Authority Uganda
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
F5 BIG-IP APM is praised for reliability, performance, and minimal bugs, with minor suggestions for log clarity improvement.
Sentiment score
7.6
Fortinet FortiNAC's stability is mixed, with praise for performance but issues during setup, resolved over time for some.
On a scale from one to ten for stability, I would rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) a ten.
Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited
Sometimes, the logs are not quite informational or easy to understand.
Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

F5 BIG-IP APM requires improvements in pricing, cloud integration, user interface, documentation, support, and additional features for enhanced performance.
Fortinet FortiNAC requires improved integration, user interface, reporting, compatibility, and documentation, while simplifying setup and enhancing automation and support.
If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great.
Professional Services Specialist at a security firm with 51-200 employees
The main improvement needed for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is to integrate into the cloud-delivered services from F5.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
The ability to run the Anycast feature would be valuable, as the current solution only operates on-premises.
Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem
Improvement in the interface design would make FortiNAC a better solution.
Network &Security Engineer at Natioanal Drug Authority Uganda
In contrast, the GUI on Fortinet FortiNAC is poor and needs improvement.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Computer Manufacturing (ECM)
The graphical user interface (GUI) of Fortinet FortiNAC is very poor compared to competitors like Forcepoint and Cisco ISE.
Senior Cyber Security Engineer at Beta Information Technology
 

Setup Cost

F5 BIG-IP APM is costly but valued for high performance, with unpredictable cloud pricing and additional fees for features.
Fortinet FortiNAC offers flexible, fair pricing and licensing options, often rated 7-9, with rising costs but lower than Cisco.
F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Fortinet FortiNAC is that, as is typical from Fortinet, all their products have a very good licensing model and competitive pricing.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Computer Manufacturing (ECM)
Fortinet FortiNAC is relatively cheap compared to other solutions.
Senior Cyber Security Engineer at Beta Information Technology
 

Valuable Features

F5 BIG-IP APM offers secure remote access with SSL VPN, multi-factor authentication, and comprehensive integration and security features.
Fortinet FortiNAC offers enhanced security, automation, and integration, excelling in network visibility and compliance across diverse environments.
APM is quite flexible for customers to use, providing secure remote access through various host-checking conditions for both machines and users.
Solutions Manager at Macroview Telecom Limited
It provides robust security and offers integration with multi-factor authentication systems, which is crucial for an organization's security policy.
Business Development Manager at Pylones
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) provides excellent WAF and bot defense solutions.
Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem
The best features Fortinet FortiNAC offers include great integration with other Fortinet products.
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Computer Manufacturing (ECM)
I appreciate the feature where it can connect with different vendor equipment, regardless of the network devices from other vendors.
Network &Security Engineer at Natioanal Drug Authority Uganda
The main advantage of Fortinet FortiNAC is its integration with the entire Fortinet product portfolio.
Senior Cyber Security Engineer at Beta Information Technology
 

Categories and Ranking

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (13th), SSL VPN (5th), Remote Access (11th), Access Management (11th)
Fortinet FortiNAC
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 1.4%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiNAC is 15.0%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiNAC15.0%
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)1.4%
Other83.6%
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem
Has provided reliable policy controls and secure web access for large enterprises
I consider Cloudflare when evaluating centralized access control features; Cloudflare utilizes multi-factor authentication and full API support, while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) needs to enhance its API support. I recommend F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) for large companies such as Tüpraş and Ford. Tüpraş is one of the biggest companies in Turkey, along with other customers such as Tofaş, Euroko, Koç Holding, and more. For on-premises deployment, I would rate it a 10. For cloud deployment, I would rate it a seven. I primarily use it on-premises. I rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) eight out of ten.
Mohamed Fouad - PeerSpot reviewer
Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Computer Manufacturing (ECM)
Network access control has centralized device profiling and automated user isolation
The best features Fortinet FortiNAC offers include great integration with other Fortinet products. We have most of the cybersecurity products from Fortinet, including FortiMail, FortiGate, and FortiManager, among many Fortinet products. The best feature is the integration with these products. Fortinet FortiNAC can also integrate with any switching vendor using SSH to manage switches. This integration capability is very beneficial. The integration with other Fortinet products and managing switches from different vendors has helped my workflow by providing automation that makes it easy to run actions. We execute and trigger actions through Fortinet FortiNAC on FortiGate. We set up trigger actions on FortiGate to be run through Fortinet FortiNAC directly. Whenever an action happens, it is triggered on Fortinet FortiNAC, allowing us to disable and isolate a user if that machine is infected. The automation and response functionality is powerful, and the integration is very good. Fortinet FortiNAC has positively impacted my organization by allowing us to control our network and save time. We manage multiple switches that allow many users, including guest users and corporate users. We have saved time and secured our resources while accomplishing a lot with Fortinet FortiNAC.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability, akin to purchasing a Bentley as opposed to an Audi.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is not user-friendly and operates slowly. Additional features for architecture such as Anycast would be beneficial. The ability to run the Anycast feature woul...
What is the biggest difference between Aruba ClearPass and FortiNAC?
I've done quite a lot of work with ClearPass, and not a lot with FortiNAC/Bradford. ClearPass incorporates a number of different functions including ClearPass Guest for creating complex wireless g...
How does Cisco ISE compare with Fortinet FortiNAC?
Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if someone plugs in with a device that is not allowed and will block it. The user exper...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiNAC?
The support responds to our queries within two to four hours.
 

Also Known As

F5 Access Policy Manager
FortiNAC, Bradford Networks, Bradford Networks Sentry, Network Sentry Family
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Isavia, Pepperdine University, Medical University of South Carolina, Columbia University Medical Center, Utah Valley University
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Fortinet FortiNAC and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.