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Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs syslog-ng comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 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

Fortinet FortiAnalyzer
Ranking in Log Management
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
syslog-ng
Ranking in Log Management
16th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
3.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 1.6%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of syslog-ng is 1.8%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiAnalyzer1.6%
syslog-ng1.8%
Other96.6%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Manikandan Kannan - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Technology at Techfruits
Simplifying log management by displaying detailed access information
The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is its ability to simplify and display logs clearly, providing details like which IPs are accessing the system, the destination, and the policies applied. This visualization and detail make managing logs more straightforward. In conjunction with our VMware setup, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer enhances organizational efficiency, meeting the standard log retention period for up to a year.
OC
IT Infrastructure & Cloud Security Manager at Thux
Has ensured compliance by centralizing log data and supporting secure connections
We currently do not use that feature. We currently have just an open-source release, not a premium release. My boss has indicated that he wants to buy a premium syslog-ng version next month. I think we can use other features of this tool in the future. In syslog-ng, I think a GUI would be beneficial. I am unsure if the premium module has a GUI to administer it.

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 is the capability to gather logs and generate reports."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten since, in our company, we have never experienced the solution crashing or having any other issues."
"We use this functionality every day, and obtain reports on things like how many people are using the VPN, which websites are being accessed, and whether hackers are trying to penetrate into our network."
"The product can scale."
"The log analysis and reporting are both quite good."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is a complete package for managing our equipment."
"Based on the logs of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer you can have it trigger actions. For example, if the log has a word or a sentence you specified it can send an alert or Syslog to an email address."
"I would say that Fortinet's tech support is really good."
"Syslog-ng provides easy access to all my logs. It helps me show managers and other clients precisely where an incident occurred. I also like it because you can integrate syslog-ng with multiple solutions to allow real-time monitoring."
"We chose syslog-ng because it is easy to install, easy to maintain, easy to update, and due to the fact that all data arrive in raw format, we can manipulate it as we want."
"What I appreciate most about syslog-ng is its configuration; its C-style config is much easier to understand, read, and write than other popular solutions such as syslog or rsyslog."
"Syslog-ng has a separate config file in addition to the core configuration."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"The ability to extract and store the logs is the most valuable feature of syslog-ng."
"For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior."
 

Cons

"The solution should include the ability to customize reports so that customers receive greater value and high level reporting."
"The technical support is not very reliable."
"I don't find Fortinet FortiAnalyzer to be as robust as Check Point Security Management."
"The product should be integrated with other third-party solutions for context exchange."
"When using this solution, you need a high-level expert to make it work as it should."
"From my point of view, at this time, the solution isn't lacking any features or functionalities."
"The following could be better: operation and maintenance, high-availability architecture, and management link embedded in the transmission link."
"The UI can be more user-friendly for new users."
"There is room for improvement in terms of observability."
"There is always the potential for additional integration and protocol extensions."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"In syslog-ng, I think a GUI would be beneficial. I am unsure if the premium module has a GUI to administer it."
"It's hard to find people who know how to use syslog-ng. I often find problems with configurations, and solutions aren't integrated correctly with syslog-ng. For example, there might be data with extra decimals, or the collector agents are incorrectly named. It isn't a problem with the solution; it's a lack of professionals."
"The filtering has room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is acceptable for on-premises, but it is expensive for the cloud."
"I rate Fortinet FortiAnalyzer's pricing as five out of ten."
"The pricing of this solution is fair, and it is based on what you can manage."
"In the local market sometimes people are being charged more than other solutions. Although the market is competitive, legitimate suppliers do not receive a large enough discount to pass onto the customers."
"I do not know the price of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer. I did not pay for it, but I know the price of other Fortinet products. They are not cheap. I am from Poland. We have Zloty, not Euro, so for us, everything is expensive."
"The solution is quite expensive"
"There is a license needed to use this solution."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is very expensive."
"Syslog-ng is a free open-source solution."
"Syslog-ng is open-source."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Government
6%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business57
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
I think technical support should be better. Sometimes support from Fortinet does not help with creating policies or configuration issues and directly routes to the service integrator. A little more...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
I am using Fortinet FortiAnalyzer along with the analyzer for traffic monitoring and event checking. It is effective for analyzing traffic purposes.I use Fortinet FortiAnalyzer for event monitoring...
What needs improvement with syslog-ng?
We currently do not use that feature. We currently have just an open-source release, not a premium release. My boss has indicated that he wants to buy a premium syslog-ng version next month. I thin...
What is your primary use case for syslog-ng?
In Italy, we have to be compliant with the Garante for privacy. We have to log every login, logout, or login failure made by a system administrator. We store all syslog data of the infrastructure. ...
What advice do you have for others considering syslog-ng?
When it comes to parsing, I can parse both structured and unstructured data, though our data are only structured. Currently, we collect all data we receive as raw data. Each file is stored for each...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

General Directorate of Information Technology
Tecnocom, University of Victoria, University of Exeter, Datapath
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs. syslog-ng and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.