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Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs One Identity Defender comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 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 FortiAuthenticator
Ranking in Authentication Systems
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (6th), Identity Management (IM) (9th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st)
One Identity Defender
Ranking in Authentication Systems
15th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 7.4%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of One Identity Defender is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Yonas Abebe - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration capabilities simplify authentication and migration challenges need addressing
The integration capabilities of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator are very interesting, as it can be integrated with third-party devices easily and is straightforward to configure. The integration with FortiToken is outstanding, adding a layer of security for authentication. In addition, it can be used by integrating with zero trust single access, enhancing overall security measures.
Maksym Tkachenko - PeerSpot reviewer
Good compatibility, responsive support, and a nice interface
The solution works very well. The initial setup is pretty easy. It is stable and pretty reliable in general. We find that the product scales very well.  Technical support is responsive. The interface is good.  It is compatible with other products.  It has everything we need right now. The login…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product’s most valuable feature is integration with FortiGate, FortiToken, FortiTalk, and multi-factor authentication."
"Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is an easy-to-use solution."
"Valuable features include the robust SSO features, when you have more complicated authentication within an organization. We can mix AD, Radius, Portal, SSO Portals (Google, etc.), and build our own environment. It is very flexible."
"We have a perpetual license for 2FA."
"The initial setup is a valuable point on Fortinet products. Most of the time, putting the theory into practice on the devices is quite friendly and straightforward. As long as you can read English you can find your way around the solution and make it work. This is a high value point on Fortinet - the way everything is laid out in the web UI is user-friendly and quite straightforward. The UI is quite simple."
"It integrates very tightly with the rest of the Fortinet ecosystem."
"The product's on-premise version doesn't have recurring costs."
"The web feature is quite versatile. It serves as the sole server authenticator and is valuable not only with FortiGate products but also within the entire Forti system, making it highly useful for me."
"We find that the product scales very well."
"It's very fast, and it's easy to use because it's integrated with Active Directory."
"One Identity Defender has good network protection."
 

Cons

"I think the tool could provide this solution on the cloud. It's currently an on-premises solution. A cloud-based version could make setup, installation, and management easier. With on-premises, you must pay capital expenses (CapEx) upfront. However, if the solution was cloud-based, it would be operational expenses (OpEx), which is often easier to manage. You can pay monthly instead of paying the total cost at once. In my opinion, OpEx is more easily manageable than CapEx."
"We had issues trying to integrate the keys properly during the initial setup."
"There are multiple areas that are in need of improvement. It is not a mature product."
"For improvement, Fortinet needs to ensure that they provide quick support to users...Fortinet sometimes needs to respond to users facing issues within an hour."
"The only issue I encounter is that when not using FortiAuthenticator for an extended period, it's typical to encounter some obstacles in the configuration process that you need to address."
"Integration with FortiGate could be more fluid."
"Integration with some other enterprise applications could be improved."
"FortiAuthenticator should integrate with other applications."
"Maybe it could provide support for more web applications. It seems more focused on IIS web applications."
"We have some clients that are wanting to protect their Apache web servers with One Identity Defender but all the research I have done says cannot be done. It can only be oriented to an IIS server. One Identity Defender should have more integration with more types of web servers."
"The login capabilities could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform is cost-effective as it does not require a separate license for SD-WAN functionality."
"I rate the price of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator a three out of five."
"We pay for licensing on a yearly basis."
"The price seems okay. It's not that expensive compared to other authenticators."
"The licensing structure is cost-effective for us compared to some of the other solutions that have recurring monthly costs."
"The product could be more competitively priced."
"The customers need to pay for licenses, and some pay on a yearly basis while others pay on a three-yearly or five-yearly basis. Also, it is not an expensive solution."
"The platform provides a user-based pricing model rather than a subscription pricing model."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Retailer
13%
Non Profit
11%
Government
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is not overly expensive compared to other Fortinet subscriptions. However, it would be beneficial if the licensing allowed for more flexibility to cover additional users.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Initially, we deployed Fortinet FortiAuthenticator on VMware and faced challenges when migrating to an OpenStack environment, which required reconfiguration. I recommend Fortinet make its images mi...
What do you like most about One Identity Defender?
It's very fast, and it's easy to use because it's integrated with Active Directory.
What needs improvement with One Identity Defender?
Maybe it could provide support for more web applications. It would be useful to focus on other web applications. For example, if an application needs to be installed on an iOS server and it's not, ...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Defender?
Our primary use cases include functions such as role-based access control, user registration, and integration with other systems. We use it to improve the security of our web applications. Addition...
 

Also Known As

FortiAuthenticator
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Bakersfield Police Department, Village of Westmont, Illinois
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs. One Identity Defender and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.