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Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Symantec Siteminder comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 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 Single Sign-On (SSO)
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (5th), Identity Management (IM) (14th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)
Symantec Siteminder
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Web Access Management (1st), Access Management (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 3.7%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Siteminder is 3.0%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator3.7%
Symantec Siteminder3.0%
Other93.3%
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Supports secure remote authentication and provides comprehensive user activity tracking
The most important feature is the security capability because it provides a substantial amount of security for admin-related activities. Fortinet FortiAuthenticator can be used from anywhere in the world, and the authenticator services function globally. This global accessibility is one of the critical advantages, particularly since admin features are critical and security is a real concern. With Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, secure usage of firewall services and related functions is achieved. A complete log of all users who access the authenticator setup is maintained. Monthly logs are reviewed to check for any unnoticed activities. Each authenticated user's complete activity history is recorded. This logging capability allows for providing access to more admin users while ensuring security is not compromised and all users can be monitored.
Muzi Lubisi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior technical Consultant at CA Africa
Improved user experience with seamless integration and easy installation
The feature that I mostly valued is the ease of installation on different systems, especially on Windows. Additionally, it is very beneficial for deploying single sign-on sessions between different windows on a web browser, provided I am connected to the right identity provider. That seamless integration significantly improves user experience and efficiency.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's most valuable aspect is that it is easy to install and the user experience is very good."
"For FortiAuthentication, it's a good price in comparison to any other competitor."
"We have a perpetual license for 2FA."
"FortiAuthenticator has made our operations secure."
"The solution is an integral part of our security for our email network, and like I said, we'll begin using it for other cloud applications."
"The technical support for FortiAuthenticator is excellent."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator are easy to configure, secure, and the application has good performance."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"We have three single sign-on products in our office and I believe that the CA product offers the best product of the three."
"IWA is an out-of-the-box feature. The SAML-based federation is standard for all tools. However, CA Single Sign-On has made the federation configuration way too simple and handy to set up and use."
"We needed to implement secure access, CA is a leader in this area, so we went naturally with the best, and we also chose CA because of the way they interact with customers, pitch new features to us, ask us for feedback, and provide us with support."
"Extraordinary product; extraordinary flexibility to explore and meet the requirements of the customer."
"The solution has features that allow you to easily distinguish between protected and unprotected resources."
"We're able to have one single centralized way of logging in when you have shared sessions across all applications."
"It is reliable."
"It provides a secure interface and single sign-on to a variety of different applications."
 

Cons

"The one thing they used to include was the SMS gateway from the ISP; Fortinet used to sell that but they don't anymore and I think it would be helpful for end-users if they brought it back."
"The stability of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is rated as six out of ten, indicating some instability issues."
"It does not consider customer requirements."
"Integration with FortiGate could be more fluid."
"I would like to see more security features in reference to identity login or identity identification."
"I would like to see integration and customization capabilities with the end-user portal to solve authentication issues with diverse implementation scenarios."
"The user interface and clustering are areas with shortcomings that need improvement."
"It does the job I paid for, but the graphical interface could be improved."
"There is a considerable improvement in the product from previous versions, but a few items we feel need a little attention are the web agent installation process and steps – as it behaves differently on the same OS."
"Some of the new protocols, like OAuth 2.0, could be improved."
"The technical support team is not very proactive."
"Some of the new protocols, like OAuth 2.0, could be improved."
"With the other ones, we’ve had problems, and they don’t really match our business needs."
"They get us answers, but often they’re too slow."
"CA SSO does have stability issues."
"I would give the technical support a rating of 2-3/10."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not very expensive."
"You can pay as you go with them. You purchase a base license and add to it as needed."
"Between paying them to help with the configuration, the box itself, and the support, it came to like $12,500, including a three-year service agreement."
"The price seems okay. It's not that expensive compared to other authenticators."
"I rate the product price as two or three on a one-to-ten scale, where one is expensive, and ten is cheap."
"I would rate the pricing a four out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. It is not that costly. It is cheap, easy to manage, easy to install, and easy to configure."
"I would start off with a VM including the base license and scale according to the number of users you need to authenticate."
"The licensing structure is cost-effective for us compared to some of the other solutions that have recurring monthly costs."
"Siteminder is a little costly. You pay for licensing, and they offer packages, so if you have less users, then you have to buy different products at different prices. If you have more of a user base, then the package is different. They also include other features—for example, if you have a database and you're using Siteminder, then it's good to use a Semantic-specific database, but if you are using less, then you have to purchase the database separately. Whereas if you are going for a bigger license, then it comes within the package. It depends on which plan you are using."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"The licensing is fair for this solution."
"Symantec Siteminder is expensive; they could definitely do better on the price."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"I recommend conducting a PoC on every available product before choose one."
"CA solutions are generally expensive but for the customer the ROI is big."
"The price is quite comparable to the other enterprise-level solutions in that market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
24%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise69
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet can make Fortinet FortiAuthenticator better by having a cloud version of it. Currently, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is only available for on-premises, and it is an on-premises solution. It...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is primarily used for authenticating admin users, including remote admin use cases. Remote admin use cases utilize Fortinet FortiAuthenticator to securely authenticate a...
What needs improvement with Symantec Siteminder?
Symantec Siteminder needs to have adaptive authentication and multi-factor authentication as integrated features. Currently, multi-factor authentication is available as a separate solution, and it ...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Siteminder?
I deploy and support Symantec Siteminder ( /products/symantec-siteminder-reviews ). I have been a partner and reseller.
 

Also Known As

FortiAuthenticator
SiteMinder, CA SSO, Layer7 SiteMinder
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
British Telecom, CoreBlox, DBS, HMS, Itera ASA and Simeo
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs. Symantec Siteminder and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.