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Fortinet FortiClient vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 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 FortiClient
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (9th), Endpoint Compliance (1st)
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
24th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (40th), SSL VPN (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 4.3%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 1.9%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiClient4.3%
Hillstone E-Series1.9%
Other93.8%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

KL
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
Remote access has become seamless and secure while deployment remains simple for our users
Performance could be improved today. People are now moving toward SASE, which stands for Secure Access, Secure Edge Solution. Fortinet also has that offering, which would be easier since it operates through the cloud, acting as a first line of defense. When the user connects to the internet, they connect to the cloud first for posture assessment and monitoring before connecting to the outside world. The impact is significant because nowadays people are adopting SASE. During COVID time, many users were trying to connect back to their office, causing the performance or CPU utilization of the firewall to increase tremendously, which slowed down performance. I have not worked with endpoint telemetry in Fortinet FortiClient that could have been helpful for threat mitigation.
TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Zubair Feeds
Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The return on investment was very reasonable. It was low cost and it functioned, so the return on investment was excellent."
"EMS central reporting with fabric connectivity to FortiGate and FortiAnalyser is great and has seamless integration which makes managing 3000 devices a breeze and remediation a Hollywood movie."
"Installation was easy."
"This solution has improved the way our organization functions."
"Fortinet FortiClient is not disruptive, and its interface is great. It has an in-built VPN, which is very useful."
"FortiClient's most valuable features are that it's easy to install and connect and has OTP on email IDs and two-factor authentication."
"The ability to reroute traffic from the user, connecting you to the internet rather than passing through our network area, is very useful."
"This is a solution that I recommend."
"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."
"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients secure connectivity from a remote location to their offices or their servers."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
 

Cons

"There should be more frequent releases or updates."
"The support can be improved. They have room to improve by deploying more support resources."
"With Fortinet, some clients have to wait two to four days for a response. That is the biggest complaint from end customer about Fortinet's technical support."
"I am troubleshooting some errors that I have had with the VPN and they are difficult to resolve."
"Technical support is awful. Their online response time is not prompt. They should not respond after four or five days. Their support guys are not competent enough. Small issues are taking time."
"Working with Distribution sometimes comes at a cost due to a lack of knowledge of the current status of your licensing and products."
"If I compare FortiClient VPN and OpenVPN, FortiClient VPN takes too much time while installing on someone's computer or laptop."
"It takes too long to install."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"The room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As a technical team member, I am not responsible to look into the pricing matters. These aspects are typically handled by the management team, who have the authority to obtain the necessary licenses based on certain established principles."
"The pricing is good because you get and end-to-end security solution in one package price."
"FortiClient is quite reasonably priced."
"Anyone can download this product for free, but you have to have a FortiGate gateway that you are connecting to."
"The licensing fee varies with what one is trying to accomplish. It can range from being free to costing several hundred thousand dollars per year."
"The solution is not expensive. We need more discounted rates in Pakistan. The price of the solution could be reduced to be more affordable for the solution."
"The price is reasonable compared to competitors, it is very good."
"Generally, Fortinet is not cheap. The features that are available for free are only for FortiClient VPN clients, not other solutions. It includes web security, antivirus, and one more feature."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection because it continually scans servers for emerging vulnerabilities, which gives...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiClient?
The solution is not cloud-based; it comes from the firewall itself.
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Also Known As

FortiClient
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiClient vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.