Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs Fortinet FortiProxy comparison

Fortinet FortiGate SWG and Fortinet FortiProxy are both solutions in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category. Fortinet FortiGate SWG is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.7, while Fortinet FortiProxy is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.8. Fortinet FortiGate SWG holds a 5.9% mindshare in WSG, compared to Fortinet FortiProxy’s 5.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortinet FortiGate SWG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Fortinet FortiProxy users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

Fortinet FortiGate SWG and Fortinet FortiProxy compete in the network security category. Fortinet FortiGate SWG appears to have the upper hand due to its superior integration options and comprehensive feature set.

Features: Fortinet FortiGate SWG offers easy configuration, stability, and integration options, making it favorable over complex solutions. Its key features include performance, VPN capabilities, and in-depth IPS and scanning options. Fortinet FortiProxy excels in simplicity and efficient performance, providing granular web access control, detailed application control, and collaborating with security vendors for enhanced threat intelligence.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiGate SWG could improve its cloud integration, GUI, and pricing. Some users experience stability issues during firmware upgrades. FortiProxy could enhance its documentation and expand on features like API protection. Additionally, its intrusion prevention capabilities may require improvement for better integration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both solutions offer multiple deployment options, with FortiGate showing more versatility in public and hybrid cloud setups. FortiGate's support varies by region and is sometimes less responsive compared to competitors. FortiProxy provides similar deployment flexibility and has mixed reviews on support responsiveness, though partner support is appreciated.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiGate SWG is considered expensive, especially for SMEs, yet offers good value due to its comprehensive features. Many users report a positive ROI, notably with its cloud capabilities. Fortinet FortiProxy offers more affordable pricing, delivering acceptable value with a simpler licensing model. Its moderately priced nature emphasizes cost-effective performance.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Fortinet FortiProxy Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Fortinet FortiProxy

July 2025

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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

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 2.1%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is 5.9%, down from 7.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiProxy is 5.5%, up from 5.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford

Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water

It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless

One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured

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Ayman Said

Infrastructure System's Manager at ICAPP (Americana Group)

Enables seamless traffic handling and effective network protection

We are using Fortinet FortiGate SWG for web filtering, application control, and IDPS. Additionally, we utilize it for VPN and the main features of a firewall Web filtering is very good, as well as IDPS. SD-WAN is a perfect feature. Additionally, the VPN is stable and very good. These features…

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Emmanuel Dasho

Cyber Security Engineer | Network/Security at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Ease of configuration and seamless integration enhance operational efficiency

The App Control feature in the Fortinet FortiProx * Deep Packet Inspection (DPI): FortiProxy analyzes traffic at the application layer to detect applications even if they use non-standard ports or are encrypted. * Application Signatures: Uses FortiGuard’s application signature database (constantly updated) to recognize thousands of applications. * Policy Enforcement: You can create policies to Allow, Block, Monitor, or Shape (QoS) based on application type, category, or specific apps.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

"iboss has significantly lowered the number of security incidents. It is crazy how much it blocks and how much it is aware of the outside danger."

"The security aspect of the solution, particularly the malware behind it, is excellent. That's something that really helped us out. It's not just a simple proxy that just blocks the insights of potential threats that come on behind it. They do malware detection and that helps us a lot."

"We chose iboss for both zero trust and proxy (SWG) because their SWG was superior."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

"The iboss system is highly reliable. The false positive rates are small compared to some other systems we've experienced through other partner agencies who use competing solutions."

"From a use-case scenario, what I like the most is the plug-in. I like the fact that we can do the filtering of these devices offsite independent of the network they are connected to, and we do not have to have traffic coming back inside our network."

More iboss pros

"The user interface is intuitive. Anyone can configure the firewall with little knowledge of the product. The back-end is robust with good security."

"One of the features I appreciate the most is application control which offers great flexibility."

"The overall features of Fortinet FortiGate SWG are good."

"I am content with its user interface and functionalities."

"These features have proven effective in protecting our network, handling large volumes of traffic smoothly without any issues."

"The product has the most valuable configuration, offloading, and security features."

"The security for endpoints is the most valuable. It is very secure for our workers. It allows us to secure a transaction and enable security for a specific segment in the workflow."

"The product is easy to install since we only need to follow the user manual, documents, and articles provided by Fortinet to install the product."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pros

"The tool's most valuable feature is traffic inspections."

"It helps to secure the networks at the DNA level and ensure proper identification and filtering of DNS traffic."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiProxy are its simplicity and performance."

"We can use Fortinet FortiProxy configuration for your network."

"It is a really stable solution."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its granular access control. For example, users can browse the main site if you allow access to Amazon, but it stops them from visiting secondary Amazon websites without specific permission. This granular control is really helpful."

"The solution's stability is good."

"The most valuable feature is intrusion prevention (IPS) and antivirus profiles. These features help control user activity, ensuring that they access only permitted websites and protects from downloading viruses."

More Fortinet FortiProxy pros

Cons

"Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc. It is easy to gain access if, for example, hackers obtain my username and password."

"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."

"For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil."

"One thing I would like to see differently with their Zero Trust platform is that some of the AI aspects related to high-risk activities have more false positives."

"Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern."

"Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device and filtering did not always work correctly."

"The area I would like to see improvement in is the ability with in the reporter to navigate directly to the content the user is traversing. It is kind of there, but it's not perfect. Quite frequently, I receive links that lead me to pages with error messages."

"I am currently doing a PoC of the zero trust aspect of it. Compared to other similar solutions, it is hard to get around each feature. It takes a while to get used to it."

More iboss cons

"Fortinet's support team consists of a huge networking team, because of which there is a delay in response at times."

"I would rate the technical support of Fortinet a six or seven out of ten. It is not very helpful. I would like to see improvements in their support."

"One area of improvement I've noticed is the lack of built-in monitoring capabilities in the firewall. Currently, we rely on third-party solutions for monitoring purposes. However, I believe the firewall itself has the potential to do a better job in this aspect. Another aspect of Fortinet that concerns me is related to redundancy. We have a setup with two firewalls working in parallel, which requires a highly adaptable configuration. However, it feels unfair that clients need to purchase two licenses, especially when one of the firewalls serves as a backup. We have noticed that other manufacturers have different policies on this matter."

"FortiGate needs to be elastic to the market's trends. It should be easy for SMBs to get the solution."

"We have experienced a number of failures when trying to upgrade firmware and the process takes a long time. We only experienced this when doing major upgrades between versions."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG can't be used on its own, and you have to get FortiAnalyzer."

"Support could be improved."

"We can't identify which users are causing challenges when we have issues."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG cons

"I see that the solution's interface is not in French...It would be good for our company if we could have the tool interface in French."

"Its power supply process for some of the proxies needs improvement."

"Fortinet FortiProxy should integrate AI/ML technologies. Its pricing needs to be more flexible."

"Its web filtering capabilities could be improved."

"Fortinet FortiProxy should improve by adding more documentation and guides."

"Integration with existing infrastructure was generally easy, especially if you had tools like LDAP. However, I had to go through a lot of documentation as it was my first time working with a proxy server. We did experience some issues with certain web applications not working properly after implementing Fortinet FortiProxy."

"For IT administrators and managers, the reporting features are the main issues that should be addressed in order to improve the performance, security, and effective utilization of the product."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG is an affordable solution."

"While slightly more affordable than competitors, it remains relatively expensive due to its inclusive subscription."

"I rate FortiGate's pricing a five out of ten."

"There is a need to pay for a license for the product."

"It is around $50,000 per month."

"When comparing the price of Fortinet FortiGate SWG to other solutions it is expensive. The price could be better."

"FortiGate SWG is reasonably priced."

"The price is relatively expensive compared to other solutions which are providing similar features."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pricing and cost advice

"The solution is neither too expensive nor very cheap."

"It is a cost-effective solution."

"Price-wise, Fortinet FortiProxy is moderate - not the highest among competitors, but not cheap either."

"It can be considered expensive, with a limited lifespan and support that eventually requires updating to newer solutions."

"It offers a more cost-effective solution than alternatives like FortiMail, FortiGate, and various Barracuda devices."

"The tool's pricing is in the middle."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company Exxon...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iboss?

Previously when I used iboss, we did the POC for iboss for ExxonMobil. Four or five people wanted to move from our ol...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern. There are cheaper alte...

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What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

The interface and other reports are all user-friendly.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

Fortinet products are very expensive compared to competitors like Sophos and SonicWall. From a pricing perspective, I...

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What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

More improvement in AI would be a good edge. We would like the VPN to act as a web filtering solution because users o...

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What do you like most about Fortinet FortiProxy?

The tool's most valuable feature is traffic inspections.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiProxy?

For me it may be the wildcards for urls whitelist or blacklist, somehow the page loads. Aside from that there no other..

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What advice do you have for others considering Fortinet FortiProxy?

My advice to others who are considering Fortinet FortiProxy is that it is seamless, easy to use, and quite straightfo...

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Comparisons

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Compared 15% of the time

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Netskope vs iboss

Compared 13% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 11% of the time

FortiSASE vs iboss

Compared 3% of the time

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Cisco Umbrella vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 19% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 7% of the time

Sangfor Internet Access Gateway (IAG) vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 6% of the time

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 4% of the time

TitanHQ WebTitan vs Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Compared 1% of the time

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Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs Fortinet FortiProxy

Compared 9% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Fortinet FortiProxy

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs Fortinet FortiProxy

Compared 6% of the time

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

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Web Security Appliance vs Fortinet FortiProxy

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

August 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate SWG

August 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate SWG product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiProxy

August 2025

Download Fortinet FortiProxy product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

FortiGate SWG, FortiGate Secure Web Gateway

FortiProxy

Overview

iboss offers a comprehensive security platform designed for diverse use cases such as web filtering, data loss protection, corporate proxy services, and URL filtering.

iboss integrates advanced features to address dynamic security needs, leveraging its strength in SASE, ZTNA, AI initiatives, and cloud integration, while ensuring seamless operations for remote work. It excels in historical forensics, malware protection, and flexible cloud deployments. Users benefit from comprehensive traffic scanning, robust malware detection, and PaaS capabilities that reduce hardware management. An intuitive admin console ensures efficient management with content filtering and low false positives. SSL decryption enhances security, while DLP protects data in AI conversations. Deployment is rapid and scalable, allowing effortless integration with emerging technologies.

What features does iboss offer?

Granular Web Filtering: Provides precise control over web content access.
Traffic Scanning: Monitors data through multiple ports for security breaches.
Malware Detection: Ensures superior protection against malware threats.
PaaS Capabilities: Eliminates need for hardware management.
SSL Decryption: Enhances data protection by decrypting secure connections.
DLP Capabilities: Safeguards data during AI interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts quickly to growing demands and emerging tech integration.
Rapid Deployment: Reduces time to implement security measures.
User-Friendly Admin Console: Facilitates efficient operations management.
Low False Positives: Increases accuracy of threat detection systems.

iboss finds significant application in sectors such as education, where web filtering for K-12 is crucial, and in corporate environments requiring robust proxy services and URL filtering for network security. Its adaptability is essential in scenarios demanding flexible, decentralized security frameworks, particularly for remote work setups.

iboss

Fortinet FortiGate SWG is a comprehensive web security solution provided by Fortinet. FortiGate SWG combines web filtering, malware protection, data loss prevention (DLP), and application control capabilities into a single integrated platform. It is designed to protect organizations from web-based threats, enforce compliance policies, and provide secure access to web resources.

FortiGate SWG Benefits:

Comprehensive web filtering and security features
Ease of use and management
Integration with other Fortinet products
Strong threat detection capabilities
Scalability and flexibility
Granular control over user access and activity

FortiGate SWG Features:

Web Filtering: FortiGate SWG employs URL filtering and content categorization to control and enforce web access policies.
Malware Protection: The solution provides real-time protection against web-borne threats, such as malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP): FortiGate SWG helps prevent sensitive data from being leaked or exfiltrated through web channels.
SSL Inspection: The solution supports SSL/TLS decryption and inspection, allowing organizations to examine encrypted web traffic for threats and enforce security policies.
Application Control: FortiGate SWG enables granular control over web applications and protocols.
Advanced Threat Intelligence: FortiGate SWG leverages Fortinet's threat intelligence services to provide up-to-date information about emerging threats and zero-day vulnerabilities.
User Authentication and Access Control: The solution supports various authentication methods, including single sign-on (SSO) and integration with identity providers, to ensure secure user authentication and access control for web resources.
Reporting and Analytics: FortiGate SWG provides comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities.

FortiGate SWG is typically deployed as a hardware appliance or as a virtual appliance in on-premises environments, but it may also be available as a cloud-based service. It is part of Fortinet's broader security fabric ecosystem, allowing integration with other Fortinet products to provide a unified and coordinated security infrastructure.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by FortiGate SWG users.

David Carlson, CIO at Camco Mfg., says that "Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without IT help".

Suresh Vijayen, Product Manager at IX Telecom, writes that FortiGate SWG "Provides helpful technical support, but its dashboard needs to be more user-friendly".

Chandan Munshi, Chief Technical Officer at Provision Technologies LLP, states that "The user interface is intuitive. Anyone can configure the firewall with little knowledge of the product. The back-end is robust with good security."

Fortinet

Fortinet FortiProxy is a secure web gateway that provides advanced web filtering, malware protection, and SSL inspection capabilities. It is designed to protect organizations from web-based threats and prevent data loss by enforcing granular policies for web access. FortiProxy is available as a physical or virtual appliance and can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud. FortiProxy uses a combination of signature-based and behavior-based detection techniques to identify and block known and unknown threats. It also includes advanced features such as sandboxing and machine learning to detect and prevent zero-day attacks. FortiProxy can inspect SSL traffic to detect and block threats hidden in encrypted traffic. FortiProxy provides granular control over web access by allowing administrators to create policies based on user identity, device type, time of day, and other factors. It also includes pre-defined categories for web filtering, such as social media, gambling, and adult content. FortiProxy can also enforce compliance with regulatory requirements such as GDPR and HIPAA. FortiProxy integrates with Fortinet's Security Fabric, allowing it to share threat intelligence with other Fortinet products and provide a coordinated response to threats. It also includes a web-based management console that provides real-time visibility into web traffic and allows administrators to quickly respond to security incidents.

Fortinet FortiProxy is a comprehensive web security solution that provides advanced protection against web-based threats and allows organizations to enforce granular policies for web access.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

Salt Lake County, Catholic College Bendigo, Azienda Unita Sanitaria

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Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Fortinet FortiProxy

July 2025

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Fortinet FortiProxy

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. Fortinet FortiProxy and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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