Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs iboss comparison

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Fortinet FortiGate SWG

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

iboss and Fortinet FortiGate SWG are competing secure web gateway products. iboss has an advantage in pricing and support, while Fortinet FortiGate SWG has better features, making it preferred for comprehensive protection.

Features: iboss offers a cloud-native platform, seamless integrations, and advanced threat protection. Fortinet FortiGate SWG includes advanced threat intelligence, secure VPN functionalities, and robust network security features.

Room for Improvement: iboss could enhance its network security features, offer more detailed threat intelligence, and improve VPN functionality. Fortinet FortiGate SWG may require a simpler deployment process, more intuitive integration options, and reduced reliance on hardware support for easier scalability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: iboss is noted for its streamlined, cloud-based deployment minimizing setup time. Fortinet FortiGate SWG requires more complex deployment with dedicated hardware but offers strong customer service.

Pricing and ROI: iboss is recognized for its competitive pricing with lower initial setup costs leading to strong ROI. Fortinet FortiGate SWG offers high long-term ROI with a larger investment needed for enhanced security features.

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

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. iboss

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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

Fortinet FortiGate SWG

Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

iboss

Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), ZTNA as a Service (10th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is 6.1%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iboss is 2.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

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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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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

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

"The interface and other reports are all user-friendly."

"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."

"It's a flexible solution."

"The solution is superior to Cisco in terms of security."

"The response from the technical support team has always been excellent."

"It is simpler to configure. It is not like Cisco Firepower, where you go crazy trying to follow the Cisco documentation to figure out how to configure one little thing. Unlike Cisco Firepower, where you can't do everything through the web interface and you have got to do some command line stuff, Fortinet FortiGate SWG is simpler. There are four different things in Cisco to get in, which is not the case with Fortinet FortiGate SWG. It is one of my favorite solutions to work with. I would much rather work with it than Cisco Firepower, for example. Even though I've got 20 years of Cisco experience with different firewalls, I would much prefer this solution."

"Customers keep on improving their licenses. The solution remains scalable and flexible. On-premises deployments may have some limitations. However, cloud deployments offer a high degree of flexibility."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pros

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

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device. It operates on the network side and is not device-based. This feature was one of the main reasons why we stayed with them for so long."

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"The console is cloud-based, which is something I really appreciate."

"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."

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

"Its initial setup was straightforward."

More iboss pros

Cons

"What could be improved in Fortinet FortiGate SWG is its pricing because it's a bit higher. If it's cheaper, my company could pitch it to customers and engage with customers better about it. What I'd like to see in the next release of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is an improvement in its dashboard or GUI. I'd like it to be more user-friendly."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG's SSL offloading features need improvement."

"From a pricing perspective, I would rate them a six."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG could improve the price, it is expensive."

"We also have FortiAnalyzer deployed here, so we want to enable the soft functionality of FortiGate and built-in compression for a firewall VPN use case. We want the ability to deploy a gateway for HTTPS enabled on this firewall. It is currently only for use in our headquarters."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG can be expensive for some customers."

"The solution has many heightened points which we cannot get to without working on CLI."

"There's room for improvement in the interface, especially following their upgrade to version nineteen."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG cons

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

"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

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

More iboss cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing for Fortinet FortiGate SWG is more suitable for enterprise or large-sized organizations because they are the ones who can afford it versus small and medium-sized organizations."

"When comparing this solution to others, I would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of pricing. However, the issue of requiring a separate license for redundancy is a drawback, and I would rate it a nine out of ten."

"It is a cost-effective solution that meets the user's needs."

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

"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. Its one-year license cost is competitive with three and five-year licenses offered by other products."

"The product is expensive."

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

"FortiGate SWG is reasonably priced."

More Fortinet FortiGate SWG pricing and cost advice

"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 expensive compared to one of its competitors."

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

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

"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."

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate SWG?

The interface and other reports are all user-friendly.

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 would rate them a six.

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 outside the company don't have web filtering. It supports web filtering with an a...

What do you like most about iboss?

Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.

What needs improvement with iboss?

For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil. While iboss performed well, some competitors offered simpler implementati...

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 old proxies to cloud proxies, and we did POCs with different giants at that time. ...

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Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate SWG

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Also Known As

FortiGate SWG, FortiGate Secure Web Gateway

iBoss Cloud Platform

Overview

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

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.

Sample Customers

Salt Lake County, Catholic College Bendigo, Azienda Unita Sanitaria

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

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs. iboss