Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

Fortinet and Hillstone Networks are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Fortinet is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.2, while Hillstone Networks is ranked #38 with an average rating of 8.0. Fortinet holds a 2.2% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Hillstone Networks’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Hillstone Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

Hillstone E-Series and Fortinet FortiGate-VM are both competitive products in the network security market. Fortinet FortiGate-VM often has the upper hand due to its advanced features.

Features: Hillstone E-Series users value high throughput, reliable performance, and strong security capabilities. Fortinet FortiGate-VM users value its comprehensive threat protection, seamless integration with other Fortinet products, and an extensive feature set suitable for complex security needs.

Room for Improvement: Hillstone E-Series users suggest enhancing reporting functionalities, scaling options, and user interface. Fortinet FortiGate-VM users recommend simplifying management, reducing the learning curve, and improving documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Hillstone E-Series is noted for straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. Fortinet FortiGate-VM is easy to deploy but has mixed reviews on customer service responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: Hillstone E-Series generally offers a more attractive setup cost and quicker ROI. Fortinet FortiGate-VM, while more expensive, is considered worth the investment due to its extensive feature set and long-term benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone E-Series Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone E-Series

June 2026

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 15.1%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate-VM is 2.2%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 0.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	15.1%
Fortinet FortiGate-VM	2.2%
Hillstone E-Series	0.7%
Other	82.0%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Mageshwaran S

Solution Architect at airtel

Enables customers to manage security effortlessly with intuitive features and easy integration

In terms of improvements for Fortinet FortiGate, they could offer evaluation licenses, as compared to Meraki, which provides a 90-day evaluation. In Fortinet FortiGate, they do not provide standard evaluation licenses; instead, we need to request them from the OEM through the account manager for POCs. If we want to conduct a demo, we need to work with real hardware. In comparison to Cisco, we have DCloud, which helps with providing demos to customers, but in Meraki, I need to reach out to them, book a lab, and they need to provide all the hardware. I need remote access and L3 engineers to program it; only then can I offer a real-time demo to the customer.

Read full review

Karel Ondracek

Network Administrator at THK Co Ltd

Faced hardware limitations and setup challenges but have improved network protection over time

I spent much time finding exact firmware on Aruba which was working with these guns, but it is not optimal because it is not the latest version, so there could be potential security problems. We decided to replace those access points with another one. I personally have trouble because I don't know the exact life cycle of Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes. I don't know if the life of boxes is five years or something else; we moved from our previous company, which sold us to other companies. Before 10 years, we had a special department that took care of core networks, including firewalls. After that, this responsibility fell to me and my colleague. It is not easy to set up these Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes properly because we didn't have previous experience with this kind of solution. At first, we set up only a few rules that were not secure enough, and over a couple of years, we improved the settings and security of these Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes. Currently, I have one Fortinet FortiGate-VM that needs to be replaced next year, and this box is not so powerful, so I need to redirect some traffic to another Fortinet FortiGate-VM. It is stable, but because the CPU processor of this box is not powerful, I need to redirect some traffic to another box. In the future, I need to choose a higher-level box to prevent potential troubles with the power of this box.

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TahirMahmood

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.

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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

"There are around 500 users making use of the solution in our organization."

"Security, SD-WAN, and Streetscape are valuable features."

"Anti-Spam web content filterinG."

"Customers want to load balance more than eight lines or six internet lines. FortiGate is the only solution that can accomplish this."

"The security features are valuable, particularly the ransomware attack protection features. Fortinet FortiGate provides excellent security against ransomware attacks."

"Offers good security and filtering."

"FortiGate has led to a reduction in our security budget."

"Previously, we were using a different solution, and as compared to that solution, it is very easy to handle."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The features I find most useful in Fortinet FortiGate are its simplicity of utilization, which is very important, and its provision of interfaces to see the alerts and other things."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate include web filtering and application category functionality; the application category allows web filtering based on categories, which is one of the strengths of the Fortinet FortiGate firewall."

"The most valuable feature is the UTM, which gives them an advantage over other firewalls."

"Their support is very good, Fortinet has a good support base here who has been working closely with us, and whenever there is an issue that needs to be addressed to our end clients, we have received very good support."

"From security changes to VPN setup to web filtering, changes happen now more quickly."

"FortiGate-VM has many valuable features: it's easy to use, it's intuitive, it's got very good traffic inspection features, it's got comprehensive filtering categories, and it has an extensive threat database, using FortiGuard."

"The stability of the solution is good, and we haven't faced any issues at all while using the product."

"It's a relatively simple product that is easy to use. It's not overly complex."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros

"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 features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."

"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."

"If an organization is not looking for a web proxy, it's a very, very good product."

"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."

"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."

"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."

More Hillstone E-Series pros

Cons

"They are doing good, but they can improve the distributor assignment. The availability of the product and the timeline of delivery are the main things. The distribution should be swift, and the distributor should not reach out to end customers directly. They should work as a distributor. There should also be one more local distributor. Currently, there is only one distributor in Pakistan, and the rest of them are in UAE. It is difficult to work with only one distributor. Sometimes, you don't get along with the same distributor, and that's why they should have one more distributor. Their licensing should also be improved. The activation or renewal of the product should be done from the date of renewal, not from the date on which the license expired."

"FortiGate NGFW can improve technical support. The engineer who answers the technical support call, email, or phone call, whatever the medium may be. The response time is very bad."

"FortGate's IPS reporting could be made better by giving more details regarding the source and destination of network traffic when it comes to the overview section. This would allow me to more easily follow the flow of traffic based on IP addresses, without having to integrate the IPS with other products that perform more sophisticated traffic analysis."

"The reports are very basic."

"Security level could be increased."

"I have contacted the support from Fortinet FortiGate IPS. The service was good but the speed could be better."

"Some features in Fortinet FortiGate need improvement as we discover when calling support that certain actions must be done from the command line."

"There should be some open-source training or free training for decision makers, or some webinars should be available. These would help understand the new product line and the existing product line features."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Interoperability could be improved."

"They could simplify the troubleshooting process."

"The solution can improve by adding separate interfaces for proxy and flow-based usage."

"We have experience stability issues, when the product sizing is wrong or on configuration errors."

"The technical support could be improved."

"The technical support could improve. They took approximately one month to solve a firewire issue to update."

"The user interface (UI) and the performance of interface both need improvement."

"In terms of improvement, there have been some problems with the bandwidth of the security layer."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM cons

"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."

"The tool only had some memory-related problems."

"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."

"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."

"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."

"The room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."

"The current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."

More Hillstone E-Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet's pricing is more straightforward than other solutions. If Fortinet doesn't stick out when you're searching for a solution, you are a glutton for punishment. You only need to know two things when purchasing a Fortinet solution: your total bandwidth and bandwidth at the site. You need to estimate the future bandwidth with other solutions if your customer plans to upgrade."

"Its pricing is good. The advantages of Fortinet FortiGate over its competitors include good pricing and meeting our requirements at a lower cost."

"We just pay a flat monthly fee to the vendor for the support."

"I think that the pricing is fair."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution."

"If you purchase a one-year subscription with the hardware and then you want to renew for the second year, it is very costly."

"The license of Fortinet FortiGate should be reduced."

"The tool's pricing is neither cheap nor expensive. Overall, I find it to be competitive in the market."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"It is an expensive solution if you are migrating from an open source solution."

"There is a need to make payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution."

"There is no additional cost. Once you get the licensing fee, you're good."

"It would be nice to have the ability to extend FortiGuard subscriptions at a reasonable yearly cost versus a bulk three year pricing."

"It has a flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model."

"There is a support fee that can be bought on a yearly or two-yearly basis. I don't think they do five years. The best benefit is that the same pricing is guaranteed for that duration. If you can afford it, I would recommend using the longest possible time span."

"On a scale of one to ten, where ten is very expensive, I rate the solution around two or three. I think the solution's prices are okay, considering the services and features they offer."

"Licensing is pretty standard. It's approximately 15% of the total cost per year as a subscription cost."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pricing and cost advice

"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."

"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."

"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."

"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	370
Midsize Enterprise	138
Large Enterprise	195

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	72
Midsize Enterprise	34
Large Enterprise	39

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

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Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...

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Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?

Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigat...

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

From our perspective, it's quite good. When we have the visibility, we will make our policies depending on the threat...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?

We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the fire...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?

I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features w...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?

Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I ha...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 14% of the time

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 9% of the time

Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 6% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM Competitors

OpenVPN Access Server vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 14% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Hillstone E-Series

Compared 6% of the time

More Hillstone E-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

June 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

June 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate-VM product report

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

May 2026

Download Hillstone E-Series product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Fortinet FortiGate-VM delivers robust security services and advanced network management suitable for cloud environments, providing solutions like firewall and SD-WAN, with seamless integration across Fortinet devices.

FortiGate-VM is designed for enterprise security, offering comprehensive features like intrusion prevention and application filtering. It's known for its scalability and flexibility, supporting cloud platforms such as Azure and AWS. It enhances threat response and network management efficiency, thanks to real-time threat response, intuitive integration with existing systems, and cost-effectiveness.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM?

Strong Security: Offers firewall, intrusion prevention, and application filtering.
SD-WAN Capability: Improves network connectivity and performance.
Scalability: Efficient scaling in cloud environments.
Integration: Seamlessly connects with other Fortinet devices.

What benefits can users expect from Fortinet FortiGate-VM?

Enhanced Network Management: Simplifies deployment with real-time threat response.
Cost-Effectiveness: Optimal for managing network protocols at reasonable costs.
Flexibility in Deployment: Suitable for secure virtual machine operations on platforms like Azure or AWS.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is predominantly employed in industries requiring stringent data center security, enabling network segmentation and VPN services. It's particularly favored by organizations using virtual and cloud networks due to its Unified Threat Management capabilities, making it an efficient solution for protecting virtual environments from threats.

Fortinet

Hillstone E-Series is known for user-friendliness and advanced security features, offering high-performance threat protection with virtual switching and routing to support significant data volumes without third-party hardware. It provides top-notch firewall capabilities tailored to educational and energy sectors.

Hillstone E-Series delivers comprehensive network security with threat intelligence, ransomware protection, and state-of-the-art hardware innovation. Its 64-bit call processor facilitates handling large data volumes efficiently. Capabilities such as SSL VPN, integrated IPS, and application filtering make it a valuable choice for network protection. While further integration with a web proxy and enhanced usage reporting can enhance its offerings, enhancements in pricing models, support systems, and updates align with evolving user expectations for improved regional support and detailed analytics.

What are the standout features of Hillstone E-Series?

User-Friendliness: Intuitive setup and management for all users.
Threat Intelligence: Advanced protection against modern cyber threats.
Ransomware Protection: Strong defenses to mitigate ransomware attacks.
Hardware Innovation: Virtual switching/routing for seamless operations.
64-Bit Call Processor: Efficient performance with high data volumes.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Hillstone E-Series?

Comprehensive Capability: Addresses complex network security needs.
Impressive Throughput: Maintains high performance under load.
Easy Policy Management: Simplifies network security rule application.
Robust Security Features: Offers extensive filtering and blocking options.

The Hillstone E-Series is implemented extensively across industries like educational institutions and energy companies to safeguard local networks against gateway-level threats. Many organizations benefit from features such as antivirus, integrated IPS, site-to-site VPN, SSL VPN, and policy management, enhancing remote work security and simplifying network management tasks.

Hillstone Networks

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Security7 Networks, COOPENAE

Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone E-Series

June 2026

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone E-Series

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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