Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL] comparison

Fortinet and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 98% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Read 151 Fortinet FortiGate-VM reviews

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10,866 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Read 34 WatchGuard XTM [EOL] reviews

90% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiGate-VM and WatchGuard XTM [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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Firewalls

July 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-VM

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

151

Ranking in other categories

Firewalls (11th)

WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Ehab Ali

Senior Presales Consultant at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Unified security fabric has simplified multi-country deployments and strengthened threat response

FortiGate VM delivers exceptional performance and security with no degradation of service or protection (same features as the HW option). As part of the Fortinet Security Fabric, it extends across clouds and distributed locations, mitigating blind spots in virtual infrastructures. FortiGate VM can be rapidly deployed, managed through a centralized platform, and offers a range of purchasing options to suit every need. Also, FortiGate VM offers versatile deployment options across both public and private clouds, supporting all major public clouds including AWS, Azure, and Google as well as most hypervisors such as VMware, Hyper-V, and KVM. These deployments enable organizations to create scalable, high-performance firewalls that can be tailored to different virtualized environments and hyper-scale public cloud infrastructures. FortiGate VM integrates seamlessly with various infrastructure as code (IaC) tools such as Jenkins and GitLab, supporting security as code practices.

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Generalm4545

General Manager- IT & Automation - Serum at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Protects from attack software and hacking but it doesn't provide the reports in a readable format

In my opinion, image clarity is very important, because I don't get the proper image product on reports. This means that functionality is not there. My engineer does not know how he can replace an order. We attach a log after any kind of keys using a utility instead. For the internet policies that we are implementing, the policy should be based on proper protocols. We use the default policies and there are a number of third-party protocols that appear here. Management with WatchGuard XTM means that out of policy is the problem from our side. In this way, we can not do effective services for people with this one. The policy definition with WatchGuard XTM is not proper for all use case requirements. I've got weekly business reports that I am expecting attachments with from WatchGuard XTM that display data for all kinds of consideration which should be required. Main User Functionality Level Order must adhere to using the admin functionality on the registry, or else our users publish their own name. Maybe these recommendations are irrelevant, but I say that the issue to improve most with WatchGuard XTM is the Main User Function.

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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

"The solution offers good documentation."

"The solution is highly stable."

"The features, in general, have been so great."

"The most valuable feature is that its IPsec works perfectly."

"It has allowed us to centralize every network service into one appliance, administrating all traffic going in and out of my company, and giving us visibility of all network traffic in an easy way."

"I would recommend Fortinet FortiGate-VM as a very good solution."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its ability to deploy it on live physical hardware. Specifically, when providing firewall services for clients, we can leverage such hardware appliances to support multiple customers on the same hardware."

"Overall, this is a good product with good features and priced well compared to others."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros

"We now have the capability to manage traffic better by putting non-business critical traffic into the small bucket, while business critical traffic gets higher priority."

"Setup and configuration is straightforward with excellent management interface."

"They have a reporting system which can store data over a very long period of time. Not many other firewall vendors provide a reporting system, but if they do, like Fortinet does, then you've got buy that as an additional product and that can be more than twice as expensive as the initial investment in the firewall. And without reporting over a long-term period, you're just about wasting your time."

"Monitoring of network activity is included in the box."

"This product has helped in securing my SQL database and web applications from DDoS attacks and SQL injections, improved my network speed, and helped me to set specific policies for specific applications which I couldn't do with other products."

"It's a solid firewall option with new and useful features typically being added with each new firmware release."

"For the current network demand, I think the product is worth buying as it is not too expensive and it has almost all the features that I need."

"SNMP status monitoring and the Central Management Software."

More WatchGuard XTM [EOL] pros

Cons

"In the next release, I would like to see integration capability with SIEM tools, such as QRadar, and LogRhythm."

"It would be better if it could provide you with options before completely blocking anything through the web filter. If you are doing a deep SSL inspection on the site if it says it's expired, it doesn't give you the option to continue at your own risk. I can't say that it's bad, but SSL internally isn't really a requirement. However, its security features can help. Right now, we have people going out and spending on purchasing the SSL certificates for internal sites."

"Right now, we have two data centers that are a thousand kilometers apart. It would be nice to be able to string them together."

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

"SD-WAN could be enhanced to provide a clear division between control and data planes, utilizing controllers to manage tasks within the network."

"The price model is not transparent by any means and should be made more clear. What's included in the packages is often not very obvious."

"If we can get proactive support before the issues are identified by the customer itself, we can resolve it easily."

"Compatibility and integration with other products or vendors such as Cisco SD-WAN products need improvement."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM cons

"The WatchGuard gateway wireless functionality for managing access points leaves much to be desired."

"I would like them to improve the product's overall protections. This would be good for all product users."

"The VPN errors are not helpful when troubleshooting."

"Sometimes we have had issues with the stability of the product."

"While the wireless capability is great for roaming and seamless hand-off, there have been intermittent issues with connection dropping on Apple devices."

"It's a fine product, but some features like the max bandwidth don't work well. Also, the VPN errors are not helpful when troubleshooting."

"Tech support is sometimes a little bit slow."

"The problem is the high cost."

More WatchGuard XTM [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We can tailor the suitable license for the customer, whether they require UTB or enterprise features. The options are flexible based on their needs."

"At present, the SD-WAN licenses are on an annual basis."

"The price of the solution is competitive. Fortinet FortiGate-VM had a lot of advantages when it came to pricing. However, the competition has also geared up to a larger extent and it has become comparable now to the other solutions."

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

"We have been waiting a long time for the vendor to give us licenses, it has been five months and we are still waiting. However, the price is reasonable."

"With Fortinet FortiGate-VM you can bring your own licensing, or it can be paid on a yearly basis."

"It is an expensive solution."

"We don't have to pay for the licenses. But we might purchase licenses in the future."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pricing and cost advice

"Get at least a maintenance contract for the updates and take a larger WatchGuard than you need. A WatchGuard creates new ways to secure your network."

"The licensing and renewal is very expensive."

"It costs less than the SO works and others (like SonicWall, Cisco, and Barracuda) without increasing so much CPU use."

"Like all other manufacturers, there are a lot of features and different pricing. The best is to talk to a representative."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

15%

Marketing Services Firm

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	74
Midsize Enterprise	35
Large Enterprise	43

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	24
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

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 kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...

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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 Fortigate VM integrates well and has excellent centralized reporting. It is very easy to...

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

Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, the main client I deal with is a reputed company in the market, making it easy for them to afford Fortinet FortiGate-VM compared to Palo Alto, which is...

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Comparisons

Azure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 9% 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

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM Competitors

Fortinet FortiGate vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 22% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 18% of the time

Sophos UTM vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 11% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks WildFire vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

Compared 7% of the time

More WatchGuard XTM [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

August 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate-VM product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard XTM [EOL]

July 2026

Download WatchGuard XTM [EOL] product report

Also Known As

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM

No data available

Overview

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

Small businesses need big security, too, and the WatchGuard XTM Series firewall/VPN appliances deliver that strong protection, but without the hefty price tag. Enterprise-grade security includes full HTTPS content inspection, VoIP support, and optional security subscriptions like Application Control and Intrusion Prevention Service.

WatchGuard

Sample Customers

Security7 Networks, COOPENAE

AVG, Cyren, Kaspersky Lab, Lastline, NCP engineering, Trend Micro, Websense

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Netgate, Cisco and others in Firewalls. Updated: July 2026.

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