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Fortinet FortiGate vs IBM Security Network IPS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
594
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
IBM Security Network IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
22nd
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 8.5%, down from 17.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Network IPS is 2.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate8.5%
IBM Security Network IPS2.0%
Other89.5%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Yati Gharat - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at Litmus
Unified security management has simplified data center protection and optimized branch connectivity
In my opinion, a potential area of improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is that while it has a pretty good dashboard, which is not an issue as such, when we talk about hardware parameters, sometimes the hardware gets pretty heated up. Given the amount of traffic going through it, that is fine. However, the heat of the hardware has to be looked into. Fortinet FortiGate firewall is good, but other products like the switching part and all that fabric, in handling very audio-video traffic, sometimes it struggles on the switching part, but on the routing part, it is fine. On the firewall part, it is good; there is no issue as such up till now. Additionally, I suggest that Fortinet can add software which is in a controlled way, particularly regarding AI and ML. It should not happen that the AI/ML takes certain decisions which are not beneficial for the organization. The control should remain with the team members who are responsible for configuring this firewall.
Jacob_Koithra - PeerSpot reviewer
Project & Program manager at Shell Grp
User-friendly and has a good blocking feature but is quite expensive
Defining the new security rules and policies sometimes becomes a challenge. Integration with other platforms becomes a challenge as well. I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies. XGS 7100 has an end of support for the 30th of December 2022. Many are losing support. All the products of the XGS, including XGS 3100, 4100, 5100, and 7100, support is ending in December 2022. We need to know what is the plan post that? Do we need to spend money on them? Will that be extended? There has been no communication on the website either. It's an expensive device.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is very flexible to use."
"It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall."
"I think Fortinet is a cheaper, stable, scalable, and reliable device."
"The solution has a user-friendly interface."
"Secure, user-friendly, stable, and scalable network security solution. Installation is straightforward."
"User-friendly and affordable security solution that's recommended for SMB customers. This solution has good technical support."
"We have several sites spread geographically across Latin America and Asia that use FortiGate, and some of them are unable to support cloud services so we have deployed it on-premise in order to provide ourselves with a fast and secure network."
"We went from being terrified about our firewalls screwing up to completely forgetting we had firewalls."
"This is definitely a product that I recommend, especially for organizations that want a quick integration of data from the transaction systems, with a very low cost of operations."
"The most valuable feature is its simplicity."
"The blocking feature is great; it acts as an in-line blocker, and any malicious traffic that you see, or anything really, it can block the traffic."
"The initial setup is simple."
"Signature based analysis and preventing different types of network attacks."
"IPS has helped us in understanding more about the latest threats out there and made us realize that we need to be proactive when it comes to security rather than reactive."
 

Cons

"It should be more stable."
"The reports provided by the equipment could be more detailed, and not so dependent on the FortiAnalyzer."
"Some configuration elements cannot be easily altered once created."
"In the past six months, they took quite a long time to respond to the support tickets. I don't know if they are overwhelmed with too much activity, but for the last six months, the support has not been very good."
"They really need to work on their support."
"We would like to see better pricing."
"It would be a benefit if Fortinet would release a one-stop solution that is better integrated with other products and has an automated emergency response system."
"We can't identify which users are causing challenges when we have issues."
"In the future, I would like to see a hybrid option so that we can work both on-premises and in the cloud."
"The configuration of this product is complex. It could be made more user friendly."
"It's an expensive device."
"I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies."
"In terms of scalability, I would say that it is a little on the poor side."
"The management server can be made more user friendly and also the database configuration could be made simpler."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It could be more competitive and cost-effective."
"They are very competitive, but we like to have the factory warranty taken care of."
"The solution is offered as an annual license."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate could improve, it is expensive."
"Fortinet FortiGate as a less expensive solution than Palo Alto."
"On a scale of one being cheap and ten being expensive, I rate the tool's price as an eight."
"Its pricing is good. The advantages of Fortinet FortiGate over its competitors include good pricing and meeting our requirements at a lower cost."
"Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors."
"The cost of operations is very low."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Consultant with 51-200 employees
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Performing Arts
13%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Media Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business372
Midsize Enterprise138
Large Enterprise195
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage at large. In my opinion, Fortinet would be the best option and l use Fortinet too...
What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?
From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know the firewalls change every 5 to 7 years as stated but you really do need to upg...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
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Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
Security Network Intrusion Prevention System, IBM Security Network Protection, XGS, GX
 

Overview

 

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
Equifax, Christian Hospital Centre
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. IBM Security Network IPS and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.