Fortinet FortiGate vs McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] comparison

Fortinet and McAfee are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 92% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 75% of McAfee users who would recommend it.

Fortinet FortiGate

Read 594 Fortinet FortiGate reviews

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92% willing to recommend

McAfee Firewall Enterprise ...

Read 5 McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] reviews

75% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiGate

McAfee Firewall Enterprise ...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] and Fortinet FortiGate are competitors in the network security category. Fortinet FortiGate has the upper hand due to its advanced features and better long-term ROI.

Features: McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] includes application layer filtering, reputation-based filtering, and DoS prevention. It also offers convenient management for multiple firewalls via the McAfee Control Centre. Fortinet FortiGate excels with IPS, web filtering, and VPNs. It offers advanced app control, threat prevention, and SD-WAN integration capabilities.

Room for Improvement: McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] struggles with resource availability for server configuration, limited online help, and lacks newer features. Fortinet FortiGate could enhance its integrated management tools, simplify its advanced configuration processes, and improve initial documentation clarity for non-technical users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: McAfee's deployment is less agile and lacks support due to its end-of-life status. Fortinet FortiGate provides a streamlined deployment process with comprehensive documentation and responsive customer support, making setup more efficient.

Pricing and ROI: McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] was initially cheaper, attracting budget-conscious clients. However, Fortinet FortiGate, though requiring a higher upfront investment, offers a better ROI through effective security measures and operational efficiencies.

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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

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

594

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)

McAfee Firewall Enterprise ...

Average Rating

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Yati Gharat

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.

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reviewer999975

Computer Technician at a leisure / travel company with 1,001-5,000 employees

We cannot find resources to help us configure it, so most of the time the virus still goes on our computer and McAfee doesn't detect it

It's pretty easy to use on a daily basis, but there are no other features because it's hard to configure on the server. On the endpoint it's really easy to push. It's hard to configure on the server, though. It's hard to find resources to help us configure it, and there is not much online help that you can find. Most of the time, we were looking at the forums, and we needed to go very deep to find what we were looking for. It was hard, and McAfee was not really helpful when we were trying to get the product to work perfectly. This is why are changing it.

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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 best features of this tool include threat protection, email filtering, and web filtering, and FortiAnalyzer's integration with the firewall and FortiSASE is beneficial."

"The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."

"What's most important is the ease of use."

"Whenever I need something, Fortinet improves and updates the software for me."

"There are lots of features and most of them are deployed for internet security. Users are protected if they accidentally go to some malicious sites."

"New users should be aware that this solution offers very good security."

"The user interface is relatively easy. The devices are easy to deploy and figure out when you have experience with other security appliances."

"FortiGate has a very strong unified threat management system."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It does give certain protection for everything that is well configured on our McAfee server. We have good protection with it. If we could find a feature and make it work, it would work perfectly, there would be no bugs, and it would be really good."

"For managing multiple MFE firewalls it is incredibly handy, convenient, and it is easy to use the product with McAfee Control Centre."

"It's a very functional and stable product if you're looking for a Layer 7 firewall with reputation filtering and encrypted traffic inspection."

"We have 10 offices throughout Brazil, and now they are all connected by using the VPN feature of the firewall."

"ROI: It's good."

Cons

"The area that Fortinet may improve is customer support. When you have an incident, situation, or open a case, the support is not as good as Cisco or other platforms I have tested."

"Palo Alto has a feature called WildFire Analysis that is unavailable in FortiGate. WildFire is better than a sandbox because it can address zero-day threats and vulnerabilities. It can immediately identify zero-day threats from the cloud."

"They sometimes hide some features and if you want to enable them, you have to go in the CLI, enable the feature and configure it through the CLI. Customers, typically, like everything to be done by the GUI."

"The solution’s pricing is high."

"In our environment, we need multiple virtual firewalls to facilitate end users and customers. Fortinet doesn't provide that but they really should include that feature."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall's performance and threat intelligence could be improved."

"They can probably improve the reporting feature. Reporting and report alerting are the main key features of this solution. They can always find ways to improve these."

"Reporting is limited to providing an external appliance for improving the reporting capabilities of the FortiAnalyzer. It does not offer a central management and is also sold separably as an appliance."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"HA configuration is a bit difficult for the first time."

"The hardware is not stable and we have faced many stability issues."

"Migrating from v7 to v8 of McAfee Firewall Enterprise, in many cases, involves you having to completely re-write all of your previous McAfee Firewall Enterprise v7 policies due to the difference in the way the interfaces are named in the product going from v7 to v8."

"Administration of the firewall is a little confusing for end users."

"Customer support and AV are both lacking and are really hard to come to you when the product is installed. Those are the two major points that they need to work on."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive. You need to pay for the subscription every year, which is very expensive. The subscription includes technical support and hardware exchange in case of failure."

"I think that the pricing is fair."

"We pay $500 per year for the license."

"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."

"It's a very full-featured and it's priced well solution."

"The licensing costs are very competitive."

"Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay."

"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user216600

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…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

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Company Size

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Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	372
Midsize Enterprise	138
Large Enterprise	195

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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...

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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...

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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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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 14% 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

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SonicWall NSa vs McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL]

Compared 45% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL]

Compared 14% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL]

Compared 14% of the time

Trellix Network Detection and Response vs McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL]

Compared 11% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

August 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

July 2026

McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] report

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Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Firewall Enterprise MFE, Intel Security Firewall Enterprise MFE

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

McAfee Firewall Enterprise defends critical assets, such as regulated data repositories (customer, financial, and healthcare data), email and web servers, extranets, and data centers. This proxy-based firewall also offers application visibility and deep application controls for defense, delivers strong policy-based controls, blocks the latest threats, and eliminates unwanted traffic.

McAfee

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

French Ministry of Education, RWTH Aachen, Avency, Cegedim, Cobweb, Intel Security, Cemex Mauser, R_sler Oberfl_chentechnik

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

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