Fortinet FortiGate vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

Fortinet and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Fortinet is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3, while Zscaler is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.3. Fortinet holds a 20.8% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

Fortinet FortiGate

Read 411 Fortinet FortiGate reviews

73,536 Views
58,829 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Read 18 Zscaler Cloud Firewall reviews

1,246 Views
1,146 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiGate

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Fortinet FortiGate and Zscaler Cloud Firewall compete in the network security category. FortiGate appears to have the upper hand due to its hardware integration and flexible pricing, while Zscaler excels in cloud-native architecture with seamless cloud application integration.

Features: Fortinet FortiGate includes UTM, IPS, VPN, web filtering, and application control, facilitating its robust performance for various deployment scales. Its intuitive configuration and hardware integration set it apart. Zscaler Cloud Firewall's cloud-native structure supports advanced threat protection, DLP, web security, and CASB. It offers seamless integration with cloud applications and eliminates the need for onsite hardware.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiGate could enhance configuration simplicity, GUI improvements, and better cloud management features. It also faces upfront cost challenges for advanced setups. Zscaler Cloud Firewall needs to improve customization flexibility, integration with legacy systems, and deployment simplicity. Users also report issues with internet access policies and data center coverage.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortinet FortiGate, primarily on-premises, supports hybrid cloud deployment with comprehensive documentation and effective support, despite some response delays. Zscaler's cloud-native model enables easy scaling and fast deployment, although customer support responsiveness and data center distribution could improve.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiGate is considered cost-effective with extensive features, yet licensing and renewal costs may accumulate. It offers flexible licensing options, providing good ROI. Zscaler Cloud Firewall is deemed pricier, especially for smaller businesses, but its subscription models maintain value by offering comprehensive security coverage.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

July 2025

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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

Ranking in Firewalls

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

411

Ranking in other categories

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Ranking in Firewalls

24th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.8%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Bhaskar Rao

Network manager admin at Yamaha

Though it helps deal with web traffic or any malicious traffic, it needs to work on its DC performance issues

The product's initial setup phase is moderate in level, so it is neither very complex nor very easy. For the deployment, my company first needs to gather all the requirements of the users and the domain names and consider how many users there are in the company. In the implementation and planning part, my company needs to consider what kind of policies we will create while ensuring that the policies are created based on the requirements of the users. There is a need to segregate the users' requirements since there are separate departments in the company, like the HR department, sales department, IT department, and manufacturing department, so that our company can create policies depending on their requirements. On-site, if you want a GRE tunnel, our company can handle GRE tunnel traffic routing and Zscaler Cloud Firewall, after which Zscaler will take action based on the policies created by our organization. For the deployments and maintenance, a team of five members consisting of two managers and three engineers is required.

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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 most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are it is one of the most mature firewalls in the UTM bundle."

"It's a firewall that secures our internal network. I have been using it since 2013, and I find that most of the features are advanced, and very user friendly."

"The most valuable features are simplicity, management, and that it's constantly evolving."

"Previously, we were using another firewall device, Sophos. Compared to that, Fortinet FortiGate provides more features and better security."

"FortiGate is flexible and easy to use."

"Our project needs to link two sides through the internet. One of these was in Cairo and the other in another city. We used FortiGate as the integrating solution between the two locations, i.e. the Fortinet 30E & 100E."

"Fortinet FortiGate appears to be scalable."

"I like Fortinet's cloud management. It allows me to manage all my devices in different branches for three cloud accounts. Even though I use on-prem devices, I can manage everything on the cloud."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"It provides in-depth visibility into your network, ensuring that traffic flowing into your organization, be it from offices or individual users, is effectively filtered and secured through multiple layers of protection."

"The solution is scalable."

"The solution offers good sandboxing."

"The scalability is okay. We have around 2200 people using this solution."

"Includes advanced tech protection."

"The visibility and log availability offered are highly valued for troubleshooting purposes, and this is a key factor driving customer interest in the firewall module."

"Most of the features that Zscaler has to offer, we will deploy."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"There is one big configuration file with no separations for the unique VDOMs. Maybe they could separate individual VDOM configuration files with the root VDOM configuration file referencing the individual VDOM config files."

"Stability and technical support are the two major issues I have found with Fortinet."

"The renewal price and the availability could be improved."

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

"Fortinet already improved FortiGate, but in the current market, many brands of security devices have improved together. Fortinet still needs to catch up with market standards. Fortinet is lacking in features in comparison to competitors."

"The solution could be more user friendly."

"At first glance, the interface for the device is very confusing."

"The main aspect of FortiGate that could be improved is load balancing. Our management team does not want to buy another appliance for only load balancing."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The issue right now is probably that Zscaler is not providing web browser isolation. Another solution, Menlo, offers this. For one customer, we had to send traffic to Menlo to do the isolation for us. It was requested by the customer so that they could integrate any iframe. Zscaler needs to add this type of feature in their next release."

"The product could improve its integration with some legacy systems."

"Its technical support services could be better."

"Pricing is a challenge."

"Instead of the standard license, they should certainly provide customers with the visibility to access and view the logs."

"Apart from the issues associated with the product in areas like the DC performance issues and DC failover, Zscaler Cloud Firewall's IP should not have a proxy IP."

"We are having some issues with internet access being denied when organizational ID-based policies change. For example, a lower level employee ends up getting the same level of access as that of a higher level employee."

"When it comes to customer support, there is room for improvement in Zscaler's service."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The beauty is the price performance ratio is great with FortiGate. It provides all the features we needed and the price is comparable with others' firewalls. The price is quite competitive with the firewalls with similar features."

"They need to be competitive with other solutions."

"Setup cost may be not so low, as you expect, because it depends on different factors, but TCO for 5 years may pleasantly surprise you."

"If the price of the license in Fortinet FortiGate was less expensive it would be better."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate could improve, it is expensive."

"These boxes are not that expensive compared to what they can do, their functionality, and the reporting you receive. Fortinet licensing is straightforward and less confusing compared to Cisco."

"The price of FortiGate is good."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is affordable. Most of our customers are on a three-year license to use the solution. All the features and support are included in the price."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"It comes at a significantly reduced cost while ensuring control and effectiveness."

"It is expensive for small businesses."

"There are different subscription models available."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis. It is somewhere around 30 or 40 pounds per user for our organization."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"There is an annual license required for the use of the Zscaler Cloud Firewall."

"It is not the most budget-friendly solution, but it's important to consider its overall value."

"There are licensing costs, and I would not say that it's a cheap vendor."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall 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

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datacenter and endpoint. In between you have branch office. So blending EPP and firew...

See all answers

What do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors. However, it offered moderate value for money.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 15% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

OPNsense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

August 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

July 2025

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Zscaler enables the world’s leading organizations to securely transform their networks and applications for a mobile and cloud first world. Its flagship services, Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access, create fast, secure connections between users and applications, regardless of device, location, or network. Zscaler services are 100% cloud-delivered and offer the simplicity, enhanced security, and improved user experience that traditional appliances or hybrid solutions are unable to match. Used in more than 185 countries, Zscaler operates the world’s largest cloud security platform, protecting thousands of enterprises and government agencies from cyberattacks and data loss.

Check more details: https://www.zscaler.com/produc...

Zscaler

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

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

July 2025

Free Report: Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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