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Fortinet FortiGate vs Zscaler Cloud IPS comparison

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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)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
595
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (2nd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Zscaler Cloud IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
21st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 7.1%, down from 15.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud IPS is 2.2%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate7.1%
Zscaler Cloud IPS2.2%
Other90.7%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

VR
Practice Head at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Unified security has protected diverse environments and supports consistent policies everywhere
I would say 8 out of 10 regarding the stability of Fortinet FortiGate. It requires a lot of bug fixing and what I understand, Fortinet is fast enough to provide bug fixes and patches, but usually I suggest Fortinet should do thorough testing of their releases and software releases and once probably they can reduce the frequency of new releases but make it stable. That's what my recommendation is. As far as the core objective of Fortinet FortiGate is concerned, I think they are meeting the targets but I guess for rolling out new features and new updates, they are doing a bit of hurry just to cope with the market dynamics. But possibly, I understand that they are compromising on the quality of the software and stability. So over there they have to improve. Rest of the aspects, I guess they are doing pretty good. We are happy. Regarding my experience with Fortinet FortiGate in comparison to maybe some other vendors such as CyberArk, Fortinet is in the top three and they give a lot of competition to their nearest peers in the market. But I guess Fortinet is really struggling in software-defined LAN, Wi-Fi, and FortiSwitches space. So they have to make their products more affordable in Forti-switching and Forti-WiFi space. They are not able to compete effectively with the nearest competitor HP Enterprise and HP Aruba.
Utpal Sinha - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Manager at HCL Tech
Stable product with valuable SSL inspection features
We use Zscaler Cloud IPS for threat protection, full SSL inspection, and data center scalability. It integrates with multiple products, including cloud firewalls, cloud sandboxing, Cloud Security Broker (CSB), and Data Loss Prevention (DLP). It helps us allow or block specific TCP or UDP ports…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"LinkGreat firewall capabilities"
"The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a very stable solution."
"Fortinet FortiGate SWG's content is its most valuable feature."
"FortiGate protects and secures our clients' networks. The security is solid, and it performs well. I think they use some artificial intelligence, so I think it's excellent equipment."
"Fortinet FortiGate has it all."
"The most valuable features are security and vision, and all of the UTM functionality."
"The product offers very good security."
"The product's most valuable feature is complete SSL inspection."
"The initial setup process is easy."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy in comparison with other solutions."
"Cloud IPS integration is seamless, and it uses a Zero Trust model, and it also simplifies overall user access management."
"The best feature is that Zscaler allows for a separation between cloud applications and URL filtering. For example, under the cloud application segment, I can bypass Microsoft Office 365 without the need to add URLs manually. It's one click, so that's handy."
 

Cons

"Technical support is a little slow and needs to be improved."
"We are providing VoIP and the IP licensing could improve in Fortinet FortiGate SWG."
"We have an issue with hotel guest vouchers."
"In the past six to seven years with the Fortinet FortiGate, we've had two major downtimes, both caused by firmware upgrades."
"Fortinet needs to continue to improve network traceability. Other than that, we haven't run into anything that would give me any concern."
"The solution lacks sufficient filtering."
"We have to worry about debugging, and it would be ideal if they had some sort of GUI interface for troubleshooting and diagnostics, as FortiGate has only CLI-based diagnostic capabilities and sometimes it becomes very difficult to do all this troubleshooting."
"It should have a better pricing plan. It is too expensive."
"They have given limited free access for a year. Instead, they should increase the file size and give limited free access for around two months. It will allow engineers to evaluate the product."
"When it comes to scalability, the IPsec could be improved."
"There is always room for improvement."
"We encounter issues sharing IP addresses with other companies using the software."
"We recently had a significant issue with Zscaler. I think they have too many customers and some of their connection edge nodes went down because there were too many requests. I think they aren't scaling enough to keep up with the demand in some areas. That's one thing they should improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiGate's price can be reduced."
"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."
"Currently, we are paying about $1,500 a month for three sites."
"The price is fine."
"We pay about $4,000 for a yearly license, and there aren't any additional fees."
"Fortinet FortiGate has different licensing models, depending on what you're going to do. Services included would depend on the license model. Licenses can be renewed annually."
"I give the pricing of the solution a six out of ten."
"It is less expensive than a Cisco solution."
"The product is not affordable for small and medium enterprises."
"The software has become more expensive at present."
"Zscaler has so far been solely responsible for all the sales we have done with it, so it would be more suited than us to address any issues concerning the pricing."
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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
No data available
Healthcare Company
13%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business373
Midsize Enterprise139
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
No data available
 

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
Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiGate vs. Zscaler Cloud IPS and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.