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Fortinet FortiManager vs Fortinet FortiOS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.6
Fortinet FortiManager offers cost savings, improved visibility, and effective management, though pricing complexity varies with deployment size.
Sentiment score
6.3
Fortinet FortiOS offers cost-effective, scalable security, with competitive pricing and partnerships, enhancing ROI compared to top brands.
Fortinet provides a strong ROI for organizations focused on comprehensive security.
Network Security Engineer/ Firewall Engineer at Charter Communications
The cost has been reduced for us by 24%.
Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas
Once it is deployed, I do not have to revisit or replace the hardware.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
The pricing of FortiOS is competitive and reasonable compared to other leading products such as Palo Alto and Check Point.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
Fortinet is strong in terms of cost and compatibility with other vendors.
Technology Consultant at 1ware
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Fortinet FortiManager's customer support varies, with responsive teams but inconsistent service quality and regional disparities in expertise.
Sentiment score
8.2
Fortinet FortiOS support is responsive and helpful but sometimes slow with complex issues, lacking top-tier vendor standards.
The people are very good, and they are very attentive.
Engineer of Preventa Sir at InterNexa S.A
They are responsive and resolve issues quickly when I raise a ticket.
Senior Associate at City Union Bank Ltd
Fortinet support is responsive and helpful.
Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas
I would rate them nine or ten out of ten.
Technology Consultant at 1ware
Fortinet technical support is very responsive and helpful.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
Support engineers sometimes lack eagerness to assist with issues such as the memory problem.
Director, IT Infrastructure Department at Zemen Bank S.C.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiManager is praised for scalability and central management, suitable for medium to large enterprises despite some cost concerns.
Sentiment score
8.2
Fortinet FortiOS is highly scalable, adapting to different organizations, supporting growth and global deployments, yet may need hardware upgrades.
Whenever you are monitoring or managing more than 10 or 20 firewalls, it is evident that you need a single pane of glass, which Fortinet FortiManager is offering.
Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas
You can raise the capacity as you go, and there is no limit for hardware.
Security Architect at Bouygues Telecom Mobile
The problem is cloud connectivity and roaming profiles are not working, as there is no option for them.
Network engineer at JOYALUKKAS
When customers' networks grow and needs expand, we can easily switch between models to trade up devices.
Technology Consultant at 1ware
It allows for the expansion of users and devices without additional licensing costs.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
We have been using Fortinet for bandwidth shaping and many other bandwidth-related functions.
Associate Director IT Operations at Procento
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Fortinet FortiManager is generally stable and reliable, with improvements in recent updates, though occasional bugs may occur.
Sentiment score
7.8
Fortinet FortiOS is praised for stability, with minor issues usually tied to configurations or external factors, not the system.
I rate the solution's stability ten out of ten.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
95% of the time, there are no problems interacting with other devices.
Security Architect at Bouygues Telecom Mobile
It is an absolutely very stable product, and we have not encountered any kind of disruption as far as the product is concerned.
Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas
While the product is largely stable, it sometimes faces memory issues in specific versions like 11 OE, which can be disruptive.
Director, IT Infrastructure Department at Zemen Bank S.C.
There were no lags, there were no issues, and no hanging of the firewall.
Associate Director IT Operations at Procento
Stability is a seven out of ten because during version migrations, and sometimes with new versions, Fortinet is not as good.
Technology Consultant at 1ware
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiManager needs better documentation, GUI improvements, simplified configuration, enhanced integration, and more accessible pricing and support.
Fortinet FortiOS requires improvements in VPN, pricing, compatibility, UI, security features, support, updates, deployment, and pricing consistency.
FortiManager is a good tool, but there is a lack of really advanced documentation.
Security Architect at Bouygues Telecom Mobile
The graphical user interface could use improvement as it appears complex and not user-friendly.
Senior Network Engineer at SP SYSNET PTE. LTD.
Fortinet FortiManager could benefit from integrations with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions.
Senior Associate at City Union Bank Ltd
Fortinet FortiOS faces memory issues, which can lead to unexpected downtimes.
Director, IT Infrastructure Department at Zemen Bank S.C.
There should be more documentation on how to use the CLI or how to perform CLI versions of tasks that can be done through the GUI.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
Compared to other market leaders like Palo Alto and Check Point, FortiOS has many bugs in its initial releases.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiManager is cost-effective for large deployments, despite higher costs for fewer devices and optional advanced features.
Fortinet FortiOS is often pricey but justified by features, with agreements influencing costs, suitable for mid-size businesses.
I would rate the price 8 out of 10 with 10 being the most expensive.
General Manager/ Owner at Security Parameter
Some competing solutions in the market, like Sophos and SonicWALL, offer lower costs of up to 40 percent.
Network administrator at PISystems
I find Fortinet FortiManager to be a bit more expensive, especially when considering the environment.
Head of Presales at AcSys Networks Private Limited
It is an affordable solution for us.
Technology Consultant at 1ware
Fortinet products are somewhat pricey, similar to Cisco equivalents, however, they have justified their price point.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
I am satisfied with the pricing, licensing, and setup costs of FortiOS, rating it nine out of ten compared to other familiar leading firewalls.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiManager offers scalable, centralized device management with automation and security features for efficient network administration in distributed environments.
Fortinet FortiOS is praised for UTM, user-friendly interface, robust security, excellent performance, cost-effectiveness, and seamless management.
I can automate the installation of configurations using different programming languages like Python or HPE, and it's a GUI solution, so it's pretty easy to use, even for basic users.
Security Architect at Bouygues Telecom Mobile
Being able to push consistent firewall rules and configuration changes across multiple FortiGates saves a ton of time and reduces errors compared to managing each device individually.
Network Security Engineer/ Firewall Engineer at Charter Communications
FortiManager captures all devices and provides reports for security analysis.
Senior Network Engineer at SP SYSNET PTE. LTD.
It is user-friendly when it comes to turning on features, and it has been reliable and effective.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
The threat intelligence in FortiOS is very high, and the system is scalable without additional licensing costs.
Senior Manager at ITX360 (Pvt) Ltd
The solution offers good threat intelligence, which is crucial for our customers' security purposes.
Technology Consultant at 1ware
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiManager
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (3rd)
Fortinet FortiOS
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (20th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Fortinet FortiManager and Fortinet FortiOS aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Fortinet FortiManager is designed for Network Management Applications and holds a mindshare of 4.4%, down 5.1% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiOS, on the other hand, focuses on Firewalls, holds 1.1% mindshare, up 0.9% since last year.
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiManager4.4%
Cisco DNA Center14.4%
Cisco Catalyst Center7.9%
Other73.3%
Network Management Applications
Firewalls Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiOS1.1%
Fortinet FortiGate18.8%
OPNsense11.2%
Other68.9%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

SudeepMaydeo - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas
Ensures seamless integration and centralized visibility for network security operations
The version upgrade from a single dashboard for all the firewalls in one click is the beauty of Fortinet FortiManager as the most impactful feature in managing our network security. Fortinet FortiManager's policy management enhances our security protocols by enabling us and giving integrated centralized visibility, which has proven to be very healthy. Because of this, we have identified some of the vulnerabilities in our systems, and we mitigated them through Fortinet FortiManager. The central dashboards and the visibility are what appealed to us to go with Fortinet FortiManager. Fortinet FortiManager has adapted to changes in our network scale and complexity as we have geographically 18 international locations, all equipped with firewalls and some cybersecurity initiatives and IT infrastructure initiatives.
MS
Associate Director IT Operations at Procento
Single-pane management has simplified firewall control and has improved risk mitigation
I would not say that Fortinet FortiOS is not very scalable. Generally, what happens is that for enterprises, we hire consultants who do the capacity planning and sizing to determine what kind of firewalls to put in place. At the same time, it is not only the number of users; it also depends on the number of WAN links coming in and everything, because we have been using Fortinet for bandwidth shaping and many other bandwidth-related functions. They should improve their machine learning AI capabilities of Fortinet FortiOS because there is too much competition. Other players are also improving and making a lot of changes in their UI and overall operating system.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?
The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?
I am satisfied with the licensing cost, and I would rate it an 8.5.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
I do not use Fortinet FortiManager daily, but I can speak with my security team and ask them what areas need future improvement for Fortinet FortiManager. When I installed it, I found it somewhat d...
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...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiOS?
The SSL VPN is fee for use is most attractive.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiOS?
I rate the pricing for FortiOS as eight or nine out of ten. It is an affordable solution for us.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, NetScaler and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.