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Fortinet FortiOS vs Stormshield Network Security comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
318
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Fortinet FortiOS
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (17th)
Stormshield Network Security
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (12th)
 

Featured Reviews

EhabAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable
In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.
Harshama Silva - PeerSpot reviewer
We have improved network security with user-friendly controls and high threat intelligence
FortiOS is very user-friendly and easy to configure for L1, L2, and L3 personnel. Its web filtering, application control, and IPS features are very user-friendly, easy to manage, and deploy. The threat intelligence in FortiOS is very high, and the system is scalable without additional licensing costs. FortiOS allows us to expand the number of users and devices as our network needs grow.
Ben_Ben - PeerSpot reviewer
The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats
The tool's most valuable feature is its dashboard, which helps you manage different aspects of a single page. The intrusion detection system helps our organization by automatically detecting and responding to potential threats. It operates similarly to Darktrace, which detects and responds automatically based on the security rules you apply. Initially, you configure everything to block, and then you can whitelist specific items as needed.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It enables our organization to become more productive. Also, it protects our NEtWare from viruses and malware."
"It is simple to manage, and there are a lot of functionalities in the same box."
"The solution is very easy to understand. It's not overly complex."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the rules and quality of service."
"It's very easy to configure."
"The signature database and zero-day detection are Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features."
"All of the features of Fortinet FortiGate are useful and the security protection is good."
"The virtual firewall feature is the most valuable. We have around 1,500 firewalls. We did not buy individual hardware, and the virtual firewalls made sense because we don't have to keep on buying the hardware. FortiGate is easier to use as compared to Checkpoint devices. It is user friendly and has a good UI. You don't need much expertise to work on this firewall. You don't need to worry much about DCLA, commands, and things like that."
"The initial setup is straightforward, and it is very customer friendly."
"It's very easy to use."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are user-friendliness, ease of use, and threat prevention."
"I like its configuration and the various functions it offers."
"It's easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiOS network segregation, UTM, and antivirus, freight management protection, such as DDoS. Additionally, the CLI and the GUI are easy to use. The architecture makes sense, and the command in the CLI are organized well. They have quite a lot of features are easy to use, and are user-friendly. Any novice can use Fortinet FortiOS without an issue."
"The classification of the websites is helpful."
"The interface is easy to understand, so when there are threats you get alerts. It's quite intuitive, but if you are ever confused they have instructional videos. For example, if you don't understand a graph there's a link to a video that explains what the graph means. It makes it very user-friendly."
"I like that it works fine. Stormshield is a very good solution."
"The most valuable features are the IPS, the firewall function, and the price."
"It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"Easily manageable in a variety of environments."
"A very robust product."
"I can see what traffic is going on. I can easily block any programs from attacks."
"This solution is quick and easy to configure."
 

Cons

"The anti-malware engine could use an upgrade."
"They've become quite expensive."
"Fortinet FortiGate can improve by integrating the web application firewall and the DDoS protection part of the solution. Having a WAF feature, web application firewall, and proxy together would be a good benefit."
"The solution can have more features in a single box that can be multi-applied to integrate everything."
"Its filtering is sometimes too precise or strict. We sometimes have to bypass and authorize some of the sites, but they get blocked. We know that they are trusted sites, but they are blocked, and we don't know why."
"There are problems with the custom reporting of the unique traffic. The data is there, but it is too difficult for us to extract."
"This product needs to have an analysis feature, rather than having the analysis done through the integration of a different product."
"The cloud features and integration could be improved."
"They're using a lot of application-specific IC, so that may be causing some performance issues. And whenever a Fortinet adds new features, it can affect performance."
"The support could be improved, Fortinet's response time is very slow. Setting up the VPN could be made much easier, especially when deployed with Azure."
"The reporting and monitoring could improve, they have a lot of limitations. The monitoring is not easy compared to the other firewall."
"Real-time threat monitoring is not there."
"FortiOS doesn't work well with all browsers. I think they need to do a better job of making it compatible with the various browsers that are out there."
"Their technical support needs improvement."
"Compared to other market leaders like Palo Alto and Check Point, FortiOS has many bugs in its initial releases."
"I would like to see fewer bugs. If you use the box with its basic features, the solution is straightforward and stable, but you can run into bugs when using newer features or in more complex use cases. They included a DNS filter as a new feature, and I had issues that required raising a ticket with customer support."
"The product must improve its pricing."
"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."
"Improvement is needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer."
"The filtering configuration could be better. We have some difficulties with the filtering configuration and the filter extension. It's not that easy. It's not that straightforward. In the next release, I would like to see a reporting system. Stormshield doesn't have any tutorials on how to do the configuration and things like that. They just have documentation on the website. If you want to configure, for example, Cisco or Fortinet, you can find tutorials on YouTube. They show you how to configure the features, and so on. In Stormshield, there is nothing on social media or the internet on how to configure different things. The lack of documentation or the lack of material makes it difficult for others to adopt this solution."
"This is not a next-generation firewall."
"The SD card could be more secure."
"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."
"Not all the fields are activated yet and we were informed that it will take at least one month."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is fine."
"We purchased a five-year bundle package, which worked out cheaper than competing solutions."
"Fortinet is reasonable in pricing and licensing. Overall, FortiGate is affordable. The licensing fee can be a little high, depending on the budget for your project."
"The licensing costs are very low."
"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."
"It has a competitive price."
"Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors."
"Licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is on a yearly basis. Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"The pricing could always be lower."
"A medium 100 or 200 Series box costs around $3000, and the software cost is around 55% of the hardware cost."
"There is a license required for the solution and the price is fair."
"The price of Fortinet FortiOS is reasonable and it is paid annually. You are able to select the features that you want."
"The solution is quite affordable and I rate the cost a four out of ten."
"A yearly subscription might be around $20,000 to $30,000."
"The program is expensive."
"The pricing is competitive for the medium and high markets but for the small markets it can be expensive."
"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."
"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
"I think the price is good."
"The pricing could be better."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
22%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
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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...
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.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
NETASQ Firewalls
 

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
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiOS vs. Stormshield Network Security and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,485 professionals have used our research since 2012.