Fortinet FortiProxy vs Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Fortinet and Broadcom are both solutions in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category. Fortinet is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.0, while Broadcom is ranked #29. Fortinet holds a 2.1% mindshare in WSG, compared to Broadcom’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway and Fortinet FortiProxy compete in the network security category, offering cloud-based web security services. Fortinet FortiProxy appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced feature set and better investment value.

Features: Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway offers robust threat intelligence, extensive content filtering capabilities, and simplifies management by shifting from on-premises solutions to a cloud-based approach. Fortinet FortiProxy excels with superior network performance optimization, seamless integration with other security products, and offers features like DNS filtering to protect against DNS-based threats.

Room for Improvement: Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway could benefit from easier implementation processes and streamlined configurations. Additionally, improving its integration with third-party security products could enhance its functionality. Fortinet FortiProxy could improve by providing more user-friendly configuration tools, expanding its reporting capabilities, and offering more competitive pricing.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortinet FortiProxy offers straightforward deployment and attentive customer support, making it easier to integrate into varied infrastructures. On the other hand, Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway might pose implementation challenges due to its layered configurations, though it still provides efficient support services.

Pricing and ROI: Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway presents a reasonable price structure with promising ROI through its efficient security enhancements. Fortinet FortiProxy, despite a slightly higher initial setup cost, is considered to offer greater long-term ROI due to its extensive features and performance benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiProxy vs. Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiProxy vs. Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway

November 2026

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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

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.2%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiProxy is 2.1%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway is 0.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
iboss	3.2%
Fortinet FortiProxy	2.1%
Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway	0.9%
Other	93.8%

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula

Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.

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Emmanuel Dasho

Cyber Security Engineer | Network/Security at GCET

Ease of configuration and seamless integration enhance operational efficiency

The App Control feature in the Fortinet FortiProx * Deep Packet Inspection (DPI): FortiProxy analyzes traffic at the application layer to detect applications even if they use non-standard ports or are encrypted. * Application Signatures: Uses FortiGuard’s application signature database (constantly updated) to recognize thousands of applications. * Policy Enforcement: You can create policies to Allow, Block, Monitor, or Shape (QoS) based on application type, category, or specific apps.

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cto543714

CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Simplifies management by shifting from on-premises solutions to cloud-based

Depending on the complexity of your system, you might need additional help during implementation. Considerations such as whether you’re using federated Active Directory or on-premises Active Directory need to be addressed. While setting up a system can be quick, taking only ten minutes to get started, rolling it out for an enterprise requires careful planning. Ensuring you make the right configuration choices is crucial for a successful deployment. It depends on the size of your deployment. While you can handle the setup, larger deployments might require additional support to manage effectively. I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

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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

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

"We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times."

"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

"I would definitely recommend iboss for web filtering purposes to other organizations or individuals."

"Deploying iboss leads to good return on investment, estimated around 70% to 80%."

"Iboss is a solution that prevents advanced persistent threats, and has a zero tolerance for attacks."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

More iboss pros

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiProxy are its simplicity and performance."

"The App Control feature in the Fortinet FortiProxy Deep Packet Inspection (DPI): FortiProxy analyzes traffic at the application layer to detect applications even if they use non-standard ports or are encrypted."

"The most valuable feature is intrusion prevention (IPS) and antivirus profiles. These features help control user activity, ensuring that they access only permitted websites and protects from downloading viruses."

"It seamlessly integrates with various security products, enhancing threat intelligence and improving indicators of compromise."

"It is a really stable solution."

"It helps to secure the networks at the DNA level and ensure proper identification and filtering of DNS traffic."

"The tool's most valuable feature is traffic inspections."

"I liked the tool's ability to provide detailed access control. For example, we could allow users to watch YouTube videos but not post comments. This level of control wasn't available in FortiGate."

More Fortinet FortiProxy pros

"I would rate my experience with the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy to set up. It was pretty straightforward."

"The product is easy to install and deploy on the cloud."

"This solution does not require much administration."

Cons

"The area I would like to see improvement in is the ability with in the reporter to navigate directly to the content the user is traversing. It is kind of there, but it's not perfect. Quite frequently, I receive links that lead me to pages with error messages."

"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."

"Fold that in with the risk intelligence they're getting from all of the different subscriptions they are a part of. Now, these security companies subscribe to things like emerging threats, databases, etc. You can fold all this intelligence to decide what's happening on an endpoint. I would love to see them start moving into that space. That would compete directly with Microsoft. Maybe that's why they haven't. Having that ability native within the solution would be great. The other area in which I would love to see improvement is more detailed descriptions of why they block websites."

"If they could implement an extra security layer preventing access to iboss from the open internet, it would be great."

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"Sometimes when you call in support, you get someone who is just following a sheet. It feels like a runaround. You feel that you are running into that support wall."

"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."

"The dashboards for local use could be better."

More iboss cons

"For IT administrators and managers, the reporting features are the main issues that should be addressed in order to improve the performance, security, and effective utilization of the product."

"Integration with existing infrastructure was generally easy, especially if you had tools like LDAP. However, I had to go through a lot of documentation as it was my first time working with a proxy server. We did experience some issues with certain web applications not working properly after implementing Fortinet FortiProxy."

"I see that the solution's interface is not in French...It would be good for our company if we could have the tool interface in French."

"The hardware version is stable, but the VM version is not stable and contains bugs that cause issues."

"Its web filtering capabilities could be improved."

"Fortinet FortiProxy should improve by adding more documentation and guides."

"Fortinet FortiProxy should integrate AI/ML technologies. Its pricing needs to be more flexible."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its granular access control. For example, users can browse the main site if you allow access to Amazon, but it stops them from visiting secondary Amazon websites without specific permission. This granular control is really helpful."

More Fortinet FortiProxy cons

"Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway can be improved by giving customers more ability to provide feedback on the categorization of websites and the site review portal."

"Symantec support is not very good. It is now outsourcing a significant portion of its support desk functions to distributors, who are taking over some of the help desk responsibilities."

"WSS runs slowly sometimes, I would like for this to be looked into."

"The product is cost-effective, considering its features, technology, and support services."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"The solution is neither too expensive nor very cheap."

"It offers a more cost-effective solution than alternatives like FortiMail, FortiGate, and various Barracuda devices."

"It can be considered expensive, with a limited lifespan and support that eventually requires updating to newer solutions."

"It is a cost-effective solution."

"Price-wise, Fortinet FortiProxy is moderate - not the highest among competitors, but not cheap either."

"The tool's pricing is in the middle."

"The price is fixed and affordable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

18%

Construction Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	15

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	3

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

iboss could be improved by making the dashboard more user-friendly, providing more detailed real-time alerts, and imp...

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What is your primary use case for iboss?

iboss is primarily used for cloud security, helping to protect users when they access websites and cloud applications...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

The pricing and licensing for iboss were reasonable for the security features. The setup costs were manageable, thoug...

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What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiProxy?

For me it may be the wildcards for urls whitelist or blacklist, somehow the page loads. Aside from that there no other..

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What advice do you have for others considering Fortinet FortiProxy?

My advice to others who are considering Fortinet FortiProxy is that it is seamless, easy to use, and quite straightfo...

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What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiProxy?

The main use cases for the Fortinet FortiProxy are to segment internet access among departments, as not every departm...

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Comparisons

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs iboss

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 6% of the time

FortiSASE vs iboss

Compared 5% of the time

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Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs Fortinet FortiProxy

Compared 18% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Fortinet FortiProxy

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Web Security Appliance vs Fortinet FortiProxy

Compared 12% of the time

McAfee Web Gateway Cloud Service vs Fortinet FortiProxy

Compared 6% of the time

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Cisco Umbrella vs Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway

Compared 20% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway

Compared 18% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway

Compared 11% of the time

Cisco Web Security Appliance vs Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway

Compared 9% of the time

Skyhigh Security vs Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

October 2026

Download iboss product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiProxy

October 2026

Download Fortinet FortiProxy product report

Buyer's Guide

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

October 2026

Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway report

Download Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

FortiProxy

Symantec Web Security Service

Overview

iboss is the Zero Trust SASE platform that gives organizations complete visibility and governance over their AI, data, and applications through one unified platform, one console, one policy engine, and one data lake.

Your endpoints may already stop malware. Your data and application activity can still be invisible. iboss decrypts and understands every connection, then turns that signal into answers security leaders can act on.

The platform leads with three capabilities in this order: AI Security and Visibility, Data Security and Visibility, and App Visibility and Control. Zero Trust Network Access, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN sit underneath as the access fabric that carries those three. Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

- AI Security and Visibility: conversation capture, shadow-AI discovery, AI DLP, and agent governance across Claude, Co-Work, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok, and emerging services.

- Data Security and Visibility: full SSL/TLS decryption, deep content inspection, MIP label compliance, and one-click compliance reporting.

- App Visibility and Control: signatureless CASB, dual risk scoring, in-app controls, and SSPM for major SaaS.

- Containerized Zero Trust SASE: dedicated containers, isolated SSL keys, one console, one policy engine, one data lake.

- Access fabric: ZTNA, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN under the same platform.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

- Complete visibility over AI, data, and applications from one platform instead of separate point tools.

- Encrypted traffic is inspected by default so data decisions use content and context together.

- Shadow SaaS and new web tools appear as they are used, with enforceable controls in one console.

- Native data sovereignty through dedicated containers, in-region inspection, and per-customer SSL key custody.

- Scale proven in published materials: 10M+ users, 100+ countries, 150B+ transactions, 2.5B+ threats blocked.

Economic buyers are CISOs, CIOs, and VPs of Security. Champions include security architects, network and infrastructure leaders, SecOps, and GRC. Primary segments: enterprise and business, financial services, government (including FedRAMP Gov Cloud), healthcare, manufacturing, legal and professional services, retail and hospitality, and MSP/MSSP partners. Education, including K-12, is one vertical among these.

iboss

Fortinet FortiProxy provides simplicity and high performance with notable traffic inspections and user-friendly features. It integrates with security products to enhance threat intelligence, ensuring secure and efficient network management.

Fortinet FortiProxy is designed to enhance network security through exceptional traffic inspections, intrusion prevention, and antivirus capabilities. Its user-friendly nature allows for granular application and DNS control, deep packet inspection, and detailed access control. Administrators can implement precise policies to manage web access, integrating seamlessly with other security solutions. Offering proactive alarms and caching capabilities, FortiProxy optimizes bandwidth usage while ensuring robust network defense.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiProxy?

Traffic Inspections: High-performance inspection to secure web traffic.
Intrusion Prevention: Proactively detects and blocks threats.
Antivirus Profiles: Offers robust protection against viruses.
Application and DNS Control: Provides detailed control over applications and DNS settings.
Deep Packet Inspection: Ensures comprehensive inspection of packet content.
Access Control: Enables precise management of user access.

What benefits or ROI should users investigate?

Security Enhancement: Improved protection from web-based threats.
Network Efficiency: Optimized bandwidth through effective caching.
Integration Capabilities: Seamless interaction with other security products.
User-Friendly Management: Simplified administration with granular controls.

In industries focused on maintaining high-level internet security, Fortinet FortiProxy is employed for comprehensive traffic inspections and segmentation. It supports antivirus additions and secure connectivity, serving as a robust web security gateway. Organizations benefit from seamless authentication using Fortinet Single Sign-On, crucial for protecting users from threats and enabling efficient network operations.

Fortinet

Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway provides effective web security solutions designed to protect against internet threats while ensuring secure access to web applications.

Designed for companies seeking reliable web security, Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway offers a resilient platform to defend against threats and control web access. It leverages advanced technologies to filter undesirable content and protect sensitive data. It enables secure browsing and delivers robust policy enforcement to keep enterprise networks safe, helping businesses stay compliant and safeguard their data against modern cyber threats.

What are the key features of Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway?

Advanced Threat Protection: Safeguards against sophisticated malware and cyber threats.
Content Filtering: Blocks unwanted web content and enforces safe browsing policies.
Data Loss Prevention: Protects sensitive data from being exposed or stolen.
HTTPS Inspection: Monitors encrypted traffic to prevent threats and ensure compliance.
Access Control: Enables granular control over user and device web access.

What are the benefits when evaluating Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway?

Enhanced Security: Provides comprehensive protection against web-based threats.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces risks and potential data breach costs with advanced protection.
Compliance Assurance: Helps maintain compliance with industry regulations.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing organizational demands without compromising performance.
User Productivity: Encourages secure access to necessary resources improving productivity.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway is crucial for protecting confidential data and ensuring secure communications. Its ability to implement strict compliance measures makes it a preferred choice for sectors with high regulatory standards. By preventing data breaches and unauthorized access, it supports enterprises in maintaining their business integrity and reputation.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiProxy vs. Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway

November 2026

Free Report: Fortinet FortiProxy vs. Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiProxy vs. Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.

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