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Fortinet FortiWeb vs Hillstone I-Series Server Breach Detection System 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiWeb
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
122
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (1st)
Hillstone I-Series Server B...
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (26th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (23rd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Fortinet FortiWeb and Hillstone I-Series Server Breach Detection System aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Fortinet FortiWeb is designed for Web Application Firewall (WAF) and holds a mindshare of 7.8%, down 8.1% compared to last year.
Hillstone I-Series Server Breach Detection System, on the other hand, focuses on Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS), holds 1.0% mindshare, up 0.3% since last year.
Web Application Firewall (WAF) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiWeb7.8%
Imperva Application Security Platform7.8%
F5 Advanced WAF7.5%
Other76.9%
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Hillstone I-Series Server Breach Detection System1.0%
Fortinet FortiGate13.2%
Darktrace11.5%
Other74.3%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

HameedAhmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Joint Director at PAA
Security threats have been reduced through seamless deployment and strong integration with other tools
I have used Fortinet FortiWeb's integration features. We have easily integrated all of the applications with the product. Most of the applications we are using are in-house built. My technical team is looking after the best features. I have not used it extensively for maybe two and a half years. I have been involved in the installation, but I am not actually using the product. I work with it from time to time but not extensively. I would assess Fortinet FortiWeb's adaptive machine learning and artificial intelligence as having new patches installed regarding artificial intelligence, but when we bought it, I think the learning feature was there. Now they have installed artificial intelligence features through patches. We have a complete portfolio of Fortinet in our organization, including FortiMail, Fortinet FortiWeb, and FortiGate, along with multi-factor authentication. All of the products are from Fortinet. Fortinet tools integrate with each other and work in conjunction. I think Fortinet FortiWeb has helped us meet regulatory compliance because we are not a regulatory organization, but our sister organization is regulatory. We have regulatory compliance with the International Civil Aviation Authority, whose audit teams have checked our data center and these security products, and they are satisfied with us. The question about leveraging Fortinet FortiWeb's automated policy management does not pertain to my domain because I am not so technical, but I am in a management role now. My engineer is more technical than me. I would rate this product an eight point five out of ten.
DAVI TEIXEIRA - PeerSpot reviewer
Physical Education Professional JR at Unimed
Beneficial AI detection, helpful support, but modern UI needed
The initial setup of the Hillstone I-Series Server Breach Detection System requires a bunch of steps starting with installing the hardware and setting it up. However, most of the setup is done by the vendor. I rate the initial setup of the Hillstone I-Series Server Breach Detection System an eight out of ten. The vendor provides free training in the software provided.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's the extra security that is the most valuable feature. You have insight into your traffic. There are some great insights into what utilities hackers are trying to exploit. It blocks a lot of stuff from the internet."
"The most valuable feature is ease of use."
"The most important feature of this solution is protection from attack."
"The fact that I can log into the platform and see everybody, see logs, authentication failure, and see everything on one platform, is the most valuable feature."
"The initial setup was easy since it was possible to get remote support for the product."
"The solution is stable."
"The product's initial setup phase was straightforward, and since our company didn't have any problems with it, we didn't encounter many problems with the tool."
"The solution has a good sandbox feature."
"One or two people can maintain and support the solution. The maintenance is not difficult."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone I-Series Server Breach Detection System are the AI detection and monitoring of common threats."
 

Cons

"FortiWeb could have an inbound load balancing pack."
"The solution could improve by providing more integration with solutions other than the Fortinet family."
"Fortinet WAF came out recently, and there is not much feedback about customer experience. For each project, customers ask about the scenarios and references of the customers who have implemented this solution, which we don't have. They need to simplify the customer experience and provide more information so that we can propose Fortinet Fortiweb as a WAF solution to customers and convince them. They need to improve their service and training. We need good training to implement and use it properly and know more about it. We still don't know much about Fortinet WAF. We didn't get any proper training sessions. Other vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto, Check Point, and Barracuda provide such sessions. Whenever we receive a request from a customer for this solution, we just give the price. We don't propose this solution because we don't know much about it. We propose whatever we are familiar with and what is supported."
"We haven't faced any significant issues with FortiWeb Web Application Firewall. But they can lower the pricing, since it is a concern, especially in South Africa and the technical support, could be more responsive at times."
"We would like to know more about the integration with the hardware or security products, such as Gemalto, because we need to move to that point."
"The price is a little higher than the competitors."
"Fine-tuning is a room for improvement in Fortinet FortiWeb."
"Their documentation is fairly complete, but it's sometimes a little bit difficult to search for exactly what you're looking for to resolve an issue. There have been times when we've gone to try to search for areas that we needed to get information on, and it has not always been extremely clear exactly how a particular thing needs to be set up."
"Hillstone I-Series Server Breach Detection System can improve by having more anti-spam features that will hopefully eliminate all of the other threats."
"The UI dashboard view needs to be improved because it is ugly. If it was more modern it would be better. Additionally, better integration with other databases would be good."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is competitive."
"The pricing is average; the product is neither particularly expensive nor affordable."
"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."
"FortiWeb Web Application Firewall's pricing is suited for small or medium organizations."
"The license cost depends on the size of the box or the size of the solution. It can go from €200 Euros to a few hundred thousand Euros a year depending on your size."
"Fortinet FortiWeb's pricing is reasonable. Its licensing costs are yearly."
"Previously, for each project, the cost was $800 to $1,000 per application. Now, it's $100 to $120. For some of the applications, there is a 90% reduction, and for some of the applications, there is a 50% reduction. We're paying only $500 to $600."
"It is not a cheap product. It is not like a Linux or a Genex that you can deploy. It is a hardware appliance, and it is built for a specific reason and reliability. It is an enterprise-class solution. You wouldn't find an SMB investing in something like this."
"The price of the solution is good. It is less expensive than the other solutions in the market. There are not any additional features or hidden costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business60
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise36
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiWeb?
The WAF profiles has been effective at mitigating web-based threats.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWeb?
The pricing for Fortinet FortiWeb varies with different models having different prices. It depends on the requirement. For VM machines, the price increases based on CPU configurations of 2, 4, or 8...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWeb?
There is room for improvement in Fortinet FortiWeb. The team was only from FortiGate itself. They are making new firmware versions and releasing them before checking, which leads to many bugs in th...
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Also Known As

FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Hillstone sBDS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lush, Barnabas Health, Options, Riverside Healthcare, Hillsbourough County Schools, Columbia Public Schools, Schiller AG
Norbert Wiener University, Regional Government of the Amazon
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, F5, Imperva and others in Web Application Firewall (WAF). Updated: February 2026.
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