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FortiSASE vs iboss comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 6, 2024

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

FortiSASE
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
9th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
iboss
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (10th), Internet Security (4th), Web Content Filtering (3rd), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (8th), ZTNA as a Service (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category, the mindshare of FortiSASE is 7.0%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iboss is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
 

Featured Reviews

Peter VanDorp - PeerSpot reviewer
Improved our operational efficiency because we manage one system now that manages all the sub-pieces to it
Deep packet inspection is easier to deploy in the FortiSASE environment. It's much simpler to configure one-touch deployment. It was considerably more convoluted to get that to work using FortiClient. All that processing horsepower is happening in Fortinet's cloud infrastructure, reducing the load on our local routers and on-prem FortiGate firewalls. There wasn't much of a learning curve because we are already a Fortinet organization. We still use all the same pieces, but the interface is slightly different. Still, I don't think the average user would have difficulty picking the solution up. They've got some excellent documentation and support to help you through any questions you may have. FortiSASE lets us manage everything from one web interface. That's the most significant benefit. We also use FortiManager, but it could only do so much when we only used on-prem systems. We still need to touch the EMS server and a few other interfaces to make all the pieces work. FortiSASE puts everything in one place. If something doesn't work, you've got support there to help you out. Previously, we had local support, but it's more complicated because you needed to explain your environment. The SASE environment is under their control, so they know what it looks like and what they're dealing with.
Matt Crockford - PeerSpot reviewer
It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless
One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. 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. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This advantage is having the ability to create an SPA unit of FortiGate."
"Overall, I'd rate the product eight out of ten."
"We utilize the web filtering part of FortiCASB for our network security."
"I feel that it is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"We built a local node in Jordan, which is the main advantage. The data is localized in-country."
"FortiSASE can operate in a cloud environment with client certificates for authorizations and access control using features like PostCheck."
"The product can scale."
"The integration with the company's existing security infrastructure enhanced our security posture since it was a straightforward process."
"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."
"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device."
"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."
"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."
"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."
"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device. It operates on the network side and is not device-based. This feature was one of the main reasons why we stayed with them for so long."
"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."
"Technical support is pretty sharp and very responsive."
 

Cons

"The current high-tech version of FortiSASE is not recommended due to its heavy loading."
"FortiSASE is an expensive product and the cost is indeed high."
"While stability is generally good, we faced some difficulties during updates."
"There are some issues at the agent level, and then we have to sign out and sign in."
"FortiSASE is a work in progress. One area where there is room for improvement is the ability to use FortiSASE on an endpoint that doesn't have the client on it. Other solutions do that by building a VPN tunnel from their on-prem router into the SASE environment. FortiSASE doesn't have that feature yet, but it is on the roadmap for Q3 of this year. I've seen it in their development environment."
"Improvements should focus on security."
"While connectivity from outside to inside is okay, inside to outside is not."
"FortiSASE is an expensive product and the cost is indeed high."
"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."
"Sometimes the agent stops working in iboss, and we have to reinstall the agent."
"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."
"Their on-premise hardware's network interface is capped at one gigabit, which is sort of a problem. If you stand a filter up where all traffic flows through that, according to them, in order to go above a gigabit, you have to have multiple devices, which in today's IT seems a little bit silly. They could easily put in an SFP port into their device that could accommodate 10 gigs or at least offer a box."
"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."
"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."
"Its pricing could be better."
"The reporting feature needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I can only speak about the pricing for education users because we get discounts. Other users aren't going to get the same price, but FortiSASE is competitive with the other products out there. All the solutions came in at the same price, so it just came down to the product that works best for us."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is high price, and ten is low price."
"I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."
"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"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."
"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."
"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."
"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about FortiSASE ?
The integration with the company's existing security infrastructure enhanced our security posture since it was a straightforward process.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiSASE ?
The pricing for FortiCASB is competitive and not expensive. I rate the price as eight out of ten. There may be additional expenses for some features.
What needs improvement with FortiSASE ?
Improvements should focus on security. Although FortiCASB performs well in many areas, I believe its security aspects could be enhanced further.
What do you like most about iboss?
Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.
What needs improvement with iboss?
I have the same complaint about them that I have about other software companies. Sometimes when you call in support, you get someone who is just following a sheet. It feels like a runaround. You fe...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
We are a PreK-12 public school district, and we use iboss to filter internet content for our students at home and staff member devices to ensure they do not access inappropriate sites.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
iBoss Cloud Platform
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.
Find out what your peers are saying about FortiSASE vs. iboss and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.