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Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros and cons

Vendor: Fortinet
4.2 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Fortinet FortiGate-VM offers high network throughput with leading-edge network security technology at a competitive price.
Centralizing network services and providing robust VPN options are significant benefits of Fortinet FortiGate-VM.
Fortinet FortiGate-VM's integration capabilities enhance its scalability and flexibility in various environments.
The use of Fortinet FortiGate-VM results in improved security and cost savings, along with comprehensive threat protection features.
Fortinet FortiGate-VM provides ease of deployment and management, ensuring quick setup and operation.

CONS

Pricing is complex and often considered expensive.
Challenges exist with integration and compatibility with other products or vendors, such as Cisco.
Some users report stability issues, especially with new releases or when the product is not properly sized.
Fortinet support has been identified as needing improvement, with delayed response times and a lack of detailed assistance.
Licensing and activation processes are complicated and could be more user-friendly.
 

Fortinet FortiGate-VM Pros review quotes

KO
Network Administrator at THK Co Ltd
Oct 21, 2025
The features and capabilities of Fortinet FortiGate-VM that I have found most valuable are not only specific to Fortinet FortiGate-VM, but generally for most sites: a valuable web filter and DNS filter work together.
Vaibhav Patkar - PeerSpot reviewer
CISO at Orient Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Jan 27, 2026
Fortinet FortiGate-VM definitely improves overall security posture because it has better features in terms of better management or better configuration options and parameters.
reviewer2283873 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Jan 30, 2026
With this solution, you can apply the zero trust concept in place with role-based access to the internet, URL filtering works well and is flexible, and with integration with other security solutions you can quickly respond to incidents so fewer security incidents appear and you can respond more quickly.
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate-VM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2706363 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Jun 4, 2025
Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted our organization by allowing us to scale fast.
Hassan Wali Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Consultant Network and Cybersecurity at Redington
Feb 4, 2026
The threat detection capabilities are excellent because of the good features that come with the services and FortiGuard connection, where you can get signatures every hour, including IPS signatures, anti-malware signatures, web filters, and application filters, and you can even create custom signatures such as application signatures and IPS signatures.
FP
Head Of Security Management at Ipko Telecommunications
Jan 19, 2026
Fortinet FortiGate-VM as an internet gateway or firewall is very good for us.
Samuel-Mottet - PeerSpot reviewer
EMEA Enterprise Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 17, 2025
It's user-friendly and easy to set up, designed with the customer in mind, and works effectively for setting up a VPN connection between both sides and using it for SSL VPN connections for remote users without encountering vulnerabilities.
Sitti Ridzma Salahuddin - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Trends and Technologies, Inc
May 28, 2025
Fortinet Security Fabric and real-time threat response capabilities are the main selling points.
reviewer2756094 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Escalation Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Sep 10, 2025
What I appreciate the most about Fortinet FortiGate-VM is that it is not much different than hardware appliances.
Sankha Rajaguru - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Dec 11, 2025
Real-time threat response is really good, and sandboxing and all the signatures are most of the time accurate.
 

Fortinet FortiGate-VM Cons review quotes

KO
Network Administrator at THK Co Ltd
Oct 21, 2025
It is not easy to set up these Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes properly because we didn't have previous experience with this kind of solution.
Vaibhav Patkar - PeerSpot reviewer
CISO at Orient Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Jan 27, 2026
Negatives are it could be the same as physical, because if the physical box has some defects, obviously it does not work.
reviewer2283873 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Jan 30, 2026
However, it also has some weak points that require careful sizing of the solution before using it with all security features switched on, because it has a significant downgrade of throughput capacity when switching on more security features.
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate-VM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2706363 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Jun 4, 2025
The WAF is extremely limited.
Hassan Wali Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Consultant Network and Cybersecurity at Redington
Feb 4, 2026
Regarding the solutions, more features need to be introduced.
FP
Head Of Security Management at Ipko Telecommunications
Jan 19, 2026
It might be that it should be a little cheaper for us.
Samuel-Mottet - PeerSpot reviewer
EMEA Enterprise Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Oct 17, 2025
Regarding the effectiveness of Fortinet FortiGate-VM in providing high-level security for high-level customers, we have some visibility issues, so it doesn't seem high level; there's definitely room for enhancement.
Sitti Ridzma Salahuddin - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Trends and Technologies, Inc
May 28, 2025
In the Philippine market, where cybersecurity is still growing but not yet fully mature, we have many clients who have Fortinet FortiGate-VM or hardware. However, we cannot really position the Fabric if the licenses, renewal parts, or other components have monetary requirements that hinder full utilization.
reviewer2756094 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Escalation Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Sep 10, 2025
In terms of room for improvement, logging could be improved.
Sankha Rajaguru - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Dec 11, 2025
We mainly get firmware upgrades from time to time, and there are bugs.