We primarily use it to protect edge devices. We use it as a firewall.
Chief of Security and Research at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Easy to configure and manage with good pricing
Pros and Cons
- "It's a very simple solution to manage."
- "I'm very happy with this product and would rate it at a ten out of ten."
- "Right now, we have two data centers that are a thousand kilometers apart. It would be nice to be able to string them together."
- "I'd like for it to be possible to cluster together data centers."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
It's a very simple solution to manage.
It's quite stable.
The scalability potential is good.
It's an easy solution to configure.
The pricing is pretty good.
What needs improvement?
I'd like for it to be possible to cluster together data centers. Right now, we have two data centers that are a thousand kilometers apart. It would be nice to be able to string them together.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution since 2005.
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate-VM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
909,153 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is quite stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is very scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.
The entire company ends up using the solution, and we have between 25,000 and 50,000 employees. We have about five offices and in each data center, we use Fortigate.
How are customer service and support?
Occasionally, if the partner cannot resolve the problem, you do have to work with some Fortigate techs. They are excellent and quite helpful.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I am working with Fortinet, Cisco, Palo Alto, and Forcepoint. I am using ASA from Cisco. It's very difficult to manage. Palo Alto is excellent, and the best in the market. Fortigate is right behind them. The central management is great.
How was the initial setup?
While the product is easy to configure, I cannot get into specifics in regards to the initial setup. It's handled by a partner. We pay them to do the setup.
The actual installation process is pretty quick. It might take about half a day or so.
I'd rate the experience of setting up the solution at a five out of five.
There are bout five people that can handle the maintenance of the product across our different data centers. They are all administrators.
What about the implementation team?
Our partner sets up the solution for us.
What was our ROI?
We've seen a decent ROI as it has helped us maintain a good level of security. I'd rate the ROI we've seen at a five out of five.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We tend to have a three-year contract with Fortigate. While I don't know the exact costs, my understanding is that it is less expensive than some other options.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a customer and an end-user.
We use the on-premises version due to the fact that, in Algeria, we do not use cloud deployments.
I'd advise potential new users that it's a good edge solution, and not necessarily the best for data centers.
I'm very happy with this product and would rate it at a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Director at REDCO
A flexible solution
Pros and Cons
- "FortiGate integrates well."
- "Installation does not require another license so it is inexpensive and easy to configure."
- "New versions are complicated with a big configuration."
- "With every new version, there are issues and new parts due to the improvements."
What is our primary use case?
We are a reseller of FortiGate, but also a customer. I have configured it in my office. Our primary case use includes equipment installed with customers.
What is most valuable?
We have Fabric Security that integrates with other FortiGate family products like firewalls and switches. This means that we don't need to buy other licenses and it's easy to configure.
What needs improvement?
With every new version, there are issues and new parts due to the improvements. But the improvements are not always easy for the customer, especially when making a big configuration. Rather than being an improvement, it becomes more complicated.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using FortiGate for almost 12 years.
How are customer service and support?
The support is fine now, however, our last purchase was not as good. They have changed their situation and improved support again.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I had used Sophos UTM, the Endpoints, Access Points, and XG for two years in my office. We switched because of FortiGate's service and because it is a more flexible solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Installation does not require another license so it is inexpensive and easy to configure.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Sophos has a nice interface and is easy to configure. The XG products are good and so are the endpoints. Sophos access points and on-premise are not good. Sophos also doesn't have enough support to get into the console. Sophos has a Linux box, which is easy to try to resolve most issues, but Sophos support is not good.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate-VM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
909,153 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Technical Lead at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Responsive support, useful analyzer, and effective protection
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are the servers, analyzer, and track protection."
- "The solution is highly stable."
What is our primary use case?
We use Fortinet FortiGate-VM as a network firewall.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are the servers, analyzer, and track protection.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for approximately seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is not scalable.
We have approximately 7,000 users using this solution in my organization.
How are customer service and support?
The support has been responsive in my experience.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy and took approximately six months.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation with an integrator called Dimension Data and from Fortinet support.
We have a six-person technical team that does the maintenance of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of the solution could be less expensive. There are some features that have to be purchased separately that have their own license.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Network Analyst at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
A complete solution with great features and good firewall capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "The product can scale."
- "The firewall capabilities are great, we like the EPS antivirus, it's quite a complete solution, the features on offer are good, we find the solution to be stable, and the product can scale."
- "The log settings and filters could use some improvement."
- "We occasionally have issues when we are doing firmware updates."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for firewall purposes.
What is most valuable?
The firewall capabilities are great.
We like the EPS antivirus.
It's quite a complete solution. The features on offer are good.
We find the solution to be stable.
The product can scale.
What needs improvement?
We occasionally have issues when we are doing firmware updates.
The log settings and filters could use some improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for ten years. It's been about a decade.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is very good. There are no bugs. It's not glitchy. I can't recall it crashing or freezing. It offers pretty good performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have found the scalability to be very good. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.
We have about 500 users on the solution right now.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has been fine. We have no complaints. They are pretty helpful and responsive.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We only use Fortigate. We don't use any other solution.
How was the initial setup?
We only have one person for deployment and maintenance.
It took us only two days to deploy it with our desired configurations.
What about the implementation team?
I am able to set up the solution myself. We did have a reseller who assisted us as well.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We currently have a three-year licensing agreement. There are standard features and you do not have to pay extra fees for extra add-ons.
What other advice do I have?
We are customers and end-users. We don't have a business relationship with Fortigate.
I would advise potential new users to check the compatibility of the UTM firewall, of the rules of your organization. It's not magic. It's hard work implementing that.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been pretty happy with its capabilities.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Network Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Easy to learn and use
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are the SD-WAN and the web filtering applications control."
- "This is a very easy appliance, and they make it easy to learn."
- "Areas for improvement would be application control and web filtering."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use of this solution is to provide information about SD-WAN and how Fortigate helps to reduce costs.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the SD-WAN and the web filtering applications control.
What needs improvement?
Areas for improvement would be application control and web filtering.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I haven't seen any problems with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of this solution is limited.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very straightforward, and deployment did not take a long time.
What other advice do I have?
This is a very easy appliance, and they make it easy to learn. I would rate it as eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Head of systems and technology at Hotel Zuana Beach Resort
Simple VPN creation, good technical support, and integrates well
Pros and Cons
- "Fortinet FortiGate-VM is very easy to create the user of VPN, allowing them to use it quickly. Additionally, the integration and interface are good."
What is our primary use case?
We use Fortinet FortiGate-VM as a firewall for our internet.
What is most valuable?
Fortinet FortiGate-VM is very easy to create the user of VPN, allowing them to use it quickly. Additionally, the integration and interface are good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been Fortinet FortiGate-VM for approximately three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate-VM is scalable.
We have 110 systems for users that we can connect and we have 12 users using the VPN.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support in my experience has been good.
What about the implementation team?
We require ten people for the deployment of Fortinet FortiGate-VM.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have been waiting a long time for the vendor to give us licenses, it has been five months and we are still waiting. However, the price is reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Full support analyst at Gruppen
A very friendly and easy solution with an easy to use configuration, graphical interface and command line
Pros and Cons
- "The configuration, graphical interface and command line are easy to use."
- "My experience with the solution has been very positive and Fortinet provides a great layer of security when it comes to SD-WAN and other security capabilities."
- "The price is problematic."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution as a public cloud for Microsoft Azure.
What is most valuable?
My experience with the solution has been very positive and Fortinet provides a great layer of security when it comes to SD-WAN and other security capabilities. There are many models available to suit a host of environments.
The solution is extremely easy and friendly. The configuration, graphical interface and command line are easy to use.
What needs improvement?
The price is problematic.
An interesting feature of the vendor license involves SD-WAN orchestrator and this should be addressed in the part which deals with feature licensing.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with FortiGate products for the past five years and with Fortinet FortiGate-VM for the past year.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support varies with the product in question. The support for FortiGate appliances is relatively good compared with the more complicated support afforded other products.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I like the comparative use of the SD-WAN feature of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution could be better priced.
What other advice do I have?
My sole experience with the solution is in the Azure environments.
As a Fortinet partner, I make use of many of its products.
As I feel Fortinet FortiGate-VM to be a good solution, I rate it as a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Consultor Infraestructura, Networking y Seguridad en Seti Consulting at SETI CONSULTING
Easy to set up, stable and fast with good WAN optimization capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the WAN optimization."
- "The solution is quite good; it is simple and fast."
- "In terms of improvement, there have been some problems with the bandwidth of the security layer."
- "We have encountered certain issues with the bandwidth in respect of the security layer."
What is our primary use case?
We use Fortinet FortiGate-VM as an SD-WAN solution and for security profiles.
I do not recall which version we are using.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the WAN optimization.
What needs improvement?
We have encountered certain issues with the bandwidth in respect of the security layer.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate-VM for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution has good stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
For the moment, we don't have plans to increase the usage.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was simple.
The setup period can vary. I believe it did not take us more than a week.
What about the implementation team?
There are ten people in our organization who are responsible for the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our licensing costs are of a general nature. There are no additional costs beyond the standard fee.
What other advice do I have?
There are around 100 users making use of the solution in our organization.
The solution is quite good. It is simple and fast.
I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM as a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Director General CEO at SC Telecom
I like its interface and load-balancing features
Pros and Cons
- "In terms of specific features, I like FortiGate's load balancing, interface, and priority on the network."
- "I like how Fortinet products work together to provide a total equipment solution."
- "Fortinet could improve the availability and delivery of its products. It takes four to six weeks for every purchase to arrive."
What is most valuable?
I like how Fortinet products work together to provide a total equipment solution. And, I don't see any issues with that solution. In terms of specific features, I like FortiGate's load balancing, interface, and priority on the network.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet could improve the availability and delivery of its products. It takes four to six weeks for every purchase to arrive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using FortiGate-VM for six years.
How are customer service and support?
Fortinet's local support in Mexico could be better.
What other advice do I have?
I rate FortiGate 10 out of 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Engineering Manager at Primatel Communication Snd Bhd
More scalable than the hardware version
Pros and Cons
- "Fortinet-VM is more scalable than the hardware version, because if you want a more scalable firewall, you can get a VM, install it on a high-end server, and have much higher performance in packaging all these policies and hardware security features."
- "To improve FortiGate-VM, Fortinet needs to harden it more. For example, if you are using Hyper-V, then you need guidelines for hardening FortiGate-VM that are specific to the Hyper-V environment. If it's VMware, there should be at least a guideline on how to harden the firewall."
- "To improve FortiGate-VM, Fortinet needs to harden it more."
What is our primary use case?
We're using FortiGate-VM on-prem for our firewalls. The Fortinet component in the cloud is FortiGuard. We get our virus definitions regularly updated from the cloud, but the FortiGate firewalls are all on-prem. While the virtual firewalls are created inside the physical firewall, there is an option for a virtual machine firewall where we'll give you the VHD file, and you can install it to a server.
Virtual machines aren't widely used in Brunei because the Brunei government isn't ready for these things yet. They're more confident in hardware, but everything is slowly starting to head in this direction. Others are watching what will happen when people use the apps before they try them.
How has it helped my organization?
Some customers prefer VM, especially those customers already leveraging the virtual machine environment. Typically, they don't want to spend on the hardware because they already have all these VMs, so they choose the VM option. But in most deployments, they still prefer the hardware for their firewall because it's already hard-coded.
What needs improvement?
To improve FortiGate-VM, Fortinet needs to harden it more. For example, if you are using Hyper-V, then you need guidelines for hardening FortiGate-VM that are specific to the Hyper-V environment. If it's VMware, there should be at least a guideline on how to harden the firewall.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been working with FortiGate-VM since 2010.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Fortinet-VM is more scalable than the hardware version. If you're using an appliance, there are limitations in terms of hardware specs. So if you want a more scalable firewall, you can get a VM and install it on a high-end server. From there, you have more leverage on how many virtual firewalls you want to create based on that VM. In other words, it's already fixed hardware in the appliance — it's already hard-coded in the appliance. So if you are using a VM and installing it on a high-specs server, then your machine has much higher performance in packaging all these policies and all these hardware security features.
How are customer service and support?
We proved the frontline support for our client organizations or customers. So far we are satisfied with Fortinet support. We have currently have Fortinet-certified engineers in our company, so we don't have to contact support unless it's a complex issue. We have an NSE7-certified engineer, so we are quite confident with our deployment now.
How was the initial setup?
FortiGate-VM setup is pretty straightforward. It depends on the implementation size, but it takes a week for an organization of around 100 users. Normally Fortinet helps their customers with deployment and post-deployment adjustments, so you don't have any problems. If anything goes wrong, Fortinet is there to support you.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Like most similar products in the market, Fortinet's enterprise customers need to pay for annual support. They call it FortiCare, and it's direct support from Fortinet. FortiCare is renewed annually and covers support for new releases, purchases, and updates.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM eight out of 10. However, based on experience, we usually don't recommend using VM firewalls. We still prefer using a hardware-based firewall when that's appropriate. It depends on your needs and the size of your user base. With FortiGate-VM, you can control the size of your firewall if you're using VMs. But on the other hand, if you are using Microsoft Hyper-V, you need to address all these vulnerabilities of Microsoft. And if you're using VMware, then you need to deal with VMware's vulnerabilities. The hardware version of FortiGate has already been hardened based on FortiGate standards. That's the main difference between the FortiGate appliance and FortiGate-VM.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate-VM Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: August 2026
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