FortiClient vs FortiGate | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 7.7 out of 10

Based on 84 reviews and ratings

Score 8.9 out of 10

Based on 242 reviews and ratings

Feature Rating Comparison

FortiClient

FortiGate

Anti-Exploit Technology

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Centralized Management

Hybrid Deployment Support

Infection Remediation

Vulnerability Management

Malware Detection

FortiClient

FortiGate

Identification Technologies

Visualization Tools

Content Inspection

Policy-based Controls

Active Directory and LDAP

Firewall Management Console

Reporting and Logging

VPN

High Availability

Stateful Inspection

Proxy Server

Pros

[FortiClient] splits the traffic very well. For example, when users connect a VPN to the office they are connecting to the internal system which uses VPN traffic. If users access the public internet they use the internet traffic, but [Fortinet] does not route this traffic back to the office.

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Non-profit Organization Management Company, 501-1000 employees

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It is the most reliable NGFW that we have ever been touch with it.
You can easily upgrade the firewall cluster firmware without user attention!!!
User IDentity based feature is fantastic and intrusion prevention just works with least false-positive possible.
Very reachfull and intuitive GUI, just love it

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Amin Mirzakhani

Network Administrator

CalSpas - Lloyd's Material SupplyRecreational Facilities & Services, 501-1000 employees

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Cons

font way too small on login, unable to select an option, for example, to see each letter of password as typed promotes errors at login
login errors and failure rate extremely high as [reported] by all our physicians and other providers: not infrequently one will have to return to office after hours in order to complete charts or access charts to answer patient after hours questions
frequent disconnects in spite of excellent internet signal
unacceptable interruptions in patient care

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John Fitzgerald

Medical Director

American Pain Consortium/Center for Pain ManagementMedical Practice, 51-200 employees

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When we switched to Fortinet Fortigate, it took some time getting used to and become familiar with the new interface. Being used to strictly command-line interfaces, a full GUI-based firewall was something brand new. Careful planning had to be done when creating rules to ensure we didn't miss anything. However, once we got used to the new GUI interface, going from one Fortinet product to another was simple, as Fortinet used the same interface for all of its devices.

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Verified User

C-Level Executive in Information Technology

Government Administration Company, 51-200 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

FortiClient 9.0

Based on 1 answer

Because the software is very simple and easy to use, very efficient, and has a stable connection that allows the user to perform tasks without problems. Also, this software does not need to be configured by IT technicians, since it comes with a very developed and understandable set up guide.

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Horacio Carcamo

Product Development Asst.

Myron ManufacturingMarketing and Advertising, 201-500 employees

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FortiGate 9.9

Based on 4 answers

Fortinet's products have kept improving with new software releases and they continue to deliver great value. Their support is also very good. I believe that as a small enterprise, their products have given us competitive advantage delivering features and functionality that enable us to innovate and do things better. They also continue to be a leader in the markets they serve.

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Adrian Cumberbatch

Manager, IT Operations

Cidel Bank & Trust IncFinancial Services, 51-200 employees

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Usability

FortiClient 8.0

Based on 2 answers

Usability is pretty solid. It is not as easy to manage and adjust if you are not a trained IT professional, which requires smaller companies without IT staff to reply on outsourced IT partners. The user interface is a bit clunky, but you can generally figure out what you need to do, it just takes a little bit of time and effort.

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Verified User

Director in Marketing

Marketing and Advertising Company, 11-50 employees

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FortiGate 9.9

Based on 6 answers

The user interface shared among many simultaneous users is very easy to get around. With shared favorites among users, most tasks are easily bookmarked and can quickly be found and edited. Their strategy for web filter integration is easy to understand and manage as well. With some general direction, setup and maintenance were easy to do and easy to teach others in the organization to do as well.

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IS Director

City of Hot SpringsGovernment Administration, 501-1000 employees

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Reliability and Availability

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

FortiGate 10.0

Based on 2 answers

We had didn't any hardware failures at our two main office locations and upgraded our units last year after using them for about 5-6 years

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Adrian Cumberbatch

Manager, IT Operations

Cidel Bank & Trust IncFinancial Services, 51-200 employees

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Performance

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

FortiGate 10.0

Based on 1 answer

Good performance and really good integration. We have integration with Microsoft AD.

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Supervisor IT Operations

Laureate International UniversitiesEducation Management, 10,001+ employees

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Support Rating

FortiClient 8.9

Based on 14 answers

FortiClient is a security suite with which we can keep our equipment well-protected. And it is that in a system like Windows, which is always the target of all kinds of attacks, it is not enough to have a simple antivirus.

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Especialista en Redes

BradescardFinancial Services, 1001-5000 employees

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FortiGate 8.9

Based on 33 answers

We live in Turkey. Fortinet's Turkey office [dealt] constantly with us in our every problem or our experience. In addition, global support teams also supported every ticket we opened in every problem we encountered. They support innovative approaches and evaluate and offer solutions. In this context, they were very supportive of the problems we encountered in previous versions.

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Senior Security Supervisor

N11.comRetail, 201-500 employees

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In-Person Training

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

FortiGate 10.0

Based on 1 answer

I received it a couple years afters use it and it was just to confirm my knowledge about the tool.

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Supervisor IT Operations

Laureate International UniversitiesEducation Management, 10,001+ employees

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Implementation Rating

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

FortiGate 8.0

Based on 4 answers

Make sure that you have the most current version of FortiOS. Make sure all Fortigates are on the same version

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Systems Architect

Browns Hill Engineering and ControlsMechanical or Industrial Engineering, 51-200 employees

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Alternatives Considered

Meraki MX has a much more basic set of features compared to FortClient and the Fortinet ecosystem of devices and software. Setting up a FortiGate with FortiClient can take a little more time, but the feature set is much richer. We use Meraki MX is a few offices, but are now converting many of them over to the FortiClient and Fortinet suite of security devices and software.

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IT Administrator

KPFFArchitecture & Planning, 1001-5000 employees

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Fortinet was well placed on the Gartner report which lead to my initial investigation into the company. I quickly narrowed my selections down to Palo Alto and Fortinet, due to feature set, reputation and ease of use. Fortinet won out simply because Palo Alto did not offer a small branch style firewall at the time I was looking. I'm very glad they did. I have enjoyed working with their products from the moment they were first racked.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Hospitality Company, 501-1000 employees

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Scalability

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

FortiGate 9.8

Based on 2 answers

My environments are pretty small (less than 100 users per location) so no issues here.

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Adrian Cumberbatch

Manager, IT Operations

Cidel Bank & Trust IncFinancial Services, 51-200 employees

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Return on Investment

The free version of FortiClient VPN works great.
The fact that we have to pay for any version beyond 6.0.3 to connect to our firewalls that we already pay for licensing on is a little silly.
There is some support overhead with our clients and users to keep the software updated since it doesn't upgrade to new major versions automatically.

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Systems Administrator

Exacta SystemsEntertainment, 11-50 employees

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Fortigates have an interesting bundle model for support and subscription services that make it an attractive option to deploy Firewall, IDS, Ant-virus, anti-SPAM in a single device. The cost of the bundle is pretty much what you pay for the device, not requiring huge expenditures on it's time to renew the hardware.

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Artur Bittencourt

Information Technology Manager

Corporation of the Township of EsquimaltGovernment Administration, 51-200 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Rating Summary

FortiClient

FortiGate

FortiClient

FortiGate

FortiClient

FortiGate

FortiClient

FortiGate

FortiClient

FortiGate

FortiClient

FortiGate

FortiClient

FortiGate

FortiClient

FortiGate

FortiClient

FortiGate

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