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Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks are two prime cybersecurity corporations competing within the safety market, providing options like endpoint detection and response (EDR) and firewalls. Each next-generation firewalls boast robust, independently verified safety. Fortinet excels in deployment and safety effectiveness, whereas Palo Alto has an edge in cloud compatibility and intensive options. Exploring the variations between them will help you choose the most suitable choice for what you are promoting.
Think about using Fortinet or Palo Alto within the following situations:
- Fortinet: Finest for easy operations, small-scale deployments, and a user-friendly dashboard ($914.31+ monthly)
- Palo Alto: Finest for scalability, centralized administration, and intensive firewall capabilities ($1,394.44+ monthly)
Fortinet vs Palo Alto NGFW at a Look
Listed here are the principle similarities and variations between Fortinet and Palo Alto NGFWs:
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| Worth/MSRP | TCO: $914.31+/month Per Mbps: $3.56+ |
TCO: $1394.44+/month Per Mbps: $29.25+ |
| ML/AI Powered | Sure | Sure |
| Scalability | Extremely scalable | Extremely scalable |
| Ease of Implementation | Straightforward deployment and setup | May have technical help |
| MITRE Detection & Safety Total Charge | 98.33% | 99.08% |
| Total Safety Effectiveness Charge | 99.88% | 79.15% |
| Go to Fortinet | Go to Palo Alto |
Fortinet and Palo Alto obtained among the highest impartial testing scores from Cyber Scores, so patrons of both firm’s merchandise can trust that they’re getting the most effective safety doable. Nevertheless, the 2 options have some key variations and we assessed these throughout six main standards. See our scoring methodology beneath.
Fortinet Overview
Finest for Easy Operations, Small-scale Deployments, & Consumer-Pleasant Dashboard
Total Ranking: 4.1/5
- Core Options: 4.4/5
- Price: 3.4/5
- Extra Options: 4.2/5
- Ease of Use & Deployment: 4.7/5
- Safety Effectiveness Testing: 4.3/5
- Buyer Help: 4/5
Fortinet’s FortiGate is a collection of community safety gadgets that protects networks from threats. It has built-in SSL inspection, intrusion prevention, internet filtering, and different built-in options that supply cost-effective safety. Fortinet’s energy lies in its simple deployments inside a small-scale atmosphere and user-friendly safety valued by small companies. Moreover, FortiManager permits unified administration and constant safety in hybrid environments.
Key Options
- FortiOS: Employs federated upgrades for customers, which ensures a strong and continuously up to date safety infrastructure.
- Zero belief capabilities: Enhances safety by figuring out and defending suspicious customers and gadgets, decreasing the hazard of unauthorized entry.
- SD-WAN options: Integrates SD-WAN options to optimize community efficiency and improves connectivity for distributed operations.
- VPN tunneling: Scales safety with scalable IPsec VPN tunneling, defending distant and distributed workforces by enabling safe communication channels.
- Safety processing items (SPUs): Makes use of SPUs and vSPUs to speed up community safety processing, therefore enhancing total system velocity and effectivity.
Execs
- Straightforward to make use of, well-designed person interface
- Extra reasonably priced choice than Palo Alto
- Excessive rating for trade firewall testing
Cons
- Customers report points with tech help
- Log search takes time
- Intermittent system outages
Palo Alto Overview
Finest for Scalability, Centralized Administration, & In depth Firewall Capabilities
Total Ranking: 3.9/5
- Core Options: 4.8/5
- Price: 2.5/5
- Extra Options: 4.7/5
- Ease of Use & Deployment: 4.4/5
- Safety Effectiveness Testing: 2.9/5
- Buyer Help: 4.2/5
Palo Alto Networks, based by Nir Zuk, delivers the trade’s premier ML-Powered Subsequent-Technology Firewall (NGFW) for a variety of environments, from small places of work to information facilities. The answer prioritizes intensive performance regardless of its increased value available in the market. Its unified community safety structure secures digital, on-premises, and containerized environments, making it preferrred for giant corporations with robust IT and safety groups.
Key Options
- Scalability: Presents decisions for SMBs, massive firms, managed service suppliers, and information facilities of varied sizes.
- Complete visibility and management: Offers prolonged administration for complicated community topologies, making certain full management over a number of community elements.
- Consumer-based insurance policies: Makes use of current person repositories to implement insurance policies whereas limiting utility entry based mostly on person roles and permissions.
- Machine studying for risk detection: Applies machine studying strategies to detect and forestall intrusions.
- Centralized administration: Employs Panorama for central administration, offering admins with a single level of contact to effectively handle NGFWs throughout the community.
Execs
- Broad options for giant companies
- Extremely rated machine studying energy
- Cloud-compatible
Cons
- Costlier than different NGFWs
- Prolonged wait occasions for technical help
- Steep studying curve
Finest for Pricing: Fortinet
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| Whole Price of Possession SRP | $914.31+/month | $1,394.44+/month |
| Worth Worth per Mbps | $3.56+ | $29.25+ |
| Entry Degree Sequence Beginning Worth | $600+ | $1,000+ |
| Free Trial | No | No |
| Free Demo | Sure | Sure |
| Go to Fortinet | Go to Palo Alto |
Winner: Fortinet’s prompt retail value for his or her whole value of possession, per Mbps’ worth, and entry stage collection prices decrease than Palo Alto’s.
FortiGate’s pricing varies relying on mannequin and SKU. TCO begins at $1,300, or $29.25 per Mbps. The F collection begins at $600. Midrange gadgets just like the 100F begin at $3,600. 600F begins at $46,000 with three years of service. The 7121F (520 Gbps) could value $1 million with upkeep and safety. Pricing just isn’t obtainable on the web site, however AWS Market gives a price calculator. To allow you to discover their broad options, Fortinet provides a free demo.
Palo Alto’s PA hardwall firewall collection begins at $1,000 for the PA-410 and goes as much as over $200,000 for the high-end PA-7000 collection. The overall value of possession (TCO) begins at $900, with a worth of $3.56 per Mbps. Choices additionally embody the 1400, 3400, and 5400 collection, in addition to the ruggedized PA-220R. Palo Alto gives a complete demo heart to let customers discover the options they provide.
Finest for Core Options: Palo Alto
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| Centralized Administration | Sure | Sure |
| Scalability | Restricted | Small to massive companies |
| Machine Studying/AI- Powered | Sure | Sure |
| SD-WAN Capabilities | Sure | Sure |
| VPN Integration | Accessible, however restricted | Accessible |
| Zero Belief | Sure | Sure |
| Utility & Identification Consciousness | Accessible, however restricted | Accessible |
| Extra Options | • SD-WAN • Superior sandboxing • Consumer-based insurance policies • Configurable administration dashboard |
• SD-WAN • Superior sandboxing • Safety instruments integration • Single-pass parallel processing structure • Consumer-based insurance policies • Configurable administration dashboard |
| Go to Fortinet | Go to Palo Alto |
Winner: Whereas each Fortinet and Palo Alto NGFWs excel at primary firewall safety, Palo Alto has a bonus resulting from superior core options and added performance.
Fortinet’s core options embody centralized administration, risk prevention, and container safety. It integrates with safety instruments, provides restricted utility consciousness and deep packet inspection, and gives environment friendly SD-WAN capabilities. It makes use of ML and has a separate superior sandboxing resolution. Nevertheless, its VPN shopper could also be unique to pick out Fortinet firewalls. Whereas not as scalable as Palo Alto, it nonetheless performs properly in smaller enterprise contexts.
Palo Alto Networks’ NGFW options exhibit steady growth in performance and safety. Their firewall {hardware} ranges from small places of work to information facilities and is accompanied by an ever-changing feature-rich working system. Its actual zero belief safety, ML-powered NGFW, and single-pass parallel processing structure present scalable, user-centric insurance policies, making certain ongoing, efficient risk prevention and efficiency upkeep over time.
In case you’re maximizing your firewall’s options, Palo Alto’s steady innovation, highly effective machine studying, and complete safety capabilities make it a better option between the 2.
Finest for Ease of Use & Deployment: Fortinet
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| Ease of Use | Straightforward | Ease is determined by stage of customization/integration |
| Information Base | Accessible on web site, complete | Accessible on web site, complete |
| Dashboard | Customizable | Customizable |
| Frequent Optimistic Evaluations | • Straightforward to navigate GUI • Full product documentation |
• Massive scale centralized administration and coverage distribution |
| Wants Enchancment | • Dropping VPN points • Frequent line interface (CLI) syncing issues |
• Massive configurations require precision • Vendor-specific configurations and insurance policies • Studying curve for brand new function launch |
| Go to Fortinet | Go to Palo Alto |
Winner: Fortinet’s NGFW resolution outshines Palo Alto’s in central administration use circumstances and person scores for ease of use and deployment throughout a number of platforms.
Fortinet has customizable FortiOS dashboards with Community Operations Middle (NOC) and responsive layouts. Responsive dashboards routinely modify columns to suit the display measurement, whereas NOC dashboards permit for vertical and horizontal widget scaling. Customers can set up quite a few dashboards for VDOMs, every with interactive widgets to offer extra information. This customization improves Fortigate’s user-friendliness by addressing varied preferences.
Fortinet has nice person satisfaction charges for ease of use and deployment. Gartner Peer Insights evaluates its deployment as 4.7/5. Capterra gave it a 4.7/5 for ease of use. It gained 9.10/10 for ease of use and eight.9/10 for ease of setup on G2. Gartner acknowledges it’s on-premises and cloud-based centralized administration, with function parity and simple firewall administration. Their information base is intensive, offering complete materials and coaching sources.
Palo Alto’s Dashboard shows firewall or Panorama data together with software program model, interface standing, useful resource utilization, and log entries inside the earlier hour. The dashboard’s default format is three columns and is customizable. Customers can show or conceal widgets based mostly on their preferences for focused monitoring. This customization additionally ensures a user-friendly expertise by offering concentrated visibility on chosen data.
Palo Alto’s usability continues to be spectacular, with a 4.7/5 Gartner Peer Insights deployment score and intensive tech documentation. Capterra rated it an ideal 5/5 for ease of use. G2 rated it 8.4/10 for ease of use and eight.2/10 for ease of setup, though Fortinet scored increased. Gartner states that its cloud-based firewall supervisor just isn’t on par with its on-premises counterpart, which is primarily designed for sure use circumstances corresponding to Prisma Entry and gen 4 {hardware} fashions.
Finest for Safety Effectiveness: Fortinet
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| Total Safety Effectiveness | 99.88% | 79.15% |
| Exploit Block Charge | 100% | 92% |
| Easy Coverage Routing Take a look at | Go | Go |
| Entry Management Take a look at | Go | Go |
| UDP, HTTP, & HTTPS Capability Common | 11383 Mbps | 1717 Mbps |
| MITRE Detection & Safety | 98.33% | 99.08% |
| Go to Fortinet | Go to Palo Alto |
Winner: For impartial trade firewall testing, Fortinet got here out forward in safety effectiveness.
Fortinet’s NGFW achieves a 99.88% total safety effectiveness rating, a 100% exploit block price, and 11383 Mbps throughput in entry management checks. Whereas it outscored Palo Alto in 2023, Palo Alto had the next score in 2022, demonstrating the shifting dynamics of their comparative safety effectiveness over time.
Palo Alto’s NGFW has a CyberRatings.org total score of 79.15%, indicating excessive safety efficacy. It passes entry management checks and has a powerful 92.00% exploit block price and a throughput of 1717 Mbps. They obtained MITRE Detection and Safety analysis price of 99.08%, displaying its complete risk detection and prevention capabilities.
Finest for Cloud & Advanced Use Instances: Palo Alto
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| Cloud-Delivered Safety Companies | Sure, by Fortigate CNF | Sure, by Cloud NGFW |
| Cloud Environments Efficiency | Medium | Excessive |
| Distinct Benefit | Meets mid-sized and small enterprise wants | Meets small to massive enterprise wants |
| Net Utility Firewall (WAF) | FortiWeb integration | Constructed-in |
| Excessive Resiliency | Sure | Sure |
| Go to Fortinet | Go to Palo Alto |
Winner: Palo Alto Networks’ various firewall options make it a greater various for cloud use circumstances and sophisticated organizational wants.
Fortinet is good for enterprises that need safe and environment friendly options tailor-made to the safety necessities of distributed operations and department places of work inside their community structure. It nonetheless provides nice efficiency and complete options, making it a dependable selection. Fortinet’s energy is its capacity to cater to mid-sized and small organizations, providing efficient safety options suited to their particular person necessities.
Palo Alto Networks, then again, has a definite benefit in cloud use circumstances and assembly the complicated wants of huge corporations. It additionally provides internet utility safety by its built-in WAF. Its firewall choices vary from small places of work and campuses to mid-sized and enormous enterprises. Its high-performance in excessive atmosphere necessities demonstrates the corporate’s superior talents and scalability in coping with difficult community settings.
Finest for Buyer Help: Palo Alto
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| Help Channels | 24/7 stay chat, cellphone, and e-mail | 24/7 stay chat, cellphone, and e-mail |
| Tech Help | Customers report occasional unresponsiveness | Customers report extended ready interval |
| Free Coaching/Demos | Sure | Sure |
| International Help | Sure | Sure |
| Total G2 & Capterra Buyer Expertise Charge | 66% | 83% |
| Go to Fortinet | Go to Palo Alto |
Winner: Platform scores favor Palo Alto, indicating that it gives a sometimes higher customer support expertise than Fortinet.
Fortinet’s customer support choices embody 24/7 stay chat, cellphone help in numerous languages, and e-mail communication. They supply documentation, demos, and coaching free of charge. Consumer scores on G2 give it a great high quality of help rating of 8.7/10, whereas Capterra evaluates its customer support as 4.4/5.
Palo Alto leads in platform scores with an 8.1/10 High quality of Help Rating on G2 and the next customer support score of 5/5 on Capterra. Palo Alto Networks additionally provides stay chat help 24/7, and its help is out there by cellphone or e-mail. In addition they present free and complete technical documentation, demos, and coaching instruments.
Who Shouldn’t Use Fortinet or Palo Alto?
Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks firewalls will not be appropriate for everybody, particularly people who worth cost-effectiveness, specialised scalability wants, or distinctive environmental concerns. Earlier than deciding on a firewall resolution, it is best to first study your group’s wants. Realizing your explicit preferences means that you can make a greater knowledgeable resolution in selecting the most effective firewall kind or resolution.
Who Shouldn’t Use Fortinet
Listed here are some cases the place Fortinet will not be the most effective match for you:
- Cloud-centric enterprises: Fortinet will not be the most effective match for enterprises that rely closely on cloud use circumstances.
- Corporations with complicated enterprise wants: For these with complicated and superior community necessities, Fortinet’s capabilities could fall quick in comparison with Palo Alto.
- These wanting immediate customer support: Consumer evaluations present potential delays in Fortinet’s customer support, making it much less appropriate for individuals needing quick help.
Who Shouldn’t Use Palo Alto
Palo Alto won’t be appropriate for customers corresponding to the next:
- Companies with restricted budgets: Palo Alto Networks will not be the perfect choice for these with tight budgets, because it’s typically thought to be a premium resolution with excessive prices.
- Corporations with restricted in-house experience: Organizations missing firewall administration expertise could battle with Palo Alto’s complexity and like user-friendly options.
- Organizations with small-scale deployments: Companies with low firewall necessities could discover intensive options pointless.
3 Finest Options to Fortinet & Palo Alto
Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks are wonderful firewalls, however they could not go well with each price range or all wants. For these in search of prime efficiency and for whom value is a secondary consideration, there are different worthy opponents available in the market; amongst them are Verify Level, Cisco, and Sophos.
Verify Level
Verify Level, a Gartner chief, provides robust NGFW options and is greatest for customers in search of wonderful sandboxing capabilities. Worth begins at $2,100 for smaller packages. Distinguished by SandBlast Zero-Day Safety, Verify Level fits companies of all sizes in search of top-notch risk prevention, utility management, and URL filtering. The user-friendly SmartConsole dashboard enhances its attraction, making it simpler for customers to make use of the dashboard.
Discover Verify Level’s comparability with Palo Alto right here: Verify Level vs Palo Alto Networks.
Cisco
Cisco, a networking trade chief, continues to be on the forefront of firewall applied sciences with developments such because the 2015 SD-WAN acquisition by Embrane. Cisco Safe Firewall emphasizes real-time safety in dynamic circumstances, helps scalable enterprise insurance policies, and gives sturdy intrusion prevention. Cisco, priced at $4,500 per yr on the AWS Market, is ideal for corporations that require full safety and uniform community laws.
Sophos XGS
Sophos, a UK-based cybersecurity firm, provides the Sophos XGS Sequence with Firewall Xstream structure. Designed for complicated community segments, it gives dependable information safety for SaaS, SD-WAN, and cloud visitors. Priced between $500 and $30,000, it’s preferrred for small safety groups, with an easy-to-use UI, two-factor authentication, distant VPN, and highly effective Net Site visitors Guidelines for full community safety.
Learn extra to see the way it compares with Fortinet: Sophos XGS vs Fortinet FortiGate.
How We Evaluated Fortinet vs Palo Alto
To completely assess Fortinet and Palo Alto NGFWs, we employed a scientific method, breaking down key NGFW elements into six key standards: core options, value, extra options, ease of use and deployment, safety effectiveness testing, and buyer help. Every criterion had particular subcriteria, and we assigned class scores from one to 5 after assessing the corresponding subcriteria for every service on our listing.
Core Options – 25%
We reviewed NGFW capabilities throughout key domains, together with scalability, visibility and management, centralized administration, risk detection and prevention, container safety, and integration with safety instruments. We additionally assessed its utility and identification consciousness, deep packet inspection, built-in intrusion prevention (IPS), zero belief capabilities, and machine studying and automation.
Price – 20%
We reviewed the fee and transparency of NGFW options by figuring out the provision and sufficiency of free trials or free plans, the accessibility and transparency of value data, and the general pricing buildings and plans.
Extra Options – 15%
Past the principle performance, we additionally evaluated enhancement options corresponding to SD-WAN options, superior sandboxing, cloud compatibility, VPN compatibilities, user-based insurance policies, and a configurable administration dashboard.
Ease of Use & Deployment – 15%
In evaluating ease of use and deployment, elements included Gartner Peer Insights deployment score, information base and sources accessibility, and person opinions concerning ease of use and setup on Capterra and G2.
Safety Effectiveness Testing – 15%
We checked the firewalls’ safety effectiveness through CyberRatings.org’s Total Safety Effectiveness Ranking. Testing additionally consists of Entry Management Assessments, 2023 Exploit Block Charge, and Rated Throughput (common of UDP, HTTP, and HTTPS Capability). The MITRE Endpoint Safety Total Charge additional contributes to a holistic evaluation of their safety effectiveness.
Buyer Help – 10%
Buyer help effectiveness and accessibility included concerns for stay chat responsiveness, cellphone help, e-mail help, documentation/demo/coaching availability, and person opinions reflecting G2 high quality of help rating and Capterra customer support suggestions.
Backside Line: Fortinet vs Palo Alto
Each Fortinet and Palo Alto ship excessive community firewall safety efficiency. Fortinet positive aspects benefit on pricing, ease of deployment, and safety effectiveness checks. Palo Alto will get the sting on core and extra NGFW options. Though each have increased prices in comparison with others supplied available in the market, good community safety pays for itself in the fee financial savings from stopping breaches. Discover their free demos to gauge what’s extra appropriate in your wants.
In case you’re simply searching for a firewall with good safety, both may do, however you may additionally see our full listing of the greatest next-generation firewall (NGFW) distributors for added shopping for choices.
Paul Shread contributed to this text.
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