Should you lookup the highest next-generation firewalls, each Palo Alto Networks NGFW and Fortinet’s FortiGate rank excessive within the house — and for a great purpose.
Palo Alto Networks is taken into account an trade chief within the class, providing sturdy ML-powered visibility and zero-delay signatures to shortly tackle threats. Fortinet, then again, is a well-liked cost-effective NGFW that gives high-quality SSL inspection and AI-based safety providers.
SEE: 10 Myths About Cybersecurity You Shouldn’t Consider (TechRepublic Premium)
As they’re market leaders of NGFWs, we’re curious to see what differentiates one from the opposite.
On this article, we check out how Fortinet FortiGate compares to Palo Alto Networks NGFW and see which one is finest for you and your group.
AppTrana
Workers per Firm Dimension
Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Giant (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+)
Any Firm Dimension
Any Firm Dimension
Options
Advance Monitoring, Habits Primarily based Layer 7 DDoS Safety, Bot Mitigation, and extra
Fortinet vs. Palo Alto: Comparability desk
FeatureFortinet FortiGate NGFWPalo Alto Networks NGFW
Standout safety featuresWell-integrated FortiOS working system.ZTNA coverage enforcement.Constructed-in SD-WAN.Panorama central administration platform.Granular, user-based insurance policies.Quick malware signature supply.
Safety effectiveness100%(Cloud NGFW)100%(Cloud NGFW)
AI / machine learning-based risk protectionYesYes
Ease of useIntuitive and well-designedIntuitive and well-designed
Free trial or demo availableCan request product demo; free 30-day trial obtainable for Cloud NGFWCan request product demo; free 30-day trial obtainable for Cloud NGFW
Beginning priceStarts at $700 and above for small businessesStarts at $1,400
Fortinet and Palo Alto pricing
Given the variability of NGFW {hardware} and software program merchandise, I extremely suggest contacting Fortinet and Palo Alto instantly for a correct value citation. That is one of the best and most easy manner for companies to get a grasp of how every product fares when it comes to pricing. It is because firewall answer costs are calculated primarily based on a selected group’s wants and necessities.
SEE: Test Level vs Palo Alto: Evaluate EDR Software program (TechRepublic)
That being mentioned, we have been capable of collect some pricing data to provide you an estimate of what to anticipate.
Fortinet FortiGate pricing
Fortinet FortiGate firewall bases its pricing relying on the {hardware} wanted for every kind of enterprise. Right here’s a fast rundown:
Small companies (1–20 customers): $700 to $1,000.
Bigger companies (15–100 customers): $1,500 to $4,000.
Per Fortinet, pricing additionally is determined by different essential elements such because the equipment mannequin chosen, price of any ongoing providers or help subscriptions, configuration, monitoring and integration.
Fortinet has a free 30-day trial of its cloud NGFW for each AWS and Azure. As well as, it gives a free product demo through its official product web page.
Remember that you’ll have to hand over fundamental data and anticipate Fortinet to get again to you so as to entry its demo.
Palo Alto Networks NGFW pricing
In comparison with Fortinet, Palo Alto’s pricing is on the extra premium finish of the spectrum and likewise is determined by the particular {hardware} you buy.
SEE: SentinelOne vs Palo Alto: Evaluate EDR Software program (TechRepublic)
In line with my analysis, Palo Alto NGFW {hardware} will begin at round $1,400 and may go as excessive as $4,100 for higher-end home equipment — a a lot larger baseline pricing than Fortinet.
Like Fortinet, Palo Alto gives a free trial of its cloud NGFW for AWS and Azure. Official product demos of Palo Alto’s NGFW will also be requested through its official channels.
Fortinet vs. Palo Alto: Characteristic comparability
Security measures
Each NGFWs provide a wide range of security measures catered towards enterprise and organizational use instances. Fortinet boasts its FortiOS working system that simplifies administration and enhances visibility as a singular OS for all its community and safety features.
It additionally natively integrates zero-trust community entry or ZTNA coverage enforcement factors — a significant value-add given the necessity to safe hybrid workforces on this post-pandemic period. Lastly, Fortinet additionally comes with SD-WAN performance, serving to present optimum consumer expertise and connectivity in a company with out sacrificing general risk safety.
SEE: High 8 Superior Menace Safety Instruments and Software program for 2024 (TechRepublic)
If we check out Palo Alto, then again, it has its Panorama centralized administration platform that unifies safety instruments, firewall guidelines and insurance policies. This gives managers and IT supervisors with a chook’s-eye-view of their NGFW setup throughout their respective networks.
We additionally get application-aware safety insurance policies with Palo Alto, permitting admins to set granular safety guidelines for various customers in a company. Lastly, Palo Alto has its quick malware signature supply that’s capable of match and replace identified threats shortly to make sure most risk prevention.
Efficiency and unbiased take a look at outcomes
With regard to unbiased safety take a look at outcomes, each NGFW fare extremely nicely. For his or her cloud firewall choices, each Palo Alto Networks VM-Sequence NGFW and Fortinet’s FortiGate-VM scored an ideal 100% in safety effectiveness per CyberRatings 2024 findings.
Which means each NGFW exhibited high-quality risk prevention, sturdy TLS/SSL performance and coverage enforcement whereas sustaining stability and reliability all all through CyberRatings’ exams.
SEE: Finest Safe Entry Service Edge Platforms in 2024 (TechRepublic)
Customers worldwide additionally fee each NGFWs very extremely performance-wise. On this facet, Fortinet’s extra reasonably priced pricing shines for smaller companies. It is because you may get comparable safety efficiency at a smaller price ticket.
Then again, Palo Alto’s extra in depth suite of security measures could warrant its dearer pricing — particularly if that you must safe a bigger group. Both manner, you’ll get sturdy safety efficiency from each NGFW suppliers.
Ease of use
On Gartner Peer Insights, each NGFW suppliers acquired excessive marks for ease of use. Particularly, Fortinet’s FortiGate service acquired a 4.7 out of 5, whereas Palo Alto was rated a 4.6 out of 5.
Just like efficiency, these scores point out that each Fortinet and Palo Alto present polished consumer experiences with their NGFW options.
Whereas Palo Alto’s Panorama central administration function is well-equipped to deal with large-scale organizational buildings, its abundance of choices could also be overwhelming for smaller groups. If user-friendliness is your principal precedence, going smaller scale with Fortinet could also be higher for you.
Consequently, enterprise organizations could discover Fortinet FortiGate’s built-in performance to be missing when in comparison with Palo Alto. On this case, having the scalability of Palo Alto may be extra useful.
Extra cloud safety protection
Fortinet FortiGate professionals and cons
Professionals
Reasonably priced and good worth for cash.
Gives the identical efficiency as dearer counterparts.
Decrease barrier to entry {hardware}.
Cons
Buyer help might be improved.
Palo Alto Networks NGFW professionals and cons
Professionals
Can accommodate giant organizations.
Characteristic-rich NGFW.
Granular user-based guidelines and insurance policies.
Cons
On the costly finish.
Requires in depth technical experience to configure.
Ought to your group use Fortinet or Palo Alto?
So far as NGFWs go, each Fortinet FortiGate and Palo Alto sit as high tier options. Consumer consensus is evident that you just’ll be well-served no matter which choice you go along with. That being mentioned, the deciding issue between the 2 NGFW suppliers boils down to 2 issues: pricing and enterprise dimension.
Should you’re a small enterprise, I extremely suggest Fortinet FortiGate. Its extra reasonably priced {hardware} choices whereas offering the identical high quality efficiency and safety effectiveness make it a great match for firms that don’t essentially have the most important of budgets.
Then again, enterprises and bigger organizations ought to go for Palo Alto Networks NGFW. That is very true for firms the place price range isn’t a difficulty, as its Panorama central administration platform and user-based roles are all apt for dealing with extra advanced safety wants.
No matter which supplier you go along with, I discover that the majority organizations will discover nice worth in both Fortinet or Palo Alto’s NGFW options.
Methodology
My comparability of Fortinet and Palo Alto’s NGFW options concerned an in-depth evaluation of their security measures, pricing and general worth to companies.
This head-to-head analysis consisted of in depth analysis of each vendor’s official documentation, product pages and datasheets. As well as, I took into consideration consumer testimonials and suggestions from respected evaluation websites to complement my findings and embrace real-world utilization in my closing suggestions.