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Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software vs. Fortinet FortiGate

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ACisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the core OS for the ASA suite. It provides firewall functionality, as well as integration with context-specific Cisco security modules. It is scaled for enterprise-level traffic and connections.N/A

    FortiGate

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AFortiNet FortiGate is a firewall option with high integrability. It offers a variety of deployment options and next-gen firewall capabilities, including integration with IaaS cloud platforms and public cloud environments.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareFortiGate
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareFortiGate
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsFortiGate pricing starts at $250 for home office use, up to $300,000 for large enterprise appliances. Must contact sales team for pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareFortiGate
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    We specifically switched away from Cisco ASA in the last year. Much happier with the new product. The FortiGate firewalls have options up and down the line and they all work flawlessly together. We've got sites with large and small firewalls, all linked together. If you are …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    For next generation firewall feature sets FortiGate is a bit better and gives better value for the investment. However in the whole Cisco environment I find Cisco ASA to work better when defining end to end use cases with some orchestrator. Over all we have found the place for …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Cisco does transport-layer inspections, NAT and VPN just great. CheckPoint is more expensive, gives greater network visibility compared to Cisco ASA, next-gen features work faster on CheckPoint (model-dependent). Management Centre for Cisco NGFW is a heavy virtual appliance …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Integration with Cisco Ecosystem, Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software integrates smoothly with other Cisco security products and networking solutions. We have already invested in Cisco networking equipment and infrastructure which is why we chose Cisco Adaptive …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Cisco has made it easy to buy, set up, and manage all of our firewalls with the central FirePower Management Center. All licensing is done via one license portal too. Tech support is standardized for all ASA devices and like support engineers who know the different models to …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    The ASA led the pack for our use case since we were familiar with it and the ASA (and ASAv) was able to integrated with our environment very easily. We were also able to apply MFA to the ASA with very little effort, further improving our posture. In comparison, other tools were …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    I am a CCNP and will always go with Cisco because they are more affordable than Palo Altos and yet they do the same job and easy to deploy.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Configuration and management of Cisco's ASA are straightforward. We chose Cisco ASA for many reasons, as well as Cisco's threat response reports. We previously had issues with Sophos UTM due to its poor performance. We no longer have to be concerned about performance issues …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Cisco ASA is doing well, has [a] lot of documents available, [and easy] implementation, however, other vendors are also very easy to deploy. Cisco ASA has [a] great support team. Cisco ASA is truly [a] next-generation product. Now it is cloud-managed, along with zero-touch …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    We were using pfSense before in our environment but we were facing continuous issues in configuration management & policy-based management. After the implementation of Cisco ASA, it has resolved both the previous problems & also provided us a reliable solution with High …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    We have been using and deploying different vendor-based firewalls. Our main considerations for selection; use case, functionalities, and the price of the product. When there’s a Vpn or detailed routing scenarios Cisco ASA is the
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    When comparing Cisco ASA to other vendors' products we needed to bear in mind that most other security vendors offer a next-gen Firewall solution while the ASA is still a legacy firewall. Based on this, Cisco ASA is by no means a loser here. Cisco ASA is an extremely capable …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    We feel familiar with Cisco products and the way Cisco is doing business.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Above all, the robustness and quality of the components, the support and the rapid resolution of warranty issues. Cisco is a serious company and demonstrates this by making the processes with the client as easy as possible.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Cisco tried to build a new platform by bolting acquired and rebranded SourceFire as a next generation platform but really missed the boat. Cisco should be considered a networking company not security. Firewall technology is changing and Cisco needs to reevaluate their place in …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Cisco made sense from the standpoint that my engineers already knew it and there was little learning curve. Personally, I prefer a purpose-built hardware solution. Untangle is not ready for the enterprise as a whole but works great to do web/application filtering . …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    We evaluated other Cisco security devices and other vendors, but chose the Cisco ASA due to it's price point and compatibility. While Fortinet and Palo Alto are leaders in the field, we found that for the price, the features we needed were fully satisfied by the ASA. We …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Sonicwall firewall, Checkpoint SMB firewall, fortinet
    Incentivized
    Fortinet
    Chose FortiGate
    Cisco ASA is [a] good product but you can't say this is providing the security from every points. Lots of features are missing in Cisco ASA but Fortinet [FortiGate] is fully loaded and all the advanced features are available for secure your company.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    We are previously using Cisco ASA in our environment & always concerned regarding security because ransomware attacks are increasing day by day. After implementing Fortinet FortiGate we are getting a bucket of security features at almost the same cost with the best technical …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    We have both devices Fortinet FortiGate and ASA with firepower services, but [the] main difference is price. The price is [less for] Fortinet FortiGate and we are getting the all features. Email filtering and DLP is extra features and very advanced which we will get only in …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    [Fortinet] Fortigate saved us with raising our availability a lot.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    Sonic wall as a firewall also gives us its main function as the Fortinet FortiGate. Sonic Wall is best suited when you want to use it to connect your cloud environment to your private on-premise network. But on reputation most vendors prefer or recommend Fortinet Fortigate if …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    ASA Firewall
    PaloAlto
    Sophos
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    Fortinet code configuration is a little bit cleaner, it has sub-modules for different components. One of the nice things about Juniper and pitfalls is that you drop out to the FreeBSD command line if there are any issues. Fortinet and Cisco do not have that capability. …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    FortiGates are more professional and offer a robust command line.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    Ongoing costs and licensing options - the FortiGate product line comes out a winner every time. We especially like the granularity and licensing options compared to something like Meraki that is mostly "all or nothing" or the SonicWall which is less granular and just not as …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    Feature to feature comparisons, Cisco and Fortinet are on par with each other. Both have great service and support. Both have robust security features that protect your network from various threats and exploits. Both have great logging and reporting capabilities. Both are high …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    FortiGates are cheaper than most alternatives (except solutions like pfSense, of course.). They are also very easy to configure and have affordable security subscription options.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    Fortinet beats Cisco ASA in all firewall categories in my opinion.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    We selected Fortinet FortiGate because it was cheaper compared with another similar appliance. Also, FortiGate is very easy to install and administrate. They have very good resilience and provide very good support. There's good traffic inspection and notification. The VPN is …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    FortiGate was more cost-effective and offered more functionality. FortiGate is much easier to use and manage.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    I feel that the Fortigate can do everything the Cisco ASA can do, at a lower cost and without specialized vendor training.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    The solution was selected by our parent company, but the idea of changing platforms is still daunting. Fortigate offers an ability to convert your ASA, Checkpoint, JunOS, etc. configs to Fortigate for a small cost. This product works like a champ and eliminated the reasons why …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    FortiGate has a strong offering at a very competitive price point. I like that with your subscription you get access to all of the pieces, and that features aren't arbitrarily turned off unless you buy a specific license or bundle. For what you get for the price, it's really …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    UTM comprehensive security is a plus.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    The cost was comparable to the SonicWall we were looking at but feature wise, they are in a different league. The Fortigate offered far more next generation firewall features and they were bundled in with the license we chose. The interface is much easier to use and we spend …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    When you talk about firewalling, the competitors are the usual big names (Cisco and Check Point). Both of them are (in my opinion) more costly and more complex to manage. If we talk about other security threats, as I said, having one device able to do (almost) everything is a …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    Compared to Palo Alto Networks' firewalls FortiGate has the better price while the worse security design. FortiGate is an all-in-one appliance with many many features that are not completely implemented. In contrast, Palo Alto firewalls have the better concept on how to …
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    Fortigate reporting is significantly better than anything you'll pull from an ASA.
    Incentivized
    Chose FortiGate
    Fortigate provides a more robust feature set than Sonicwall, and at a better price point than either Cisco or Sonicwall. Both Moxa and Cisco provide industrial DIN mounts, but Moxa lacked a data center product. Cisco has both industrial and data center products, but at a much …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    87%
    Would buy again
    39 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    48 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    41 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    47 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    41 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    48 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    36 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    43 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    40 Answers
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    46 Answers
    TrustRadius Insights
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareFortiGate
    Highlights

    TrustRadius
    Research Team Insight
    Published

    Cisco ASA and FortiGate are products that provide security for network applications, including firewall, SSL, web filtering and VPN. Both Cisco ASA and FortiGate are well liked among medium to enterprise sized businesses, but large established businesses tend to choose ASA, especially if their server environment is already Cisco. FortiGate is more popular among medium-sized businesses, which are more likely to be price sensitive.

    Features

    Cisco ASA and FortiGate provide many of the same services, but there are standout features of each.

    Cisco ASA is easy to deploy and works well in most environments. It adapts well to small and medium scale servers, especially servers that use Cisco products already. Users like the VPN for connecting remote users to the network or connecting one site to another, and businesses appreciate the web filtering component. The hardware is reliable, as is Cisco technical support. 

    FortiGate is a newer up-and-comer to the world of network security. It handles traffic spikes and larger server loads with ease, and is more affordable than its comparable competitors. The interface is simple to use, and the firewall is easy to configure. Simplified pricing allows businesses to pay only for the services they use.

    Limitations

    Each of these firewall products has its own limitations that may affect which one potential customers will choose.

    Though many users appreciate Cisco ASA and its reliable system and support, it can become expensive for smaller businesses, especially when factoring in support contracts. The interface is clunky and can be difficult to use. ASA is not as fully-featured as an NGFW (it’s missing the reliable multi-WAN support FortiGate has), and several users reported switching to an NGFW for a more robust solution. 

    The downside of FortiGate’s simplified pricing is that it affects scalability. If a user wants to increase server performance, they must buy additional products. Various versions of the software can be buggy, and frequent patches are released. While the user interface is good, the command line prompt can be confusing to use.

    Pricing

    FortiGate pricing is available by quote from Fortinet or 3rd party providers. ASA pricing can be found by contacting Cisco or a certified Cisco Partner.

    Features
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareFortiGate
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Fortinet FortiGate
    Feature
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    7.8
    49 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Fortinet FortiGate
    8.9
    40 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Identification Technologies6.532 Ratings8.638 Ratings
    Visualization Tools6.530 Ratings8.538 Ratings
    Content Inspection8.032 Ratings9.439 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls9.045 Ratings9.040 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP7.547 Ratings9.039 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console7.547 Ratings8.640 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging5.948 Ratings7.440 Ratings
    VPN9.048 Ratings8.640 Ratings
    High Availability9.047 Ratings9.535 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection9.046 Ratings9.538 Ratings
    Proxy Server8.031 Ratings10.028 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareFortiGate
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.5 out of 10
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Meraki MX
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareFortiGate
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (87 ratings)
    9.0
    (67 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.1
    (4 ratings)
    9.9
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    Availability
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.7
    (8 ratings)
    8.6
    (26 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.5
    (2 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.8
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareFortiGate
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Cisco ASA's are great for internal network connected access between a firewall and the central management server. And, for complex networks where high security requirements with overly strict compliance are necessary. For networks with limited connectivity to the core or for poor network connectivity these are not the best solution. There are other more stand-alone firewall's that do this better. These firewall's are a little more complex to set up to start with so significant knowledge of these devices is required to set them up and ensure they are best practice installed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    Fortinet FortiGate addressed an immediate security issue we had a few years ago. The device gave us a much clearer picture of the activities on our network and also more importantly, increased our awareness of threats from the internet as a whole. Fortinet FortiGate helps us to mitigate these threats with regular signature updates from Fortiguard labs, identifying certain characteristics which, once recognised by Fortinet FortiGate, can be harnessed to deploy powerful 'playbooks'.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • ASA is our VPN concentrator. The client and server are very stable and very easy to use
    • ASA also offers Intrusion Prevention, to an extent. This is also very useful for an improved security posture for a small company
    • ASA allowed us to scale very quickly. We could onboard clients, partners, and consultants and give them a great onboarding experience as well
    • Administrative costs with ASA are low. It's very easy to administer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    • SD-WAN - Load balancing of Internet traffic is a USP of Fortigate and makes it stand tall in the competition. Be it 3 or more Internet Links, multiple Subnets/segments of users to distribute and bandwidth load balancing for links and users. SLA based monitoring of Internet Links / MPLS links, makes it even better to choose the links on the basis of performance (Latency, packet loss, Jitter etc).
    • SSL VPN configuration - As we all have WFH force (to some extend or all employee) during Covid-19, it is impossible to plan BCP without having a SSL VPN. In Fortigate, the SSL VPN configuration is very easy with the help of wizard. The deep CLI-level debugging is also very helpful in troubleshooting. Type of tunnel can be easily configured - Full Tunnel or Split Tunnel for SSL.
    • Explicit Proxy - This is also a great feature to shape and re-route the traffic, configuring the Proxy on the Firewall itself. We are using this feature in Pilot for now, and planned to rollout in few weeks looking at the success rate of the POC.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • The ASDM software is at times a nightmare to install because of different java versions[.]
    • [The firewall] could do with a power button, just to be able to do a hard reboot when needed[.]
    • It would be nice to manage the firewall via the web on port 443[.]
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    • Documentation is missing a great deal of detail and assumes the customer and just guess and fill in the blanks themselves
    • Fortinet has lots and lots of video guides on topics that only a small percentage of customers would ever need
    • The documentation and video guides do not get updated so most is only relevant to older software versions
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    To be honest there has been now great products out in the market compared to Cisco ASA. I beleieve Cisco has to do a lot of improvement in this area. The other defeiniete factors is the cost when it comes to renewals which is always a premium on Cisco products
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    The firewall runs very well, firmware updates are fairly quick but you must follow the upgrade path. Neglecting this step will cause a lot of pain. If you decide to go with Fortinet FortiGate switches and/or access points, they can be managed within the firewall which is great. We're also using the FortiAnalyzer which easily plugs into the firewall for any reporting you may require.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    I generally have not noticed the outages, however since it's a machine it can malfunction, we need to implement the firewall infrastructure in such a way that it is highly available with device failure, region failure etc. Else any solution will be having the issues if they are not build with resiliency.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    Good performance and really good integration. We have integration with Microsoft AD.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    The support is usually very good and gets back to you very quickly. However I had some instances of when two engineers will give me wildly different answers to what I thought was a simple question. Overall however I do rate the support highly and they are generally always very good.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    The Support team at Fortinet is excellent. They can not only help you configure the device for what you are trying to do, they offer suggestions on improving rules, and troubleshooting issues. Their response time is fast, ensuring you are up and running immediately with no questions asked. We had a hard drive failure in one of our Fortinet Fortigate appliances. The tech answered immediately, and started rebuilding the drive after some preliminary investigations. After rebuilding, there were still errors and issues, so they dispatched a brand new Fortinet Fortigate appliance. The tech then backed up the configurations for when the new device came in, which showed up in a few hours. A restore of the configuration took less than a minute, and there were no more errors or issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    I received it a couple years afters use it and it was just to confirm my knowledge about the tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    It was quite a good one, how ever requires an expertise to deploy hence the SMB segment would be finding it difficult to implement this product. The one good reason is that there are lot of ASA certified engineers in compared to the other certified engineers. Hence this resembles positively on the deployment as you have quite a lot of experienced engineer on your deployment
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    Make sure that you have the most current version of FortiOS. Make sure all Fortigates are on the same version
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We were using [pfSense] before in our environment but we regularly facing difficulties over it due to software bugs & downtime. After implementing Cisco ASA, it resolved our availability issue & provides us a reliable solution with the best security features & easy to understand GUI.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    [Fortinet] FortiGate is not only cost effective but it gives the comprehensive security against the APT attacks and gives the complete traffic visibility and granular control. You can easily create the VDOMs (Virtual firewall) within a Fortigate firewall and customize the dashboard as per your requirement if you have multiple VDOMs within a single firewall.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    No changes needed to terms and conditions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    My environments are pretty small (less than 100 users per location) so no issues here.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Most network engineers have worked with ASA, so there is no need for re-training when adding or turning over staff
    • Current configs from older devices plug in easily, and are operational on larger devices if an upgrade is required
    • Many support options available
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    • The pricing given to us for our firewall was well within what we were already spending for other vendors solutions and had the added value of eliminating a separate expense for a dedicated web filtering appliance.
    • We have also adopted Fortinet's security fabric approach and thus changed vendors for our switch and AP devices. These devices have come at reduced prices as compared to another previous vendor we were using, particularly in relation to ongoing annual maintenance costs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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