Cisco AnyConnect vs. Fortinet FortiGate

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco AnyConnect
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Cisco offers an SSL VPN solution via AnyConnect.N/A
FortiGate
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
FortiNet 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 AnyConnectFortinet FortiGate
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco AnyConnectFortiGate
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 AnyConnectFortinet FortiGate
Considered Both Products
Cisco AnyConnect
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect hasn’t had any problems that I can recall. There have been some issues in using Talkdesk over the years, and some experiences have been unfavorable. It’s always been a positive experience in using Cisco AnyConnect within the few times I’ve used this system for …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
I have worked with Palo Alto GlobalProtect and Fortinet's FortiClient. While in use, GlobalProtect boasted of some merits, such as great security features that may be superior to those of Cisco AnyConnect; the interface was not quite smooth. I selected Cisco AnyConnect …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
I evaluated a couple of vendors, such as FortiClient and Malwarebytes, but Cisco AnyConnect won simply because of integration with our existing Cisco equipment. The GUI was not very visually appealing, and its main focus seemed to be on endpoint security, while the company's …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Currently, my org is using this default VPN, and we are using the same, but still, we noticed many features are good as compared with other VPN tools. Overall speed is pretty good and hence performance is good. There are other issues, like many times the login is not working …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
We looked at Umbrella SSE, it would not do what we wanted to do and did not have as much customization as Cisco AnyConnect does.
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Amazon Workspaces is quite nice, but like all virtual desktops it can be quite sluggish and unresponsive. Cisco AnyConnect allows us to connect remotely while still leveraging the power of our own machines. This keeps things snappy and responsive and allows us to avoid the …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
The last time I used SonicWall you had to pay for each VPN user but with Cisco AnyConnect you have unlimited users with the appliance. I did like SonicWall's logon and logoff scripts but they both do what is expected well.
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Before buying Cisco AnyConnect we evaluated FortiClient. We decided to go with Cisco AnyConnect due to its attractive pricing.
Both were providing same features but Cisco AnyConnect prices were cheaper than FortiClient.
Secondly, Cisco is leading name in Cyber Security so we …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco is one of our core partners besides Microsoft and SAP. And so yes, we are utilizing very many projects from Cisco. I would mention the whole networking equipment, the routing equipment, the wireless LAN, and also when it comes to infrastructure to compute infrastructure, …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
It's more easy to implement.
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
I've always had to fiddle with the other ones to get them working just right, but having spoken to our VPN team, the recommended settings that came along with the product when Cisco visited for the onboarding have worked just fine since day one. It might not be a totally fair …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
After the events of update failure from CrowdStrike on July 19th, 2024, it will likely have a significant falling out in the trust of that product. Fortinet has a formidle solution and outstanding reviews, however, Cisco AnyConnect has been the most reliable solution that I …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Better as it's a single agent for many other things.
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
We choose Cisco AnyConnect over Sonicwall VPN due to its features and security protocols. Cisco is a leading name in network security and everyone is aware of it. Secondly, we were very comfortable with Cisco products due to their service quality and customer support. All these …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
We evaluated FortiClient before buying Cisco AnyConnect but then we decided to go with Cisco AnyConnect due to better pricing, advanced features, and value for money. Even the integration of Cisco Duo was looking easier in Cisco AnyConnect than FortiClient. Another factor was …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect is a little more straightforward and works better in legacy contexts, in our experience. That being said, it does lack some of the functionality and information provided by OpenVPN, and other logistical factors are relevant as well.
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
While other VPN products functionally work, we kept Cisco AnyConnect due to its stability and our ability to control how our users use it. Since we have a Cisco Network it was an obvious choice that we stand behind. While we have other options as backup the primary VPN will …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
I was testing the Fortinet product which was also okay. But I think once I had AnyConnect I haven't seen reasons to change to another vendor.
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect performs better and is able to switch well between the networks based on the network strength and ensures that users are able to choose their network as well. It allows you to easily connect to more than one VPN network and securely save its setting since it …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Easier to set up on existing Cisco-based devices and equipment. In a Unix-based server environment, OpenVPN may be more appropriate. OpenVPN is great but offers little in the form of support unless via another third-party company. OpenVPN offers more options in terms of …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect is significantly easier to use on an enterprise-wide enrollment than ExpressVPN. Cisco AnyConnect allows our remote users the same security and network access as our on-premise users. In addition, Cisco AnyConnect is super simple to deploy via Microsoft SCCM …
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
We have used these application so far and we have now good experience with Cisco AnyConnect and we are continuing to use it.
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
I have tried the above too. I have noticed that the consistency and reliability that connect provides are way better than theirs. Integration with 2-factor authentication apps is something extremely important, and I am not sure if this two software provide such functionality. …
FortiGate
Chose FortiGate
FortiGate has inbuilt SDWAN features along with Next Gen Firewall. Checkpoint Firewall dont have inbult SDWAN
Chose FortiGate
Some of them are great products, but overall Fortinet gives more for less. Also it is really easy to manage for almost everyone. As you should have at least a double layer, with different manufacturers, this is a great choice
Chose FortiGate
We choose Fortinet FortiGate because it provides AI-powered security services and offers more advanced threat protection and response capabilities than Sonicwall TZ
Chose FortiGate
We migrate from Cisco ASA solution to Fortinet FortiGate solution.
The technical feactures and easy operation were the most driver of our evaluation.
Finally the high level of Cost over Benefit was very relevant in the project evaluation.
Chose FortiGate
The Fortinet products have been chosen because of our previous experience with them. The FortiClient is always used with our roaming users together theRedHAt authentications services and the IPS and Web Filtering addons are used, together the WAF, to strengthen our network …
Chose FortiGate
One of the biggest advantages over competitors that Fortinet FortiGate leverages well is its remote virtual private networks options. Licensing is included with Fortinet FortiGate units at no extra cost. We find that the telemetry is easier to compile and most importantly …
Chose FortiGate
Great subscription services and easy branch office VPN configuration. Also a big plus for 2FA via Forti Token integration.
Chose FortiGate
Money is the sinews of war but clearly Fortinet FortiGate and other product like fortimanager for extend and adminstrate remotes sites with dedicated or template of configuration is perfect, same thing with the wortianalyzer as you can find quickly any log from trafic log to …
Chose FortiGate
The FortiGate is a next generation firewall and has more features and more flexibility compared to the Sophos UTM devices and the older SonicWall devices. Technical support from Fortinet is far superior to SonicWall and Sophos.
Chose FortiGate
Better than Juniper, and Checkpoint. Not as good as the Palo Alto although it cost less so I would still make the choice to go with Fortinet
Chose FortiGate
Integrated security features multiple security in one platform, cost effective, centralized management, saclability like its models are availble from small to large enterprise for provide proper throughput according to size we can select model.documentation of all features are …
Chose FortiGate
Fortinet FortiGate is an all-round Network Security solution with advanced Next Generation Firewall features. The purpose built hardware provides unparalleled performance when compared to other similar solutions. The licensing model is very flexible and accommodates networks …
Chose FortiGate
Fortinet FortiGate is above other products in the market.
Chose FortiGate
An excellent ratio of functionality and cost of the solution, the UTM subscription and a wide partner network determined our choice of the Fortinet FortiGate. The solution met all the defined requirements, including personal data protection. Local vendors like UserGate were …
Chose FortiGate
As mentioned in the previous sections, Fortigate is best suited for our use cases of SDWAN, load balancing, SSL VPN, IPSec Tunnels, Bandwidth allocation (per IP, per user based ). Comparing with Palo Alto NGFW and Cisco ASA, the SD WAN and link load balancing based on the …
Chose FortiGate
I stick with this program because of many reasons like it is extremely robust and scalable, as well as simple to set up. Protecting an organization's data is one
Chose FortiGate
[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 …
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
Features
Cisco AnyConnectFortinet FortiGate
Virtual Private Network
Comparison of Virtual Private Network features of Product A and Product B
Cisco AnyConnect
8.7
Ratings
4% below category average
Fortinet FortiGate
-
Ratings
AES 256-bit Encryption9.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Kill Switch8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-Platform Support9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Split Tunneling9.50 Ratings00 Ratings
IP Address Masking8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
No-Logs Policy8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Server Locations8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic Wi-Fi Protection9.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Simultaneous Connections7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Support Services8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Cisco AnyConnect
-
Ratings
Fortinet FortiGate
8.9
Ratings
3% above category average
Identification Technologies00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Visualization Tools00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Content Inspection00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Policy-based Controls00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Firewall Management Console00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Reporting and Logging00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
VPN00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
High Availability00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Stateful Inspection00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Proxy Server00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco AnyConnectFortinet FortiGate
Small Businesses
Norton 360
Norton 360
Score 7.0 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.6 out of 10
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.6 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco AnyConnectFortinet FortiGate
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.9
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(0 ratings)
9.8
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco AnyConnectFortinet FortiGate
Likelihood to Recommend
It is well suited for mid sized and large sized organizations having hybrid work model. It will help their employees to work seamlessly from home, office, other branches. It will also help their employees to access corporate applications anytime even after office hours so they can maintain a healthy work-life balance.
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We reviewed many different vendors product offerings, we found the Fortinet FortiGate to best fit our needs. We upgraded from a previous firewall, the migration was a fairly easy process. We were also able to consolidate multiple firewalls into one unit using vdoms. It's been helpful to have one pain of glass, one support contract and easy to work with support. These firewalls are feature rich which is great, but the support contracts are expensive.
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Pros
  • Any Connect is building a stable VPN connection across any different kinds of networks. So it gives me the assumption that I will be sitting in the office and work locally on my workplace, but I get this assumption nearly from everywhere.
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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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Cons
  • Sometimes when the number of users is large for a VPN service, the connection fails, and the client doesn't give a proper error.
  • It should have better support for Linux. It is difficult to set up on Linux, and the interface for settings is not at all user-friendly.
  • A few times, the internet becomes slow after connecting to the VPN server through AnyConnect. It should be able to find the best and the optimal server while connecting.
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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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Likelihood to Renew
It is perhaps the second most functional tool we have, it will definitely be renewed every year. Our network is stable, which ensures that there is less for our technicians to troubleshoot, which frees them up to ensure other parts of the company are maintained. This keeps our costs low and our downtime at a minimum.
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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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Usability
It has many advantages and uses other than other common VPNs but it's very important to understand the problems and issues which till not solved yet. The major issue is there is no support system or no body is doing hypercare for clients or client organizations. Speed is good, but making a connection is worse, and nobody cares about it.
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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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Reliability and Availability
I have been using Cisco AnyConnect for past two years and thus I can say very firmly that I have never seen the outage from the Cisco AnyConnect services either It is VPN, System Scans or the Network Connectivity. Talking about the errors likewise major errors I have faced throughout my period of use.
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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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Performance
Absolutely no speed issues, and I see no evidence of slowdowns across any of the multiple platforms I use daily. It's operation is completely invisible most of the time, except where there is a loss of connection due to server issues or a loss of power. Everything loads quickly and accurately.
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Good performance and really good integration. We have integration with Microsoft AD.
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Support Rating
Because whenever I log the case with Cisco support, yes they have come back with valid technical data. So this is what has happened and we could fix it in this way. That support will detail what happened and how to get it overcome very quickly. That's what I like. The support level we get is really good for the product
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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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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
I received it a couple years afters use it and it was just to confirm my knowledge about the tool.
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Implementation Rating
Implementation was fairly straight forward and quick. I would recommend leveraging the initial configuration QuickStart guides, as these detail options of implementing the software with the most common configurations. There may also still be an option to obtain a temporary emergency AnyConnect license to assist users with implementing RAVPN on Cisco devices.
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Make sure that you have the most current version of FortiOS. Make sure all Fortigates are on the same version
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Alternatives Considered
I have worked with Palo Alto GlobalProtect and Fortinet's FortiClient. While in use, GlobalProtect boasted of some merits, such as great security features that may be superior to those of Cisco AnyConnect; the interface was not quite smooth. I selected Cisco AnyConnect because, while it is very secure, it may provide easy access to connectivity and is highly suitable for ensuring reliable communication on multiple digital marketing campaigns.
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One of the biggest advantages over competitors that Fortinet FortiGate leverages well is its remote virtual private networks options. Licensing is included with Fortinet FortiGate units at no extra cost. We find that the telemetry is easier to compile and most importantly communicate with non technical members of staff. The Fortinet FortiGate unit is also extremely stable for long periods of time without showing signs of needing a reboot.
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Scalability
Cisco AnyConnect has been a speedy, reliable, and efficient tool for the creation of your own VPN whatever location that you've brought your laptop. Customer support is consistently top-notch, coming up with quick fixes to whatever difficulties are thrown your way. I would not hesitate to reccommend Cisco AnyConnect to any business that needs connected employees throught the world.
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My environments are pretty small (less than 100 users per location) so no issues here.
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Return on Investment
  • Having the possibility to access the systems and the necessary data from any place can be a major benefit of implementing flexible working conditions.
  • Through the implementation of a strong encrypted connection and the capabilities in authentication, our risk of a data breach on this site has been minimized.
  • The features offered by Cisco AnyConnect streamlined regulations that our industry requires and released much of the burden of implementing procedures on me.
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  • SD-WAN : Can't stress it further that we are very happy with this functionality and outcomes in the org. We have multiple WAN and MPLS links and traffic switching becomes an important in order to utilize the best performing line.
  • QoS : We use QoS for almost all internet traffic, be it Web browsing by users, IOT segment, Application based traffic policy and VIP and normal user based bandwidth allocation.
  • SSL and IPSec VPN, both features are fully used to it absolute capacity. IPSec tunnels with multiple sister companies across globe.
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ScreenShots