N
NFirewall, router and VPN software and appliances for homes and businesses
From $10.75/mo
Fortinet (FortiGate) vs Palo Alto Networks
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
VS
F
Choose Fortinet (FortiGate) if…
- you're in its core audience: enterprise it and security teams, small and midsize businesses
P
Choose Palo Alto Networks if…
- you're in its core audience: cisos, network security engineers
Side by side
Feature Fortinet (FortiGate) Palo Alto Networks
Pricing modelContact for pricingContact for pricing
Starting price——
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
PlatformsWebWeb
CompanyFortinetPalo Alto Networks
Full feature lists
F Fortinet (FortiGate)
- FortiGate next-generation firewall appliances, virtual and cloud firewalls
- FortiOS operating system across products
- Secure SD-WAN and unified SASE with universal ZTNA
- FortiGuard subscriptions: IPS, antivirus, URL and DNS filtering
- SIEM, SOAR, NDR and SOC-as-a-Service
- Cloud security including CNAPP and WAF
- Ruggedized products and OT security services
- Centralized management and GenAI for NOC
P Palo Alto Networks
- Hardware and software next-generation firewalls
- Prisma SASE with SD-WAN, ZTNA and remote browser isolation
- Cortex XSIAM, XDR and XSOAR for SOC automation
- CNAPP and cloud detection and response via Cortex Cloud
- Privileged access management and secrets management
- Enterprise DLP, IoT and OT security
- Unit 42 incident response and managed detection
- Cortex XCOR AI-driven observability
Their home pages
What each vendor shows first: the pitch, the plans and the sign-up.
Fortinet (FortiGate) · fortinet.com
Palo Alto Networks · paloaltonetworks.comStrengths and limitations
Fortinet (FortiGate)
- Wide portfolio covering firewall, SD-WAN, SASE, cloud and SOC
- Firewalls offered as appliance, virtual, cloud or as-a-service
- Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Hybrid Mesh Firewall
- Free training and on-demand labs offered
- No public pricing; quotes come through sales or resellers
- Aimed at organizations rather than individual users
Palo Alto Networks
- Covers network, cloud, identity and SOC security in one portfolio
- Named a leader in many Gartner and Forrester reports
- 24/7/365 incident response through Unit 42
- 700+ partner integrations for security operations
- No public pricing; buying goes through sales
- Built for enterprises, so it is complex for small teams
More comparisons
Other options to consider
NN
From $10.75/mo
N
Firewall, router and VPN software and appliances for homes and businesses
Firewalls & network securityAPI
C
CGlobal network for CDN, DDoS protection, Zero Trust and serverless compute
Free, from $5/mo
C
Free, from $5/mo
C
Global network for CDN, DDoS protection, Zero Trust and serverless compute
DDoS protection & WAFFree plan
A
A
Paid
I
II
Contact
Facts from each vendor's public pages, prices checked Nov 13, 2026. Editorial policy