Software · head to head
Fortinet FortiGate vs Cisco Duo
Fortinet FortiGate
Software
Next-generation firewall with AI-powered threat protection
- From
- $500/year
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Cisco Duo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Fortinet FortiGate security services are sold as separate FortiGuard subscription bundles, so ATP, UTP and ENT determine which protections are actually active; Cisco Duo free tier caps at 10 users; every paid tier requires a minimum of 10 users
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Fortinet FortiGate and Cisco Duo actually diverge.
| Attribute | Fortinet FortiGate | Cisco Duo |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $500/year | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | freemium |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Hardware, Virtual, Cloud | Web |
| Founded | 2000 | Unknown |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Fortinet FortiGate
- Next-generation firewall
- Intrusion prevention
- SSL/TLS inspection
- Application control
- Web filtering
- SD-WAN
- Zero-trust network access
- AI-powered threat detection
Only in Cisco Duo
Nothing recorded that Fortinet FortiGate does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Fortinet FortiGate
- Next-generation firewalling at data centre, campus and branch scalenot Cisco Duo
- Secure SD-WAN across distributed sitesnot Cisco Duo
- Zero trust network access to internal applicationsnot Cisco Duo
- Virtual firewalls in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Oraclenot Cisco Duo
- Ruggedised deployments in industrial environmentsnot Cisco Duo
Cisco Duo
No use cases recorded yet. See the Cisco Duo review.
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Fortinet FortiGate
- Security services are sold as separate FortiGuard subscription bundles, so ATP, UTP and ENT determine which protections are actually active
- Throughput is tied to the appliance model, from 500 Mbps on the FortiGate 30G to 520 Gbps on the 7121F, so capacity planning is a hardware purchase
- Pricing is not published and goes through partners
Cisco Duo
- Free tier caps at 10 users; every paid tier requires a minimum of 10 users
- Licenses cannot be bought individually above the free tier: under 100 users they are sold in increments of 10, and over 100 users in increments of 25
- Duo Premier, the top tier with the most adaptive access controls, costs $9 per user per month on top of the per-increment purchase requirement
Pricing, plan by plan
Fortinet FortiGate
$500/year- FortiGate Entry$500/year
- Basic firewall
- VPN support
- Threat protection
- FortiGate Enterprise$2500/year
- Advanced threat protection
- SSL inspection
- Application control
- FortiGate Ultimate$10000/year
- All Enterprise features
- Zero-trust access
- AI-powered analytics
Cisco Duo
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Cisco Duo review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Fortinet FortiGate if
- You need next-generation firewall.
- You work on Hardware, Virtual, Cloud.
- You also want intrusion prevention.
Questions people ask
- Is Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco Duo better?
- Neither clearly leads. Fortinet FortiGate starts at $500/year and Cisco Duo at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco Duo?
- Cisco Duo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $500/year for Fortinet FortiGate and Free for Cisco Duo.
- Does Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco Duo run on more platforms?
- Fortinet FortiGate runs on Hardware, Virtual, Cloud. Cisco Duo runs on Web.
- Can I use Cisco Duo for free?
- Yes. Cisco Duo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fortinet FortiGate starts at $500/year.
- What is Fortinet FortiGate best used for?
- Fortinet FortiGate is most often used for next-generation firewalling at data centre, campus and branch scale, secure sd-wan across distributed sites, zero trust network access to internal applications, virtual firewalls in aws, azure, google cloud and oracle. Of those, next-generation firewalling at data centre, campus and branch scale and secure sd-wan across distributed sites are not what Cisco Duo is typically brought in for.
- What can Fortinet FortiGate do that Cisco Duo cannot?
- Fortinet FortiGate covers Next-generation firewall, Intrusion prevention, SSL/TLS inspection, Application control.
Related pages
More on Fortinet FortiGate
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