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Fortinet FortiGate vs Lambda

Fortinet FortiGate logo

Fortinet FortiGate

Cybersecurity

Next-generation firewall with AI-powered threat protection

From
$500/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lambda logo

Lambda

Cloud

GPU supercomputers for AI training and inference at enterprise scale

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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; Lambda no free tier or trial, requiring immediate commitment for testing
  • They diverge on capability: Fortinet FortiGate covers Next-generation firewall, Lambda covers Superclusters.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fortinet FortiGate and Lambda actually diverge.

Attributes where Fortinet FortiGate and Lambda differ
AttributeFortinet FortiGateLambda
Starting price$500/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionPay-as-you-go hourly pricing with volume discounts for reserved capacity
PlatformsHardware, Virtual, CloudCloud
CategoryCybersecurityCloud
Founded20002012

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Lambda

  • Superclusters
  • 1-Click Clusters
  • On-demand instances
  • Liquid cooling
  • InfiniBand networking
  • Managed orchestration
  • Co-engineering support

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 Lambda
  • Secure SD-WAN across distributed sitesnot Lambda
  • Zero trust network access to internal applicationsnot Lambda
  • Virtual firewalls in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Oraclenot Lambda
  • Ruggedised deployments in industrial environmentsnot Lambda

Lambda

  • Training foundation models at scale with dedicated GPU infrastructurenot Fortinet FortiGate
  • Large-scale inference serving on enterprise-grade hardwarenot Fortinet FortiGate
  • Multi-GPU distributed training with InfiniBand networkingnot Fortinet FortiGate
  • Single-tenant secure compute for regulated industriesnot Fortinet FortiGate
  • AI lab infrastructure for frontier model developmentnot Fortinet FortiGate

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

Lambda

  • No free tier or trial, requiring immediate commitment for testing
  • Single-tenant Superclusters require custom pricing discussions
  • Pricing complexity across multiple GPU types and cluster sizes
  • Less suitable for experimentation or small teams with tight budgets

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

Lambda

On request
  • 1-Click Clusters B200$undefined/hourly
    • 16 GPUs: $9.86/GPU/hour
    • 256+ GPUs: $8.87/GPU/hour
    • 1-year+ reserved discounts available
  • 1-Click Clusters H100$undefined/hourly
    • 16 GPUs: $6.16/GPU/hour
    • 256+ GPUs: $5.54/GPU/hour
  • On-Demand Instances B200$undefined/hourly
    • SXM6: $6.69/GPU/hour
  • On-Demand Instances H100$undefined/hourly
    • SXM: $3.99/GPU/hour

Which should you pick?

Choose Fortinet FortiGate if

  • You need next-generation firewall.
  • You work on Hardware, Virtual, Cloud.
  • You also want intrusion prevention.
Fortinet FortiGate review

Choose Lambda if

  • You need superclusters.
  • You work on Cloud.
  • You also want 1-click clusters.
Lambda review

Questions people ask

Is Fortinet FortiGate or Lambda better?
Neither clearly leads. Fortinet FortiGate starts at $500/year and Lambda at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fortinet FortiGate or Lambda?
Fortinet FortiGate starts at $500/year and Lambda at On request.
Does Fortinet FortiGate or Lambda run on more platforms?
Fortinet FortiGate runs on Hardware, Virtual, Cloud. Lambda runs on Cloud.
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 Lambda is typically brought in for.
What can Fortinet FortiGate do that Lambda cannot?
Fortinet FortiGate covers Next-generation firewall, Intrusion prevention, SSL/TLS inspection, Application control. Lambda covers Superclusters, 1-Click Clusters, On-demand instances, Liquid cooling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fortinet FortiGate: What are the FortiGate security bundle options?

Fortinet offers three FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services bundles: ENT Bundle (ultimate security for networks, web, file, SaaS, data, and devices), UTP Bundle (advanced web and network protection), and ATP Bundle (protection against network intrusions and malware with IPS, antivirus, and application control).

Source
Lambda: What makes Lambda's infrastructure different?

Lambda offers single-tenant Superclusters with exclusive GPU access, liquid cooling, and NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking. The company is 100% focused on AI infrastructure with co-engineering support from teams who built infrastructure for major AI labs.

Source
Fortinet FortiGate: How do I get pricing for FortiGate?

Pricing is not published on the product page. To obtain a quote, you can request a free product demo or connect with a security expert through the contact options on the site.

Source
Lambda: How does pricing work for large clusters?

1-Click Clusters pricing ranges from $5.54-$9.86 per GPU/hour depending on GPU type and cluster size, with volume discounts for 256+ GPUs. Reserved capacity is available at custom pricing for 1-year+ commitments.

Source
Fortinet FortiGate: Is there a free trial for FortiGate?

The product page does not mention a free trial. However, Fortinet offers a free product demo that allows you to evaluate the solution before committing to a purchase.

Source
Lambda: Which GPU types are available?

Lambda offers NVIDIA B200, H100, A100, and Tesla V100 GPUs. Individual instances range from V100 at $0.79/hour to B200 SXM6 at $6.69/hour. Newer models like Vera Rubin are available in Superclusters.

Source
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