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Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs syslog-ng comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiAnalyzer
Ranking in Log Management
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
syslog-ng
Ranking in Log Management
19th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 2.0%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of syslog-ng is 2.5%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Manikandan Kannan - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplifying log management by displaying detailed access information
The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is its ability to simplify and display logs clearly, providing details like which IPs are accessing the system, the destination, and the policies applied. This visualization and detail make managing logs more straightforward. In conjunction with our VMware setup, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer enhances organizational efficiency, meeting the standard log retention period for up to a year.
RyanVargas - PeerSpot reviewer
It's a user-friendly open-source solution that can replace or augment a commercial product in some cases
I rate syslog-ng 10 out of 10. It's free and easy to use. It has built-in tools that help us index the various logs sent to it. It's a solid log product. If you're looking for a SIEM solution, syslog-ng will work as a stopgap measure at beginning of the project. It can also work as an injector for a true SIEM solution. You can send all the logs to syslog-ng and forward all the data to the SIEM solution after you've cleaned up the data and got the pertinent information. It's a good front end for a commercial SIEM solution, which becomes more expensive as you load more data into it. I would highly recommend syslog-ng for that use case. However, if you lack the expertise, you might need to go with a cloud-based SIEM instead. You need some in-house expertise or an outside consultant to manage it and set it up.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable features are customizing reports, and the ability to drill down to display critical information in real-time."
"Special notifications about compromised phones are valuable because we have some guest networks, and sometimes, people are connecting phones that are connected to compromised websites. We want to be informed about it. We sometimes have some cases where we want to analyze the connection from inside to outside ports. So, it helps with a lot of things. It depends on our needs."
"Log collection is the most valuable. The UI looks great. It has a very good look and feel. We don't have the need to use solid state drives. We use mechanic drives, and we don't see any performance issues, so basically, it is doing fine."
"It's easy to set up the product."
"The most valuable features of the solution are the reports and the playbooks."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer are the GUI and there is automation that can be done with playbooks and mini-books."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer comes with a lot of prebuilt reports out of the box, making it easy for our team to generate necessary reports without much struggle."
"It is one of the best firewall products."
"Syslog-ng has a separate config file in addition to the core configuration."
"For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"Syslog-ng provides easy access to all my logs. It helps me show managers and other clients precisely where an incident occurred. I also like it because you can integrate syslog-ng with multiple solutions to allow real-time monitoring."
"The ability to extract and store the logs is the most valuable feature of syslog-ng."
 

Cons

"The integration with other vendors for log collection could be enhanced."
"The integration between specific tenants and FortiAnalyzer can be simplified when utilizing a multi-tenant EMS for our FortiClient."
"The solution could use more graphics and be more specific in the dashboard. This way, I'm able to understand everything and effectively understand what's going on, including what's incoming and outgoing. Right now, I have to look up everything. I need a dashboard so that I can see specific items right there in one place."
"The FortiAnalyzer is not scalable."
"In terms of what could be improved, sometimes it's lagging and it also has some graphical issues with the GUI."
"It will be better if behavior or indicators of compromise were on the same licensing schema. Currently, it is an advanced feature that you have to purchase as an add-on. This is the reason we're trying to do the ELK so that we can integrate them and create those rules by using open-source software. It will also be better if it has some more integration with IT service management tools so that we can do endpoint protection and response based on those indicators of compromise or those behavior analysis rules that create events that can automatically flow. We can inject that data into a service incident ticket on our IT service management tool, and that way we can assign the ticket to the proper teams and respond right away. Currently, we only have integration with ServiceNow."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer cannot receive any queries. They should add this feature in the future to help manage solutions."
"When using this solution, you need a high-level expert to make it work as it should."
"The filtering has room for improvement."
"It's hard to find people who know how to use syslog-ng. I often find problems with configurations, and solutions aren't integrated correctly with syslog-ng. For example, there might be data with extra decimals, or the collector agents are incorrectly named. It isn't a problem with the solution; it's a lack of professionals."
"Syslog-ng has built-in features that we can use to create alerts for a SIEM solution. It isn't a true SIEM solution, but it's sufficient for the time being."
"There is room for improvement in terms of observability."
"There is always the potential for additional integration and protocol extensions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The hardware cost and services contract are fair."
"The number of licenses required directly corresponds with the number of devices connected."
"When you compare with other firewall vendors, FortiAnalyzer is quite competitive in pricing."
"The cost of the license is high."
"The pricing of this solution is fair, and it is based on what you can manage."
"I believe that these devices were procured with a five-year maintenance and support license up front. I work at a university, so the vendor provides a considerable higher ed discount."
"The price is quite expensive. Fortinet products are very expensive. That is something which they should also look at, because if you compare Fortinet product to, say, Sophos for example, Fortinet is really high and that's the only thing which is a drawback for most users."
"The price of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is expensive."
"Syslog-ng is a free open-source solution."
"Syslog-ng is open-source."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
The reporting features, which offer customization, real-time insights, and compliance support, are particularly noteworthy aspects.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
There are no extra expenses included aside from the licensing fee for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer, which I am paying annually.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
There are some downsides and areas that require improvement in Fortinet FortiAnalyzer. Fortinet FortiAnalyzer needs to improve in its utilization of AI to enhance its security log analysis.
What do you like most about syslog-ng?
For us, the most valuable feature is the use of compound search for searching logs at a specific time, by a specific user, or specific behavior.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for syslog-ng?
The pricing is in the middle. I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with one being expensive and ten being cheap.
What needs improvement with syslog-ng?
There is room for improvement in terms of observability. Additionally, a possible new feature could be Kafka integration.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

General Directorate of Information Technology
Tecnocom, University of Victoria, University of Exeter, Datapath
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer vs. syslog-ng and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
853,682 professionals have used our research since 2012.
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