Cisco Secure Access vs Fortinet FortiSASE

Cisco Secure Access and Fortinet FortiSASE are both sase & zero trust solutions. Cisco Secure Access cisco's unified SASE platform converging Umbrella, Duo, and Meraki into cloud-delivered security, while Fortinet FortiSASE converged SASE platform powered by FortiOS with competitive pricing and integrated SD-WAN. The best choice depends on your organization's size, technical requirements, and budget.

Updated Feb 2026
How we compare:This comparison is based on official documentation, public pricing, community discussions, and aggregated user feedback, not hands-on testing by our team. We organize what real users and practitioners are saying across the web.

The Bottom Line

Choose Cisco Secure Access if cisco Talos provides massive threat intelligence from the world's largest commercial security research team is your priority and large enterprises with existing Cisco networking infrastructure wanting to consolidate security into a unified SASE platform. Choose Fortinet FortiSASE if most competitive pricing makes enterprise SASE accessible to mid-market matters most and mid-market and large enterprises with existing Fortinet infrastructure that want SASE with integrated SD-WAN at competitive pricing.

Choose Cisco Secure Access if:

  • You value cisco Talos provides massive threat intelligence from the world's largest commercial security research team
  • You value unified platform for organizations already invested in Cisco networking and security
  • You value duo provides the most established zero trust MFA and access solution in the market
  • You want to avoid smaller global PoP footprint than Zscaler and Cloudflare
  • You want to avoid cloud-native capabilities less mature than purpose-built cloud SASE platforms

Choose Fortinet FortiSASE if:

  • You value most competitive pricing makes enterprise SASE accessible to mid-market
  • You value consistent FortiOS experience for existing Fortinet customers
  • You value industry-leading SD-WAN natively integrated into the SASE platform
  • You want to avoid platform still maturing — recently converged from separate Umbrella, Duo, and AnyConnect products
  • You want to avoid integration between acquired components can be inconsistent

Feature Comparison

FeatureCisco Secure AccessFortinet FortiSASE
PricingCustom enterprise pricing / Per-user bundled subscriptionCustom pricing / Per-user tiers starting lower than Zscaler
Pricing ModelPer-user annual subscription with bundled tiersPer-user annual subscription with tiered bundles
Open SourceNoNo
DeploymentCloudCloud
Best ForLarge enterprises with existing Cisco networking infrastructure wanting to consolidate security into a unified SASE platformMid-market and large enterprises with existing Fortinet infrastructure that want SASE with integrated SD-WAN at competitive pricing
Umbrella DNS security and SWGSupportedNot available
Duo zero trust access and MFASupportedNot available
Meraki SD-WAN integrationSupportedNot available

Sources

Related

Cisco Secure Access AlternativesFortinet FortiSASE AlternativesCisco Secure Access OverviewFortinet FortiSASE Overview