In the world of firewalls, where security and performance take centre stage, user experience often seems like an afterthought. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Fortinet's Fortigate UI, which, despite being a powerhouse in security, is a clunky, outdated, and frustrating experience for anyone who has to manage it daily.
1. Aesthetic Offense | The UI Looks Like It Time-Traveled From 2005
Let’s be honest: Fortigate’s interface looks like it was designed in Microsoft Paint, then slapped onto a web portal with zero concern for usability. The colour scheme is uninspired, the layout cluttered, and the overall design screams "enterprise software from a decade ago."
While Palo Alto, Cisco, and even pfSense have made strides in modernizing their dashboards, Fortinet's UI still looks like a poorly-themed Excel spreadsheet. It’s the equivalent of walking into a high-end security operations centre, only to find they’re still running Windows XP with Aero disabled.
2. Navigation Nightmares | Where Even Is That Setting?
If you’ve ever tried to configure a Fortigate firewall quickly, you’ll know that simple tasks can turn into multi-click scavenger hunts. The menu system is bloated, and essential settings are buried under submenus with confusing or misleading names.
Want to create a new policy? Prepare to dig.
Need to find logs? Hope you brought a map.
Trying to troubleshoot something? The UI actively fights against you.
Some settings randomly move around between firmware updates, making documentation unreliable. It’s as if Fortinet’s UX team is engaged in a game of hide-and-seek with its own users.
3. A Slow, Laggy, & Frustrating Experience
For a device built to handle gigabits of traffic with blazing speed, the UI feels like it’s running on a dial-up connection.
The web interface can be painfully slow, especially when loading logs or reports.
The responsiveness varies depending on the browser, and some features don’t play nice with modern web standards.
Occasionally, clicking a setting will log you out or crash the session, making routine changes infuriating.
For a security appliance designed to protect critical infrastructure, why does its management interface behave like an overworked intern on a Friday afternoon?
4. Fortinet Loves CLI (& It Shows in the UI’s Shortcomings)
The real reason the Fortigate UI is so terrible? Fortinet expects you to use the CLI.
Many advanced settings are only accessible via the command line, making the GUI feel half-baked and incomplete.
Some settings available in the UI don’t work as expected unless you tweak them in the CLI.
Debugging anything using the web interface is an exercise in rage control—serious users always resort to CLI.
It’s clear that Fortinet engineers prioritize the command line, leaving the UI as an afterthought for those who fear SSH.
5. The UI is Consistently Inconsistent
Consistency is key in any user interface. Fortinet didn’t get the memo.
Some settings have a search function, others don’t.
Some screens auto-refresh, others require manual refreshes (which may or may not actually work).
The same feature might have different names across different firmware versions.
This makes it a nightmare for teams managing multiple versions of Fortigate devices. If you’re using a newer FortiOS version, expect to relearn things you already knew, because Fortinet enjoys moving the goalposts.
6. Palo Alto, Cisco, & Open Source Alternatives Do It Better
While Palo Alto’s UI isn’t perfect, it at least feels modern and provides a more logical approach to firewall rule creation and troubleshooting. pfSense, OpnSense, and VyOS—all open-source alternatives—offer cleaner, more intuitive dashboards without the Fortigate frustration. Even Mikrotik, known for its deep learning curve, provides a faster and more efficient UI experience.
7. The Workaround? Avoid the UI as Much as Possible
If you must use Fortigate:
Learn the CLI. You’ll save yourself hours of frustration.
Use API automation where possible.
Avoid the UI for troubleshooting—just SSH in and use diag debug commands.
Bookmark commonly used settings to avoid endless menu searching.
Wrap | Time for a UI Overhaul
Fortinet builds powerful, feature-rich security appliances, but their UI is one of the worst in the industry. It’s outdated, slow, and unintuitive, making daily management an uphill battle.
With the rise of modern firewall UIs from Palo Alto, Check Point, and open-source solutions, Fortinet desperately needs a complete UI redesign—because at this point, even a fresh coat of paint wouldn’t be enough.
