| Solution | Generally speaking, Fortinet offers free trial licenses for the virtualized versions of various products, such as the FortiGate, FortiManager, etc. These licenses generally require an administrator to register for an account on FortiCloud (AKA the Fortinet Support), after which it is possible to use this account during device setup to enable a trial license. Further below is a list of products that offer free trials, along with key info about the trial offerings and links to further information, but consider the following before proceeding: - The free trials are easily accessible to prospective IT administrators and/or homelab enthusiasts without requiring an initial financial commitment, and generally, they offer access to all of the features of the regular product (except anything that relies on FortiGuard services). However, there are often limitations that prevent the trial from being used outside of a basic testing lab environment.
- For example, unless stated otherwise, trial licenses are limited to one per FortiCloud account, with no technical support or FortiGuard support included whatsoever. The list below groups trials into permanent vs. non-permanent trials.
- Trial licenses are generally limited to virtualized instances of products only, as well as cloud instances where applicable (no trial hardware is provided).
- For more serious testing, consider reaching out to a regional Fortinet Sales Engineer to request an evaluation license, which is an enhanced version of a trial license that removes the basic trial limitations and also includes technical support during the evaluation period.
Permanent trial offerings: FortiGate-VM. FortiAnalyzer-VM. FortiManager-VM. FortiAuthenticator-VM. FortiClient EMS and FortiClient Cloud. - See also:
- Supported Platforms: see Installation (for on-prem EMS).
- Key Limitations:
- On-Prem EMS:
- FortiClient Cloud: Supports 3x endpoint seats for each registered FortiGate that also has an active FortiCare Support Contract (no upper limit). For example, four FortiGates with active contracts entitle the administrator to activate up to twelve FortiClient Cloud seats total.
- Important notes:
- Administrators may obtain a free trial for FortiClient Cloud or on-prem FortiClient EMS, but not both on the same FortiCare account. Carefully consider which would be more appropriate for the use-case before activating either trial type.
- Furthermore, the FortiClient Cloud trial cannot be activated if the FortiCare account already has an on-prem EMS trial license registered, nor can it be activated if the account already has a registered and paid FortiClient Cloud subscription (even if it is expired or decommissioned).
- Administrators who already have FortiGates with active support contracts would likely see greater benefit from activating the FortiClient Cloud trial, whereas homelab users without FortiGate support contracts will be limited to the on-prem EMS trial.
FortiConverter Service. FortiIdentity Cloud. - See also: FortiCloud Subscriptions and Free Licenses.
- Supported Platforms: cloud-only.
- Key Limitations:
- 3x free user license for each registered FortiGate or FortiAuthenticator that also has an active FortiCare Support Contract (maximum of 48 seats using 16 subscriptions).
- Otherwise, a 30-day free trial that supports up to 5x end users, realms, applications, and user sources (each).
Non-permanent trial offerings: FortiADC-VM. FortiMail-VM. - See also: Licensing.
- Supported Platforms: see Deployment Guides.
- Key Limitations: 15-day free trial only (fully-featured, no need to log in to FortiCloud, does not include support for antispam, AV signature updates, FortiGuard Antispam query, or technical support).
FortiNAC-F VM. FortiWeb-VM. |
