Is your FortiGate end of life? Renew or upgrade, decided properly
"End of life" is the most misunderstood phrase in the Fortinet world — it usually doesn't mean what people fear, and panicking into the wrong decision costs real money. Here's how the lifecycle actually works, how long you can keep renewing, and the rand maths that settles renew-vs-upgrade.
Every FortiGate model moves through a published lifecycle with two dates that matter — and they're years apart:
End of Order (EOO): the last day the model can be bought new. Nothing changes for units already in the field — they keep working, keep getting FortiGuard updates, and keep renewing.
End of Support (EOS): typically years after EOO. This is the real deadline: after EOS there's no FortiCare, no FortiGuard renewals, no firmware entitlement for that model. Before EOS, you can renew; approaching EOS, renewals are shortened ("co-termed") so they end on the EOS date rather than running past it.
So "my 60E/60F is end of life" usually means "it's past end of order" — which by itself is not a reason to panic-buy hardware. The question is how much runway to EOS remains, and Fortinet publishes that per model. Send us a serial and we confirm your unit's exact dates as part of the quote — no guessing.
Where the common South African models stand
As at August 2026, in plain terms (we verify current official dates on every quote):
E-series (60E, 100E, and friends): the ageing generation. Many are deep into their lifecycle — if you're running one, the renew-vs-upgrade conversation is due now, while a planned migration is still cheaper than a forced one.
F-series (40F, 60F, 80F, 100F, 200F): the current SA workhorses. Renewals remain freely available; the sensible move is simply to check your model's runway when renewing for 24 or 36 months, so a long term doesn't outlive the box's support.
G-series (30G, 90G, 120G, 200G): the newest generation — renew freely, no lifecycle anxiety. This is also the generation you'd upgrade onto.
Renew or upgrade? The three-question test
Runway: does the model's support horizon comfortably outlast the renewal term you want? A 36-month renewal on a box with less runway than that gets co-termed — if that happens, the upgrade maths deserves a look.
Fit: with security scanning fully enabled, does it still handle your user count, VPN load and traffic? If your business outgrew the box, no licence fixes that.
Rand maths: when a multi-year renewal on an old unit gets close to the price of a new unit with its licence bundle, the upgrade wins — you're paying similar money either way, but one path buys current-generation hardware and a fresh lifecycle. New-unit bundles are often keenly priced for exactly this reason.
This is why we quote both paths side by side on request: your renewal price and the equivalent new-unit-plus-licence price, in rand, VAT shown. The decision usually makes itself.
The trap to avoid: buying second-hand "EOL bargains"
A cheap used FortiGate is only cheap until you try to licence it. Subscriptions follow the serial number, transfers have rules, and an older unit means a shorter support runway from day one. If budget is the constraint, an entry-level new G-series unit with a bundle is almost always the smarter rand-for-rand buy than someone else's retired box.
What to do next
Not sure what you're running or when it expires?Check your serial here — free, no account.
Model still has runway?Renew it — 12, 24 or 36 months, quoted in rand within business hours.