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Aruba ESP vs Cato SASE Cloud Platform comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

iboss
Sponsored
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (5th), Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), ZTNA as a Service (8th)
Aruba ESP
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
28th
Average Rating
0.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cato SASE Cloud Platform
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
3rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (12th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (6th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (5th), WAN Edge (6th), ZTNA as a Service (7th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.3%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Aruba ESP is 1.1%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cato SASE Cloud Platform is 7.9%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cato SASE Cloud Platform7.9%
iboss3.3%
Aruba ESP1.1%
Other87.7%
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
 

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support
The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.
SatishKumar13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy Manager at Savex Technologies Pvt Ltd
Has improved remote connectivity with secure segmentation for traveling users
The scenario has totally changed after COVID. Earlier, people used to work from office culture, but now it has shifted to work from anywhere. Devices are not fixed either. Previously it was fixed asset, but now people are using smartphones, IoT devices, laptops, and other devices, connecting from anywhere. Segmenting network traffic is very difficult and complicated because putting a firewall across devices is very difficult and nearly impossible. EdgeConnect, which includes endpoint protection or SSE, is very agent-based. POPs are nearly reachable across the globe, so users can access services globally whenever they want to reach the data center or access the internet. It creates segregation, and after segregation, it comes with security functionality including CASB, web, anti-malware, and antivirus functionality. It protects the endpoint whenever connecting with unsecured networks. The first level post-check of security parameters matches all functionalities. Their segregation part allows us to define parameters through ZTNA functionality, Zero Trust Network Access where we can define postures, whether devices relate to corporate network or personal use, if antivirus is running, if OS is updated, and many more things. Based upon that, it helps customers protect the complete infrastructure, whether connecting with office network, unsecured network, or remote office.
reviewer2697738 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product & Services Integrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Cloud security has unified global network design and has simplified threat visibility
I think all of the functionalities, such as the secure web gateway feature, are quite good. I also believe Cato SASE Cloud Platform is one of the only solutions that has not only a software firewall solution but also a physical software solution where you can change the company's firewalls and put in sockets from Cato SASE Cloud Platform, which I see as an advantage for them. The single-pass architecture has improved user experience with Cato SASE Cloud Platform as it provides security teams in companies a platform where they can easily obtain information if there are breaches or security issues. I assess the benefit of integrating WAN optimization as good. There is ease in making rules between WAN optimization, especially when it comes to global connections because of all their points of presence that are spread over the world. I think the real-time threat protection of Cato SASE Cloud Platform is also good. Their points of presence are quite efficient, and I do not see any delays in that area.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I would rate the technical support of iboss a solid 10 without a shadow of a doubt."
"We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times."
"I would say iboss is a very good product; its scalability is very good, and it's seamless for the user."
"Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss."
"iboss has significantly lowered the number of security incidents. It is crazy how much it blocks and how much it is aware of the outside danger."
"We chose iboss for both zero trust and proxy (SWG) because their SWG was superior."
"iboss is definitely very good in terms of service."
"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."
"It provides a single umbrella for the complete network infrastructure, which is a very key differentiator from other products."
"Aruba ESP is a single place where you manage everything, and you have integrations with a lot of other vendors together on the same platform."
"This solution has allowed us to have more points of presence around the world, improved bandwidth across different areas, and provided data leak prevention, CASB, a better dashboard, and the ability to drill down into security problems in a few clicks."
"The product is efficient and easy to use."
"It is difficult to find types of companies I would not recommend Cato SASE Cloud Platform to, and I believe you can use Cato SASE Cloud Platform in most environments, although there could be some cases where organizations are really cost-sensitive."
"Cato Networks seems to do everything we wanted it to do."
"The scalability is quite good."
"We never really had any outages."
"If you really want to have a solution that has an easy deployment and provides SD-WAN and firewall abilities, go with Cato Networks."
"The main features we use are the firewall and secure web gateway."
 

Cons

"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."
"I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention."
"The endpoint-type solution is an area that needs some improvement."
"SSL decryption: We had issues with learners using apps instead of using web browsers. This type of encryption is tough for any appliance in a BYOD environment."
"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."
"Their on-premise hardware's network interface is capped at one gigabit, which is sort of a problem. If you stand a filter up where all traffic flows through that, according to them, in order to go above a gigabit, you have to have multiple devices, which in today's IT seems a little bit silly. They could easily put in an SFP port into their device that could accommodate 10 gigs or at least offer a box."
"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."
"One thing I would like to see differently with their Zero Trust platform is that some of the AI aspects related to high-risk activities have more false positives."
"Aruba ESP should include more integrations with third-party vendors."
"Segmenting network traffic is very difficult and complicated because putting a firewall across devices is very difficult and nearly impossible."
"Cato Networks could improve their intrusion detection. There is not a lot in place."
"The solution could be made more user friendly for the administrator to use the portal. It is difficult to use it for people who are not experienced with Cato Networks."
"The tool needs to be more granular. Its reports are not very in-depth."
"To improve Cato SASE Cloud Platform, I think they sometimes need more built-in features for security in larger networks when doing local authentication, as they currently leave that to other vendors."
"They can't do one-to-one NAT (Network Address Translation) in AP (their access point), and that is something that Palo Alto can do."
"There should be a Web Application Firewall feature in the product nodes."
"We would like the product to continue to improve its security."
"They should add more sophisticated security features. It should also be integrated into the cloud."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."
"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."
"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."
"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."
"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."
"Users need to pay a yearly license for three, five, seven, or ten years based on their requirements."
"The solution is reasonably priced since Cato Networks provides features like SASE and monitoring, which I am very happy with currently."
"I'd rate Cato SASE Cloud Platform's pricing as about five or six out of ten. It's not the cheapest solution, but it is cheaper than Palo Alto and even VeloCloud. We've been working with them for a while and have significant discounts. Our licensing costs vary because we keep adding sites, but it's about 280 per month per site. This includes additional features beyond the base product, starting at around 200."
"You pay yearly based on the speed of your network. If you increase the speed of your network, you increase the cost for your throughput. It is by bandwidth for the most part and then licenses for VPN. There is some per-seat licensing for VPN access, but the majority of it is minimal. It is like $30 a year per client. The rest is based on how much bandwidth you'll use. You pay for that upfront for the year, and if you have to increase it, you increase it, and then they let you send more data through. There are no additional costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"The pricing of the solution depends upon the bandwidth required for different branches"
"The pricing of this solution depends on what you need. It is based on bandwidth."
"The solution's pricing is flexible."
"The platform is expensive."
"The price is not an issue for us, as it is priced more competitively than some other vendors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
No data available
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise9
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?
The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent ...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
We used iBoss mainly for Internet Access by having an Agent on Windows laptops Primarily because when we try to use i...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?
I am not involved in pricing, but as per the information I have, during that time, the Blue Coat proxies we were usin...
What needs improvement with Aruba ESP?
The scenario has totally changed after COVID. Earlier, people used to work from office culture, but now it has shifte...
What is your primary use case for Aruba ESP?
I am working for the SASE portfolio as a product manager, so I cannot give any comment on other products. If there ar...
What is your primary use case for Cato Networks?
I can see that I am a consultant at a reseller and I am the architect of Cato SASE Cloud Platform designs. In the bas...
What advice do you have for others considering Cato Networks?
It is difficult to find types of companies I would not recommend Cato SASE Cloud Platform to, and I believe you can u...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cato Networks?
I do not find it particularly expensive, but for some companies, they may not have the budget to be at that level of ...
 

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
No data available
Cato Networks
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.
Information Not Available
Paysafe, AdRoll, Pet Lovers Centre, Arlington Orthopedics, Humphreys & Partners Architects
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba ESP vs. Cato SASE Cloud Platform and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,417 professionals have used our research since 2012.