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Axis Security vs Cisco Web Security Appliance comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

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

Axis Security
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
17th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (16th), ZTNA as a Service (16th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (16th)
Cisco Web Security Appliance
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
20th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of Axis Security is 1.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Web Security Appliance is 2.0%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Axis Security1.0%
Cisco Web Security Appliance2.0%
Other97.0%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

EO
Acsys support Desk. at American Tower
Access monitoring and reporting optimize site security
In Axis Security, the most valuable feature is the ability to generate reports on who accessed a site at a particular time, specifically the entry and exit reports. It's important for analyzing incidents and understanding log-ins and log-outs. Another feature is the ability to blacklist a key if used improperly, preventing unauthorized access to sites.
Vusa Ndlovu - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Advanced protection features offer robust security while integration process presents challenges
With the WebAssign integration, it is not easy when I am integrating policies within the company, especially with NAND and wireless policies. The challenge arises when traffic is blocked from either wireless or wired connections. Although implementing it as a standalone is quicker, integrating BYOD with Cisco I and FTB can be tiring. Once it is done correctly, the functionality and reports become valuable, although the implementation part can still be challenging.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The way the access connectors work is valuable."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to restrict unauthorized access, ensuring that only approved devices can connect to the network. T"
"The entire suite and the entire ZTNA process are very valuable."
"I rate Axis Security ten out of ten."
"The most valuable part so far has been Axis Security's ability to create identity connections to various servers, allowing users to access them. By doing so, we've managed to replace any old or existing VPN access with Axis Security. We are slowly but surely getting rid of our traditional VPN."
"I would give it an A-plus for securing access to our applications, devices, and network. It does an extremely good job. Our security folks have analyzed it and tried to find loopholes, but they found none."
"The features I like most are the DLP functionality for web security and malware protection."
"All I can say is that from a solution perspective, whatever the customer is basically looking for from our web security appliance, Cisco Web Security Appliance has met it all."
"The most valuable features of the solution are the functions of proxy for the users who use the internet and the security it offers against the not-so-secure web pages."
"It operates well, however, the on-premises version is limited in terms of scaling."
"The WCCP is good at delivering HTTP and HTTPS traffic."
"It also allows you to decrypt SSL traffic, and that's a really important feature as well, which is something I also configured."
"The technical support is good, it is reactive, and the documentation is very specific and very useful."
"It's very scalable; if you buy one bundle with 100 users, you can install unlimited appliances to scale horizontally and have ten appliances that can log share communications."
 

Cons

"There should be a notification alarm with geofencing."
"I would appreciate more automated learning capabilities or increased integration with other security tools, allowing us to establish automation."
"I would like more statistics about what's going on in terms of usage. There is little-to-no usage reporting. That's one thing we've requested, and I think they're working on it."
"I would like more detailed logging in the Axis Security interface."
"They need to improve the networking and security tools a little in the troubleshooting and 'bad-actor' areas to help us analyze security threats a little better. They have some things built-in, but I would like to see more advanced tools."
"The support team should be more skilled in offering assistance."
"The solution is priced high."
"As Cisco Web Security Appliance is eight years old, though it's simple to access its UI, the UI needs a little bit of updating. If it could be more interactive similar to the latest gen solutions, that would improve the product. Adding a few more integrations would also make Cisco Web Security Appliance better."
"The pricing is too high, so that could be improved."
"The solution is not very compatible with other products."
"The one thing I don't like about Cisco is that they are very much fragmented in terms of providing the complete solution. They keep on breaking their different feature sets into different boxes."
"This solution could be more secure."
"The support is good but slow. Generally, the response time for resolving issues is getting slower."
"It's so expensive. It's $10,000 per year."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is very competitive from what I've seen."
"The pricing is quite fair. It's better than what we gave up, which was Cisco AnyConnect."
"I rate Cisco WSA a seven out of ten since it is costly."
"I rate Cisco WSA a seven out of ten since it is costly."
"I know from the manager that the price is too high and that other solutions offer the same features for less."
"Licensing fees are based on the number of users."
"The solution's cost depends on how many users you purchase. It was maybe $3 or $5 per user, which is a bit expensive."
"When you compare the price of this solution to the price of FortiGate, it's high."
"I rate the product price a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"There is a subscription-based license needed to use this solution."
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909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
8%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Axis Security?
Axis Security is affordable. While I cannot provide financial specifics, we have never had complaints about pricing.
What needs improvement with Axis Security?
There should be a notification alarm with geofencing. When a person is at the gate, a notification alarm should alert us, enabling quick identification of who is trying to access our sites, which c...
What is your primary use case for Axis Security?
We monitor access for individuals who log in and out, as there are codes we log in with. The code is generated by an app installed on our phones, which updates when we request the code, showing who...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Web Security Appliance?
Comparing with other products, Cisco has more functionality, but pricing is a challenge. Cisco is not a product for small companies due to its pricing. Cisco has been in business for a long time, r...
What needs improvement with Cisco Web Security Appliance?
With the WebAssign integration, it is not easy when I am integrating policies within the company, especially with NAND and wireless policies. The challenge arises when traffic is blocked from eithe...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Web Security Appliance?
The user interface that I usually provide for the web app includes malware protection, URL filtering, data loss prevention (DLP), and advanced threat analytics. This is how I typically implement us...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco WSA, Cisco Web Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cardenas Markets, Armis, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Visionworks
New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Caixa Seguradora
Find out what your peers are saying about Axis Security vs. Cisco Web Security Appliance and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.