Cisco Secure Access vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway comparison

Cisco Secure Access vs. Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.2%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 3.1%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Access	3.1%
iboss	3.2%
Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway	2.1%
Other	91.6%

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula

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.

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reviewer2788500

Network Operations Engineer at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Secure access has unified zero trust and web protection while AI assistance automates tasks

From a feature perspective, I have not experienced any issues, drawbacks, or shortcomings. However, the cost of Cisco's products and licensing is high. My clients usually prefer cheaper options if possible. Mid-size or smaller businesses typically cannot afford Cisco Secure Access. Additionally, there is a steep learning curve, as it is very intensive. Someone with significant knowledge can work on it, but a new professional would have to spend considerable time to get accustomed to it. It is hard to find engineers who can work on it. Overall, we get what we pay for, as it is a pretty good feature and service. The pricing of Cisco's products and licensing is higher than competitors. If they could be more reasonable, that would help. The support offered for two years also has higher costs. Overall, the client's IT budget gets affected. It was challenging to learn because, as mentioned, it has a significant learning curve and requires considerable training to become proficient.

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Btejedor Tejedor

Experto de Seguridad Informática at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Granular web controls have improved user-specific access and reduced security incidents

For the moment, the solution is going quite well, and I cannot think of anything specific we could improve at the moment.Perhaps in file control, the maximum size of the files that can be analyzed is a negative aspect or an improvement that I consider necessary in Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"As I mentioned, the return on investment is significant, as it saved our office locations' bandwidth because when you are working remotely at home, your internet traffic routes directly to iboss and will not go to your office building, saving bandwidth bottlenecks and ensuring that issues with our building internet circuits will not impact your internet connectivity because you are directly going to the iboss data center."

"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."

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"From a use-case scenario, what I like the most is the plug-in. I like the fact that we can do the filtering of these devices offsite independent of the network they are connected to, and we do not have to have traffic coming back inside our network."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

"Granular setup, which was able to set different levels of filters using the OUs in the AD."

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."

More iboss pros

"I rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten."

"The benefits are that people just need to connect and they have their whole environment available for everybody, it feels the same as if they were in the office, plus they are safe against malware."

"The feature of Cisco Secure Access I appreciate the most is the DNS functionality."

"The integrated capabilities of Cisco Secure Access deliver significant ROI through reduced mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR), with resource efficiency notably improved as fewer personnel are needed for triage and system management."

"I consider the most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Access to be that it merged everything into one dashboard, the Cisco Secure Access dashboard."

"I assess the stability and reliability of Cisco Secure Access as top-notch, and I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues because we built the solution and performed the tests step-by-step."

"The firewall section for IDP is the most used for remote sites. It fits better with all the data we're collecting from the protection site and the information that we provide to another customer."

"Customers spend much less time troubleshooting VPNs because ZTNA works more stably, and therefore it has become a pretty good point of sales for us as a reseller to increase our revenue at the customer level, because it's an extra layer of security that you can add to an already existing networking solution."

More Cisco Secure Access pros

"The ROI is in the security I'm getting for my users, which is also beneficial for me."

"The most valuable features of the solution are its three modules, which are SWG, ZTNA, and CASB."

"Web filtering and DLP are good features."

"The solution has some useful features, such as microservices. They have sandboxing that allows the prevention, encryption, and remote browser isolation."

"We've found the solution to be quite stable."

"One of the valuable features of the solution is that everything is on the cloud. It has no on-premise hardware to deal with."

"We can connect cloud apps and monitor them."

"There are a lot of features, but the groups that are created for the policy groups available with Netskope are already relevant to any industry. So grouping the policies is the easiest part and a valuable feature."

More Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway pros

Cons

"I am currently doing a PoC of the zero trust aspect of it. Compared to other similar solutions, it is hard to get around each feature. It takes a while to get used to it."

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."

"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, and that is where in 2025 we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform."

"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."

"iboss can be improved because the integration could be better; you need to import all the sites that you access today, and there are a few problems whenever you import thousands of websites, making the integration process messy for the users."

"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."

"It is stable, but due to growth, it can sometimes be less stable than wanted."

More iboss cons

"One critique I have about the onboarding process is that for a lot of Cisco apps, you do have to sign back into everything."

"There is a need for improved global coverage since the service relies on the cloud provider's data centers."

"My experience with the Experience Insight feature, called DEM, is not good. I find the integration between Cisco Secure Access and ThousandEyes does not work well and does not deliver what it is supposed to."

"In general, I think features can be improved."

"Regarding support, I do not know what happened to Cisco. I contact them, and the support has been a pain."

"I believe Cisco Secure Access can be improved by changing some features, enhancing the user interface, and streamlining reporting."

"The way that we're using Cisco Secure Access today, it doesn't scale with the growing needs of our organization, however, if we leveraged more of the cloud services, it would fit better."

"Having been associated with Cisco for more than fifteen to twenty years, I find it increasingly difficult to get tech support these days. Although Cisco is reliable, the process to raise a support ticket has become more complex, requiring specific user accounts and access to specialized platforms."

More Cisco Secure Access cons

"The initial setup is a bit complex in that it takes a lot of time. In order to get the product to work as you need it to, there is a lot of configuration required."

"Netskope can only provide the high level related to threats."

"Cost competitiveness is its area of improvement. They will have to figure out how can they strategically price it because there are a few players in the game who have been doing it for a long time. They will have to figure out how to go to market on the pricing."

"The initial setup and implementation are not straightforward."

"Perhaps in file control, the maximum size of the files that can be analyzed is a negative aspect or an improvement that I consider necessary in Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway."

"The solution lacks a good reporting feature."

"Since they have the Netskope client, adding some functionality in the endpoint would be good."

"Netskope provides vigorous policy enforcement for SaaS platforms based on how we configure it, but its vulnerability management and threat intelligence capabilities could be stronger."

More Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"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."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"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."

"It is confusing. When you look at the prices, you have different licensing and years of licensing that you have to purchase. Additionally, it's unclear what service you get from those licenses regarding end-user support. We have a representative who has to walk me through it every time."

"For what you get, it's a fair price in comparison to other products."

"The pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Cisco Secure Access have been very competitive compared to other platforms. I believe that if Cisco continues to improve costs or offers something similar to a Cisco credit, it would attract more customers."

"The price is average. Because the license is user-based, you can increase it as per the user quantity."

"The solution's overall cost is cheaper than regular web security solutions."

"The license model is based on the number of users. You have the possibility to have 10,000 users if you wish."

"We pay a licensing fee of $10,000 on a yearly basis."

"The product is cheap."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Web Gateways (SWG) solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

17%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	28
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	41

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	4

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

I think iboss could be improved by making reporting and dashboard customization more flexible, and simplifying troubl...

What is your primary use case for iboss?

I use iboss as a cloud-based secure web gateway to provide secure internet access, web filtering, and protect remote ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

My experience with iboss's pricing structure, setup cost, and licensing model has been positive, straightforward, and...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?

The pricing is not too bad because it's per headcount with Cisco Secure Access. You check how many clients you have. ...

What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?

I am dealing with Cisco Secure Access products. As a consultant and reseller, I am using it myself with Cisco Secure ...

What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?

The AI element of Cisco Secure Access should have better guidance on the logs. To be honest, I can't think of anythin...

Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...

Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Those firewalls that allow extend the perimeter. Nowadays, there is a issue with the static perimeter and all is goin...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway?

It is fairly priced.

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Comparisons

Compared 10% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 8% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs iboss

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs iboss

Compared 3% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Cisco Umbrella vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 11% of the time

FortiSASE vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 8% of the time

Netskope vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 8% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 5% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Secure Access Competitors

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 14% of the time

Menlo Secure vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 9% of the time

dope.swg vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 6% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 5% of the time

More Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway Competitors

Product Reports

iboss

Download iboss product report

Download Cisco Secure Access product report

Cisco Secure Access

October 2026

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Download Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway product report

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

No data available

Overview

iboss is the Zero Trust SASE platform that gives organizations complete visibility and governance over their AI, data, and applications through one unified platform, one console, one policy engine, and one data lake.

Your endpoints may already stop malware. Your data and application activity can still be invisible. iboss decrypts and understands every connection, then turns that signal into answers security leaders can act on.

The platform leads with three capabilities in this order: AI Security and Visibility, Data Security and Visibility, and App Visibility and Control. Zero Trust Network Access, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN sit underneath as the access fabric that carries those three. Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

- AI Security and Visibility: conversation capture, shadow-AI discovery, AI DLP, and agent governance across Claude, Co-Work, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok, and emerging services.

- Data Security and Visibility: full SSL/TLS decryption, deep content inspection, MIP label compliance, and one-click compliance reporting.

- App Visibility and Control: signatureless CASB, dual risk scoring, in-app controls, and SSPM for major SaaS.

- Containerized Zero Trust SASE: dedicated containers, isolated SSL keys, one console, one policy engine, one data lake.

- Access fabric: ZTNA, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN under the same platform.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

- Complete visibility over AI, data, and applications from one platform instead of separate point tools.

- Encrypted traffic is inspected by default so data decisions use content and context together.

- Shadow SaaS and new web tools appear as they are used, with enforceable controls in one console.

- Native data sovereignty through dedicated containers, in-region inspection, and per-customer SSL key custody.

- Scale proven in published materials: 10M+ users, 100+ countries, 150B+ transactions, 2.5B+ threats blocked.

Economic buyers are CISOs, CIOs, and VPs of Security. Champions include security architects, network and infrastructure leaders, SecOps, and GRC. Primary segments: enterprise and business, financial services, government (including FedRAMP Gov Cloud), healthcare, manufacturing, legal and professional services, retail and hospitality, and MSP/MSSP partners. Education, including K-12, is one vertical among these.

iboss

Cisco Secure Access is a comprehensive Security Service Edge (SSE) solution (a key component of a SASE solution) that addresses the complexities of securing a hybrid enterprise. Cloud-delivered and grounded in zero trust, it delivers a unique blend of user simplicity and IT efficiency for frictionless, secure access to all applications—SaaS (with gen AI), private apps, and the internet—regardless of user location or device. Secure Access protects users, data, and devices against relentless, sophisticated, and constantly evolving threats including AI-driven attacks and identity breaches.

Provides all core SSE components (ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and FWaaS) plus extended capabilities.

Includes VPN-as-a-Service (VPNaaS), data loss prevention (DLP), AI Assistant, visibility/control/guardrails for generative AI use, digital experience monitoring (DEM), reserved IP, remote browser isolation (RBI), DNS-layer security, flexible security enforcement (in cloud or on-premises), policy verification, and more.
Protects users as they seamlessly access resources and apps with no extra steps needed, regardless of protocol, port, or level of customization
Simplifies IT operations through a single client, single dashboard, single license, and unified policies.
Lowers risk with least privilege, granular controls backed with unmatched threat intelligence of Cisco Talos.
Eases interoperability with other products from Cisco and third-party vendors with common administrative controls, data structures, and policy management.

Robust integrations

Integrates with Cisco Identity Intelligence to protect against the startling increase in identity-based attacks.
Integrates with many SAML Identity Providers (IDPs) such as AD, Azure AD, Okta, Ping, etc.
Integrates with Cisco offerings including SD-WAN, Splunk, XDR, Thousand Eyes, third party technologies such as Menlo RBI, Chrome Enterprise Browser, and AppOmni for SSPM.

Cisco

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway delivers advanced web security with features like malware control, DLP, and swift connectivity. With cloud-native operations, it enhances security without on-premise hardware.

Organizations leveraging Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway benefit from its ease of policy management, swift connections, and consolidation of technologies. The gateway ensures robust security with features such as CASB, URL filtering, threat prevention, and sandboxing. Its operations are cloud-native, eliminating the need for on-premise hardware, and it integrates effectively with IAM and PAM systems. Broad SaaS coverage and an emphasis on architectural governance enhance web activity security and visibility. While there is room to improve file control, IoT functionality, and endpoint features, it remains a trusted option for safe web browsing, filtering, and security through advanced policy controls and prevention methods.

What are the key features of Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway?

Policy Ease: Simplifies managing security policies for diverse web applications.
Swift Connections: Ensures fast and secure internet connections for uninterrupted workflow.
Malware Control: Provides robust protection against malware with comprehensive control features.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Prevents data breaches through effective monitoring and management.
Cloud-Native Operations: Operates fully in the cloud, eliminating the need for physical hardware.
CASB Integration: Offers seamless integration with Cloud Access Security Broker for enhanced security.
Threat Prevention: Detects and prevents potential online threats effectively.

What benefits and ROI should be considered when evaluating Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway?

Security Enhancement: Provides increased security through advanced threat prevention and control tools.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces the need for on-premise hardware, lowering total cost of ownership.
Operational Efficiency: Enhances operational workflow with faster and more secure internet connections.
Comprehensive Integration: Integrates seamlessly with existing IAM and PAM systems, facilitating ease of use.
Actionable Insights: Offers detailed reporting and analytics for informed decision-making.

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway is widely implemented across industries for secure internet navigation, application control, and threat prevention. Enterprises use it to prevent shadow IT, manage SaaS traffic, and enforce governance according to specific industry regulations, ensuring security and compliance.

Netskope

Sample Customers

Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. Google 5. Apple 6. Cisco Systems 7. Oracle 8. Intel 9. HP Inc. 10. Dell Technologies 11. Verizon Communications 12. AT&T 13. Comcast 14. T-Mobile 15. Sprint 16. Vodafone 17. Orange 18. BT Group 19. Deutsche Telekom 20. Telefonica 21. Nokia 22. Ericsson 23. Samsung Electronics 24. Sony 25. Panasonic 26. LG Electronics 27. Siemens 28. General Electric 29. Ford Motor Company 30. General Motors 31. Toyota Motor Corporation 32. Volkswagen Group

Arrow, Cloudrise, Sainsbury, Evalueserve, Stroock, Apria, Ather Energy, CSA, AVX Corporation Nuna, City of San Diego Case, Genomic Health Case Study, Oak Hill Advisors, MaRS Discovery District.

Cisco Secure Access vs. Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway