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Cisco Secure Access vs Prisma Access Browser comparison

 

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

Cisco Secure Access
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (9th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (3rd), ZTNA (6th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (3rd), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (2nd)
Prisma Access Browser
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.4
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Browsers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 3.1%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma Access Browser is 2.5%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Access3.1%
Prisma Access Browser2.5%
Other94.4%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2788500 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
reviewer2750658 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant Avant Vente Cybersécurité at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
Browser security has strengthened web DLP and protects unmanaged devices from data exfiltration
SD-WAN capability is another solution, and it is not Prisma Access Browser; we do not have SD-WAN capability with Prisma Access Browser. I would like to improve the private access to do the ZTNA. I think that Palo Alto has released the versions and integrated the private access in Prisma Access Browser, but I'm not sure. The feature that is missing in Prisma Access Browser is the capability to monitor the private access where a user can access a private app with authentication, posture, and granular access. Regarding the pricing aspect, many customers find that the solution is a little bit expensive. Palo Alto should reconsider the pricing as it is a bit expensive.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"From my experience, Cisco Secure Access is very stable and has not crashed."
"The best features Cisco Secure Access offers include stability, and with 4,000 people using it and not many tickets, Cisco Secure Access has positively impacted my organization by providing stable VPN access to the data center, leading to measurable outcomes with fewer tickets."
"The feature I like the most about Cisco Secure Access is the whole concept of zero trust, as it is exactly what we need and I believe that Cisco Secure Access is the future of cybersecurity."
"The return on investment in Cisco Secure Access is significant, providing substantial savings in time, data loss prevention, and management of protection, with time savings reaching up to 30% based on the processing time and retention policy of Cisco Secure Access, which is more than 30% better than others."
"I experience several benefits from Cisco Secure Access identity-based security measures, including all benefits since the administration is on the cloud, the facility for entry, and all other capabilities and features."
"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 rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten."
"It's pretty streamlined. Everything you need to find is in the GUI interface, and if you have any trouble, it's easy to navigate and get around."
"Prisma Access Browser improves security because the browser is one of the attack surfaces, it needs more security on the endpoint device and standardization of device usage, and it also helps standardize the access policy to the internet."
"The most interesting use case that interests our customers is the DLP features on Prisma Access Browser; it is a great DLP solution with watermark and prevents data exfiltration."
"Prisma Access Browser is the most capable, advanced, and flexible product."
 

Cons

"It is expensive."
"However, the cost of Cisco's products and licensing is high, and mid-size or smaller businesses typically cannot afford Cisco Secure Access."
"Cisco Secure Access could be improved with fewer bugs; we need to address less software bugs, as there are technical issues and errors in the software, which we are trying to resolve to achieve a more stable version that companies can use without issues, but it is a working process, and we understand this."
"I would assess the stability and reliability of Cisco Secure Access as having the worst thing about it being the VAs and their requirement of a full reinstall anytime something unusual happens to them if they go stale or any such thing."
"There are times when Cisco Secure Access feels slow; it takes multiple attempts to log in, which can definitely improve."
"Cisco Secure Access is a strong platform, but there are a few areas that could be improved."
"Cisco Secure Access can be improved with more integration; the more integrations, the better. There are always third-party products that you might have, such as Carbon Black."
"I'm not sure of the improvements. From my point of view, it was the right decision to go to that platform."
"Regarding the pricing aspect, many customers find that the solution is a little bit expensive."
"The maturity of the product needs improvement as the implementation is very complex."
"On a scale of one to 10, I would rate Palo Alto's customer service or technical support as three. Their support is very poor."
"In the beginning, the solution may not be very user-friendly and could be complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
Information not available
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909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise36
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?
Before adopting Cisco Secure Access, we primarily relied on traditional VPN-based remote access solutions combined with supporting security tools for web filtering, access control, and visibility. ...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?
Cisco Secure Access serves as our primary solution for providing secure remote access to corporate applications and resources for a distributed workforce. We use it to enforce consistent security p...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?
My biggest piece of advice is to approach Cisco Secure Access as a strategic, zero trust initiative rather than simply a replacement for traditional VPN technology. Organizations get the most value...
What needs improvement with Prisma Access Browser?
SD-WAN capability is another solution, and it is not Prisma Access Browser; we do not have SD-WAN capability with Prisma Access Browser. I would like to improve the private access to do the ZTNA. I...
What is your primary use case for Prisma Access Browser?
We are integrators, and we do not use Prisma Access Browser for our personal use or professional use; we use Prisma Access Browser to present the solution to our customers and to try to sell this s...
What advice do you have for others considering Prisma Access Browser?
With granular policy enforcement, we can enforce policy for users, groups of users, or many domains; we can whitelist, blacklist, and in DLP, we have a main use case to block or prevent exfiltratio...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Lemonade, Rapyd, Telit Cinterion, Landry’s, Golden Nugget, Houston Rockets
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Access vs. Prisma Access Browser and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.