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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

"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."
"I find the posture checking feature of Cisco Secure Access the most valuable."
"It works well. It hasn't broken. While I don't know enough about all the features yet, it hasn't caused us any problems."
"I find the zero trust approach helpful and beneficial in securing standard applications, which means you are accessing the applications directly instead of giving privilege to access the network itself."
"It is very good technology overall, and Cisco simplifies it for us and for their customers."
"Based on ROI, Cisco Secure Access is worth the investment, as it is a core security product that allows customers to measure their ROI effectively."
"It is very flexible, a very competitive solution, very helpful, and very secure; it includes everything a business needs, and the pricing is also available."
"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."
"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

"The Talos database is insufficient because Cisco Secure Access web gateway database is not big enough to hold every URL, leading to numerous problems with URLs not being categorized correctly and a slow turnaround for recategorization requests."
"From a licensing perspective, Cisco can improve."
"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."
"The main issue with pricing is that it is higher compared to other competitors, making it challenging to work with customers unless they specifically request Cisco."
"If the FTD devices themselves, the Firepower Threat Detection system, those are the firewalls themselves, the individual appliances, weren't so tightly coupled to FMC, I'd probably appreciate them as a product more."
"I believe Cisco Secure Access can be improved by changing some features, enhancing the user interface, and streamlining reporting."
"The initial deployment and policy design process can be complex, particularly for organizations with a large number of applications, diverse user groups, and existing security integrations."
"Cisco Secure Access is a strong platform, but there are a few areas that could be improved."
"In the beginning, the solution may not be very user-friendly and could be complex."
"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."
"Regarding the pricing aspect, many customers find that the solution is a little bit expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"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
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
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.