Cisco Secure Access vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall comparison

Cisco and Zscaler are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Cisco is ranked #17 with an average rating of 8.5, while Zscaler is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.3. Cisco holds a 0.0% mindshare in Firewalls, compared to Zscaler’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Secure Access and Zscaler Cloud Firewall based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Access vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Access vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

September 2025

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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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 20.7%, up from 18.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 0.0%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud Firewall is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewalls Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	20.7%
Cisco Secure Access	0.0%
Zscaler Cloud Firewall	0.4%
Other	78.9%

Firewalls

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Vasil Blagov

Manager, Network at Duracell International, Inc.

Easy management and security ensure reliable 24/7 connectivity

Zero Trust Network Access has helped my organization in securing standard applications because it's mandated to have it. It provides peace of mind knowing that we have that deployed in our network. Cisco Secure Access's ability to provide secure access via standard HTTP2, and optionally, QUIC protocol is good. It complies with the new standards. The impact of Cisco Secure Access on protecting my organization from phishing and ransomware threats has been good so far. We've been doing well with no threats.

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Vikram Srirama.

Deputy General Manager at Sagility

A highly scalable solution that helps monitor and block undesired, non-standard traffic

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is a cloud-based solution. Zscaler Cloud Firewall is a good product. Since it's a SaaS product, most of the maintenance of devices is eliminated, and it is bundled with your secure web gateway. People should use Zscaler Cloud Firewall for their remote users or work-from-home users. Overall, I rate Zscaler Cloud Firewall a nine out of ten.

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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

"Centralized monitoring, policy management, and virtualized appliances allow us to take control over our public and private infrastructure."

"Security, SD-WAN, and Streetscape are valuable features."

"Fortinet offers comprehensive security solutions for various purposes."

"Its usability is good. We can easily navigate the system, and we have a very good user experience."

"The solution is very, very easy to use."

"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate is the IPS or IDS implementation. I appreciate most the agility or the flexibility to create hashes to block incoming threats, and I can integrate with third-party threat intelligence with our FortiGate."

"The most useful functionality of Fortinet FortiGate is the user interface, multiple engines, and their cloud with the latest integrations. Additionally, the Security Fabric tool is very good."

"FortiGate's threat detection capability is excellent."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"I use this solution for securing security controls like Secure Security Control (SSC) for local Internet breakouts."

"Cisco Secure Access has protected our company against threats such as phishing or ransomware, as we have seen it successfully address various cybersecurity vulnerabilities."

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

"The features of Cisco Secure Access that I most prefer are easy management or manageability, and overall security."

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

"The most valuable feature is the authentication feature."

"Any tool that provides telemetry through logging is a particularly good fit for us because we have to really automate our monitoring."

"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."

More Cisco Secure Access pros

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"The technical support from Zscaler was excellent."

"I like the ease of deployment and its flexibility. We don't need to deal with license, quotes, procurement, delivery, and installation. Everything is software-based, and it's very easy to operate."

"It is a stable solution."

"It provides in-depth visibility into your network, ensuring that traffic flowing into your organization, be it from offices or individual users, is effectively filtered and secured through multiple layers of protection."

"Includes advanced tech protection."

"Zscaler is still a very good product."

"Since it is really customizable, I can use it and avoid enabling access to the full network."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pros

Cons

"In terms of what could be improved, the SD-WAN is quite difficult, because if you install the new box, 15 is okay, but if you change from an old configuration, if there is already configuration and a policy when you change to SD-WAN, you must change the whole policy that you see in the interface."

"The main area needing improvement is the user-friendliness of FortiGate's integration with other Fortinet tools like FortiAuthenticator and VPN services."

"Their support's response time can be better. In the past six months, they took quite a long time to respond to the support tickets."

"There could be more modifications."

"While FortiGate is cheaper than most other solutions, we're seeing increased license renewal costs. Most of our clients are asking for more significant discounts because the price is going up."

"It is somewhat expensive compared to other solutions such as Sophos."

"I would like some automated custom reporting."

"Updating the software during issues can be quite convoluted, especially if there is an unexpected attack, such as on a Saturday."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"From a licensing perspective, Cisco can improve."

"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."

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

"We don't have any good tools right now, which is a problem."

"The worst part was the migration from Umbrella to Cisco Secure Access; we experienced some difficulties during that process."

"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."

"This is my first time in healthcare after being in commercial space for a long time. It's always a challenge because we can't just turn stuff off as we could in the commercial space, since it may interfere with patient care. It takes longer to understand what's going on, so anything that could help give us a faster understanding of what's happening, why it's there, and if it's a risk to us would be helpful."

"The licensing is confusing."

More Cisco Secure Access cons

"They do not provide a few components that are fundamental to differentiate the products"

"When it comes to customer support, there is room for improvement in Zscaler's service."

"Its technical support services could be better."

"The issue right now is probably that Zscaler is not providing web browser isolation. Another solution, Menlo, offers this. For one customer, we had to send traffic to Menlo to do the isolation for us. It was requested by the customer so that they could integrate any iframe. Zscaler needs to add this type of feature in their next release."

"Zscaler Cloud Firewall should have a better understanding of all dynamic cloud applications."

"The product could improve its integration with some legacy systems."

"I don't have the visibility of a control dashboard or a network management system."

"Pricing is a challenge."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"Go for long term pricing negotiated at the time of purchase."

"It's one of the more expensive brands. The 100 series costs around $4,000. They are similar in pricing to what you might get from Cisco solutions and probably other similar ones. They're not more expensive than other similar solutions, but they're certainly not cheaper either."

"The price, in comparison to other products is very cheap."

"Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors."

"It is affordable. Palo Alto is much more expensive than Fortinet."

"You need to pay a license for this solution. Our licensing is now done in our subsidiary."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"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."

"It comes at a significantly reduced cost while ensuring control and effectiveness."

"There is an annual license required for the use of the Zscaler Cloud Firewall."

"There are licensing costs, and I would not say that it's a cheap vendor."

"The product is a bit expensive compared to the solutions offered by its competitors, like Palo Alto. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the license in charges associated with the product."

"It is not the most budget-friendly solution, but it's important to consider its overall value."

"Zscaler is priced too high compared to the cost of Fortinet."

"It is expensive for small businesses."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	129
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	12

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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

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

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What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?

Our main use cases for Cisco Secure Access are security and managing access.

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

As a partner with Cisco, this relationship is more related to the partners agreements, which is why we are selling Ci...

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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...

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What do you like most about Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

The product’s firewall and VPN package are fantastic compared to any other solution.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Firewall?

Zscaler Cloud Firewall is quite expensive compared to competitors. However, it offered moderate value for money.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cisco Umbrella vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 51% of the time

Netskope vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 15% of the time

FortiSASE vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 12% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 7% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Secure Access Competitors

Azure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 13% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 11% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

OPNsense vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Zscaler Cloud Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

More Zscaler Cloud Firewall Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

September 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Access

September 2025

Download Cisco Secure Access product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Cloud Firewall

August 2025

Download Zscaler Cloud Firewall product report

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

Fortinet

Cisco Secure Access is a comprehensive solution that ensures secure access to networks and protects against unauthorized access. It is used for network authentication, enforcing access policies, managing user identities, securing remote access, and providing secure connectivity for devices. Users have praised its robust security measures, seamless integration with existing systems, user-friendly interface, and reliable network performance.

Cisco

Zscaler enables the world’s leading organizations to securely transform their networks and applications for a mobile and cloud first world. Its flagship services, Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access, create fast, secure connections between users and applications, regardless of device, location, or network. Zscaler services are 100% cloud-delivered and offer the simplicity, enhanced security, and improved user experience that traditional appliances or hybrid solutions are unable to match. Used in more than 185 countries, Zscaler operates the world’s largest cloud security platform, protecting thousands of enterprises and government agencies from cyberattacks and data loss.

Check more details: https://www.zscaler.com/produc...

Zscaler

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

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

Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Access vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

September 2025

Free Report: Cisco Secure Access vs. Zscaler Cloud Firewall

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