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Cisco Web Security Appliance vs GoodAccess comparison

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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

iboss
Sponsored
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), ZTNA as a Service (8th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (8th)
Cisco Web Security Appliance
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
13th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
GoodAccess
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
22nd
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (20th), ZTNA (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 2.2%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Web Security Appliance is 2.2%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GoodAccess is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
iboss2.2%
Cisco Web Security Appliance2.2%
GoodAccess0.2%
Other95.4%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford - PeerSpot reviewer
It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless
One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. 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 user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured
Vusa Ndlovu - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Itai Rieur - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable service with good support and little downtime
The best aspects of GoodAccess include: 1. Support system (available 24/7, quick to respond, and highly knowledgeable). GoodAccess offers a very available professional support service - it can be via chat service, email, or phone. The relevant representative was very professional, and responsive questions were answered in a prompt manner. 2. Stable service. Since we rely daily on a VPN to connect with multiple connections, VPN stability is crucial to us. in that sense, GoodAccess never fails. In the two or more years we have been using this service, there have been only one or two downtimes. each for 20 minutes or less. That's impressive.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"iboss is easy to use despite its complexity. Multiple engineers manage it, but it's significantly more straightforward to administer than traditional VPNs and web proxies."
"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device."
"Granular setup, which was able to set different levels of filters using the OUs in the AD."
"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."
"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."
"Iboss is a solution that prevents advanced persistent threats, and has a zero tolerance for attacks."
"We chose iboss for both zero trust and proxy (SWG) because their SWG was superior."
"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."
"The solution offers content filtering and micro-content controls, such as regulating the types of images and their resolution."
"The setup was very easy and straightforward."
"What we liked best about it was the ability to apply policy to either a user ID or an IP-based network."
"The features I like most are the DLP functionality for web security and malware protection."
"The most valuable feature is that we can use it as a proxy."
"It's a scalable product."
"Great for assisting with connections to networks or apps."
"The deployment process is very simple."
"Their user interface is intuitive as it is easy to navigate."
"The solution's robustness has meant that our team, regardless of where they're located, feels as though they're working right from the office, having secure and quick access to all essential tools."
"It has become an integral part of our remote work toolkit, as it enables us to overcome USA IP restrictions, ensuring our global teams can collaborate effectively."
"GoodAccess offers a very available professional support service - it can be via chat service, email, or phone."
"Access control allows us to manage permissions efficiently, ensuring secure and tailored access."
"GoodAccess was the only hosted VPN solution we found for a reasonable cost that allowed us to establish a site-to-site VPN network for hundreds of locations across the country."
"This simple, stable, affordable VPN solution scaled with us over the first year of use, allowing for an expansion of remote/hybrid workers to remotely access key systems otherwise restricted to our internal office network."
"We love the simple interface and speed and reliability of the system."
 

Cons

"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."
"Fold that in with the risk intelligence they're getting from all of the different subscriptions they are a part of. Now, these security companies subscribe to things like emerging threats, databases, etc. You can fold all this intelligence to decide what's happening on an endpoint. I would love to see them start moving into that space. That would compete directly with Microsoft. Maybe that's why they haven't. Having that ability native within the solution would be great. The other area in which I would love to see improvement is more detailed descriptions of why they block websites."
"Its pricing could be better."
"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."
"I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention."
"Sometimes when you call in support, you get someone who is just following a sheet. It feels like a runaround. You feel that you are running into that support wall."
"Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc. It is easy to gain access if, for example, hackers obtain my username and password."
"Sometimes the agent stops working in iboss, and we have to reinstall the agent."
"The transparent proxy is quite difficult to enforce on smartphones and tablets."
"Cisco lacks a GUI-based troubleshooting feature compared to products by other vendors."
"Setting up Cisco Web Security Appliance is highly complex and it takes about a week. We have to connect it to the Active Directory and configure all the policies for end users. It takes a long time to configure rules for our company data like port forwarding and separating the public and local components."
"Sometimes reporting is a little bit short."
"With the WebAssign integration, it is not easy when I am integrating policies within the company, especially with NAND and wireless policies."
"If a user wants to use it for other devices like mobile or smartphones, this product isn't so reliable."
"The tool needs to provide logs. They need to improve firewall threat defense."
"The support is good but slow. Generally, the response time for resolving issues is getting slower."
"For small organizations, it works great. However, the larger the organization, the more scalable the pricing model, the better, since gateways can be very expensive if an organization needs multiple gateways."
"It is worth mentioning that we do experience disconnects on rare occasions."
"Their recent revision in pricing was a jolt. Though any business understands the need for periodic pricing evaluations, a clearer communication strategy and more gradual changes might have been more palatable for long-term clients like us."
"Enhancing the user interface and experience could make it more intuitive for all users."
"The installable app's occasional bugs have caused disruptions for some users, impacting smooth usage."
"We are having a problem with accessing Microsoft Copilot while connected. GoodAccess is working on the issue, but fixing this will be a help to us. There is nothing else at the moment that we need to have improved for our usage."
"This past year, I did not like having to purchase an upgrade to a plan with a minimum number of seats to get the features we needed. We do not use all of the seats."
"The logs do not go back very far."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."
"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."
"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."
"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."
"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."
"I rate Cisco WSA a seven out of ten since it is costly."
"I rate the product price a ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"This is an expensive solution."
"When you compare the price of this solution to the price of FortiGate, it's high."
"The licensing options begin with 100 users and this is a high threshold for smaller networks."
"The pricing is too high."
"The solution's cost depends on how many users you purchase. It was maybe $3 or $5 per user, which is a bit expensive."
"Regarding Cisco price-wise, it is always on a bit on the higher side."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Non Profit
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?
For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company Exxon...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
Previously when I used iboss, we did the POC for iboss for ExxonMobil. Four or five people wanted to move from our ol...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern. There are cheaper alte...
What do you like most about Cisco Web Security Appliance?
The most valuable features of the solution are the functions of proxy for the users who use the internet and the secu...
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 s...
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 NAN...
What do you like most about GoodAccess?
GoodAccess offers a very available professional support service - it can be via chat service, email, or phone.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GoodAccess?
Test multiple providers' solutions for speed and connection before signing up for service. Also, test the help desk r...
What needs improvement with GoodAccess?
We are having a problem with accessing Microsoft Copilot while connected. GoodAccess is working on the issue, but fix...
 

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
Cisco WSA, Cisco Web Security
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Caixa Seguradora
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Web Security Appliance vs. GoodAccess and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.