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Cisco Web Security Appliance vs Trend Micro Web Security [EOL] comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 26, 2026

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
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (6th), Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (6th), ZTNA as a Service (7th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (7th)
Cisco Web Security Appliance
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (21st)
Trend Micro Web Security [EOL]
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Vusa Ndlovu - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
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.
Vladimir Alexandrov - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Chorus
Consistent web protection has prevented incidents and supports flexible hybrid security models
I would rate Trend Micro Web Security a nine, but not because I have some issues in mind. I have only seen a bit better product. I was also a McAfee partner some time ago, when there was still McAfee. Some features definitely in McAfee were better than what I see in Trend Micro. I cannot tell what Trend Micro could learn from web security products of their competitors because this product has not existed for at least eight years now for McAfee, and I have no experience with other competitors. But relative to my experience and expertise, I should rate it a ten, but still I am a bit cautious because other products also have great features and these features are not covered 100% by Trend Micro. I cannot tell what additional features I would like to see in the next release, but when I see such a feature, it is very compelling. When you get into a new car and this car has something new and great, adaptive suspension, whatever, you just feel a nice feeling and you want this car. That is how I feel. I have not complained that something is missing from Trend Micro product, but I have seen in specific examples some great ideas in competition.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."
"Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss."
"The iboss solution gives me the ability to scan the traffic through all the ports, through all the 131,000 PCP and UDP ports, and with this ability, we have the granularity also for consults over social media and applications on mobile, and this is an advantage that the customers are looking for right now."
"From a corporate perspective, I understand that it's important to keep the company data safe."
"I would rate the technical support of iboss a solid 10 without a shadow of a doubt."
"I would definitely recommend iboss for web filtering purposes to other organizations or individuals."
"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 definitely very good in terms of service."
"The solution is very easy to implement; it's not overly complex or too difficult."
"This solution helps our customers with the challenges their clients face attempting to connect to their network or app."
"It also has high availability."
"We use this solution to restrict prohibited websites and applications."
"The tool has good Umbrella DNS security."
"Integration-wise, browser-security-wise (for users browsing the internet), it's one of the greatest tools."
"The features I like most are the DLP functionality for web security and malware protection."
"Cisco Web Security Appliance can integrate with Active Directory, enabling us to manage all the end-users within AD. It's helpful for setting rules based on individual users and groups. For example, you can configure policies for inbound and outbound traffic."
"Trend Micro effectively supports our remote workforce by securing our web servers from external threats, particularly browser security."
"Trend Micro has a good portfolio for security solutions."
"Trend Micro Web Security is used to protect the organizations from shoulder surfing and it also does certain classifications to provide protection not only from a security point of view, but also from a GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) point of view."
"It prevents phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, and other threats that can compromise data."
"The stability of the product is great, there are no bugs or glitches, and it does not crash or freeze."
"We find the advanced license for the DLP to be particularly useful with this product."
"Overall, I would rate this solution a ten out of ten."
"The security of Trend Micro Web Security is good."
 

Cons

"I have heard they are doing DDoS filtering, but I am not certain if they are implementing it correctly."
"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."
"It is stable, but due to growth, it can sometimes be less stable than wanted."
"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."
"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 reporting feature needs improvement."
"The dashboards for local use could be better."
"One thing I would like to see differently with their Zero Trust platform is that some of the AI aspects related to high-risk activities have more false positives."
"The product is great, however, incorporating features offered by competitors would be beneficial."
"WSA is lacking firewall features."
"The support for this solution could be improved. We have experienced issues with their SMARTnet support system."
"There are certain shortcomings related to the product's management capabilities, where improvements are required. The solution needs to provide better management of the category of web pages."
"The stability is lacking and is something that should be looked at. We don't find it to be very stable."
"The support is good but slow. Generally, the response time for resolving issues is getting slower."
"The solution could improve the graphical user interface. It is not up to the regular standard of what we would expect from Cisco. Additionally, they need to improve the categorization when blocking in the settings. The CLI could have a better view than the graphical user interface but I did not investigate further."
"There are occasional delays in customer support but it's a minor thing."
"The price of Trend Micro Web Security is the only area of concern where improvements are required. From an improvement perspective, the product should be made available to users at a cheaper rate."
"The system should generate reports when an attack has been stopped, contained, or removed."
"The installation is a little bit complex."
"What could help Trend Micro Web Security in terms of improvement is the addition of a DDoS protection feature. It also needs to be more comprehensive to meet the needs of large-sized companies."
"There are multiple ways Web Security could improve, such as usability and web access to several programming modes."
"I would rate the technical support by Trend Micro a three. The response time is poor."
"his legacy version currently lacks WFA, which is a useful tool for managing bandwidth and applying data control limits to specific users. It's especially beneficial for organizations using Android and Azure."
"Trend Micro products are quite expensive compared to Kaspersky, Sophos, and McAfee."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"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."
"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."
"The solution has a standard license."
"Cisco Web Security Appliance is not the cheapest solution on the market, but it's well worth it."
"The pricing is too high."
"Regarding Cisco price-wise, it is always on a bit on the higher side."
"I know from the manager that the price is too high and that other solutions offer the same features for less."
"Licensing fees are based on the number of users."
"The solution's cost depends on how many users you purchase. It was maybe $3 or $5 per user, which is a bit expensive."
"I rate Cisco WSA a seven out of ten since it is costly."
"We pay for the license on an annual basis."
"The solution is expensive in terms of deployment."
"It is pricey. Trend Micro has been in the field for 30 years, so you have to pay a premium amount for that."
"There's annual and monthly options for the license. When you're on the managed services option, it's monthly. They're also setting up an option via AWS where there will be a monthly option via the AWS shopfront."
"I rate the product price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"I don't remember the exact pricing, but I think that it is approximately $10.00 per user."
"I rate the product's price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"We have found this product to be very cost effective. The endpoint product costs roughly $20, and when purchasing the endpoint product, there are multiple other features included."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Performing Arts
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?
The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent ...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
We used iBoss mainly for Internet Access by having an Agent on Windows laptops Primarily because when we try to use i...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?
I am not involved in pricing, but as per the information I have, during that time, the Blue Coat proxies we were usin...
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 is your primary use case for Cisco Web Security Appliance?
The user interface that I usually provide for the web app includes malware protection, URL filtering, data loss preve...
Do you recommend Trend Micro Web Security?
I would recommend Trend Micro Web Security to organizations looking for an end-to-end security solution. Trend Micro ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Trend Micro Web Security?
It is pricey. Trend Micro has been in the field for 30 years, so you have to pay a premium amount for that. SentinelO...
What needs improvement with Trend Micro Web Security?
I would rate Trend Micro Web Security a nine, but not because I have some issues in mind. I have only seen a bit bett...
 

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
Cisco WSA, Cisco Web Security
Virus Wall, VirusWall, Trend Micro VirusWall
 

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
Landwirtschaftskammer Nordrhein-Westfalen, Mosaic Medical, Okinawa Prefectural Education Center, RAK Investment Authority
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Zscaler and others in Secure Web Gateways (SWG). Updated: June 2026.
904,680 professionals have used our research since 2012.