No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

McAfee Application Control vs ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 17, 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

McAfee Application Control
Ranking in Application Control
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ThreatLocker Zero Trust Pla...
Ranking in Application Control
1st
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (4th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (5th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (4th), ZTNA as a Service (5th), ZTNA (5th), Ransomware Protection (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Application Control category, the mindshare of McAfee Application Control is 5.7%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform is 15.7%, down from 21.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Control Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform15.7%
McAfee Application Control5.7%
Other78.6%
Application Control
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1437648 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Easy to configure, reliable, secure, and has good support
With some specific versions, we are experiencing some issues where the policy configuration has some problems with the parent and child processes. There have been problems with the relationship between the parent and child process, from time to time. I would like to see better reporting and alerting features in the future.
Santo Joy - PeerSpot reviewer
Head Of Cyber Security at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
Security controls have been strengthened with granular application, ringfencing, and access policies
The features of ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that I like the most are the Ringfencing, elevation control, storage control, and application whitelisting functionality. For examples of how these features benefit my company, we were looking for a solution across various vendors to actually implement application whitelisting controls. ThreatLocker's agent, which is very lightweight and does not use much CPU or RAM, helped us achieve that solution. Ringfencing was an add-on that ticked off a lot of Australian framework security controls, which is the reason we chose it. My impression of the allowlisting feature in terms of managing which software, scripts, and libraries run on my devices is that ThreatLocker's community page has a lot of information around this, which is very helpful. Not only that, the Cyber Hero support that ThreatLocker provides gives us insights and best practices, helping us achieve that solution and guiding us to the right platform. The impact of Ringfencing on controlling the behavior of approved applications has been a big winner for us because it is something that many other platforms do not provide as a functionality. Having that allowed us to identify what applications talk to each other, which is something that many other platforms do not do. The network control feature impacts my ability to manage network traffic across my endpoints and servers. We have not used this widely across all our partners, but wherever required, we use it. It has been an easy solution for those customers to get that control implemented. The elevation feature's role in facilitating just-in-time administrative access for approved applications shows that elevation control helps in many use cases involving remote control platforms, door usage, and security system platforms that require local admins. There are many solutions that provide this functionality, but the licensing cost seems to be expensive, and it also adds another solution into the mix. Rather than doing that, we try to use ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform to achieve that control. Regarding the storage control feature, I have used it. The primary function is USB blocking, which is very widely adopted, and also just locking down and allowing certain users to access certain file locations helps us there. When it comes to enforcing policy-driven access over various storage devices, it depends on the business risk adapted by the companies that we support, but generally the use case is USB and external storage devices where companies know that is a risk, but they do not have appropriate solutions. There are EDR platforms that claim to do this, but ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform does it at an advanced level. My assessment of the efficiency of the real-time threat intelligence and category controls employed by Web Control in blocking malicious and non-compliant sites leads me to think that Web Control is another functionality within ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that is an add-on on top of the current set. That is another solution that we use based on what is required for the company, but again, that is not widely adapted yet for our partners.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the whitelisting; I can test the applications and we can also predefine rules for Windows, rules for the application and control."
"It does its job well, and it's not causing a lot of trouble."
"We also like the Change Control. We can control how things get executed. It has signatures for different kinds of protocols."
"This is a basic solution; the policy screen is okay, and it's easy to configure."
"I would evaluate the customer service and technical support from ThreatLocker as phenomenal; it's white glove service, better than any other security product we've owned."
"ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform has helped my company save on operational costs and expenses."
"A few years back, we had an attack on one of our biggest clients."
"We use ThreatLocker's Allowlisting to whitelist specific applications and prevent unauthorized software from running."
"Network Control, Application Control, and Storage Control impact my daily workflow significantly, as they give me operational freedom with cyber hero support, reduce the anxiety I have day-to-day, and have improved my overall general mental health because of all of the never feeling alone being reduced to near zero, with a whole team of cyber heroes that are just jumping to help me, and the turnaround is literally a minute in most cases."
"Overall, ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform has significantly strengthened our endpoint security by enforcing zero trust principles while maintaining operational flexibility and user productivity."
"I really enjoy ringfencing and elevation features. It makes my life easier because I do not have to get on a computer to elevate a prompt to allow users to run something they run every day as an admin."
"ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform has helped us protect our environments and have more meaningful requests for access as well as meaningful logging for response."
 

Cons

"I would like to see better reporting and alerting features in the future."
"With some specific versions, we are experiencing some issues where the policy configuration has some problems with the parent and child processes."
"The intrusion detection features should also be improved. It is a very good feature but it should be maximized."
"The initial setup is not straightforward, it was complex. The manuals don't have all the information you need to deploy it."
"The support could be quicker. There are times when there is a delay in getting a response. This is problematic when immediate attention is needed."
"Efficiency-wise, it was a bit harder in the beginning because we were new to the product and it was a lot of overhead to manage it."
"I assess the efficiency of the real-time threat intelligence and category controls employed by Web Control in blocking malicious and non-compliant sites as fair. There are a few false positives."
"The biggest thing I would like to see improved in ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform is reporting."
"More visibility in the built-ins would be nice."
"I took off one point because sometimes it can be a bit complicated for new engineers, such as my teammates, especially for those who don't have hands-on experience."
"To become the best solution, some sort of integration or remote management, like remotely connecting, could be beneficial."
"ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform can be improved by making the installation easier."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We have not had any real issues with the pricing. As they have added more features, due to the way our contracts are structured with our customers, we have had to hold off on adopting the new features because they do add costs."
"I find ThreatLocker's pricing to be reasonable for the services it provides."
"Its price is fair. They have added some additional things to it beyond allowlisting. They are up-charging for them, but in terms of the value we get and the way it impacts us, we get a bang for our buck with ThreatLocker than a lot of our other security tools."
"So far, it has been great. I have no complaints. Of course, everybody wishes it was cheaper."
"The pricing works fine for me. It's very reasonably priced."
"Although the pricing seems good, there have been inconsistencies in contract negotiations."
"The price of ThreatLocker Allowlisting is reasonable in the market, but it is not fantastic."
"I do not know about the licensing and price as it comes bundled from our MSP. However, it seems fairly reasonable for us, which is why we chose it."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Control solutions are best for your needs.
909,563 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ThreatLocker Allowlisting?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform is that the pricing is reasonable, the cost is fair, and the licensing is not too high.
What needs improvement with ThreatLocker Allowlisting?
I would suggest adding an AI-based policy recommendation feature to ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform because we have to create every policy manually. If there were a custom AI that could help with ...
What is your primary use case for ThreatLocker Allowlisting?
Our main use case for ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform is to provide endpoint security and to control each and every application end-to-end that can run on the company's devices, primarily to secur...
 

Also Known As

McAfee Application, Change Control
Protect, Allowlisting, Network Control, Ringfencing
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Contec
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about McAfee Application Control vs. ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
909,563 professionals have used our research since 2012.