Netskope Private Access vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform comparison

Netskope and Zscaler are both solutions in the ZTNA as a Service category. Netskope is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.5, while Zscaler is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. Netskope holds a 5.1% mindshare in ZaaS, compared to Zscaler’s 17.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Netskope users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Netskope Private Access and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform are competing products in the secure access services market, aimed at providing secure remote access and protecting corporate resources. While customers favor Netskope for its pricing and support, Zscaler is preferred for its robust features and scalability.

Features: Netskope Private Access provides seamless integration, strong performance analytics, and a very user-friendly interface. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform offers robust policy enforcement, high scalability, and advanced security protections such as content filtering and Data Loss Protection (DLP).

Room for Improvement: Netskope may benefit from enhanced policy customization, improved scalability options, and advanced security features like SSL inspection. Zscaler could improve by simplifying its deployment process, enhancing support response times, and reducing pricing complexity to make it more competitive.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Netskope Private Access is praised for its intuitive deployment and responsive customer support, making it a preferred choice for quick setups. Zscaler, while requiring more deployment time due to its configurability, offers comprehensive support but may need improvements in responsiveness.

Pricing and ROI: Netskope Private Access is generally more affordable, offering attractive ROI with lower setup costs, appealing to cost-conscious organizations. In contrast, Zscaler, while more expensive, justifies its price through a comprehensive feature set that ensures long-term value and enhanced security posture.

To learn more, read our detailed Netskope Private Access vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Netskope Private Access vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

April 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

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the ZTNA as a Service category, the mindshare of iboss is 1.9%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netskope Private Access is 5.1%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is 17.0%, down from 23.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

ZTNA as a Service

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford

Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water

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

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Christian Dagal

Security Architect Manager at Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.

Provides network visibility, infrastructure protection and advanced security protections, especially the DLP (Data Loss Protection)

Room for improvement is more on the policies offered for DLP. Netskope detects certain data or contents, but there are some limitations on how we can customize those policies for DLP. In the next release, I hope we can see more use cases for mobile devices, not just for laptops or servers but also for key features that will be available on mobile devices or smartphones.

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Sumit Bhanwala

architect at Tata Consultancy

Cloud-based platform simplifies device and data center management

I find it to be good. The solution is cloud-based with the latest inspection engines, which I find to be amazing. We are less dependent on data centers and device management, which reduces our efforts significantly. It improves our device management, data center management, and updating devices. We need fewer engineers for this management, and it reduces time and efforts for data center management, device upgrades, and IT support.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device. It operates on the network side and is not device-based. This feature was one of the main reasons why we stayed with them for so long."

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

"We chose iboss for both zero trust and proxy (SWG) because their SWG was superior."

"Technical support is pretty sharp and very responsive."

"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."

"I would rate the technical support of iboss a solid 10 without a shadow of a doubt."

"Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss."

More iboss pros

"In the firewall, we don't have a user-based policies list, and we can't create them. Netskope helps us to create user-based policies. For example, if there are specific teams like HR or more than nine teams, and we want logs from access over particular URLs, and we don't want to allow that specific URL for certain users, we can create these policies in Netskope. It's handy, easy to use for new users, and has a cool GUI interface. We can create multiple policies, and as for the proxy, it's a leading solution."

"The most valuable feature is being able to see who is accessing the application, whether it is a managed device or a bring-your-own-device published by Netskope."

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."

"In the VPN scenario, what was happening, the user would get back to the complete source. But in NPA, the application will go to the user. There is an outbound connection. There is no inbound. Storage providers are also not there. It's the best feature because it is the replacement of the VPN."

"We can block and alert the ports and allow the public traffic software in our environment."

"The initial setup of Netskope Private Access is pretty simple and straightforward."

"It is a stable solution."

"Netskope enables users to securely access private applications remotely without a VPN."

More Netskope Private Access pros

"Zscaler Cloud DLP provides you with basic DLP features that you get out of the box such as keywords, regular expressions, and data identifiers, for example, your social security numbers, and credit card numbers, with everything built into the product, so you can directly use those features within the policies. You don't need to create it from scratch, and to me, this is the biggest benefit of Zscaler Cloud DLP. You have a lot of templates to choose from in the solution, rather than having to create templates from scratch or reinvent templates."

"The most valuable aspect of Zscaler Cloud DLP is its automatic DLP feature."

"As a cloud-based service, it is very easily implemented."

"You can close your data protection gaps with Zscaler. You can quickly find all the classified, sensitive data across the cloud."

"The in-line DLP feature is one of the most vital features"

"The product’s most valuable features are inbound and outbound scanning and API control."

"We don't need to connect anymore. It is automatically connected when you log on in Windows."

"The most valuable features of Zscaler CASB are API integration and DLP."

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform pros

Cons

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

"Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device and filtering did not always work correctly."

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"Its pricing could be better."

"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."

"Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern."

"The area I would like to see improvement in is the ability with in the reporter to navigate directly to the content the user is traversing. It is kind of there, but it's not perfect. Quite frequently, I receive links that lead me to pages with error messages."

"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."

More iboss cons

"The major problem that we are facing is if we deploy Netskope on the server level or if we get a new server in the EMEA factor, it will affect all the machines. Recently, this has caused us to fail some reviews."

"Netskope Private Access could improve by enhancing visibility of user performance and application performance. It should also integrate wider DLP and inspection engines on private access traffic."

"The main challenge we are facing across various Trust Network Access (TNA) technologies, including Netskope, is their inability to support broadcast applications or those relying on broadcasting protocols."

"Netskope Private Access allows mapping only one DNS server. If a user uses a secondary DNS on-premises, Netskope fails to disconnect them. This is an issue that needs to be addressed."

"The cost has room for improvement."

"Netskope needs to provide some kind of data protection strategy as well because, currently, if you connect through private access, we don't have any data protection policies or implementation."

"Netskope Private Access only supports TCP and UDP ports and does not support ICMP or ping."

"I would like to see them go down the path of including SD-WAN. Currently, they don't do SD-WAN. If they could somehow natively do that inside of the platform, that would be amazing. I don't know if they're going to do it, but it would be amazing if they do."

More Netskope Private Access cons

"It has massive room for improvement. The Zscaler product itself is okay, but it doesn't give enough granularity for us as an organization to stipulate rules or processes, especially for data-driven services. For instance, we can stick on SSL inspection, but it's just a click box. It doesn't allow us to go any further into the detail of the SSL inspection. We also can't pull it out without having an additional logging server. It just doesn't give us enough granularity. They should give us more control over the interfaces because it is all backend. They weren't very open to discussing their backend architecture with us in terms of their own data centers. They can maybe a little bit more open about what components are there and how the backend infrastructure works alongside Zscaler. Its licensing can be better. Some of the additional licensing costs are quite high, and they should have certain features ready and available as a baseline rather than having to purchase additional licenses for it. Their support should also be improved. I initially had a consultant from Zscaler for its deployment, but the support that I had throughout the deployment of the project wasn't the best."

"The stability could be improved."

"There is some issue while accessing the portal. It takes too long."

"There are some performance issues with the solution once the module addition begins"

"The area that requires improvement is their support. The current support is lacking."

"On the improvement side, when we bypass certain internet traffic types, it's currently recommended to have a one-click option, but audio and video aren't always supported. Thus, we need to bypass that kind of traffic. So, it is an area of improvement."

"To enhance their offering, it is advisable for them to focus on strengthening the foundation of their architecture. Additionally, they should consider integrating a broader range of services that go beyond what managed service providers typically offer independently."

"The product must allow users to check logs for an entire year in the local console."

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"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."

"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."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"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 pricing of the solution is cheap."

"It is not the most expensive option, being more affordable than Zscaler, but it's also not the most budget-friendly choice available."

"It is significantly cost-effective compared to its contenders."

"When it comes to pricing, Netskope Private Access is relatively cheap compared to other solutions."

"There was about 60% ROI, just in terms of savings. We had 40% to 60% reduction in monthly operational costs by using Netskope."

"The tool's price is normal. It is not very cheap but good compared to the competitors."

"Netskope Private Access is more inexpensive than other products."

"I believe that the price for Netskope Private Access is included in the features or functionality my company purchased from NetSkope."

More Netskope Private Access pricing and cost advice

"It's expensive currently. But when purchasing for a large number of users, there's room to negotiate. It's really up to the procurement team."

"Zscaler Private Access can be an expensive solution, depending on the license type you will purchase."

"Pricing for Zscaler Private Access is moderate. It's acceptable, though I can't give you the exact price currently. It's not too expensive, and on a scale of one to five, I would rate it a four out of five in terms of pricing."

"Zscaler SASE software is quite expensive compared to other solutions"

"It is an auto-renewal subscription service."

"It's an affordable solution"

"The product has reasonable pricing."

"In the long run, cloud services are not inherently costly."

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Energy/Utilities Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iboss?

Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.

See all answers

What needs improvement with iboss?

I have a couple of thoughts for improvement, but usually when I address them with my rep, they put it into the featur...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iboss?

We use it primarily for simpler filtering because we're a K12 entity.

See all answers

What do you like most about Netskope Private Access?

Even without extensive training, if you're a proficient IT professional, you can easily configure it.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Netskope Private Access?

Netskope Private Access could improve by enhancing visibility of user performance and application performance. It sho...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Netskope Private Access?

Our primary use case for Netskope Private Access ( /products/netskope-private-access-reviews ) was for internal acces...

See all answers

What is the better solution - Prisma Access or Zscaler Private Access?

We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure ac...

See all answers

What do you like most about Zscaler SASE?

The most valuable features of Zscaler Private Access are reliability, scalability, and availability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler SASE?

Zscaler SASE is quite expensive compared to other solutions. The price is not fixed and it does not include all of th...

See all answers

Comparisons

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 19% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 14% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs iboss

Compared 5% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Netskope Private Access

Compared 27% of the time

Appgate SDP vs Netskope Private Access

Compared 9% of the time

Cloudflare One vs Netskope Private Access

Compared 9% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Netskope Private Access

Compared 7% of the time

Jamf Connect vs Netskope Private Access

Compared 4% of the time

More Netskope Private Access Competitors

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 10% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 7% of the time

FortiSASE vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 6% of the time

Cloudflare One vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 4% of the time

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

May 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Netskope Private Access

May 2025

Download Netskope Private Access product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

April 2025

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform report

Download Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

No data available

Zscaler SASE, Zscaler DLP, Zscaler CASB, Zscaler CSPM, Zscaler Browser Isolation, Zscaler Posture Control

Overview

iboss offers a comprehensive security platform designed for diverse use cases such as web filtering, data loss protection, corporate proxy services, and URL filtering.

iboss integrates advanced features to address dynamic security needs, leveraging its strength in SASE, ZTNA, AI initiatives, and cloud integration, while ensuring seamless operations for remote work. It excels in historical forensics, malware protection, and flexible cloud deployments. Users benefit from comprehensive traffic scanning, robust malware detection, and PaaS capabilities that reduce hardware management. An intuitive admin console ensures efficient management with content filtering and low false positives. SSL decryption enhances security, while DLP protects data in AI conversations. Deployment is rapid and scalable, allowing effortless integration with emerging technologies.

What features does iboss offer?

Granular Web Filtering: Provides precise control over web content access.
Traffic Scanning: Monitors data through multiple ports for security breaches.
Malware Detection: Ensures superior protection against malware threats.
PaaS Capabilities: Eliminates need for hardware management.
SSL Decryption: Enhances data protection by decrypting secure connections.
DLP Capabilities: Safeguards data during AI interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts quickly to growing demands and emerging tech integration.
Rapid Deployment: Reduces time to implement security measures.
User-Friendly Admin Console: Facilitates efficient operations management.
Low False Positives: Increases accuracy of threat detection systems.

iboss finds significant application in sectors such as education, where web filtering for K-12 is crucial, and in corporate environments requiring robust proxy services and URL filtering for network security. Its adaptability is essential in scenarios demanding flexible, decentralized security frameworks, particularly for remote work setups.

iboss

Netskope Private Access is an integral component of the Netskope Security Cloud platform that provides zero-trust secure access to enterprise applications and data in hybrid IT (public cloud and data center) environments. It offers comprehensive policy management, compliance assessment, and supports any application, protocol, and device to reduce risk and simplify security operations.

Netskope

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform acts as a VPN alternative for secure remote access, cloud protection, and zero-trust strategies. It enables secure data transmission, supports remote work, and enhances compliance through a cloud-based architecture, offering improved performance and simplified management.

Designed for organizations seeking secure application access and robust data protection, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform delivers a comprehensive solution through seamless VPN connectivity, data loss prevention, and SSL inspection. Its cloud integration ensures scalability and reliability, while its interface provides intuitive management. Companies benefit from automatic secure access, minimizing constant authentication needs, and safeguarding sensitive data. The platform allows easy deployment and integration with diverse identity providers, granting granular control for access and application segmentation. Despite powerful capabilities, enhancements are needed in speed, bandwidth, and legacy support, with users noting interface and configuration challenges.

What are the key features of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform?

Seamless VPN Connectivity: Provides automatic secure access without repetitive authentication.
Strong Security Measures: Offers DLP and SSL inspection for data protection.
Cloud Integration: Ensures scalability and performance optimization.
Granular Access Control: Manages access with application-specific segmentation.

What benefits should companies look for in reviews when evaluating this platform?

Performance: Enhanced connectivity and reduced latency.
Data Protection: Comprehensive DLP and encryption capabilities.
Scalability: Efficient handling of growing organizational demands.
Ease of Deployment: Quick setup and integration with IDPs.

In specific industries, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange has been implemented to enhance security protocols in fields like finance and healthcare. By prioritizing data protection and compliance, it assists companies in safely managing sensitive information and meeting regulatory requirements. Organizations leverage its features to ensure secure operations across remote and cloud environments, adapting to industry-specific needs with customizable access and security controls.

Zscaler

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.

Evalueserve, Stroock, Apria, Ather Energy

Siemens, AutoNation, GE, NOV

Buyer's Guide

Netskope Private Access vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

April 2025

Free Report: Netskope Private Access vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Find out what your peers are saying about Netskope Private Access vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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