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Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Symantec Proxy comparison

 

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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Prisma Access enhances cybersecurity, offers cost-effective scalability, and streamlines services, providing financial benefits and operational efficiency.
Sentiment score
6.2
Users find Symantec Proxy beneficial for security but costly for small businesses, with mixed opinions on ROI.
There is a net positive return on investment
Network and Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
For supercritical businesses, there should be a return on investment due to the enhanced security features and resilience.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Prisma Access support is praised for expertise but needs improvements in response time, support continuity, and language options.
Sentiment score
4.9
Symantec Proxy support varies post-Broadcom, with mixed reviews on response time, expertise, and improvement efforts acknowledged by users.
I usually need to raise the alarm and contact a couple of people within Palo Alto Networks to just respond quicker, so technical support should be much better.
Director at PULSEC
The product is reliable, making customer support less frequently needed.
Senior DevOps Expert at Telenor
The service and technical support quality varies depending on the personnel.
Network and Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Support services are lagging and not very responsive.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Prisma Access is scalable for diverse companies but may face challenges in pricing and international deployment complexities.
Sentiment score
7.4
Symantec Proxy is generally scalable, with cloud setups preferred for ease, handling varying users well but needing model updates.
Prisma Access provides significant scalability, allowing integration of different systems.
Senior DevOps Expert at Telenor
To scale, one would need to upgrade or acquire more hardware.
Senior Manager for Infrastructure at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is a cloud-based solution, and from my experience, there are no issues with scalability.
Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Prisma Access is highly rated for stability, offering reliable performance with minimal issues and seamless scalability, despite minor delays.
Sentiment score
7.4
Symantec Proxy is stable and reliable, but some users report glitches, hardware issues, and occasional high latency.
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks works efficiently during peak usage times.
CyberSecurity Specialist at Aiuken
I think the stability of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is excellent, and I would rate it ten out of ten.
Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
GlobalProtect is a satisfying solution, and the product is robust without major stability issues.
Senior Manager for Infrastructure at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Stability depends on the platform on which it is deployed and the number of users.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Prisma Access needs better UI, integration, custom application support, pricing, documentation, global presence, and technical support enhancements.
Symantec Proxy struggles with SSL inspection, user interface, performance, and needs improvements in security features and AI capabilities.
What Palo Alto Networks can do better for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is probably to have the point of presence available in more locations.
Director at PULSEC
Sometimes a third-party outage could impact the whole operability.
Network and Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
There is a lack of integration with third-party solutions like CrowdStrike or SentinelOne in Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks.
Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The product needs improvement in support services, as they are lagging and not very responsive when we raise concerns or queries, especially in terms of significant impact.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
AI features could potentially improve the proxy by helping build rules more efficiently, suggesting unused rules, and enhancing preference setting.
Head of IT, Infrastructure, DevOps & Cyber Unit at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Setup Cost

Prisma Access is costly but valued for its comprehensive security, with room for pricing and licensing flexibility improvement.
Symantec Proxy is seen as costly, with complex renewals and significant financial commitment, prompting users to explore alternatives.
The pricing is on the higher side, rating it around eight to nine out of ten.
Senior DevOps Expert at Telenor
From my experience, Palo Alto is more expensive compared to solutions like Netskope and Triscale.
Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Pricing for Prisma Access and Prisma SD WAN is high due to the need for different hardware flavors like IONs.
Senior Manager for Infrastructure at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Pricing is difficult to specify as Broadcom sells platforms that include multiple products, making it hard to determine the exact cost for the proxy component.
Head of IT, Infrastructure, DevOps & Cyber Unit at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Valuable Features

Prisma Access provides scalable, secure cloud-based VPN access, real-time threat prevention, and integrates seamlessly with existing infrastructures.
Symantec Proxy offers caching, URL filtering, policy creation, and advanced security features, highly regarded for ease, stability, and integration.
These features are security-driven, providing robust protection against increasing cyber threats by integrating NG Firewalls, SD WAN, and CASB, all within a fully cloud-native solution.
Senior DevOps Expert at Telenor
The HIP Check is the most valuable feature of Prisma Access, which is the feature usually used from GlobalProtect.
Director at PULSEC
One of the most valuable features of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is the ability to manage on-premise firewalls.
Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The most valuable features are content inspection, caching, SSL encryption, decryption, WAN optimization, and more.
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The integration with FireGlass has been essential since both solutions are from Broadcom, enhancing compatibility.
Head of IT, Infrastructure, DevOps & Cyber Unit at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Prisma Access by Palo Alto ...
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (1st), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (5th), ZTNA as a Service (4th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (1st)
Symantec Proxy
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
15th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is 7.3%, down from 10.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Proxy is 1.7%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks7.3%
Symantec Proxy1.7%
Other91.0%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

IgorPinter - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at PULSEC
Zero-trust access has improved remote security and now simplifies cloud-based firewall management
Regarding the integration part for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, the integration with identity providers is pretty much good. It is basically firewall as a service, so it performs well. I completed the integration without any issues. What Palo Alto Networks can do better for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is probably to have the point of presence available in more locations. The point of presence from the Serbia region has the nearest POP in Frankfurt, which is an issue since it is your gateway—when you start browsing the internet, you go through a commercial connection in Germany. They definitely need to spread the service in other countries.
Ganesh Basappa - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Granular control for web traffic with enhanced content inspection, but support needs improvement
There are many use cases in terms of content inspection, such as having granular control for file type extensions when trying to download file types by default. It depends on the requirements, and based on that, we customize policies. We have deployed it in an Azure infrastructure, and we have…
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Web Gateways (SWG) solutions are best for your needs.
909,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
27%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise27
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

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 access service edge (SASE) designed to deliver network security in a cloud-deliver...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
From my experience, Palo Alto is more expensive compared to solutions like Netskope and Triscale.
What needs improvement with Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
Regarding the integration part for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, the integration with identity providers is pretty much good. It is basically firewall as a service, so it performs well. I co...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Proxy?
Pricing is difficult to specify as Broadcom sells platforms that include multiple products, making it hard to determine the exact cost for the proxy component. Forcepoint sold only proxies, which w...
What needs improvement with Symantec Proxy?
AI features could potentially improve the proxy by helping build rules more efficiently, suggesting unused rules, and enhancing preference setting. These would make the tool more effective.
What is your primary use case for Symantec Proxy?
I use Symantec Proxy for surfing the internet from internal to external networks. My endpoints do not have direct access to the internet, and if they need to access it, the proxy is used for that r...
 

Also Known As

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access
Blue Coat Encrypted Traffic Management, ProxySG Appliance
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack
Jefferies
Find out what your peers are saying about Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs. Symantec Proxy and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.