Prisma SD-WAN vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform comparison

Palo Alto Networks and Zscaler are both solutions in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.3, while Zscaler is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Palo Alto Networks holds a 2.6% mindshare in SASE, compared to Zscaler’s 11.2% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Zscaler users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

Prisma SD-WAN and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform compete in the network security category. Prisma SD-WAN seems to have the advantage due to its emphasis on high-speed dynamic routing and seamless network failovers, appealing to users seeking robust operational continuity.

Features: Prisma SD-WAN includes smooth VPN tunnel creation, deep application visibility with Layer 7 intelligence, and high-speed dynamic routing. It handles network failovers effectively and supports automation through Zero Touch Provisioning. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange is notable for eliminating traditional VPNs, providing seamless and secure application access, and offering cloud-based data protection and comprehensive content filtering.

Room for Improvement: Prisma SD-WAN users suggest enhancing transition between legacy systems, improving support and documentation, and unifying appliance architecture. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange users seek better performance, more granular control, and deeper integration with other SaaS applications, along with improved support and documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Prisma SD-WAN is flexible and scalable, supporting hybrid, public, and on-premises deployments, but users note the need for better technical support. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange also supports various cloud environments but requires improvements in support responsiveness and issue communication.

Pricing and ROI: Prisma SD-WAN is expensive, but its features and ROI in large environments justify the cost, with recovery in approximately two years. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange offers competitive pricing when scaled for numerous users, providing savings on legacy network costs, although additional license fees for advanced features can be burdensome.

To learn more, read our detailed Prisma SD-WAN vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Prisma SD-WAN vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

July 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 August 2025, in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category, the mindshare of iboss is 1.8%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma SD-WAN is 2.6%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is 11.2%, down from 15.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

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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Engineerinfosec67

Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor

Centralized management streamlines global network traffic control

Prisma SD-WAN requires a more seamless integration with other Palo Alto solutions, like Prisma Access. Although there has been improvement, further steps can be taken. Additionally, it would be beneficial if the solution integrated the SD-WAN features of Prisma SD-WAN with the security features of Palo Alto's next-generation firewalls, as they currently do not align.

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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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

"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."

"I would definitely recommend iboss for web filtering purposes to other organizations or individuals."

"iboss has significantly lowered the number of security incidents. It is crazy how much it blocks and how much it is aware of the outside danger."

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

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device."

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

More iboss pros

"The implementation of the solution is easy."

"Overall, I would rate Prisma SD-WAN an eight out of ten."

"It is flexible to use the internet connection via local breakouts without going to data centers."

"The security offered by the solution is pretty good."

"The product's initial setup phase is straightforward."

"I like the link monitoring and analytics. These are the features that set Prisma apart from other products. Prisma works well with large, complex networks. One of my clients is a top bank in the United States, and Prisma has performed well for that customer."

"Prisma's analytics provide a lot of valuable data. I like the internet health chart that shows latency, dropped packets, MOS for data quality, etc. It also runs a continuous speed test in the background. I've used it multiple times to troubleshoot internet connections when the service provider has attempted to claim nothing is wrong with the circuit. It gives me data to send them showing we're not getting the speed we should, or there is constant packet loss."

"The product provides efficient stability, security, and reliability features."

More Prisma SD-WAN pros

"Has a good zero trust feature."

"The product’s most valuable features are data discovery, activity control, and zero trust exchange."

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

"It's one of the easier products on the market as far as set-ups and deployments. Even across their whole product suite, they've made it pretty simple."

"SASE's most valuable features are proxy and content filtering."

"Its impressive scalability allows the combination of multiple dictionaries and using them as one engine, resulting in narrower data loss gaps."

"Zscaler Private Access is a platform that eliminates the complexity of VPN configuration."

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

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

"Their on-premise hardware's network interface is capped at one gigabit, which is sort of a problem. If you stand a filter up where all traffic flows through that, according to them, in order to go above a gigabit, you have to have multiple devices, which in today's IT seems a little bit silly. They could easily put in an SFP port into their device that could accommodate 10 gigs or at least offer a box."

"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."

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

"Its pricing could be better."

"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."

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

More iboss cons

"The product could be a bit cheaper for the services it provides."

"It is widely known that Palo Alto is quite expensive. The licensing model is pretty expensive, which would be the only downside to Palo Alto, but regarding the features of the box, it does what it needs to do."

"Sometimes, during the product's initial setup phase, bypass pair or couple ports don't come up normally, and it requires an hour and a half to troubleshoot to reset the box from Prisma SD-WAN to factory default."

"If Palo Alto could open the platform to manage other SD-WANs, it would be beneficial."

"We initially had challenges with AIOps, which was overwhelming, and could benefit from simplification or improved training."

"The documentation tends to be outdated, often directing us to resources that are no longer accurate or available, and this is one of the reasons we are potentially looking at alternatives."

"They could add more advanced security features to the product."

"The tool needs to work on price and complexity."

More Prisma SD-WAN cons

"We'd like to have two-factor authentication that is quite simple."

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

"Sometimes, support takes time since the solution has some bugs that need fixing."

"Zscaler Private Access's reporting is poor. We should have more insight into the reports regarding what is blocked and allowed."

"The solution's granularity should be improved because it has limited granular options to control, visible, allow, block, delay, and receive."

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

"Setup is a bit complex because there are many steps that need to be taken before onboarding and activating the solution."

"The pre-defined dictionaries could be improved."

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 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."

"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."

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

"Prisma SD-WAN is a pretty expensive solution."

"It is more expensive than Fortinet."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"This solution stood out because it cost considerably less than the other SD-WAN solutions out there from Cisco."

"If you're already invested in a Palo Alto product, it would be logical to use this solution. If not, there might be some other solutions that are more viable in terms of pricing."

"The technical support is good."

"The product is a bit expensive."

"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 CASB is an expensive solution."

"The price is competitive."

"It is an auto-renewal subscription service."

"The pricing is quite high, especially when it comes to the gateway."

"It's an affordable solution"

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform pricing and cost advice

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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company Exxon...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

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What do you like most about Prisma SD-WAN?

The product's initial setup phase is straightforward.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma SD-WAN?

The costs seem crazy to me since I'm relatively new to the pricing world of enterprise security solutions, but compar...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Prisma SD-WAN?

I used to have notes about areas that could be improved. It is widely known that Palo Alto is quite expensive. The li...

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 15% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 14% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 13% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 11% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs iboss

Compared 5% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 20% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 19% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 16% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 11% of the time

Cisco Secure Access vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 1% of the time

More Prisma SD-WAN 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 8% 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

Netskope Private Access vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 4% of the time

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

August 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Prisma SD-WAN

August 2025

Download Prisma SD-WAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

July 2025

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform report

Download Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

CloudGenix

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

Simplify management, enable app-defined SD-WAN policies and deliver a secure, cloud-delivered branch today with the Industry’s first next-generation SD-WAN.

Palo Alto Networks

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.

Open Networking User Group, Columbia Sportswear Company, Coca Cola

Siemens, AutoNation, GE, NOV

Buyer's Guide

Prisma SD-WAN vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

July 2025

Free Report: Prisma SD-WAN vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

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