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VMware Carbon Black App Control vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 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

VMware Carbon Black App Con...
Ranking in Application Control
7th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange...
Ranking in Application Control
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (6th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (8th), ZTNA as a Service (1st), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (2nd), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Application Control category, the mindshare of VMware Carbon Black App Control is 10.4%, down from 17.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is 12.7%, up from 8.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Control Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform12.7%
VMware Carbon Black App Control10.4%
Other76.9%
Application Control
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Security Administrator at EJADA
We can isolate problem machines and limit their access
We use App Control to scan the network for virtual machines that have unauthorized applications. We can isolate the problem VMs and control application access.  More than two years. I rate Carbon Black App Control 10 out of 10 for stability. I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability.…
Vibin Thomas - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
Zero trust access has transformed remote connectivity and now simplifies secure app usage
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform, especially Zscaler Private Access, is very strong, though there are a few areas where improvements can be made. One challenge observed is around initial troubleshooting and visibility. While Zscaler Private Access provides logs, it can sometimes take time to pinpoint the exact cause of access issues, especially in complex environments with multiple policies and identity integration. Another area is the dependency on identity and connector health. Since Zscaler Private Access is heavily reliant on app connectors and identity providers, any issues with these components can impact user access, making proper monitoring critical. During the initial setup, policy configuration and application onboarding require careful planning, especially for larger environments with many applications. These challenges are manageable with proper design and monitoring. Overall, the platform delivers strong security and user experience. I would recommend a few improvements, especially around user interface, reporting, and troubleshooting experience. From a user interface perspective, while the platform is powerful, the policy configuration and navigation can feel complex, especially for new users. A more simplified and intuitive layout for policy mapping and application access would help reduce the learning curve. In terms of reporting, Zscaler Private Access provides logs, but having more built-in customizable dashboards and analytics would be very helpful. Better visibility into user access patterns, application performance, and real-time troubleshooting insights would improve operational efficiency. From a support and troubleshooting standpoint, it would be beneficial to have more granular centralized visibility, allowing for quick end-to-end tracing of a user request from authentication to application access without switching between multiple views. These improvements would make the platform even more efficient, especially for large-scale enterprise environments.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Carbon Black offers a total lockdown solution; it shows us the attacks that are being attempted against our infrastructure and how we are being protected."
"The effectiveness of application whitelisting is very good."
"The visibility is valuable."
"We have been dealing with VMware Carbon Black App Control for one year, and during this time we have already made sure that this is the best solution to protect our user machines and servers."
"All the functions within VMware Carbon Black App Control are valuable."
"Overall, this is a good product and one that I recommend."
"The visibility, reporting, and the ability to stop or prevent malicious or undesired applications from being installed are the most valuable features."
"The API integration is good."
"The tool's scalability is good."
"The customer service and support are very good."
"You can close your data protection gaps with Zscaler. You can quickly find all the classified, sensitive data across the cloud."
"The scalability is pretty good."
"The most valuable feature of Zscaler Private Access is we do not have to connect to a VPN, it is seamless. It is more convenient for us because we use one agent to cover the internet and VPN access."
"It's one of the easier products on the market as far as set-ups and deployments, and even across their whole product suite, they've made it pretty simple."
"You can close your data protection gaps with Zscaler, quickly find all the classified, sensitive data across the cloud, and have protection using advanced features like Exact Data Match, document matching, and machine learning while benefiting from very good pricing, a stable solution, straightforward initial setup, and strong scalability."
"The only advantage I see is no more connection is required by the users."
 

Cons

"The initial setup is somewhat complex."
"The reporting is not good and needs to be improved."
"Its initial setup is very complex. We got help from their implementation team because if it is not set up properly, you can really hinder the operation of your environment and things won't execute or run."
"I would like to see the addition of some more features that are in other, similar solutions."
"Carbon Black does not use the database for identifying the file, the fields, or malware."
"Another issue is that even sometimes if you approve, for example, Adobe as a publisher, you say any product or anything that's from Adobe has to run. It generally runs, but especially in a large environment and with a lot of users, sometimes, due to some certification validation issues or some other issue, it might stop the process from running. Genuine processes like Adobe and Chrome can get blocked. so that needs to be improved."
"I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability."
"The solution should have overhead in keeping lists of applications that you want don't want to run."
"We often face performance and latency issues with Zscaler SASE."
"Zscaler Private Access could improve by improving external access."
"The DX layer could be better if it had improved visibility."
"The customers would benefit from more robust documentation and conversations around configurations, as it is slightly complex."
"There is some issue while accessing the portal. It takes too long."
"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."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay a fee for support, which is renewed annually."
"The pricing for this product is competitive and our customers who told us that often, Carbon Back is the cheaper solution."
"Its price is reasonable and what is expected for these types of products."
"It has been relatively reasonable for what it does. Some of the additional license costs based on the advanced next-generation firewall functions are quite high, and they should have certain features ready and available as a baseline rather than having to purchase additional licenses for it. Overall, the cost seems reasonable."
"The cost is expensive. It depends on the number of users."
"The product is a little more expensive than other tools."
"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."
"In terms of market positioning, I would describe Zscaler Private Access as offering optimal pricing. Based on our experience, Cato Networks tends to be slightly more expensive."
"My company is a Zscaler Private Access partner, so the customers pay for the license fees."
"The solution has increased prices this year."
"The pricing is expensive and on the higher end. Honestly, in my opinion, it is not worth the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise46
 

Questions from the Community

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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...
How to minimize false positives for PII and PCI around different data systems across the globe?
Personal information always should be under high protection from manipulations which is why it is the responsibility of those collecting the data to keep the integrity of these data and check and u...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Cloud Protection?
This is an area where I have candid feedback from our organization regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform. Overall, I would assess the pricing as a si...
 

Also Known As

CB Protection, Carbon Black CB Protection
Zscaler SASE, Zscaler DLP, Zscaler CASB, Zscaler CSPM, Zscaler Browser Isolation, Zscaler Posture Control
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Kaas Tailored, Core-Mark, Indeed, Hologic, Landmark Credit Union, Project Worldwide
Siemens, AutoNation, GE, NOV
Find out what your peers are saying about VMware Carbon Black App Control vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,858 professionals have used our research since 2012.