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

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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 September 2026, in the Application Control category, the mindshare of VMware Carbon Black App Control is 9.7%, down from 15.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is 13.1%, up from 9.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Control Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform13.1%
VMware Carbon Black App Control9.7%
Other77.2%
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."
"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."
"The visibility, reporting, and the ability to stop or prevent malicious or undesired applications from being installed are the most valuable features."
"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."
"It offers a sense of security where anything that comes in, regardless of what it is, unless you approve it manually, it's not going to run."
"Overall, this is a good product and one that I recommend."
"If any malicious activity, like VAT viruses, anything RNE, ZOD malware, or something similar, comes in we know that unless we approve it, it's going to be blocked."
"The ZPA is a unique feature which offers VPN along with all the additional security needed."
"Has a good zero trust feature."
"SASE's most valuable features are proxy and content filtering."
"The product’s most valuable features are data discovery, activity control, and zero trust exchange."
"The customer service and support are very good."
"The policies are very easy to implement."
"The scalability is pretty good."
"I would recommend Zscaler Cloud DLP to others because it's the best proxy product in the market at the moment."
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"The solution should have overhead in keeping lists of applications that you want don't want to run."
"Its setup is very complex, and it requires guidance from the support team, but it is well worth the effort."
"I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability."
"The initial setup is somewhat complex."
"The reporting is not good and needs to be improved."
"Carbon Black does not use the database for identifying the file, the fields, or malware."
"The pricing for Private Access seems to be on the expensive side, and I believe they should consider making it more competitive with other solutions."
"The interface needs a bit of work."
"While Zscaler supports client-initiated connections, it does not support server-initiated connections. This is a feature that Zscaler may consider adding in the future."
"The solution's granularity should be improved because it has limited granular options to control, visible, allow, block, delay, and receive."
"User management can be improved."
"Sometimes applications crash on some machines, and we’d like Zscaler to give us some information as to why that may have happened. We’d like more detailed reports."
"I rate it a seven because I am still working through some kinks from a performance and a support perspective."
"There could be a feature to view the VPN tunnel activities in terms of configuration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for this product is competitive and our customers who told us that often, Carbon Back is the cheaper solution."
"We pay a fee for support, which is renewed annually."
"Its price is reasonable and what is expected for these types of products."
"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."
"The solution is expensive."
"The pricing is quite high, especially when it comes to the gateway."
"The cost is expensive. It depends on the number of users."
"The product has reasonable pricing."
"The product is a little more expensive than other tools."
"It's an affordable solution"
"Zscaler SASE software is quite expensive compared to other solutions"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Outsourcing Company
16%
Computer Software Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Computer Software 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 Business17
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise45
 

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...
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...
What needs improvement with Zscaler Cloud Protection?
After three years of working with Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform, I do have genuine feedback on areas where I feel there is room for improvement. The initial configuration complexity is one a...
 

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: September 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.