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Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
5.9
iboss improved bandwidth and security, offered cost-effectiveness despite higher fees, but faced challenges with delayed Mac agent deployment.
Sentiment score
7.1
Cato SASE Cloud Platform reduces costs and enhances efficiency with improved reliability, optimized traffic, and decreased maintenance expenses.
Sentiment score
6.2
Zscaler Private Access improves cloud migration flexibility and reduces costs, with enterprises seeing up to 289% ROI over three years.
With iboss, whenever you turn on your laptop, the iboss agent automatically connects to the iboss cloud, enforcing all security policies. So with respect to the security side, it strengthens measures.
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I have seen a clear, measurable return on investment within the first twelve months of deploying iboss.
Cyber Security Specialist at Cyvogenix
Deploying iboss leads to good return on investment, estimated around 70% to 80%.
Manager at Cyvogenix
The ROI is often cited around 289% over the three years of typical enterprises.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
I have found Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) to be very effective at providing operational flexibility during my organization's transition to cloud environments.
DevOps at My Heritage
Since we have a very small team, the ROI is around 20% to 30%.
Senior IT Specialist Network and Security at a marketing services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.9
iboss customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise but could improve communication, transparency, and 24/7 availability.
Sentiment score
7.5
Cato SASE Cloud's customer support is responsive, efficient, 24/7, with high user satisfaction and occasional concerns about sales communication.
Sentiment score
6.5
Zscaler Private Access support varies in quality, with mixed reviews on availability, response times, and communication challenges.
They are very fast, responsive, and knowledgeable.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
The quality of the support is fantastic.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
We had promising discussions about resolving these issues, but no real action followed.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Their knowledge portal and Cato Academy portal are excellent resources.
Product Lifecycle manager at Air Spring
Our customer service experience is excellent
Vice President at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I think the technical support by Cato SASE Cloud Platform is quite good.
Product & Services Integrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
The technical support for ZPA is excellent, rated ten out of ten.
Technical management of Network Security - Network Hub at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
We had regular calls, and the team was open and willing to assist us whenever required.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
We lack specific root causes, and it's tough to relay information to users, considering multiple contributors such as phone numbers and internet service providers.
Senior IT Specialist Network and Security at a marketing services firm with 201-500 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Iboss excels in scalable cloud-based solutions, offering quick adaptability and performance stability despite potential scaling costs.
Sentiment score
8.0
Cato SASE Cloud Platform excels in scalability, supporting enterprises globally with efficient management and eliminating frequent hardware upgrades.
Sentiment score
6.6
Zscaler Private Access offers scalability and efficiency via cloud-based capabilities, benefiting organizations with rapid onboarding and no hardware upgrades.
They are also able to meet on-demand requirements based on your contract with them, and can easily provide adequate resources and scalability.
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.
If I start seeing sluggishness or anything like that, I just reach out to my rep, and they connect with their dev team, typically resolving it the same day.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
As an MSSP, we find it scalable for end users across EPP platforms, network, and cloud sides.
Product Lifecycle manager at Air Spring
Zscaler ZPA has excellent scalability.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
I rate the scalability of ZPA as ten out of ten because it's a cloud service and can scale as needed.
Technical management of Network Security - Network Hub at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
We need to deploy it and ensure it will be available in two different Availability Zones, but it's not something that can be done with automation, such as auto-scaling.
DevOps Team Member at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Iboss offers reliable performance, occasional minor downtime, and effective support, with most users rating its stability highly.
Sentiment score
8.3
Users praise Cato SASE Cloud Platform for its stable, reliable performance, high availability, and smooth operation across global deployments.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zscaler Private Access is praised for stability and resilience, though minor bugs and post-rollout issues are noted by users.
It's been pretty solid; I've never had an outage with them, and if I ever had, it's only been once out of the seven years.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
We've experienced zero downtime.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device despite our ClearPass sending information to the iboss box.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
I would rate the stability of the solution as ten on a scale of one to ten.
Vice President at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I find Cato SASE Cloud Platform overall stable.
Product & Services Integrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Even during peak usage or mass remote access events, performance remains consistent, which is critical for an enterprise environment handling business-critical applications.
Senior Network Engineer at Anthology
The architecture uses a global mesh of service edges with built-in fault tolerance and redundancy, providing an always-on experience.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
We implemented a resilient solution with load balance to ensure stability, which has proven effective thus far.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
 

Room For Improvement

Iboss requires integration and connectivity improvements, along with enhanced security, reporting, deployment, pricing transparency, and better customer support.
Enhancing identity integration, security features, interface, third-party compatibility, and sector-specific tools would boost Cato SASE Cloud's appeal.
Zscaler Private Access needs scalability, flexible rules, better pricing, ease of configuration, vendor integration, and intuitive troubleshooting.
It is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
iboss's single pane of glass console gives centralized visibility into web traffic, user activity, security policies, and alerts from one dashboard.
Manager at Cyvogenix
We also had a problem with a transition when we upgraded from one appliance of theirs to another, but their engineer lost a good deal of our data.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
The platform lacks strong security features on the edge.
Product Lifecycle manager at Air Spring
To improve Cato SASE Cloud Platform, I think they sometimes need more built-in features for security in larger networks when doing local authentication.
Product & Services Integrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
It complicates whitelisting, as we cannot determine which IP will be used, posing a challenge when needing to integrate with third parties.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
I would appreciate seeing dynamic scaling implemented because it would be beneficial if an instance goes down to automatically start another one.
DevOps Team Member at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
While Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) wants users to utilize their infrastructure for scale benefits, regulated environments such as government and investment banks need on-premises processing for regulations and low latency requirements.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Iboss is praised for competitive pricing, transparency, and affordability compared to pricier competitors, appealing to budget-conscious enterprises.
Cato SASE Cloud offers competitive, flexible bandwidth-based pricing, with user-rated cost-effectiveness and discounts through partnerships for yearly licensing.
Zscaler Private Access offers premium, per-user pricing, justified by security features and cost-effectiveness within an 11-month payback period.
It offers the same features you would get from a vendor that charges 250,000 British pounds for a fraction of the price.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
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.
Network Administrator at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern.
Managing Director
I do not find it particularly expensive, but for some companies, they may not have the budget to be at that level of security for their networks.
Product & Services Integrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
The pricing is flexible due to our special partnership with Cato Networks.
Vice President at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It is expensive.
architect at Tata Consultancy
Although the solution is costly, its features justify the price for securing the organization from various access types.
Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
While it is a premium investment, the short payback period of about 11 months and consolidation of multiple point products make it very cost-effective in the long run.
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Iboss offers seamless security management with cloud architecture, advanced threat protection, and efficient integration, enhancing operational efficiency.
Cato SASE Cloud Platform enhances network performance with advanced security, traffic optimization, centralized management, and cost-effective global SD-WAN capabilities.
Zscaler Private Access offers secure, scalable app access with Zero Trust, enhancing security and flexibility, especially in cloud environments.
The solution's mental health function can detect if someone needs help.
Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water
It's given us a lot more visibility into our computer assets that may be infected with viruses and also shows us people who have unusually large uploads or might be engaging in high-risk activities, such as searches or going to sites not categorized by their web crawler.
Educational Technology Coordinator at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
iboss was the best solution for us because, no matter what domain you were in, everything is under a single pane of glass, which is exactly what we wanted.
Managing Director
It is scalable for end users across network and cloud sides and saves operational costs.
Product Lifecycle manager at Air Spring
The single-pass architecture has improved user experience with Cato SASE Cloud Platform as it provides security teams in companies a platform where they can easily obtain information if there are breaches or security issues.
Product & Services Integrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler pre-tests websites and authorizes safe access, giving us a layer of security that we rely on.
Solutions Architect at Direct Line Group
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is much more secure than VPN because users are only allowed to access specific applications rather than the whole network.
Technical management of Network Security - Network Hub at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees
Zscaler has allowed an easy, secure way for us to access our internal resources from outside.
DevOps Team Member at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

iboss
Sponsored
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (6th), Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), ZTNA as a Service (6th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (7th)
Cato SASE Cloud Platform
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
10th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (3rd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (15th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (7th), WAN Edge (8th), ZTNA as a Service (9th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (5th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (3rd)
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
9th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) category, the mindshare of iboss is 4.6%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cato SASE Cloud Platform is 7.3%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
iboss4.6%
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)2.0%
Cato SASE Cloud Platform7.3%
Other86.1%
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
 

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support
The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.
reviewer2697738 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product & Services Integrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Cloud security has unified global network design and has simplified threat visibility
I think all of the functionalities, such as the secure web gateway feature, are quite good. I also believe Cato SASE Cloud Platform is one of the only solutions that has not only a software firewall solution but also a physical software solution where you can change the company's firewalls and put in sockets from Cato SASE Cloud Platform, which I see as an advantage for them. The single-pass architecture has improved user experience with Cato SASE Cloud Platform as it provides security teams in companies a platform where they can easily obtain information if there are breaches or security issues. I assess the benefit of integrating WAN optimization as good. There is ease in making rules between WAN optimization, especially when it comes to global connections because of all their points of presence that are spread over the world. I think the real-time threat protection of Cato SASE Cloud Platform is also good. Their points of presence are quite efficient, and I do not see any delays in that area.
BasilJiji - PeerSpot reviewer
System engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Zero trust access has secured hybrid work and now provides seamless app connectivity
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) has significantly reduced our attack surface by making our internal apps invisible to the internet. It effectively eliminates lateral movement as users are only connected to the specific application they are authorized to use rather than the entire network segment. Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is highly stable. The architecture uses a global mesh of service edges with built-in fault tolerance and redundancy, providing an always-on experience that is far more reliable than our old hardware-based VPN concentrator. Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is elastically scalable because it is a software-defined perimeter and not an appliance-based solution. I can instantly scale to support thousands of additional users without needing to upgrade any physical hardware.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Insurance Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?
I think iboss could be improved by making reporting and dashboard customization more flexible, and simplifying troubl...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
I use iboss as a cloud-based secure web gateway to provide secure internet access, web filtering, and protect remote ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?
My experience with iboss's pricing structure, setup cost, and licensing model has been positive, straightforward, and...
What is your primary use case for Cato Networks?
I can see that I am a consultant at a reseller and I am the architect of Cato SASE Cloud Platform designs. In the bas...
What advice do you have for others considering Cato Networks?
It is difficult to find types of companies I would not recommend Cato SASE Cloud Platform to, and I believe you can u...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cato Networks?
I do not find it particularly expensive, but for some companies, they may not have the budget to be at that level of ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)?
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), while it is not the cheapest solution...
What needs improvement with Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)?
After deploying Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), I notice a reduction in VPN-related support tickets, particularly durin...
What is your primary use case for Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)?
My primary use case for Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is securing application-level access to internal applications wi...
 

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
Cato Networks
No data available
 

Overview

 

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.
Paysafe, AdRoll, Pet Lovers Centre, Arlington Orthopedics, Humphreys & Partners Architects
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs. Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.