Cisco Secure Access vs iboss comparison

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Cisco Secure Access

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 6, 2024

iboss and Cisco Secure Access compete in the online security solution category. Cisco Secure Access seems to have the upper hand due to its robust security features, offering compelling value despite higher costs.

Features: iboss provides scalability, seamless cloud platform integration, and adaptability. Cisco Secure Access enhances security protocols, offers comprehensive monitoring capabilities, and provides advanced security features.

Room for Improvement: iboss can enhance reporting functionalities, improve user-friendly analytics, and boost customer service response times. Cisco Secure Access could refine its setup process, enhance deployment efficiency, and simplify initial configuration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: iboss is easy to deploy but experiences delays in customer service. Cisco Secure Access offers quicker customer support, although deploying it requires more effort and resources initially.

Pricing and ROI: iboss has lower setup costs and attractive entry-level pricing, with concerns about long-term ROI. Cisco Secure Access requires a larger upfront investment but provides a strong ROI due to its comprehensive security capabilities, justifying higher initial costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Access vs. iboss Report (Updated: January 2026).

Cisco Secure Access vs. iboss

January 2026

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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

Cisco Secure Access

Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

8th

Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)

5th

Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Firewalls (17th), ZTNA (7th), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (2nd)

iboss

Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

5th

Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)

7th

Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), ZTNA as a Service (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 3.5%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iboss is 2.2%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Secure Access	3.5%
iboss	2.2%
Other	94.3%

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Featured Reviews

Kartik Amin

Network Operations Engineer at Redex IT Limited

Secure access has unified zero trust and web protection while AI assistance automates tasks

From a feature perspective, I have not experienced any issues, drawbacks, or shortcomings. However, the cost of Cisco's products and licensing is high. My clients usually prefer cheaper options if possible. Mid-size or smaller businesses typically cannot afford Cisco Secure Access. Additionally, there is a steep learning curve, as it is very intensive. Someone with significant knowledge can work on it, but a new professional would have to spend considerable time to get accustomed to it. It is hard to find engineers who can work on it. Overall, we get what we pay for, as it is a pretty good feature and service. The pricing of Cisco's products and licensing is higher than competitors. If they could be more reasonable, that would help. The support offered for two years also has higher costs. Overall, the client's IT budget gets affected. It was challenging to learn because, as mentioned, it has a significant learning curve and requires considerable training to become proficient.

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reviewer2701851

Managing Director

Enhances web security with a single pane of glass and flexible deployment

I don't see any need for improvement; one of the really good things about iboss as a company is that they listen to customer feedback. I have suggested enhancements, and they are responsive, making changes for the better, and they do a lot of testing. To improve iboss, although we haven't used it, we considered the VPN solution that comes with the highest tier licensing, which includes DLP and various other add-ons. We prefer using another product which automatically logs you back onto your network when turning on your PC. With iboss, the connection is manual, which doesn't meet our needs. Additionally, sizing can be tricky because, although the initial recommendations may seem adequate, actual usage may require more gateways than anticipated.

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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

"I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten."

"The main feature of interest to me and the customers is DNS security and Integrated Secure Web Control (ISWC)."

"Cisco Secure Access has had a positive impact on protecting our organization from threats such as phishing and ransomware."

"The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Access is the level of security it provides."

"I rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten."

"Any tool that provides telemetry through logging is a particularly good fit for us because we have to really automate our monitoring."

"We have a dedicated account team, so we've got all the people we need to engage with if there's an issue."

"They've protected us from threats like phishing and ransomware."

More Cisco Secure Access pros

"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."

"From a use-case scenario, what I like the most is the plug-in. I like the fact that we can do the filtering of these devices offsite independent of the network they are connected to, and we do not have to have traffic coming back inside our network."

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device. It operates on the network side and is not device-based. This feature was one of the main reasons why we stayed with them for so long."

"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."

"We chose iboss for both zero trust and proxy (SWG) because their SWG was superior."

"The console is cloud-based, which is something I really appreciate."

"Technical support is pretty sharp and very responsive."

"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."

More iboss pros

Cons

"The worst part was the migration from Umbrella to Cisco Secure Access; we experienced some difficulties during that process."

"There is a need for improved global coverage since the service relies on the cloud provider's data centers."

"If the FTD devices themselves, the Firepower Threat Detection system, those are the firewalls themselves, the individual appliances, weren't so tightly coupled to FMC, I'd probably appreciate them as a product more."

"The main issue with pricing is that it is higher compared to other competitors, making it challenging to work with customers unless they specifically request Cisco."

"The way that we're using Cisco Secure Access today, it doesn't scale with the growing needs of our organization, however, if we leveraged more of the cloud services, it would fit better."

"It is expensive."

"Cisco is not well accepted in the market since they are somewhat behind their competitors."

"From a licensing perspective, Cisco can improve."

More Cisco Secure Access cons

"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."

"SSL decryption: We had issues with learners using apps instead of using web browsers. This type of encryption is tough for any appliance in a BYOD environment."

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

"I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention."

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

"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."

"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

More iboss cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For what you get, it's a fair price in comparison to other products."

"It is confusing. When you look at the prices, you have different licensing and years of licensing that you have to purchase. Additionally, it's unclear what service you get from those licenses regarding end-user support. We have a representative who has to walk me through it every time."

"The pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Cisco Secure Access have been very competitive compared to other platforms. I believe that if Cisco continues to improve costs or offers something similar to a Cisco credit, it would attract more customers."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"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 not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

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

See which vendors are best for you

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

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	10

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?

I am not sure about Cisco Secure Access setup costs as I did not feel any issues. ThousandEyes I can address, but for Cisco SSE, I think the licensing structure is fine and easy to set up, quick, a...

What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?

The use case depends upon the vertical, such as manufacturing or enterprise. Mostly customers are looking for secure remote access to their applications. They may have a vendor ecosystem where they...

What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?

Ask for references and friends feedback. We work with Palo Alto and we work with Zscaler. Zscaler started the proxies, the cloud proxies. We are very much aligned with Cisco. It's a good product, b...

What needs improvement with iboss?

For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil. While iboss performed well, some competitors offered simpler implementati...

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 old proxies to cloud proxies, and we did POCs with different giants at that time. ...

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 alternatives available, but they do not perform as well. Since iboss is cloud-based,...

Cisco Umbrella vs Cisco Secure Access

Comparisons

Compared 34% of the time

Netskope vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 10% of the time

FortiSASE vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 10% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 7% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Secure Access Competitors

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 12% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 10% of the time

FortiSASE vs iboss

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 7% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 7% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Product Reports

Download Cisco Secure Access product report

Cisco Secure Access

February 2026

Download iboss product report

January 2026

Also Known As

No data available

iBoss Cloud Platform

Overview

Cisco Secure Access is a comprehensive Security Service Edge (SSE) solution (a key component of a SASE solution) that addresses the complexities of securing a hybrid enterprise. Cloud-delivered and grounded in zero trust, it delivers a unique blend of user simplicity and IT efficiency for frictionless, secure access to all applications—SaaS (with gen AI), private apps, and the internet—regardless of user location or device. Secure Access protects users, data, and devices against relentless, sophisticated, and constantly evolving threats including AI-driven attacks and identity breaches.

Provides all core SSE components (ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and FWaaS) plus extended capabilities.

Includes VPN-as-a-Service (VPNaaS), data loss prevention (DLP), AI Assistant, visibility/control/guardrails for generative AI use, digital experience monitoring (DEM), reserved IP, remote browser isolation (RBI), DNS-layer security, flexible security enforcement (in cloud or on-premises), policy verification, and more.
Protects users as they seamlessly access resources and apps with no extra steps needed, regardless of protocol, port, or level of customization
Simplifies IT operations through a single client, single dashboard, single license, and unified policies.
Lowers risk with least privilege, granular controls backed with unmatched threat intelligence of Cisco Talos.
Eases interoperability with other products from Cisco and third-party vendors with common administrative controls, data structures, and policy management.

Robust integrations

Integrates with Cisco Identity Intelligence to protect against the startling increase in identity-based attacks.
Integrates with many SAML Identity Providers (IDPs) such as AD, Azure AD, Okta, Ping, etc.
Integrates with Cisco offerings including SD-WAN, Splunk, XDR, Thousand Eyes, third party technologies such as Menlo RBI, Chrome Enterprise Browser, and AppOmni for SSPM.

Cisco

Iboss offers a comprehensive cloud-based security platform valued for its scalability and autonomous features, ensuring robust security with easy deployment and management capabilities.

Renowned for its robust security architecture, Iboss integrates seamlessly within diverse networks, delivering efficient granular filtering and advanced content categorization. Its single pane of glass console provides ease of management, allowing rapid scalability suitable for rapidly deploying environments. Operates in BYOD setups due to inline filtering without device installation. Integration with cloud-based applications enhances user control, and features like SASE, SSL inspection, and ChatGPT risk protection stand as highlights. Despite its strengths, users have pointed out areas for enhancement like direct navigation in reports, SSL decryption, and better cloud integration while having room to improve data loss prevention.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

Scalability: Supports rapid deployment across diverse networks.
SASE: A consolidated approach to secure access.
SSL Inspection: Ensures safe data transmission.
Granular Filtering: Detailed control over accessible content.
Single Pane Management: Unifies control through a centralized console.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Offers competitive pricing with robust features.
Autonomous Operation: Reduces management overhead.
Responsive Support: Provides assistance when needed.
Flexible Deployment: Available for both cloud and on-premises environments.

The usage of Iboss spans educational institutions, specifically K-12, to enforce internet policies, protect data, and support remote work environments. It provides web filtering and security frameworks to ensure safe browsing. Its platform-as-a-service model offers flexibility for both cloud-based and on-premises requirements, integrating seamlessly to deliver enhanced security features suitable for various deployment needs including zero trust, CASB, and network security for work-from-home setups.

Sample Customers

1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. Google 5. Apple 6. Cisco Systems 7. Oracle 8. Intel 9. HP Inc. 10. Dell Technologies 11. Verizon Communications 12. AT&T 13. Comcast 14. T-Mobile 15. Sprint 16. Vodafone 17. Orange 18. BT Group 19. Deutsche Telekom 20. Telefonica 21. Nokia 22. Ericsson 23. Samsung Electronics 24. Sony 25. Panasonic 26. LG Electronics 27. Siemens 28. General Electric 29. Ford Motor Company 30. General Motors 31. Toyota Motor Corporation 32. Volkswagen Group

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.