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Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs Zscaler Cloud IPS comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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 IPS (NGIPS)
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zscaler Cloud IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
20th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) is 3.4%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud IPS is 2.1%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS)3.4%
Zscaler Cloud IPS2.1%
Other94.5%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer373227 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Marketing strengths shine but regaining user trust needs significant effort
There are numerous things that could be improved about Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) to get it back on track. Sollution for small branches: when we have to connect a lot very small branches (or sometimes only an ATM) we need something small, with LTE and with reasonable price. Cisco response is SDWAN but it is not always the case. Recently Cisco released some small firewalls but I have not tried them yet. Central management with FMC is a very good idea, but sometimes local management or monitoring is helpfull. With Cisco You have to decide: central or local. You cannot have both. Regarding usability, when you commit configuration on Cisco, it sometimes takes very long. Commits also take some time for the competition, but Cisco is definitely lagging behind the rest in this respect. Last but not least, for me as a professional is lack of CLI. With CLI, I can configure every firewall on the market except Cisco. CLI is very important in professional working, and IMHO it was an unwise decision by Cisco to remove it. Graphical interfaces are very nice, but when you've got thousands of objects in a big installation and have to configure many things, CLI is a much faster way to do it.
Utpal Sinha - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Manager at HCL Tech
Stable product with valuable SSL inspection features
We use Zscaler Cloud IPS for threat protection, full SSL inspection, and data center scalability. It integrates with multiple products, including cloud firewalls, cloud sandboxing, Cloud Security Broker (CSB), and Data Loss Prevention (DLP). It helps us allow or block specific TCP or UDP ports…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This is one of the most stable solutions in the firewall world."
"Cisco technical support is great; they are helpful and responsive, and we are very happy with their capabilities."
"We have found the product to be quite stable."
"If they're looking for a platform that can protect from attack, from external or insiders who want to attack the network, I think Firepower is a good solution."
"I like the way the tool pushes the packets from the node level."
"Cisco is number one in the technical support. It's good technical support and this is actually a problem when we do the recruitment for some other products. Other products you are on hold forever and the support might be not the best compared to Cisco."
"The most valuable feature is its IPS ability. You are able to balance security and connectivity."
"The tracking intelligence feature is very good. This solution provides us with the opportunity to detect threats in real-time."
"The initial setup process is easy."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy in comparison with other solutions."
"The best feature is that Zscaler allows for a separation between cloud applications and URL filtering. For example, under the cloud application segment, I can bypass Microsoft Office 365 without the need to add URLs manually. It's one click, so that's handy."
"Cloud IPS integration is seamless, and it uses a Zero Trust model, and it also simplifies overall user access management."
"The product's most valuable feature is complete SSL inspection."
 

Cons

"The price of Cisco NGIPS could improve."
"The price is a little high. It's hard to find solutions that are easy on the budget and strike a balance between affordability and features."
"Cisco NGIPS should work on its shortcomings related to the issues that stem from bugs and performance."
"Regarding scalability, the solution is not that good."
"In the next release I would like to see better reporting. I also find it's hard to act on the data it gives you."
"The aspect of private party integration solutions could be improved."
"I would like to see Cisco NGIPS to include home office support in one single product."
"The inclusion of bandwidth management features would improve this product."
"We recently had a significant issue with Zscaler. I think they have too many customers and some of their connection edge nodes went down because there were too many requests. I think they aren't scaling enough to keep up with the demand in some areas. That's one thing they should improve."
"They have given limited free access for a year. Instead, they should increase the file size and give limited free access for around two months. It will allow engineers to evaluate the product."
"When it comes to scalability, the IPsec could be improved."
"There is always room for improvement."
"We encounter issues sharing IP addresses with other companies using the software."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Cisco NGIPS could be reduced. It is more expensive than other solutions."
"It is expensive. It has separate licensing for all the features, and every feature set seems to require another license. Licensing is on a yearly basis. There are no additional costs besides the standard licensing fee."
"Licensing fees for this solution are $3,500 USD, and there are no additional costs."
"It is highly priced but competitive regarding features and support services."
"In our company, we know that the price of Cisco products is high, especially for its switches, routers and IOS. The price of Cisco products may be twice its original price if you plan to extend some of its features."
"The annual licensing tends to be expensive, but in terms of implementing the licenses, it's a very uncomplicated process and as easy as copy-paste in its straightforwardness."
"I would rate the pricing four out of 10."
"The cost of the license depends on the level of support that you have with Cisco."
"The product is not affordable for small and medium enterprises."
"Zscaler has so far been solely responsible for all the sales we have done with it, so it would be more suited than us to address any issues concerning the pricing."
"The software has become more expensive at present."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Educational Organization
7%
Healthcare Company
15%
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise26
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco NGIPS?
I would rate the price for Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) as high.
What needs improvement with Cisco NGIPS?
I am aware that we are not measuring some metrics or tracking access through Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS). In my opinion, Cisco could improve the Web GUI for Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS).
What is your primary use case for Cisco NGIPS?
Our main use case for Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) is in-line traffic control, and we are using IPS in an in-line mode.
Ask a question
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Also Known As

Sourcefire NGIPS, Firepower NGIPS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Electric Power, Huntington Bank, Keycorp, Nationwide, Transunion, Marriott, Inova Health, Ford, Thomson Reuters, Dow Chemical, Equifax, Chevron, Walmart, Coca Cola
Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs. Zscaler Cloud IPS and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.