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ControlUp vs Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX) comparison

 

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:
 

Categories and Ranking

ControlUp
Ranking in Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (19th)
Zscaler Digital Experience ...
Ranking in Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)
9th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) category, the mindshare of ControlUp is 9.6%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX) is 9.5%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ControlUp9.6%
Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX)9.5%
Other80.9%
Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2717526 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Systems Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Delivers comprehensive and customizable system management with increased efficiency
The best features I have found are that it is very customizable, which would be number one, and very extensible through the use of scripts and triggers. The visual look of the interface is very easy to understand what is happening and somewhat why it's happening. It may sound facetious, but it really is everything about it. Everything works exactly the way it's meant to, a dream come true for anyone who's administering systems because it gives you all the information that you want and all the actions you want to take, all in one place. The benefits I have seen from using it so far include the ability to know in advance and take actions based on the information the tool gives you.
Chella  Chalapathi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Program Manager at Infosys
Offers steady access and reliable support but could benefit from better integration and user-friendly insights
Regarding future updates, I would like to see Zscaler prioritize pricing and integrate more with multiple products. Multiple integrations with various platforms would enable some sort of automation. Zscaler provides real-time insights, but it is not reaching the end users properly, which is something Zscaler should improve because it should be user-friendly for understanding what Zscaler is offering. When there is too much technology, people cannot understand it, so it should be very simplified, and there should be some ways for users to gain knowledge about the product themselves. Zscaler's ability to analyze millions of telemetry data points in real-time is still somewhat unclear to me; perhaps that level of knowledge has not been reached by me or the end users, indicating that Zscaler has to focus on that area.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has a great career time monitoring tool."
"The script-based actions have allowed us to extend the core reporting capabilities."
"The most valuable feature is the granularity of visibility into the resources that are in use by our applications."
"When using ControlUp, the core feature that we have found valuable is its UI. It is a valuable tool to view the analysis reactions of a base core Level 2 or Level 1 team so that they can complete the necessary troubleshooting."
"It shows you so many details of what's going on in that log-on that, if there's a problem, you can identify it in five minutes."
"Integration with Netscaler and Scoutbees can provide a proper end-to-end analysis of the user's experience and give us a real ROI."
"Security, uptime, and reduced capital expenditures are the main reasons we use ControlUp. So basically, the money that we consume is based on the amount of time we are using a service."
"ControlUp has an easy installation process."
"Regarding the benefits of Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX)'s traffic analysis for my IT operations, I believe it greatly supports our needs."
"Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX) positively impacted my organization by providing Zero Trust Network Access, which many organizations are moving towards."
 

Cons

"There was some lag earlier, and reports pulled from the dashboard would sometimes be half an hour old. But now, the information provides real-time status, which is greatly appreciated. Overall, I've seen improvement in the product."
"Something I would love to see from a partner perspective would be maybe a way to do this in a surface hosting provider."
"It is expensive. It is very expensive. I was working in a bank, and even in the bank, which was quite healthy, the ControlUp budget was something we had to defend very harshly."
"Solve is a quick and intuitive tool for quickly mapping data together, however, once you have the view of the data that you like, it is difficult to share this with colleagues."
"We'd like to see the mobile app working again so that we can get alerts 24/7. This is especially useful for the person on call."
"The graphical user interface needs to be improved from version to version."
"It can be improved by including script-based scheduling."
"ControlUp could improve the integration. Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop monitoring has better integration."
"I have noticed drawbacks within Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX), as the sales team is too arrogant and too aggressive, playing politics, but the product itself is very good."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are satisfied with the price compared to other solutions."
"Based on my experience, ControlUp is not that expensive."
"Personally, I would say that the only thing I could compare it to is another monitoring tool that we use, Nagios."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Healthcare Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ControlUp Real-time?
It is expensive. It is very expensive. I was working in a bank, and even in the bank, which was quite healthy, the ControlUp budget was something we had to defend very harshly.
What is your primary use case for ControlUp Real-time?
I was taking care of a Citrix infrastructure, and as ControlUp is the best monitoring tool for those environments, I was also using ControlUp to monitor those environments.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX)?
Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX) is comparatively an expensive product. There will not be any cost reductions since it is a new and better secured product. The issue arises when any organization wa...
What needs improvement with Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX)?
I have noticed drawbacks within Zscaler, as the sales team is too aggressive bypassing partners, but the product itself is very good. The sales approach is quite aggressive globally, and it is not ...
What is your primary use case for Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX)?
I am still working with Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX), and I continue to search for good solutions in the market as an architect.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

B/E Aerospace, North Carolina SECU, Vancouver Island Health Authority, University of Florida
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about ControlUp vs. Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX) and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.