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Darktrace vs Zscaler Cloud IPS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

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

Darktrace
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
84
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (9th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (1st), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (1st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (6th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (13th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (11th), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (4th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (4th), AI Observability (8th)
Zscaler Cloud IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
21st
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 January 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Darktrace is 12.2%, down from 13.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Cloud IPS is 1.5%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Darktrace12.2%
Zscaler Cloud IPS1.5%
Other86.3%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

AM
Technical Consultant - Unix Platform Services at BITS AND BYTE IT CONSULTING PVT LTD
Consistent threat hunting and anomaly detection deliver valuable insights for network security management
In terms of improvement for Darktrace, pricing is the main concern. Pricing bothers me and this is one of the major factors when choosing a solution. When we get feedback from customers, that's the only felt need. When we factor in Darktrace, we do it only limited. We put it on where the perimeters and connections are, but still, some gray areas are left out, especially if we have multiple branches. We need Darktrace on each branch to get the data out, and I suggest having some kind of a centralized product that gets data from multiple sources to aggregate and provide the data.
Utpal Sinha - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Network Engineer at Momentive
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

"It is autonomous. So, it learns. It uses algorithms and AI to learn the common behavioral patterns on the network, and it is able to identify threats based on abnormal patterns."
"Its most valuable feature is its ability to identify malicious connected IPs from outside and the attacks that get through to the inside."
"We have found the product to be stable and issue-free."
"The most valuable features of Darktrace are the tracing of unusual external emails and monitoring the local network."
"We are able to detect a lot of things, actually, and see what is happening in our network."
"The most valuable feature of Darktrace is its ability to detect and counter threats before they occur."
"Ability to see events and exactly what traffic or website the device had tried to connect to that raised the alert or issue."
"The ability to detect activity on the network is very useful to us. Even if it's not necessarily an illegal activity, if it is abnormal activity, it is able to detect it and notify us."
"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."
"The product's most valuable feature is complete SSL inspection."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy in comparison with other solutions."
"The initial setup process is easy."
"Cloud IPS integration is seamless, and it uses a Zero Trust model. It also simplifies overall user access management."
 

Cons

"It is expensive, but everything else has been great so far."
"The user interface and the configuration are a bit complex and should be improved or simplified."
"Pricing bothers me and this is one of the major factors when choosing a solution."
"In the next version, I'd like to see penetration testing."
"One area for improvement is the alerting system, which generates too many alerts and becomes labor-intensive for organizations not equipped with enough personnel in their SOC."
"Darktrace needs to automate the reports of false positives, botnets and everything."
"The product is considered expensive compared to others."
"In an upcoming release, there could be more customizable playbooks or a library of playbooks to choose from."
"We encounter issues sharing IP addresses with other companies using the software."
"When it comes to scalability, the IPsec could be improved."
"There is always room for improvement."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is expensive. It costs over $100,000 a year."
"The price of Darktrace is high and could be reduced. We pay approximately $30,000 to $54,000 annually."
"Darktrace is expensive. You can pay for the license yearly."
"The pricing is quite high, estimated at around $350,000 per year."
"The cost is moderate."
"It is expensive."
"I'm unfamiliar with the exact cost, but we have a yearly license and had to pay for Darktrace's services before the deployment. The product is very expensive, so some organizations can't afford to pay the total amount directly, meaning they often seek a partner or pay in installments, which increases the price more."
"Our customers feel that the price of Darktrace is quite high compared to other solutions."
"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 product is not affordable for small and medium enterprises."
"The software has become more expensive at present."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Healthcare Company
11%
University
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise29
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Crowdstrike Falcon compare with Darktrace?
Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes. CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing user interface that makes setup easy and seamless. CrowdStrike Falcon offers a cl...
Which is better - SentinelOne or Darktrace?
Which solution is better depends on which is more suitable specifically for your company. Darktrace, for example, is meant for smaller to medium-sized businesses. It is also a good option for organ...
What do you like most about Darktrace?
A very useful feature in Darktrace for real-time threat analysis is the packet inspection that analyzes the packet traffic in real time.
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Irwin Mitchell, Open Energi, Wellcome Trust, FirstGroup plc, Virgin Trains, Drax, QUI! Group, DNK, CreaCard, Macrosynergy, Sisley, William Hill plc, Toyota Canada, Royal British Legion, Vitol, Allianz, KKR, AIRBUS, dpd, Billabong, Mclaren Group.
Zenith Live, Azure, Carlsberg Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Darktrace vs. Zscaler Cloud IPS and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.