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Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 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

iboss
Sponsored
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), ZTNA as a Service (6th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (7th)
Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
10th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (4th), Web Content Filtering (4th)
Symantec Cloud Secure Web G...
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
29th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.2%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is 2.9%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway is 0.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
iboss3.2%
Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway2.9%
Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway0.9%
Other93.0%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

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.
reviewer1047669 - PeerSpot reviewer
PS & Technical Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Has faced usability challenges while managing integrated components
We are working with web gateway and full endpoint security. URL filter is a notable feature. While it is not specifically related to Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway alone, if you have the complete Forcepoint solution, it can integrate with other Forcepoint products, such as DLP solution and email gateway. The URL filter of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is good for web gateway. Clients and consumers do not prefer it because the interface is not good. When using FSM with DLP, web gateway, and email gateway, upgrades cannot be performed simultaneously since Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway might need an upgrade while email gateway does not, despite having the same manager controlling them. Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway works well with banking and small companies. Email gateway is less needed as everything is moving to the cloud.
reviewer2296710 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Specialist at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Efficiently blocks unwanted web content and malicious websites and very stable solution
Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway can be improved by giving customers more ability to provide feedback on the categorization of websites and the site review portal. Customers should be able to submit more feedback on the reports from malicious web content and malicious websites. The solution could be more effective at identifying and classifying malicious websites.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"This product is solid, fairly easy to use, and reliable."
"I recommend iboss for organizations looking for strong cloud-based web security and centralized access control."
"The main advantage of iboss is its cloud-based security centralized policy management, which helps organizations protect users working from different locations, secure access to cloud applications, and reduce security risks."
"I would rate the technical support of iboss a solid 10 without a shadow of a doubt."
"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."
"Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss."
"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."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to allow or block sites by category."
"The Sandbox is a very useful solution for sand-boxing malware / phishing etc. from corporate email accounts."
"The most valuable feature for me in Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is URL filtering, though all other features of the product are okay as well."
"The Forcepoint client software can be downloaded on a user's machine so that it can filter the sites from home or the office. That's one of the biggest features. We can use it for filtering our laptops for our users at any place."
"The feature that I find to be most valuable is the flexibility of the single endpoint."
"The most valuable feature is the categorization, where you can allow general access to an application but limit specific features."
"They have well-integrated web security and have the enterprise DLP included in the cloud as well."
"The value of Secure Web Gateway is the visibility it offers and the ease by which we can put controls in place."
"The product is easy to install and deploy on the cloud."
"I would rate my experience with the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy to set up. It was pretty straightforward."
"This solution does not require much administration."
 

Cons

"For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil."
"I would like to see simpler dashboards, more detailed reporting, and faster performance in iboss."
"One thing I would like to see differently with their Zero Trust platform is that some of the AI aspects related to high-risk activities have more false positives."
"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."
"The dashboards for local use could be better."
"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."
"I appreciate that iboss's single pane of glass console gives centralized visibility into web traffic, user activity, security policies, and alerts from one dashboard, allowing us to quickly investigate incidents and monitor policy violations without switching between multiple tools, improving operational efficiency; however, the dashboard customization and reporting could be more flexible."
"Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern."
"Ease of use could be improved."
"A room for improvement in Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is the support it offers; it's very bad."
"One improvement I'd like to see would be to simplify managing the endpoint for both DLP and web security, so that endpoint management becomes easier."
"I'd like to see the solution improve the banded optimization to offer more bandwidth control, similar to what is on offer with Blue Coat."
"The technical support team's response time could be improved."
"The documentation is almost too much, it could be laid out in an easier to understand."
"The biggest issue that hampered Forcepoint was the lack of development and good consistent support."
"A feature we wish to see addressed in the next release of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway involves its administration."
"WSS runs slowly sometimes, I would like for this to be looked into."
"Symantec support is not very good. It is now outsourcing a significant portion of its support desk functions to distributors, who are taking over some of the help desk responsibilities."
"Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway can be improved by giving customers more ability to provide feedback on the categorization of websites and the site review portal."
"The product is cost-effective, considering its features, technology, and support services."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."
"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."
"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."
"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."
"Overall, I am not aware of the option to pay for one time use of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway."
"The solution is priced a little high compare to similar solutions."
"The cost for Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is lower than that for Zscaler and Netskope. It could be around $4 per user annually."
"The pricing on Forcepoint Web Security is fair. Fair pricing at current market rates, if you are comparing with the competition."
"It is quite expensive."
"Compared to the other products in the market, Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway can be a cost-effective tool."
"The price of this solution is reasonable."
"The pricing for Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is expensive. You pay per user and functionality. I'd rate it a four on a scale of one to ten."
"The price is fixed and affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise29
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?
iboss could be improved by making the dashboard more user-friendly, providing more detailed real-time alerts, and imp...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
iboss is primarily used for cloud security, helping to protect users when they access websites and cloud applications...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?
The pricing and licensing for iboss were reasonable for the security features. The setup costs were manageable, thoug...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway?
I would rate pricing for Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway a two out of ten. It's really expensive.
What needs improvement with Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway?
Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway is not endpoint security. If we have a chance to change, we would change it because it ...
What is your primary use case for Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway?
We have no big project, but we are trying to sell it in the market here. We are working with Forcepoint because there...
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Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
Forcepoint SWG, Websense Web Security, Forcepoint TRITON
Symantec Web Security Service
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.
Adventist Health, Alphawest, Amadori, Anoka County, Compartamos Banco, Davies Turner, EverBank, iGATE, Karlstad Municipality, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Scavolini, Smurfit Kappa, Toyota
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Find out what your peers are saying about Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs. Symantec Cloud Secure Web Gateway and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.