Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway vs Zscaler Internet Access comparison

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway vs. Zscaler Internet Access

Download the complete report

Helped 913,924 peers since 2012

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

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.4%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Internet Access is 9.7%, down from 14.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Zscaler Internet Access	9.7%
iboss	3.4%
Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway	2.1%
Other	84.8%

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula

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.

Read full review

Btejedor Tejedor

Experto de Seguridad Informática at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Granular web controls have improved user-specific access and reduced security incidents

For the moment, the solution is going quite well, and I cannot think of anything specific we could improve at the moment.Perhaps in file control, the maximum size of the files that can be analyzed is a negative aspect or an improvement that I consider necessary in Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway.

Read full review

VikasTiwari

Senior Network Engineer at Anthology

Cloud security has transformed remote access and now supports zero trust for all users

The best features Zscaler Internet Access offers are Secure Web Gateway, URL filtering, SSL inspections, and policy-based access control. I find myself relying on Secure Web Gateway, URL filtering, SSL inspection, and policy-based access control the most because these are the main and top-most features I use regularly. Zscaler Internet Access has all of these types of features for securing all internet access and web inspections, allowing me to control all traffic through these features. Zscaler Internet Access features include a Secure Web Gateway for URL filtering, file type control, and inline SSL inspections. The second feature is a cloud firewall with Layer 3 to Layer 7 filtering control and stateful inspections. No hardware inspection or hardware firewall is required. I can also perform segmentations by users, location, and application. There is a cloud CASB solution available as well. Additionally, there is an advanced threat protection feature with signature-based behavioral detections, inline IPS, and zero-day threat protections. The cloud sandboxing solution scans unknown files and provides machine learning-based verdicts to prevent zero-day malware delivery in my environment. There is also a DNS security feature that provides DNS tunneling detections, malicious domain controls, and faster threat containment at the DNS layer. The data protection feature includes inline DLP and CASB-style cloud app control, data sovereignty enforcement, and browser isolation, which executes risky sites in isolated cloud browsers and prevents endpoint compromises. Zscaler Internet Access has positively impacted my organization by reducing the dependency on on-premises hardware and improving security posture, enabling faster user onboarding, and providing better performance for remote users. It has resulted in a drop in security incidents related to web threats and improved visibility into user activity. An area for improvement includes fine-grained troubleshooting tools, better policy simulations, and optimizations around initial configuration complexity.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

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."

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

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

"The students were always protected, and the content filtering worked very well, seeming to work better than other products we had tried previously."

"I would definitely recommend iboss for web filtering purposes to other organizations or individuals."

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

"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."

"Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss."

More iboss pros

"We can connect cloud apps and monitor them."

"My advice for others looking into implementing the solution it is easy to use, and it is one of the best solutions on the market."

"All our customers use multiple data and want to protect that by preventing data leakage and that's what it does."

"As Netskope is a cloud-based application, it is possible to analyze and distinguish personal and enterprise instances."

"It is for secure web trafficking, and it is doing what it needs to do. It allows customers to consolidate and eliminate multiple technologies onto Netskope and just kind of turn the dial and use more features, such as CASB, VPN. SWG is another feature. You can monitor and govern all the traffic."

"We've found the solution to be quite stable."

"The solution offers good security functionality."

"So far, the solution has been excellent."

More Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway pros

"The most valuable features of Zscaler Internet Access include its capacity to scale, the security implementation capabilities, the ability to integrate public IPs related to clients so traffic presents on the internet as a client, and the facility to interoperate with SSEs while maintaining the same security mechanisms from on-premises to cloud environments."

"My advice for people looking into implementing Zscaler Internet Access is that it's quite stable."

"The initial setup was straightforward. The biggest thing for us was to build our own policies. The deployment itself was only a few hours."

"One on the main benefits is protection all time from anywhere."

"Zscalar Internet Access is for Internet security, like an Internet security gateway. I like how it runs seamlessly in the background with a single sign-on. The controls you can have on devices for Internet security are good, and it doesn't impact speed wherever you're connected. Overall, I think it's very good so far."

"The most valuable features of Zscaler Internet Access are it's on the cloud, high network performance, and the interception of users is very easy."

"Zscaler is an expensive solution, but it's worth the price."

"The users are at different locations, and Zscaler helps us to put the organization's central security controls on these roaming users."

More Zscaler Internet Access pros

Cons

"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."

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

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"Fold that in with the risk intelligence they're getting from all of the different subscriptions they are a part of. Now, these security companies subscribe to things like emerging threats, databases, etc. You can fold all this intelligence to decide what's happening on an endpoint. I would love to see them start moving into that space. That would compete directly with Microsoft. Maybe that's why they haven't. Having that ability native within the solution would be great. The other area in which I would love to see improvement is more detailed descriptions of why they block websites."

"iboss can be improved because the integration could be better; you need to import all the sites that you access today, and there are a few problems whenever you import thousands of websites, making the integration process messy for the users."

"Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc. It is easy to gain access if, for example, hackers obtain my username and password."

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

"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."

More iboss cons

"The solution could improve the features for Zero Trust Network Access. They should add more security components to that module."

"I think the accuracy could be improved."

"There is room for improvement in streamlining policies. So what happens is that when you apply a specific Netskope policy, you never know the kind of content it will automatically block, or it will allow."

"They should work on marketing material to put out their work with a little more effort."

"The initial setup is a bit complex in that it takes a lot of time. In order to get the product to work as you need it to, there is a lot of configuration required."

"Netskope provides vigorous policy enforcement for SaaS platforms based on how we configure it, but its vulnerability management and threat intelligence capabilities could be stronger."

"The solution lacks a good reporting feature."

"Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway needs to integrate IoT, which can help to control devices."

More Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway cons

"The OS capabilities and WSL support could be improved."

"Zscaler should continue to make the user interface better. They should also improve the backup network and continue to expand it so that it can handle larger numbers of customers."

"The solution can be improved by advancing some of the newer technologies such as the DLP feature, and adding email security."

"We'd like to have more plugins and integration."

"We did hit a problem a while back where they didn't scale properly and we had some major issues."

"I would like to see more training and video documentation."

"The license is per user, and there's a minimum license per user per year. It's costly if you compare it to the traditional solutions like Symantec or Bluecoat."

"We use other similar products and find them to be a bit more preferable to Zscaler."

More Zscaler Internet Access cons

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."

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

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

"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 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."

"The license model is based on the number of users. You have the possibility to have 10,000 users if you wish."

"The solution's overall cost is cheaper than regular web security solutions."

"We pay a licensing fee of $10,000 on a yearly basis."

"The product is cheap."

"The price is average. Because the license is user-based, you can increase it as per the user quantity."

"The price of Zscaler Internet Access should improve, it is expensive."

"It is a few pounds per user per month."

"The solution is a little bit expensive. On a scale of one to five, I would rate it as a three."

"The pricing is an issue. It is expensive compared to other firewalls on the market."

"There are multiple bundles: enterprise, business, and transformation. Transformation includes all the features, but recently I've seen a few more line items that are additional costs. Overall, it's expensive."

"It is costlier than other solutions."

"Roughly, we might spend $70,000 a month on the solution. We don't pay for anything beyond the standard licensing fee."

"Because it's a cloud solution, we pay on a yearly basis. It is affordable and includes tech support and all features."

More Zscaler Internet Access pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Web Gateways (SWG) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	10

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	39

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

I think iboss could be improved by making reporting and dashboard customization more flexible, and simplifying troubl...

What is your primary use case for iboss?

I use iboss as a cloud-based secure web gateway to provide secure internet access, web filtering, and protect remote ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

My experience with iboss's pricing structure, setup cost, and licensing model has been positive, straightforward, and...

Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Netscope, Zscaler if they continue route they are on now. FIrewalls needs great deal of automation on each end, datac...

Which lesser known firewall product has the best chance at unseating the market leaders?

Those firewalls that allow extend the perimeter. Nowadays, there is a issue with the static perimeter and all is goin...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway?

It is fairly priced.

Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler?

Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried. Zs...

Which is better, Zscaler internet access or Netsckope CASB?

We researched Netskope but ultimately chose Zscaler. Netskope is a cloud access security broker that helps identify ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Internet Access?

We have not purchased Zscaler Internet Access through the AWS Marketplace; the licensing process was handled separate...

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Comparisons

Compared 10% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs iboss

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 6% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs iboss

Compared 4% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 14% of the time

Menlo Secure vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 9% of the time

dope.swg vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 6% of the time

Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Compared 3% of the time

More Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway Competitors

Cisco Umbrella vs Zscaler Internet Access

Compared 29% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Zscaler Internet Access

Compared 5% of the time

Netskope vs Zscaler Internet Access

Compared 5% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Zscaler Internet Access

Compared 4% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Zscaler Internet Access

Compared 2% of the time

More Zscaler Internet Access Competitors

Product Reports

iboss

Download iboss product report

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway

Download Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway product report

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway report

Download Zscaler Internet Access product report

Zscaler Internet Access

August 2026

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

No data available

ZIA

Overview

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.

iboss

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway delivers advanced web security with features like malware control, DLP, and swift connectivity. With cloud-native operations, it enhances security without on-premise hardware.

Organizations leveraging Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway benefit from its ease of policy management, swift connections, and consolidation of technologies. The gateway ensures robust security with features such as CASB, URL filtering, threat prevention, and sandboxing. Its operations are cloud-native, eliminating the need for on-premise hardware, and it integrates effectively with IAM and PAM systems. Broad SaaS coverage and an emphasis on architectural governance enhance web activity security and visibility. While there is room to improve file control, IoT functionality, and endpoint features, it remains a trusted option for safe web browsing, filtering, and security through advanced policy controls and prevention methods.

What are the key features of Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway?

Policy Ease: Simplifies managing security policies for diverse web applications.
Swift Connections: Ensures fast and secure internet connections for uninterrupted workflow.
Malware Control: Provides robust protection against malware with comprehensive control features.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Prevents data breaches through effective monitoring and management.
Cloud-Native Operations: Operates fully in the cloud, eliminating the need for physical hardware.
CASB Integration: Offers seamless integration with Cloud Access Security Broker for enhanced security.
Threat Prevention: Detects and prevents potential online threats effectively.

What benefits and ROI should be considered when evaluating Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway?

Security Enhancement: Provides increased security through advanced threat prevention and control tools.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces the need for on-premise hardware, lowering total cost of ownership.
Operational Efficiency: Enhances operational workflow with faster and more secure internet connections.
Comprehensive Integration: Integrates seamlessly with existing IAM and PAM systems, facilitating ease of use.
Actionable Insights: Offers detailed reporting and analytics for informed decision-making.

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway is widely implemented across industries for secure internet navigation, application control, and threat prevention. Enterprises use it to prevent shadow IT, manage SaaS traffic, and enforce governance according to specific industry regulations, ensuring security and compliance.

Netskope

Zscaler Internet Access provides internet security through cloud-native architecture, ensuring threat protection and traffic management without relying on traditional VPNs and firewalls.

It enhances security by offering features such as CASB and DLP. With its cloud-native proxy architecture, it facilitates seamless security with reduced latency and high availability. Organizations value the scalability and centralized policy management, integrating seamlessly with existing systems for remote work. It ensures secure traffic management by delivering advanced threat protection and support for applications through SSL inspection and sandboxing. Enhanced measures for DLP, better integration with tools like MFA, and optimized reporting are areas for growth.

What are the key features?

Website Filtering: Controls access to harmful sites to protect users.
SSL Inspection: Shields against threats bypassing traditional defenses.
Cloud Sandbox: Provides advanced threat protection through testing.
CASB: Offers cloud application visibility and security enforcement.

What benefits should users seek?

Scalability: Easily adjusts to growing requirements without manual intervention.
Centralized Management: Simplifies policy implementation across locations.
Seamless Integration: Reduces need for traditional VPNs by integrating with remote infrastructure.

Many industries leverage Zscaler Internet Access for securing internet traffic and safeguarding against threats like malware and DDoS attacks. It is integral as a secure web gateway to fulfill data loss prevention, bandwidth control, and filtering needs, allowing remote users robust access and protection globally. Companies employ it alongside existing tools for proper security and policy enforcement.

Zscaler

Sample Customers

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

Arrow, Cloudrise, Sainsbury, Evalueserve, Stroock, Apria, Ather Energy, CSA, AVX Corporation Nuna, City of San Diego Case, Genomic Health Case Study, Oak Hill Advisors, MaRS Discovery District.

Ulster-Greene ARC, BanRegio, HDFC, Ralcorp Holdings Inc., British American Tobacco, Med America Billing Services Inc., Lanco Group, Aquafil, Telefonica, Swisscom, Brigade Group

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway vs. Zscaler Internet Access