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ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform vs VMware Carbon Black App Control comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 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

ThreatLocker Zero Trust End...
Ranking in Application Control
1st
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (5th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (7th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (6th), ZTNA (4th), Ransomware Protection (1st)
VMware Carbon Black App Con...
Ranking in Application Control
3rd
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Application Control category, the mindshare of ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform is 22.7%, up from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Carbon Black App Control is 14.4%, down from 31.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Control Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform22.7%
VMware Carbon Black App Control14.4%
Other62.9%
Application Control
 

Featured Reviews

Johnathan Bodily - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures ransomware protection and reduces phishing chaos
The application control has been great so far, and while I am still exploring the network access controls, I unfortunately don't have access to one module I would love to have due to licensing restrictions. It's easy to use in regard to reducing attack surfaces. For me, it's a piece of cake. We can have something approved within 30 seconds, thanks to the mobile app. We haven't eliminated security solutions. We just add to it, and ThreatLocker has been a great addition. We also have Kaseya and ThreatLocker as a supplement to that. It's useful. They have overlap, and we look at the overlap as a good thing. It's helped your organization save on operational costs or expenses by ensuring that many fewer hours are spent dealing with ransomware nonsense. I cannot count the amount of hours that I personally have not had to put in to recovering an environment from a ransomware event. The last big one took us about three weeks to completely recover from. Since we've grouped ThreatLocker in, the management of that whole setup has gone down to just daily help desk tasks and general server maintenance instead of having the whole system on fire. There are probably thousands of hours of saved time between our teams. It's been great so far. ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform's ability to block access to unauthorized applications is great. It's my biggest protection, the blocked applications. In a lot of cases, you go to install something yourself that you need for management, and it comes in and says, nope. And then I have to log into the portal and approve it. I get our other guys saying, hey, why are you trying to approve something? Any of the tools that I'm using on a day-to-day basis that haven't been in the environment during the whole learning mode initially, I could go through and set extensions and all that. So, while it's a headache on that end, the amount of saved time I can't even count. It is a little frustrating on my end since I like to go as quickly as I possibly can, and it slows me down. However, that's a really good thing. Depending on the site, it can save a lot of time and cut down headaches. It's likely saved a week's worth of time. It's cut down the amount of sever help desk tickets. Those have become minimal.
AM
We can isolate problem machines and limit their access
We use App Control to scan the network for virtual machines that have unauthorized applications. We can isolate the problem VMs and control application access.  More than two years. I rate Carbon Black App Control 10 out of 10 for stability. I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The time saved from dealing with ransomware nonsense is invaluable."
"Using ThreatLocker is effortless because I can access it from an app on my phone, so I can help clients after hours. My client had an issue while I was at dinner, and I didn't have a tech on the problem, but I could deal with it from my phone. I can see what the client is doing and approve or deny it. It helps me deliver better service to my clients when they need it."
"The great thing is that if you get a malicious email and you try to run something, ThreatLocker is not going to let it do anything. It is not going to let anything infect your network."
"The deployment is very easy."
"We use it most heavily for elevation control, blocking and giving rights only to certain people or devices, and not allowing the rest to access the software. Elevation control has been second to none for me."
"ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform provides no-sweat security that we can easily deploy. We do not worry about our habitual clickers because we receive an alert if they try to do something, and we know ThreatLocker has already taken care of it."
"ThreatLocker’s support has been second to none."
"ThreatLocker stands out because they understand application whitelisting and elevation controls deeply, addressing real issues effectively."
"The effectiveness of application whitelisting is very good."
"All the functions within VMware Carbon Black App Control are valuable."
"We use App Control to scan the network for virtual machines that have unauthorized applications. We can isolate the problem VMs and control application access."
"The visibility is valuable."
"The API integration is good."
"The visibility, reporting, and the ability to stop or prevent malicious or undesired applications from being installed are the most valuable features."
"If any malicious activity, like VAT viruses, anything RNE, ZOD malware, or something similar, comes in we know that unless we approve it, it's going to be blocked."
"I use the console to check for threats and I find it to be very user-friendly."
 

Cons

"The support could be quicker. There are times when there is a delay in getting a response. This is problematic when immediate attention is needed."
"I have encountered some problems with stability, however, they are resolved quickly."
"A valuable addition to ThreatLocker would be a column in the audit page displaying a VirusTotal score for each file."
"I find that the learning mode is too accessible. Technicians sometimes default to it instead of manually building policy controls. I would prefer the learning mode to be harder to access, ideally hidden behind a layer that requires creating at least one policy first before using the learning mode as a supplement."
"The snapshots used in the ThreatLocker University portal are outdated snippets and have not been updated in conjunction with the portal itself."
"If you have a thousand computers with ThreatLocker agents on them, when you approve or create a new policy saying that Adobe Reader that matches this hashtag and meets certain criteria is allowed to be installed, it applies at the top level or the organization level. It applies to every computer in the company. When you make that new policy and push it out and it goes out and updates all of the clients. Unfortunately, at this time, it does not look like they stagger the push-out."
"The user experience could be improved."
"ThreatLocker could offer more flexible training, like online or offline classes after hours. The fact that they even provide weekly training makes it seem silly to suggest, but some people can't do it during the day, so they want to train after work. They could also start a podcast about issues they see frequently and what requires attention. A podcast would be helpful to keep us all apprised about what's going on and/or offline training for those people who can't train during the week."
"Carbon Black does not use the database for identifying the file, the fields, or malware."
"The solution should have overhead in keeping lists of applications that you want don't want to run."
"Its setup is very complex, and it requires guidance from the support team, but it is well worth the effort."
"The initial setup is somewhat complex."
"I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability."
"Another issue is that even sometimes if you approve, for example, Adobe as a publisher, you say any product or anything that's from Adobe has to run. It generally runs, but especially in a large environment and with a lot of users, sometimes, due to some certification validation issues or some other issue, it might stop the process from running. Genuine processes like Adobe and Chrome can get blocked. so that needs to be improved."
"I would like to see the addition of some more features that are in other, similar solutions."
"The reporting is not good and needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of ThreatLocker Allowlisting is reasonable in the market, but it is not fantastic."
"I can't complain. Cheaper would always be nice, but I think it's reasonable compared to other software in the cybersecurity market."
"ThreatLocker's pricing seems justifiable."
"Considering what this product does, ThreatLocker is very well-priced, if not too nicely priced for the customer."
"I do not deal with pricing, but I assume it is cost-effective for us. We choose a solution based on functionality and affordability."
"Although the pricing seems good, there have been inconsistencies in contract negotiations."
"Its price is fair. They have added some additional things to it beyond allowlisting. They are up-charging for them, but in terms of the value we get and the way it impacts us, we get a bang for our buck with ThreatLocker than a lot of our other security tools."
"The pricing is pretty fair, considering other solutions. Licensing-wise, it did not take long."
"We pay a fee for support, which is renewed annually."
"The pricing for this product is competitive and our customers who told us that often, Carbon Back is the cheaper solution."
"Its price is reasonable and what is expected for these types of products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
29%
Retailer
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ThreatLocker Allowlisting?
The interface is clean and well-organized, making it simple to navigate and find what we need.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ThreatLocker Allowlisting?
Pricing, setup costs, and licensing have been pretty accessible and manageable. It was not too expensive to get started, especially at a small scale for a smaller MSP. It is very accessible, easy t...
What needs improvement with ThreatLocker Allowlisting?
For the space that it's in, it's already there. I don't know of another product that compares to its level. Even recently, with the addition of the detect module is a very nice add-on to the packet...
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Also Known As

Protect, Allowlisting, Network Control, Ringfencing
CB Protection, Carbon Black CB Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Kaas Tailored, Core-Mark, Indeed, Hologic, Landmark Credit Union, Project Worldwide
Find out what your peers are saying about ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform vs. VMware Carbon Black App Control and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.