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VMware Carbon Black App Control vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 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

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
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange...
Ranking in Application Control
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (2nd), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (5th), ZTNA as a Service (1st), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (1st), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Application Control category, the mindshare of VMware Carbon Black App Control is 14.4%, down from 31.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is 9.7%, up from 8.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Control Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware Carbon Black App Control14.4%
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform9.7%
Other75.9%
Application Control
 

Featured Reviews

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.…
Sumit Bhanwala - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud-based platform simplifies device and data center management
I find it to be good. The solution is cloud-based with the latest inspection engines, which I find to be amazing. We are less dependent on data centers and device management, which reduces our efforts significantly. It improves our device management, data center management, and updating devices. We need fewer engineers for this management, and it reduces time and efforts for data center management, device upgrades, and IT support.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"All the functions within VMware Carbon Black App Control are valuable."
"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."
"The visibility, reporting, and the ability to stop or prevent malicious or undesired applications from being installed are the most valuable features."
"I use the console to check for threats and I find it to be very user-friendly."
"The visibility is valuable."
"The effectiveness of application whitelisting is very good."
"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 API integration is good."
"The product’s most valuable features are inbound and outbound scanning and API control."
"The most valuable aspect of Zscaler Cloud DLP is its automatic DLP feature."
"It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable features of Zscaler CASB are API integration and DLP."
"You can close your data protection gaps with Zscaler. You can quickly find all the classified, sensitive data across the cloud."
"The solution offers a simplified network infrastructure and security functions and it enables secure remote access for the users"
"As a cloud-based service, it is very easily implemented."
"I like the web filtering capabilities."
 

Cons

"Its setup is very complex, and it requires guidance from the support team, but it is well worth the effort."
"Carbon Black does not use the database for identifying the file, the fields, or malware."
"I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability."
"The initial setup is somewhat complex."
"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."
"The solution should have overhead in keeping lists of applications that you want don't want to run."
"An area for improvement would be the ease of configuration."
"The solution's granularity should be improved because it has limited granular options to control, visible, allow, block, delay, and receive."
"Zscaler Private Access needs to improve its collaboration with applications without compromising security."
"The pricing for Private Access seems to be on the expensive side, and I believe they should consider making it more competitive with other solutions."
"The area that requires improvement is their support. The current support is lacking."
"The menu for the ZIA portal could be organized a little bit differently. The most-used modules should be at the top of the menus, not somewhere near the bottom, some of them are not organized well in my opinion."
"It has massive room for improvement. The Zscaler product itself is okay, but it doesn't give enough granularity for us as an organization to stipulate rules or processes, especially for data-driven services. For instance, we can stick on SSL inspection, but it's just a click box. It doesn't allow us to go any further into the detail of the SSL inspection. We also can't pull it out without having an additional logging server. It just doesn't give us enough granularity. They should give us more control over the interfaces because it is all backend. They weren't very open to discussing their backend architecture with us in terms of their own data centers. They can maybe a little bit more open about what components are there and how the backend infrastructure works alongside Zscaler. Its licensing can be better. Some of the additional licensing costs are quite high, and they should have certain features ready and available as a baseline rather than having to purchase additional licenses for it. Their support should also be improved. I initially had a consultant from Zscaler for its deployment, but the support that I had throughout the deployment of the project wasn't the best."
"More on-prem infrastructure is required when Zscaler Private Access is to be implemented as a single point of entry."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price is reasonable and what is expected for these types of products."
"The pricing for this product is competitive and our customers who told us that often, Carbon Back is the cheaper solution."
"We pay a fee for support, which is renewed annually."
"The product is a little more expensive than other tools."
"In the long run, cloud services are not inherently costly."
"Zscaler Private Access is extremely expensive."
"It's expensive currently. But when purchasing for a large number of users, there's room to negotiate. It's really up to the procurement team."
"The pricing is expensive and on the higher end. Honestly, in my opinion, it is not worth the price."
"The pricing is quite high, especially when it comes to the gateway."
"The price is competitive."
"The solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise41
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What is the better solution - Prisma Access or Zscaler Private Access?
We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure access service edge (SASE) designed to deliver network security in a cloud-deliver...
What do you like most about Zscaler SASE?
The most valuable features of Zscaler Private Access are reliability, scalability, and availability.
What needs improvement with Zscaler SASE?
The solution needs to improve a lot of aspects.
 

Also Known As

CB Protection, Carbon Black CB Protection
Zscaler SASE, Zscaler DLP, Zscaler CASB, Zscaler CSPM, Zscaler Browser Isolation, Zscaler Posture Control
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Kaas Tailored, Core-Mark, Indeed, Hologic, Landmark Credit Union, Project Worldwide
Siemens, AutoNation, GE, NOV
Find out what your peers are saying about VMware Carbon Black App Control vs. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.