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McAfee Web Protection [EOL] vs Zscaler Internet Access comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

McAfee Web Protection [EOL]
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zscaler Internet Access
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (3rd), Internet Security (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

VivekGupta7 - PeerSpot reviewer
DGM at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Secure, reasonably priced, and performs well
We used cloud services for testing purposes. We used Amazon cloud services. Depending on the solution, there are a variety of options. There are several options such as Endpoint, WAF, NAC, and SIEM are currently available. A variety of solutions are implemented. It was a third-party implementation by Inspira. McAfee also provides an endpoint solution. McAfee's DLP is also present. Previously, we had used Trend Micro and Symantec. There is a method we had to upgrade our systems, a solution was required, and it had to match the three, four solutions from one company that were going to be cheaper, and there is a bidding process, whoever comes first, based on quality and cost, wins the competition. The requirements were speed, quality, and cost. Because Symantec was about to be renewed, our renewal would be more expensive.
Mohan Janarthanan - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Vice President at Novac Technology Solutions
User access management and threat prevention are enhanced with user-friendly controls
The best features Zscaler Internet Access offers include application control, tenant segregation, and PoP center regions which have low availability zones. The internet access is very successful and bandwidth speed is excellent. It also has application-based control, URL-based control, and SSL inspection capabilities, which are very useful. Additionally, the in-depth CASB segregation is very beneficial to us. One unique feature I found helpful is the tenant level restrictions, which we use to only access our organization's tenant level mail IDs, drives, and specific tenant level access while restricting public access. Zscaler Internet Access has positively impacted our organization as we have noticed substantial outputs and income. It has improved our security environment control and endpoint protection. It prevents numerous web attacks through its AI/ML incorporated capability which identifies malware, threats, and viruses. It has a toggle button to enable features entirely at the tenant level for all users onboarded into Zscaler Internet Access, resulting in much better outcomes.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is quite an effective firewall."
"The solution is not too expensive. It's affordable."
"McAfee Web Protection was a good tool because in the olden days when you had to use a proxy tool when browsing the internet, today the logic has changed slightly, in the sense your protection is taken onto the cloud, you exit a predefined gateway on the cloud before your internet browsing happens and therefore you are secured."
"The most valuable is the blocking of blacklisted sites, a URL that is, either by intelligence or by McAfee, detected as a malicious site."
"It is functional. It has reduced risk and downtime while also ensuring regulatory compliance, which is critical."
"Even if the product, as well with the Advanced Threat Defense costs a lot, it's a long-term investment and will help you with attacks."
"McAfee Web Protection has been around for many years and the solution holds its ground as a product providing good accessibility and handling any overload very well."
"It has dependable anti-malware and intrusion prevention features all-in-one package."
"Since this is a cloud based product, we don't have to bother about the hardware or physical status and space."
"Zscaler offers the best service since you are protected wherever you are."
"Tech support is good."
"Zscaler Internet Access's roaming user feature is most valuable and is much better compared to other secure web gateways."
"All internet access flows through the Zscaler proxy, regardless of whether people are in office or remote, so I have greater control site access and I minimize the number of compromises that we experience to almost none."
"The initial setup is very straightforward."
"The protection is most valuable."
"Zscaler Internet Access's roaming user feature is most valuable and is much better compared to other secure web gateways."
 

Cons

"The manufacturerers should have more transparancy about exactly what is getting filtered when you use the product and why."
"The configuration could be simplified because it is more complex to make the configuration on McAfee. What can be improved is the support of the agent on smartphones, IOS or Android. That still now is not available yet."
"Add McAfee Client Proxy agents for mobiles to Web SaaS instead of the consumer based mobile security platform."
"The only thing I can think of that might be negative is that sometimes I get a feeling that web protection products are purposely filtering some sites that are not really malicious."
"The configuration could be simplified because it is more complex to make the configuration on McAfee."
"In McAfee Web Protection there are gaps in the security design, in the overall architecture, the gaps need to be fixed."
"The True Key version for mobile phones should be improved. The password manager is not as seamless as on the desktop. Once implemented, on the desktop, when you go to the site, it automatically fills and connects you, whereas, on the mobile phone, it doesn't do that quite seamlessly. You need to open the True Key application and then select the password you want to use. It then opens in the browser. There are fewer steps in the desktop version as compared to the mobile version."
"In McAfee Web Protection there are gaps in the security design, in the overall architecture, the gaps need to be fixed."
"Technical support could be better."
"One feature I am missing is the ability to connect automatically to internal monitoring systems."
"The performance needs improvement. Some areas create performance issues and, depending on the use cases, require reconfiguration to perform again."
"​When you have appliances, SSL inspection is always a headache due to poor performance and/or lack of ciphers implemented. ​"
"Initially there were issues in terms of stability and improved a lot now."
"It is quite expensive. It does its job, but it is quite expensive for what we need."
"If they can also integrate with the multi-factor authentication to prompt users to do another, second-factor authentication, that would be ideal."
"There are some performance issues when we add on additional controls."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is cheaper than some of the other options that are available."
"In McAfee Web Protection you have the ability to install any appliance you want with the same license. If you need an appliance on-premise, you can install it with the same license because the license is for users, not for appliances. If you need one more, you can install it and you don't have problems with the license or need to change your environment."
"$150 Canadian per year."
"It is not very expensive. It costs 100 Canadian Dollars per year per license. I buy one-year or two-year protection. The license covers my PC, laptops, and telephone. The cost is per user but for multiple devices. It has just the standard licensing fees. There are some options for extended protection. For example, if I wanted to have a VPN, there will be an extra cost. So, there are upgradable features, but I'm very happy with what it is giving me with the basic plan. It gives me the basic privacy protection that I need."
"The license number would be approximately $35,000."
"The pricing is an issue. It is expensive compared to other firewalls on the market."
"The pricing for Zscaler Internet Access could be made cheaper."
"It is costlier than other solutions."
"Zscaler is transparent about its pricing model."
"Roughly, we might spend $70,000 a month on the solution. We don't pay for anything beyond the standard licensing fee."
"It is quite expensive. It does its job, but it is quite expensive for what we need."
"The price of Zscaler Internet Access should improve, it is expensive."
"We pay around 6,500 INR per user per year, which is very expensive. I would rate Zscaler's pricing one out of five."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Construction Company
11%
Performing Arts
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise37
 

Questions from the Community

Do you recommend McAfee Web Protection?
I highly recommend McAfee Web Protection. In my opinion, it is a comprehensive web protection platform with a great firewall. I find that it is a lot less bulky than competing solutions on the mark...
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. Zscaler Internet Access is a good option for carrying out multiple security functi...
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 and manage cloud applications, protecting your sensitive data from exfiltration....
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler Internet Access?
It is only for big companies currently and they only focus on that. That is one of the problems to get into the market. Of course, it is an expensive product.
 

Also Known As

McAfee Web Gateway, McAfee SaaS Web Protection
ZIA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sicredi
Ulster-Greene ARC, BanRegio, HDFC, Ralcorp Holdings Inc., British American Tobacco, Med America Billing Services Inc., Lanco Group, Aquafil, Telefonica, Swisscom, Brigade Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Zscaler, iboss and others in Internet Security. Updated: April 2026.
892,678 professionals have used our research since 2012.