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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
6.7
Number of Reviews
60
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 LiveSafe version works very well and has a very small price."
"Some of the most valuable features are the USB locking on system port blocks, and we are now implementing the policies by pushing the Active Directory policy and group policies on all the systems."
"I would recommend the solution to others; it works well for me and it is affordable."
"It doesn't seem to take too much system bandwidth, and I also like its reporting. Once a month, it gives me a reminder of the activity. It reminds me that the protection is on, and if there are any issues, it summarizes those minor issues. During the month, it only notifies when there is something special."
"I receive a monthly report and I've never had a problem so I presume that it's doing its job well."
"The stability has a good standard right now."
"The most valuable is the blocking of blacklisted sites, a URL that is, either by intelligence or by McAfee, detected as a malicious site."
"Using this type of solution is best practice in the industry."
"Zscaler offers the best service since you are protected wherever you are."
"The most valuable feature for me is the ability to see how my network and traffic looks with modules like analytics and insights."
"We don't have to buy equipment to use it. And when our engineers set it up on our side, we just configured a few settings and we were in."
"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, on the other hand, is more stable and also more secure."
"Zscaler offers a centralized DLP solution for web, endpoint, and email."
"The initial setup was straightforward. The biggest thing for us was to build our own policies. The deployment itself was only a few hours."
"Zscaler is an expensive solution, but it's worth the price."
 

Cons

"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."
"The technical support is good, but it's always "I'll call you back", especially when there are no threats."
"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."
"Endpoints are lightweight agents, eating too much of the host resources."
"The solution should be more proactive in regards to sending you updates."
"Lacking filter for spam."
"It is not strong in terms of spam filter so I do get that at times."
"The True Key version for mobile phones should be improved."
"The solution's technical support needs to be improved, especially by offering a better support structure for different geographical areas."
"It is quite expensive. It does its job, but it is quite expensive for what we need."
"Zscaler Internet Access could improve by adding a VPN feature."
"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."
"Zscale is providing a proxy IP, and most government sites will block traffic from a proxy. Also, we see some performance issues on the cloud side during DC failover."
"One thing that they could improve is the ability to import rules from other platforms."
"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."
"If they can also integrate with the multi-factor authentication to prompt users to do another, second-factor authentication, that would be ideal."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 pricing is cheaper than some of the other options that are available."
"$150 Canadian per year."
"The license number would be approximately $35,000."
"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."
"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."
"If we need any extra features, the price will increase."
"It is quite expensive. It does its job, but it is quite expensive for what we need."
"​Be aware that you will need to invest some time and money to adapt your environment for Zscaler (traffic redirection, software deployment, authentication, etc).​"
"The price of Zscaler Internet Access should improve, it is expensive."
"Our monthly fee is around R3000."
"We pay around 6,500 INR per user per year, which is very expensive. I would rate Zscaler's pricing one out of five."
"The pricing is an issue. It is expensive compared to other firewalls on the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Construction Company
12%
Marketing Services Firm
12%
Performing Arts
9%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
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 Enterprise9
Large Enterprise39
 

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: June 2026.
900,125 professionals have used our research since 2012.