Menlo Secure vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks comparison

Menlo Security and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category. Menlo Security is ranked #26, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.5. Menlo Security holds a 2.2% mindshare in WSG, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 7.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Menlo Security users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

Menlo Secure and Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks are both key players in the secure access service edge market. Prisma Access seems to have a competitive advantage due to its comprehensive feature set, while Menlo Secure is noted for its pricing and customer service excellence.

Features: Menlo Secure offers advanced threat protection, seamless cloud integration, and isolation technology for robust security. Prisma Access provides extensive network and cloud security capabilities, superior threat detection, and management tools.

Room for Improvement: Menlo Secure could enhance its logging capabilities and user authentication processes for bypassed sites. Prisma Access might improve on deployment complexity and streamline customization options to ease management.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Menlo Secure is known for its easy deployment and efficient customer support. Prisma Access, offering a more complex deployment model, compensates with a wide array of customization choices but might require more technical assistance.

Pricing and ROI: Menlo Secure provides a lower initial cost and strong ROI, which is financially appealing. Prisma Access, despite a higher upfront investment, justifies its cost with an extensive and sophisticated security solution offering.

To learn more, read our detailed Menlo Secure vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Menlo Secure vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

June 2026

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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 June 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.4%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Menlo Secure is 2.2%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is 7.6%, down from 10.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks	7.6%
iboss	3.4%
Menlo Secure	2.2%
Other	86.8%

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.

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reviewer2701794

Head Of Bluechip Enterprise at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees

Provides strong protection and multiple use cases but struggles with market recognition

There aren't specific areas for improvement; however, they're not as well known as the big vendors such as Palo Alto. Menlo Secure is a smaller company with limited resources and funding, which makes it challenging to compete with larger companies such as Palo and Cisco. What can be improved is market awareness and adoption of the technology. When selling it in the channel, regardless of how good the technology might be, success depends more on market adoption and awareness.

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IgorPinter

Director at PULSEC

Zero-trust access has improved remote security and now simplifies cloud-based firewall management

Regarding the integration part for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, the integration with identity providers is pretty much good. It is basically firewall as a service, so it performs well. I completed the integration without any issues. What Palo Alto Networks can do better for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is probably to have the point of presence available in more locations. The point of presence from the Serbia region has the nearest POP in Frankfurt, which is an issue since it is your gateway—when you start browsing the internet, you go through a commercial connection in Germany. They definitely need to spread the service in other countries.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"As I mentioned, the return on investment is significant, as it saved our office locations' bandwidth because when you are working remotely at home, your internet traffic routes directly to iboss and will not go to your office building, saving bandwidth bottlenecks and ensuring that issues with our building internet circuits will not impact your internet connectivity because you are directly going to the iboss data center."

"iboss is definitely very good in terms of service."

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

"iboss has significantly lowered the number of security incidents. It is crazy how much it blocks and how much it is aware of the outside danger."

"I would say iboss is a very good product; its scalability is very good, and it's seamless for the user."

"From a corporate perspective, I understand that it's important to keep the company data safe."

More iboss pros

"The fact that it is a cloud proxy solution is another feature we like. For example, if you acquire a new company, you can use it to protect that new company without the need to install anything physically on their networks."

"This security technology addresses risk and enables people to conduct business without that risk, which is where the ROI is realized."

"Either you have access to something or don't have access to it, and if you do, we can ensure, 100 percent of the time, that there is nothing malicious that is going to impact our system in any way."

"It has reduced security events to follow up on. While it is not 100%, there has been probably a 90% or more reduction. We were getting hit left, right, and center constantly from people browsing the Internet and hitting bad websites. It was not just bad websites that were stood up to be malicious, but good sites that were compromised."

"Accessing the internet with a proxy from anywhere is the most valuable feature. It ensures that users are only able to browse legitimate websites. If they happen to go to a legitimate website with a malicious payload, the isolation feature will take care of that."

"We are not aware of a single compromise from the web since implementing the solution."

"We have definitely seen ROI, as we save a ton of money and time because the numerous hits that we were receiving from our security tools prior to implementing them had to all be chased down, dispositioned, and endpoints had to be reimaged."

"The solution is invisible to our end users, so it doesn't have any impact on their work or performance."

More Menlo Secure pros

"We have an application called ADEM that helps us troubleshoot network-related issues. It helps us to isolate an issue whether it is on the ISP level, endpoint level, or system access level."

"Being able to use the user ID or Active Directory Group is one of the great features for control and providing more flexibility without worrying about IP addresses."

"The initial setup is very straightforward."

"Overall, the cost savings, ease of deployment, and better VPN user experience and performance are valuable."

"The features I find most valuable is WildFire, user integration, and the basic technology features."

"Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is a seamless solution."

"For anybody who is looking for a contained-based solution, I definitely recommend this product."

"This solution provides a DLP on the cloud and very few people have a scanning device for data at rest."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks pros

Cons

"Its pricing could be better."

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

"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."

"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."

"One thing I would like to see differently with their Zero Trust platform is that some of the AI aspects related to high-risk activities have more false positives."

"Sometimes when you call in support, you get someone who is just following a sheet. It feels like a runaround. You feel that you are running into that support wall."

"For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil."

"I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention."

More iboss cons

"We are now transitioning to another solution. The main reason for that is that managing all of the exceptions and troubleshooting all of the issues our users have had connecting to the internet has become too significant in terms of workload, compared to what we hope we will have with another solution."

"Currently, I don't have a good way to see which of my rules are being used in the access control lists. I have numerous entries, but are they all still needed? A report that would show me my list of who is allowed and whether we're actually using it would be useful because I can then go clean up my list. It would be easier to manage. We would eliminate the vulnerability of unused services."

"The user monitoring could still be improved."

"In the best of all worlds, we wouldn't have to make any exceptions. However, that is a big ask because a lot of that depends on how websites are constructed. For example, there are some very complex, application-oriented sites that we end up making exceptions for. It is really not that big an issue for us to make the exceptions. We feel like we are doing that without a huge impact on our security posture, but we do have to make some exceptions for complex sites, e.g., mostly SaaS-type sites and applications."

"Currently, I don't have a good way to see which of my rules are being used in the access control lists."

"Menlo Secure is a smaller company with limited resources and funding, which makes it challenging to compete with larger companies such as Palo and Cisco."

"If I had to rate Prisma Access for ease of use, I'd give it two out of ten. It's easy for the users, but it's difficult for admins to configure."

"There is room for improvement in the multi-environment visibility, especially around containers."

"The licensing of this solution is a little expensive and is paid on an annual basis."

"The user interface could be better. They need to work a little bit on the console. It is similar to their firewalls but not exactly. They need to clean it up a bit."

"The cloud setup is straightforward, and the onboarding process is much better, but the on-premises initial setup is slightly complex."

"It's not really Prisma's fault, but when you try to create exceptions you don't really have those abilities. You cannot say, on the management platform, "Hey, for these users I want to create these exceptions." That is one thing that I have gotten some complaints about, and we have faced some challenges there."

"Its integration with non-Palo Alto products can be improved. Currently, it is easy to integrate it with other Palo Alto products such as Cortex XDR. It integrates well with other Palo Alto products. A major part of our network is based on Palo Alto products, but for those companies that use multi-vendor products in their infrastructure, Palo Alto should optimize the integration of Prisma Access with the network devices from other vendors."

"I haven't seen any SD-WAN configuration capability. If Prisma Access would support SD-WAN, that would help... SD-WAN devices should be able to reach Prisma Access, and Palo Alto should support different, vendor-specific devices, not just Palo Alto devices, for SD-WAN configuration."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

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

"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."

"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."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

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

"It is appropriately priced for what they're doing for us. Considering the protection provided, I feel their pricing is spot-on."

"The solution is expensive. It's more expensive than the solution I previously used. Compared with the other cloud-based solutions, it's very competitive."

"We save a ton of money and time. Previously, the numerous hits that we were receiving from our security tools, prior to implementing them, had to all be chased down, dispositioned, and endpoints had to be reimaged. It was just a ton of effort to do all that. That is where the savings from time and money come in."

"I would advise choosing your options according to your company's needs. Just go for what you want and do not pay for anything extra in terms of licensing. You need to determine how much bandwidth is required in your company network, and according to that, you should pay for the license. The mobile user license is based on the number of users who are going to use the VPN solution. You need to determine how many mobile users you are going to have in your network, and you should pay according to that. There are no other costs in addition to licensing, but if you go for the consultant services of Palo Alto networks to deliver the solution for you, then you need to pay something extra. That is not a part of licensing."

"Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is an expensive solution, especially when compared to other solutions like Cisco. There are no additional charges apart from the standard licensing costs attached to the solution."

"The licensing model for this product is complicated and changes all the time, making it very hard for the user to comprehend the configuration."

"It is a little expensive. Because it is one of the best in the market, it is a little bit more expensive than other vendors."

"Based on what I have heard from others, it is a pricey solution as compared to its peers, but I am not sure. However, considering the features that it offers, it is a break-even point. You get whatever they are promising."

"It is pretty expensive. We have to balance the cost of some features. They need to work on some of the services and products, price-wise."

"As compared to other solutions, Prisma Access is much cheaper. It is probably 30% to 40% cheaper than other solutions, but I do not know the exact cost."

"Palo Alto is the Cadillac solution, so their products are pretty expensive. That's just the way it is. Their solution surpasses anything else. Cisco AnyConnect, Zscaler, and all of the other products don't compare. Palo Alto is the market leader with the most features. It saves you work, and you don't have to worry about it."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

13%

Construction Company

Retailer

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	8

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	26
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	27

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iboss?

We used iBoss mainly for Internet Access by having an Agent on Windows laptops Primarily because when we try to use i...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

I am not involved in pricing, but as per the information I have, during that time, the Blue Coat proxies we were usin...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Menlo Security Secure Web Gateway?

There aren't specific areas for improvement; however, they're not as well known as the big vendors such as Palo Alto....

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Menlo Security Secure Web Gateway?

People are mainly using it for zero trust web access. Menlo Secure is built from the ground up to provide zero basic ...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Menlo Security Secure Web Gateway?

Secure file sharing and data protection is not exactly what Menlo Secure is designed to do. While it can handle some ...

See all answers

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 ac...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?

From my experience, Palo Alto is more expensive compared to solutions like Netskope and Triscale.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?

Regarding the integration part for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, the integration with identity providers is pr...

See all answers

Comparisons

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

FortiSASE vs iboss

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 6% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 5% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Prisma Access Browser vs Menlo Secure

Compared 18% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Menlo Secure

Compared 14% of the time

Netskope Next Gen Secure Web Gateway vs Menlo Secure

Compared 9% of the time

Cloudflare One vs Menlo Secure

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Web Security Appliance vs Menlo Secure

Compared 3% of the time

More Menlo Secure Competitors

Netskope vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 11% of the time

FortiSASE vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 6% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 6% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 5% of the time

OpenVPN Access Server vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 3% of the time

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

June 2026

Download iboss product report

Buyer's Guide

Menlo Secure

May 2026

Download Menlo Secure product report

Buyer's Guide

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

May 2026

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks report

Download Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

Menlo Security Web Security, Menlo Web Security

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access

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

Menlo Security Secure Application Access

Menlo Security Secure Application Access makes zero trust access easy, giving users secure connectivity to private applications, including web and legacy applications. At the core of Secure Application Access is the Menlo Secure Cloud Browser, which fetches, secures and delivers the content for users.

In addition to providing simple-to-deploy, clientless ZTA, Secure Application Access and the Menlo Secure Cloud Browser protect applications from attacks such as session hijacking, cookie manipulation, and other tactics that employ protocol manipulation.

Secure Application Access protects applications from Internet threats and provides granular controls for added protection of the application and associated data. These security controls include Read-only/Read-write, Upload/download, Copy/paste, AV scanning, Sandboxing, and Data Loss Prevention.

Last Mile Data Protection

Menlo Last-Mile Data Protection identifies and prevents sensitive data from leaving your company by meticulously inspecting all file uploads and user input across browsing sessions. Leveraging the Secure Cloud Browser, users are protected from the internet and you can protect your organization from data loss with comprehensive traffic monitoring and controls. This approach addresses the growing concerns surrounding data leakage in the age of AI tools like ChatGPT.

By identifying sensitive data through file types, regular expressions, or predefined libraries, Menlo Last-Mile Data Protection empowers security teams to regulate data input into AI platforms and prevent unauthorized uploads. This capability provides crucial protection for intellectual property, PII, and other confidential information.

The solution leverages the Menlo Cloud Security Platform's visibility and control over traffic to reliably detect and prevent data leaks originating from both browser submission forms and non-browser traffic. With the ability to inspect encrypted web traffic, Menlo Last-Mile Data Protection enforces DLP policies consistently across all users and devices, ensuring comprehensive data protection.

Menlo Security

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks delivers robust security features including secure remote access across apps and traffic monitoring. It integrates smoothly with cloud environments to provide advanced threat protection and visibility into network traffic.

Prisma Access offers a comprehensive suite of security tools designed to protect cloud environments and remote workforces. With its focus on real-time risk identification and threat prevention, Prisma Access provides encrypted tunnels and centralized management for seamless connectivity and enhanced data security. Designed to scale across platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP, it optimizes traffic and connectivity while offering extensive visibility into vulnerabilities. However, integration with third-party products, usability, and support services are areas for development, as users report interface challenges and desire improved scalability and geographic coverage, especially in regions like China and South America.

What are the key features of Prisma Access?

Real-Time Risk Identification: Detects and manages potential threats instantly.
Secure Remote Access: Ensures secure connectivity to applications from anywhere.
Traffic Monitoring: Provides comprehensive oversight of network traffic.
Seamless Integration: Works well with platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP.
Firewall Capabilities: Blocks unauthorized access and threats.
Scalability: Adapts to various cloud environments to meet growing demands.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Prisma Access?

Reduced Data Breach Risk: Protects sensitive information through encrypted connections.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies management and configuration tasks.
Centralized Management: Offers a single view for managing all security policies.
Advanced Threat Protection: Regular updates guard against new threats.

Prisma Access is effectively used in industries requiring secure remote access and stringent data protection, such as finance and healthcare. Organizations leverage it to enforce Zero Trust policies, optimize network performance with SD-WAN, and ensure security compliance across multiple platforms.

Palo Alto Networks

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.

Information Not Available

Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack

Buyer's Guide

Menlo Secure vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

June 2026

Free Report: Menlo Secure vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Find out what your peers are saying about Menlo Secure vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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