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Palo Alto Networks WildFire 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
Palo Alto Networks WildFire provides cost-effective, centralized threat management, reducing security costs and improving efficiency in high-threat environments.
Sentiment score
5.9
Organizations using Zscaler Internet Access achieve financial gains, improved security, and operational efficiency, with significant cost savings.
The service generates a low rate of false positives, reducing the overhead of managing false positive events.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
The managed service aspect of Zscaler Internet Access has allowed for reduced staffing costs, resulting in a saving of approximately 20-25% compared to prior expenses.
Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Palo Alto Networks WildFire's support is responsive and expert but varies in availability and response time, especially for smaller companies.
Sentiment score
6.7
Zscaler Internet Access is praised for responsive, knowledgeable support, though some report initial delays and suggest improving customer interactions.
There is a lack of SLA adherence, and third-party partners do not provide prompt responses.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
The service response times are aligned with standards, responding within a few hours based on the problem's criticality.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
The support is quite difficult to access promptly.
Content Specialist at PeerSpot
The technical support for Zscaler Internet Access is rated around seven out of ten due to some response time issues and the engagement model.
Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Zscaler Internet Access customer service is really very good.
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
I find customer support to be quite adequate
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Palo Alto Networks WildFire efficiently scales for diverse environments, supporting thousands of users while integrating well with security modules.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zscaler Internet Access offers scalable cloud-based solutions, highly rated for reliability, with some financial and regional considerations.
Wildfire is highly scalable.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is scalable, and I give it a nine for scalability.
Content Specialist at PeerSpot
With the pricing structure that they currently have, it is only for big customers.
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
I find Zscaler Internet Access to be highly scalable, which was one of the reasons for choosing it.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler Internet Access is scalable and has points of presence across the globe to ensure low latency and reliable connections.
Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is highly rated for reliability, seamless integration, and effective network security performance without disruptions.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zscaler Internet Access is stable and reliable, with minor latency issues and high user satisfaction for global deployments.
It performs filtering, malware blocking, and scanning.
Engineer at Taalumgroup
The solution is scalable and stable.
Technical Manager at PSR
Zscaler Internet Access is stable and capable of building resilient architectures.
Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Zscaler Internet Access is very stable, and I would rate its stability as nine out of ten.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

WildFire needs improvements in integration, user-friendliness, and pricing, along with better support, automation, and global availability.
Zscaler Internet Access needs better integrations, reporting, simpler pricing, improved performance, user-friendliness, and more data centers for enhanced user experience.
The dashboard should provide better visibility, especially in showing how many files are sent to Wildfire and their findings.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
It is a very good product.
Engineer at Taalumgroup
The support could be improved, as it takes a while to get assistance from the vendors.
Content Specialist at PeerSpot
The response time and engagement model for technical support could be improved to handle complex outages more efficiently.
Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
In future updates, I would like to see some of the features bundled into the existing product set, perhaps more AI features and a refreshed interface.
Cyber Security Architect at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Zscaler Internet Access has introduced AI control for tools such as ChatGPT, providing options to restrict to text-only input without file or image uploads through CASB restriction controls.
Assosiate Vice President at Novac Technology Solutions
 

Setup Cost

Palo Alto WildFire offers advanced threat protection, appealing to enterprises despite its high cost, potentially deterring smaller organizations.
Zscaler Internet Access is costly but valued for robust cloud security; opinions differ on its competitive pricing.
I would rate it an eight out of ten in terms of affordability.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
Zscaler Internet Access is recognized as an expensive solution.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Zscaler Internet Access is less expensive than competitors like Palo Alto, offering a premium service justified by security enhancements and cost-effective scalability.
Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Of course, it is an expensive product.
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Palo Alto Networks WildFire automates threat analysis, excels in sandboxing, and offers robust security with cloud-based, user-friendly features.
Zscaler Internet Access offers advanced security features, scalability, and high performance, enhancing secure internet access and threat prevention.
Integrating Palo Alto Networks WildFire with various security protocols similar to a firewall has significantly improved the overall threat detection capabilities in our organization.
Content Specialist at PeerSpot
The most valuable feature of Wildfire is its sandboxing capability for examining suspicious files or locations.
Technical Superintendent at Indian Institute Of Technology, Patna
It prevents numerous web attacks through its AI/ML incorporated capability which identifies malware, threats, and viruses.
Assosiate Vice President at Novac Technology Solutions
The most valuable feature for me is the ability to see how my network and traffic looks with modules like analytics and insights.
Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Some of the most valuable features of Zscaler Internet Access include secure web gateways, URL filtering, data loss prevention, anti-malware defense, file extension blocking, and a comprehensive categorization system.
Principle Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
71
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st)
Zscaler Internet Access
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (3rd), Internet Security (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Palo Alto Networks WildFire and Zscaler Internet Access aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Palo Alto Networks WildFire is designed for Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) and holds a mindshare of 7.6%, down 11.9% compared to last year.
Zscaler Internet Access, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Web Gateways (SWG), holds 13.3% mindshare, down 16.0% since last year.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Palo Alto Networks WildFire7.6%
Microsoft Defender for Office 3659.7%
Proofpoint Email Protection7.1%
Other75.6%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Zscaler Internet Access13.3%
Cisco Umbrella15.1%
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks9.2%
Other62.400000000000006%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

RK
Engineer at Taalumgroup
Achieve effective threat prevention and seamless integration with powerful technical support
Integration with third-party products is possible. For example, connecting a mail gateway with Palo Alto Networks WildFire allows them to handle prevention. Palo Alto Networks WildFire is a cloud-based sandboxing solution. The firewall is connected to WildFire, and XDR performs sandboxing from the cloud. WildFire conducts malware scanning and emulation, then informs the firewall to block threats based on the response. It also generates reports regarding malware and other issues. The sandboxing process involves sending sample files to the cloud for scanning, checking file authenticity, certificates, and detecting malicious code. WildFire performs multiple checks and informs the XDR agent about file status. This automatic process occurs within minutes or seconds. For unknown or suspicious files, immediate blocking occurs while samples are sent to WildFire for identification. I rate Palo Alto Networks WildFire a 9 out of 10.
Mohan Janarthanan - PeerSpot reviewer
Assosiate 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.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) solutions are best for your needs.
879,672 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting
Mar 11, 2015
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business36
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise29
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise37
 

Questions from the Community

How does Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks Wildfire?
The Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall is a very powerful and very complex piece of anti-viral software. When one considers that fact, it is all the more impressive that the setup is a fairly straightf...
Which is better - Wildfire or FortiGate?
FortiGate has a lot going for it and I consider it to be the best, most user-friendly firewall out there. What I like the most about it is that it has an attractive web dashboard with very easy nav...
How does Cisco ASA Firewall compare with Palo Alto's WildFire?
When looking to change our ASA Firewall, we looked into Palo Alto’s WildFire. It works especially in preventing advanced malware and zero-day exploits with real-time intelligence. The sandbox featu...
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

No data available
ZIA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
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 Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, Proofpoint and others in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Updated: December 2025.
879,672 professionals have used our research since 2012.