Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform comparison

Broadcom and Zscaler are both solutions in the ZTNA as a Service category. Broadcom is ranked #19 with an average rating of 7.0, while Zscaler is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Broadcom holds a 0.8% mindshare in ZaaS, compared to Zscaler’s 17.2% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Zscaler users are willing to recommend the solution.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

Symantec Zero Trust Network Access and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform compete in secure network access. Zscaler is often seen as having the upper hand due to its extensive feature set and better overall value.

Features: Symantec ZTNA is recognized for robust security protocols, seamless platform integration, and solid cross-platform compatibility. Zscaler provides comprehensive threat protection, scalable architecture for flexible deployment, and advanced analytical tools, offering a competitive edge.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Symantec is known for streamlined deployment and straightforward integration. Zscaler's cloud-native deployment simplifies setup and offers global coverage. Its customer service is noted for responsiveness and expertise, while Symantec's is seen as satisfactory.

Pricing and ROI: Symantec's setup costs tend to be budget-friendly, delivering good ROI for businesses seeking effective security without high expenses. Zscaler may have higher initial costs, but its comprehensive security features and long-term benefits are often seen as justifying the investment, providing higher ROI due to enhanced capabilities and scalability.

To learn more, read our detailed ZTNA as a Service Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ZTNA as a Service

March 2025

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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 April 2025, in the ZTNA as a Service category, the mindshare of iboss is 1.8%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is 0.8%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is 17.2%, down from 23.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

ZTNA as a Service

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford

Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water

It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless

One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured

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cto543714

CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Restricts access to applications but improvement is needed in integrations

Over the last year, I have been working with customers because it's changing and maturing. These things are rolled out in segments and chunks, not all at once. Additional internal work is often required to make it functional, such as properly configuring the active directory. This internal work can take up to three months. The process varies, and implementing Symantec ZTNA quickly is not realistic. I wouldn't recommend the tool to non-core customers because you won't get the support you need. I'd rate Symantec ZTNA a seven on a scale of one to ten. They're still integrating different pieces into their solution. The challenge with ZTNA is that different companies implement it slightly differently, with some features present in one product but missing in another. ZTNA is a tricky acronym that companies use, but when you look closely, you find that each vendor might only have some of the expected features.

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Sumit Bhanwala

architect at Tata Consultancy

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.

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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

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

"The security aspect of the solution, particularly the malware behind it, is excellent. That's something that really helped us out. It's not just a simple proxy that just blocks the insights of potential threats that come on behind it. They do malware detection and that helps us a lot."

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device."

"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."

More iboss pros

"The most valuable feature of this product is restricting and controlling what people have access to. If I want a contractor to connect to my network, I can give them access to only the specific things they need without giving them full VPN access to my entire network. That's the main benefit everyone gets from it. The value depends on how many users and applications you have and what you want to share."

"The most valuable features are the File Type Control and SSL bypass policies. We"

"It has some good data security and WIP features, providing secure Internet access."

"With SASE, we have a single platform that covers multiple task services with which we need to control access. All the features are equally valuable."

"I like its ease of use. It has a single pane of glass for the ZIA and ZPA pieces. It is very manageable. It is also very easy to deploy for secure access, and it gives half-decent coverage for visibility in terms of what the users use and what data is being proxied through the access gateway."

"Yes, it is very stable. I have never seen it go down, not once."

"The most valuable aspect of Zscaler Cloud DLP is its automatic DLP feature."

"The most valuable feature is its seamless integration capabilities, streamlining the process by eliminating the need for extensive installations."

"You can close your data protection gaps with Zscaler. You can quickly find all the classified, sensitive data across the cloud."

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform pros

Cons

"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."

"Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc. It is easy to gain access if, for example, hackers obtain my username and password."

"Its pricing could be better."

"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."

"Sometimes the agent stops working in iboss, and we have to reinstall the agent."

"Fold that in with the risk intelligence they're getting from all of the different subscriptions they are a part of. Now, these security companies subscribe to things like emerging threats, databases, etc. You can fold all this intelligence to decide what's happening on an endpoint. I would love to see them start moving into that space. That would compete directly with Microsoft. Maybe that's why they haven't. Having that ability native within the solution would be great. The other area in which I would love to see improvement is more detailed descriptions of why they block websites."

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

More iboss cons

"For areas of improvement, the main issue is with integrations. The Symantec ZTNA comprises many products cobbled together on the back end. Sometimes, the integrations work well; sometimes, they don't. For example, if you want to use two-factor authentication, you need to integrate that into the solution. Or if you want to accept protocols other than web coming to your secure gateway, that's another integration. Supporting different devices like Macs, Samsung phones, or iPhones also requires more integrations. Ensuring all these integrations work properly is an ongoing process and a moving target."

"Occasionally, there are certain delays in report generation."

"Zscaler CASB breaks down at times."

"User management can be improved."

"Setup is a bit complex because there are many steps that need to be taken before onboarding and activating the solution."

"Zscaler Private Access could improve by improving external access. If external parties want to access locally to my company's services, we need to onboard them into our domain, otherwise, it doesn't work. Additionally, if their company also has Zscaler Private Access, then it doesn't work. They need to log in with our domain ID, not their company ID."

"We would like to extend the SASE applications for Zscaler."

"It needs to offer SSO, single sign-on, and items of that nature."

"Zscaler Private Access's reporting is poor. We should have more insight into the reports regarding what is blocked and allowed."

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

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

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

"Pricing varies depending on the situation. In competitive situations, it's usually priced competitively. Nobody pays the full MSRP. Typically, you negotiate and work with them on the pricing."

"The product is a bit expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

"The cost is expensive. It depends on the number of users."

"Zscaler Cloud DLP is moderately priced. We pay around 2 million rupees per year."

"Pricing for Zscaler Private Access is moderate. It's acceptable, though I can't give you the exact price currently. It's not too expensive, and on a scale of one to five, I would rate it a four out of five in terms of pricing."

"The pricing is quite high, especially when it comes to the gateway."

"The product has reasonable pricing."

"The licensing model for Zscaler Cloud DLP allows you to only buy what you need. You don't need to buy it as a whole, so it's good."

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

17%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iboss?

Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.

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What needs improvement with iboss?

I have the same complaint about them that I have about other software companies. Sometimes when you call in support, ...

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What is your primary use case for iboss?

We are a PreK-12 public school district, and we use iboss to filter internet content for our students at home and sta...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

Pricing varies depending on the situation. In competitive situations, it's usually priced competitively. Nobody pays ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

For areas of improvement, the main issue is with integrations. The Symantec ZTNA comprises many products cobbled toge...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

The solution helps to allow access only to what is explicitly needed. This means restricting access to specific appli...

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...

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What do you like most about Zscaler SASE?

The most valuable features of Zscaler Private Access are reliability, scalability, and availability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zscaler SASE?

Zscaler SASE is quite expensive compared to other solutions. The price is not fixed and it does not include all of th...

See all answers

Comparisons

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 19% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 15% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 13% of the time

Cloudflare One vs iboss

Compared 11% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate SWG vs iboss

Compared 6% of the time

More iboss Competitors

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Compared 29% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Compared 25% of the time

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Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 10% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 7% of the time

FortiSASE vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 5% of the time

Netskope Private Access vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

Compared 5% of the time

More Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

April 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Access Management

April 2025

Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) report

Download Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) product report

Buyer's Guide

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform

March 2025

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform report

Download Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

Symantec Secure Access Cloud, Luminate.io, Luminate

Zscaler SASE, Zscaler DLP, Zscaler CASB, Zscaler CSPM, Zscaler Browser Isolation, Zscaler Posture Control

Overview

iboss offers a comprehensive security platform designed for diverse use cases such as web filtering, data loss protection, corporate proxy services, and URL filtering.

iboss integrates advanced features to address dynamic security needs, leveraging its strength in SASE, ZTNA, AI initiatives, and cloud integration, while ensuring seamless operations for remote work. It excels in historical forensics, malware protection, and flexible cloud deployments. Users benefit from comprehensive traffic scanning, robust malware detection, and PaaS capabilities that reduce hardware management. An intuitive admin console ensures efficient management with content filtering and low false positives. SSL decryption enhances security, while DLP protects data in AI conversations. Deployment is rapid and scalable, allowing effortless integration with emerging technologies.

What features does iboss offer?

Granular Web Filtering: Provides precise control over web content access.
Traffic Scanning: Monitors data through multiple ports for security breaches.
Malware Detection: Ensures superior protection against malware threats.
PaaS Capabilities: Eliminates need for hardware management.
SSL Decryption: Enhances data protection by decrypting secure connections.
DLP Capabilities: Safeguards data during AI interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts quickly to growing demands and emerging tech integration.
Rapid Deployment: Reduces time to implement security measures.
User-Friendly Admin Console: Facilitates efficient operations management.
Low False Positives: Increases accuracy of threat detection systems.

iboss finds significant application in sectors such as education, where web filtering for K-12 is crucial, and in corporate environments requiring robust proxy services and URL filtering for network security. Its adaptability is essential in scenarios demanding flexible, decentralized security frameworks, particularly for remote work setups.

iboss

Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), revolutionizes remote access security for enterprise applications. By replacing traditional VPNs with secure, temporary connections solely to required applications, it significantly reduces the attack surface, mitigating the risk of data breaches. Whether accessing cloud-based or on-premises applications, Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) ensures robust security through continuous authentication and authorization, adhering to the Zero Trust principle of "never trust, always verify." This solution not only enhances security by reducing unauthorized access but also simplifies access for users while offering scalability and cost savings by eliminating the need for complex hardware and software. Tailored for organizations with remote workforces, cloud-based applications, and stringent data security concerns, Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) stands as an efficient and scalable access control solution among its competitors.

Broadcom

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform acts as a VPN alternative for secure remote access, cloud protection, and zero-trust strategies. It enables secure data transmission, supports remote work, and enhances compliance through a cloud-based architecture, offering improved performance and simplified management.

Designed for organizations seeking secure application access and robust data protection, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform delivers a comprehensive solution through seamless VPN connectivity, data loss prevention, and SSL inspection. Its cloud integration ensures scalability and reliability, while its interface provides intuitive management. Companies benefit from automatic secure access, minimizing constant authentication needs, and safeguarding sensitive data. The platform allows easy deployment and integration with diverse identity providers, granting granular control for access and application segmentation. Despite powerful capabilities, enhancements are needed in speed, bandwidth, and legacy support, with users noting interface and configuration challenges.

What are the key features of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform?

Seamless VPN Connectivity: Provides automatic secure access without repetitive authentication.
Strong Security Measures: Offers DLP and SSL inspection for data protection.
Cloud Integration: Ensures scalability and performance optimization.
Granular Access Control: Manages access with application-specific segmentation.

What benefits should companies look for in reviews when evaluating this platform?

Performance: Enhanced connectivity and reduced latency.
Data Protection: Comprehensive DLP and encryption capabilities.
Scalability: Efficient handling of growing organizational demands.
Ease of Deployment: Quick setup and integration with IDPs.

In specific industries, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange has been implemented to enhance security protocols in fields like finance and healthcare. By prioritizing data protection and compliance, it assists companies in safely managing sensitive information and meeting regulatory requirements. Organizations leverage its features to ensure secure operations across remote and cloud environments, adapting to industry-specific needs with customizable access and security controls.

Zscaler

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.

NEX, AIG, Fiverr, Upwork

Siemens, AutoNation, GE, NOV

Find out what your peers are saying about Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks, Cloudflare and others in ZTNA as a Service. Updated: March 2025.

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