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ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform vs VMware Carbon Black App Control comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 11, 2026

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

ThreatLocker Zero Trust End...
Ranking in Application Control
1st
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (4th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (6th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (6th), ZTNA (4th), Ransomware Protection (1st)
VMware Carbon Black App Con...
Ranking in Application Control
5th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Control category, the mindshare of ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform is 19.4%, up from 11.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Carbon Black App Control is 12.5%, down from 26.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Control Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform19.4%
VMware Carbon Black App Control12.5%
Other68.1%
Application Control
 

Featured Reviews

CL
Supervisor, Client Security at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
World-class support and highly effective for application control and elevation
Their product is solid. I have a hard time complaining much about it because when we do find little things, they are usually interface-related or related to things that would be nice to have. Their idea portal, unlike so many other vendors we deal with, shows movement. At least four to eight features of ThreatLocker exist because I made a request in the last five years, and it became a feature of the actual product. When it comes to improvements, we moved the product as customers, and we got to move the product by making suggestions. They seem to be very reactive to it, so there is not a whole lot that they actively need to change right now. It is one of those situations where when we run into something that would be nice to have, it happens. They make it work.
AM
Cybersecurity Consultant at KAFD DMC
We can isolate problem machines and limit their access
We use App Control to scan the network for virtual machines that have unauthorized applications. We can isolate the problem VMs and control application access.  More than two years. I rate Carbon Black App Control 10 out of 10 for stability. I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a comprehensive platform that allows you to do a lot of things."
"The biggest improvement has been knowing that something unauthorized isn't going to get installed on anyone’s machines."
"ThreatLocker stands out because they understand application whitelisting and elevation controls deeply, addressing real issues effectively."
"The unified alerts are useful."
"ThreatLocker provides visibility into user activity and application usage, empowering organizations to define acceptable applications and web browsers."
"The most valuable feature is its learning capability."
"Being able to protect and trust nothing by default, known as zero trust, is the most important feature to me."
"Overall, I would rate ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform a ten out of ten."
"I use the console to check for threats and I find it to be very user-friendly."
"The API integration is good."
"The visibility is valuable."
"If any malicious activity, like VAT viruses, anything RNE, ZOD malware, or something similar, comes in we know that unless we approve it, it's going to be blocked."
"All the functions within VMware Carbon Black App Control are valuable."
"We use App Control to scan the network for virtual machines that have unauthorized applications. We can isolate the problem VMs and control application access."
"The visibility, reporting, and the ability to stop or prevent malicious or undesired applications from being installed are the most valuable features."
"The effectiveness of application whitelisting is very good."
 

Cons

"More visibility in the built-ins would be nice."
"ThreatLocker Allowlisting needs to improve its user interface and overall workflow."
"Initially, the learning curve was slightly high for me, however, that has been resolved now."
"From my point of view, logging could be improved. Logging should be easier."
"It has not reduced helpdesk tickets. It has probably increased them by blocking applications and doing its job, resulting in people raising more tickets to know why they cannot use certain things."
"I find that the learning mode is too accessible. Technicians sometimes default to it instead of manually building policy controls."
"It's very annoying to uninstall. You have to go into the online control panel and disable tampering for a device before it'll let you uninstall it without complaining really loudly."
"Some reporting areas need improvement. We need to generate more reports."
"Its setup is very complex, and it requires guidance from the support team, but it is well worth the effort."
"I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability."
"I would like to see the addition of some more features that are in other, similar solutions."
"The solution should have overhead in keeping lists of applications that you want don't want to run."
"The reporting is not good and needs to be improved."
"The initial setup is somewhat complex."
"Another issue is that even sometimes if you approve, for example, Adobe as a publisher, you say any product or anything that's from Adobe has to run. It generally runs, but especially in a large environment and with a lot of users, sometimes, due to some certification validation issues or some other issue, it might stop the process from running. Genuine processes like Adobe and Chrome can get blocked. so that needs to be improved."
"Carbon Black does not use the database for identifying the file, the fields, or malware."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Although the pricing seems good, there have been inconsistencies in contract negotiations."
"ThreatLocker's pricing seems justifiable."
"I can't complain. Cheaper would always be nice, but I think it's reasonable compared to other software in the cybersecurity market."
"The price is very reasonable, and we have been able to integrate ThreatLocker with all of our clients."
"Its price is fair. They have added some additional things to it beyond allowlisting. They are up-charging for them, but in terms of the value we get and the way it impacts us, we get a bang for our buck with ThreatLocker than a lot of our other security tools."
"The price of ThreatLocker Allowlisting is reasonable in the market, but it is not fantastic."
"We have not had any real issues with the pricing. As they have added more features, due to the way our contracts are structured with our customers, we have had to hold off on adopting the new features because they do add costs."
"Others say ThreatLocker is too expensive, and I tell them they're dreaming. It's well-priced for what it does."
"We pay a fee for support, which is renewed annually."
"Its price is reasonable and what is expected for these types of products."
"The pricing for this product is competitive and our customers who told us that often, Carbon Back is the cheaper solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Retailer
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ThreatLocker Allowlisting?
The interface is clean and well-organized, making it simple to navigate and find what we need.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ThreatLocker Allowlisting?
Pricing, setup costs, and licensing have been pretty accessible and manageable. It was not too expensive to get started, especially at a small scale for a smaller MSP. It is very accessible, easy t...
What needs improvement with ThreatLocker Allowlisting?
Going with the theme of ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform being a one-stop shop where they have just about everything, and they have a really good product stack as is. However, t...
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Also Known As

Protect, Allowlisting, Network Control, Ringfencing
CB Protection, Carbon Black CB Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Kaas Tailored, Core-Mark, Indeed, Hologic, Landmark Credit Union, Project Worldwide
Find out what your peers are saying about ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform vs. VMware Carbon Black App Control and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
882,479 professionals have used our research since 2012.