Cisco Secure Web Appliance vs. Zscaler Internet Access

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Secure Web Appliance
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Secure Web Appliance (formerly Cisco Web Security Appliance [WSA]), powered by Cisco Talos, protects by automatically blocking risky sites and testing unknown sites before allowing users to link to them, helping with compliance. It is available models S690, S390, and S190.N/A
Zscaler Internet Access
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Zscaler Internet Access™ (ZIA) is a secure web gateway (SWG), delivering cloud native cyberthreat protection and zero trust access to the internet and SaaS apps.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Secure Web ApplianceZscaler Internet Access
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Secure Web ApplianceZscaler Internet Access
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Secure Web ApplianceZscaler Internet Access
Considered Both Products
Cisco Secure Web Appliance
Chose Cisco Secure Web Appliance
URL filtering is a feature that Cisco Secure Web Appliance does well. Cisco Secure Web Appliance latency is minimum to almost nothing.
Zscaler Internet Access
Chose Zscaler Internet Access
Both are well known but sometime the cost comparison and support out scale each other. Performance wise both are good. Zscaler provided better cost and support terms in our case.
Features
Cisco Secure Web ApplianceZscaler Internet Access
Identity Management
Comparison of Identity Management features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Secure Web Appliance
-
Ratings
Zscaler Internet Access
5.2
2 Ratings
54% below category average
Multi-Factor Authentication00 Ratings5.22 Ratings
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Secure Web Appliance
-
Ratings
Zscaler Internet Access
9.9
2 Ratings
4% above category average
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings9.92 Ratings
Threat Intelligence
Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Secure Web Appliance
-
Ratings
Zscaler Internet Access
8.5
134 Ratings
4% below category average
Network Analytics00 Ratings8.4134 Ratings
Threat Recognition00 Ratings8.4131 Ratings
Vulnerability Classification00 Ratings8.6117 Ratings
Automated Alerts and Reporting00 Ratings8.4127 Ratings
Threat Analysis00 Ratings8.8125 Ratings
Threat Intelligence Reporting00 Ratings8.7124 Ratings
Automated Threat Identification00 Ratings8.5120 Ratings
Zero Trust Security
Comparison of Zero Trust Security features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Secure Web Appliance
-
Ratings
Zscaler Internet Access
8.9
157 Ratings
3% below category average
Continuous Verification00 Ratings8.7144 Ratings
Secure Web Gateways00 Ratings8.9139 Ratings
Network Flow Control00 Ratings8.9129 Ratings
Network Traffic Analysis00 Ratings8.6130 Ratings
Segmentation Leveraging00 Ratings8.4116 Ratings
Admin Access Control00 Ratings9.0138 Ratings
Network Data Encryption00 Ratings8.9126 Ratings
Network Topology Mapping00 Ratings9.92 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco Secure Web ApplianceZscaler Internet Access
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

ThreatLocker
ThreatLocker
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.3 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.3 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Score 8.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Secure Web ApplianceZscaler Internet Access
Likelihood to Recommend
6.8
(9 ratings)
8.8
(180 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(3 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(1 ratings)
8.4
(164 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
5.5
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
6.4
(2 ratings)
7.3
(6 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Secure Web ApplianceZscaler Internet Access
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
We have both scenarios where we can describe that. For example, in the HQ, where we have about 3,000 users, Cisco IronPort Web Security Appliance is the ideal solution, because we can consolidate all the Internet access, policies, rules, etc. in the same box. However, if you have small offices with a few users, it's hard to justify one big and expensive box that could cost more than the whole office infrastructure.
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Zscaler
Zscaler Internet Access is effectively a cloud firewall. It thrives best for traveling users that need a consistent experience as the multiple Service Edges around the world will help reduce the bottleneck and latency of VPNs hosted on firewalls. Also reduces the cost to spin up small locations that wouldn't necessarily need a firewall on site for Zonal traffic (this rings true for any SSE product). However troubleshooting this tool is a bit of a beast as previously mentioned - the logs are pretty minimal and the first reaction after perusing logs is typically to get a pcap file (which used to be a last resort for Network Engineers).
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Pros
Cisco
  • SMA gave us central control over multiple servers, simplifying management.
  • Performance of the Appliance VM exceeded that of our old physical appliance-based solution.
  • Convenient licensing for virtualized environments that allows easy scaling.
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Zscaler
  • Single Pane of Glass Management - Everything is very easy to access and monitor the entire environment from an internet security perspective.
  • Install Flexibility - We can and do install Zscaler Internet Access on both our client devices as well as our SD-WAN appliances and servers. This allows us to control internet security even on devices without an agent in our networks.
Read full review
Cons
Cisco
  • I think that the interface could need updates to adapt it to a much more current system, achieve quick access to necessary tools and adapt the platform to a much more customizable and comfortable system to work with.
  • It is undoubtedly a platform that is worth having, however, the license costs could be better adjusted to small businesses so that it can be accessed more easily.
  • It could be a bit complex to use, the use of codes is quite extensive, it could be adjusted to something much more practical but just as efficient.
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Zscaler
  • User Interface could be a little better
  • The activate button when making changes could be better, activate seems somewhat like a misnomer especially to newer admins/engineers to the product, a more accurate word would be publish.
  • Blocked action message for the user could be more user friendly
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Zscaler
It is working for us and we have yet to really utilize all the capabilities it offers.
Read full review
Usability
Cisco
Because it's one of those products you almost don't realize it exists from the end user. From the administrator perspective, you can do everything on its web interface and it's very intuitive to manage, once you know the concepts behind identities, acls, etc. Also, once you build the control structure, I mean, you link 'local' groups with your own Active Directory groups, as we did here, you don't need to be managing those things on the appliance itself.
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Zscaler
The application is easy to install and configure on all Windows devices. To troubleshoot any internet issue, we can easily collect all the relevant logs from Zscaler and check the exact issue. The only problem is with the uninstall, as a dedicated crew needs to provide the password.
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Performance
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Zscaler
There are often performance issues reported
Read full review
Support Rating
Cisco
Our experience with Cisco's support was terrible. Other than the fact that they don't respond to service-related emails with urgency, they also keep on changing the policies that affected us. Recently, they came up with a new look for the same software, which was insanely slow. Renewal of keys for the old interface took months. Overall, the support was not very friendly from the users' point of view.
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Zscaler
I cannot give a fair rating for this as I have not had to contact Zscaler support. There was one time we had to contact them because we needed to check if they were having issues on their end. Our ISP was actually the problem but support seemed very friendly.
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Alternatives Considered
Cisco
At home I have a McAfee service that does similar tasks and helps manage the users of my internet. McAfee seems more user friendly and easier to set exceptions.
Read full review
Zscaler
Zscaler Intenet Access outperformed the competition due to its lightning-fast policy delivery and cross-compatibility. It is easy to track employee usage and block unnecessary websites, reducing company internet usage. Zscalar installed on every system increases cloud-based software bandwidth, decreasing user turnaround time and increasing efficiency.
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Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Security! Security! Security! We are financial company that work with very sensitive information. A lot of unsafe traffic was blocked on the Cisco IronPort WSA over years of using it. We did not earn on it but absolutely sure that we did not lose 'gazillion' of dollars being infected or scammed.
  • Easy to configure and use, no need to teach new personnel how work with this product (hopefully saving time = saving money).
  • Unfortunately the price of license subscription made financial managers push IT dept. to look for something cheaper.
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Zscaler
  • We just turned off the general VPN this week, post Zscaler rollout of ZPA & ZIA, but it's still the "new" kid on the block, so "everything" is a Zscaler issue.
  • The ZIA implementation revealed to us exactly how inadequate our internal policies regarding internet access are. Instead of leveraging the tool to reduce risk factors, we find ourselves adjusting ZIA policies to accommodate user complaints rather than adhering to company policy enforcement.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Zscaler Internet Access Screenshots

Screenshot of Stop Advanced Threats and Data Loss
Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) is a cloud native security service edge (SSE) solution that builds on a decade of secure web gateway leadership. Offered as a scalable SaaS platform through the world’s largest security cloud, it replaces legacy network security solutions, preventing advanced attacks and data loss with a comprehensive zero trust approach. ZIA is integrated seamlessly into the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ to provide superior defense-in-depth, secure connectivity, end user experience, and administrative visibility and control.