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Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs. Zscaler Internet Access

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Forcepoint SWG

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AThe Forcepoint ONE Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is one of the three foundational gateways of the Forcepoint ONE all-in-one cloud platform. Forcepoint ONE SWG monitors and controlsany interaction with any website, including blocking access to websites based on category and risk score, blocking download of malware, blocking upload of sensitive data to personal filesharing accounts, detecting shadow IT, and optionally providingRemote Browser Isolation (RBI) with Content Disarm andReconstruction (CDR).N/A

    Zscaler Internet Access

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AZscaler 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
    Forcepoint SWGZscaler Internet Access
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Forcepoint SWGZscaler Internet Access
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Forcepoint SWGZscaler Internet Access
    Considered Both Products
    Forcepoint
    Chose Forcepoint SWG
    Forcpoint Web Security keeps my organization's users safe from malicious threats, including zero-day threats. It protects against zero-day threats with real-time threat intelligence and remote browser isolation, and provides deep content inspection for encrypted and unencrypted …
    Incentivized
    Zscaler
    Chose Zscaler Internet Access
    They simply work! just at the beginning, they worked well.
    Incentivized
    Chose Zscaler Internet Access
    Supports zero trust access and real time SSL inspection offers better visibility into encrypted threats.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    70%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    99%
    Would buy again
    284 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    245 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    10 Answers
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    284 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    86%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    207 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    78%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    227 Answers
    Features
    Forcepoint SWGZscaler Internet Access
    Identity Management
    Comparison of Identity Management features of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway and Zscaler Internet Access
    Feature
    Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Internet Access
    5.0
    2 Ratings
    54% below category average
    Multi-Factor Authentication00 Ratings5.02 Ratings
    Endpoint Security
    Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway and Zscaler Internet Access
    Feature
    Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Internet Access
    10.0
    2 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Threat Intelligence
    Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway and Zscaler Internet Access
    Feature
    Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Internet Access
    8.5
    216 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Network Analytics00 Ratings8.7217 Ratings
    Threat Recognition00 Ratings8.3214 Ratings
    Vulnerability Classification00 Ratings8.5191 Ratings
    Automated Alerts and Reporting00 Ratings8.2205 Ratings
    Threat Analysis00 Ratings8.8203 Ratings
    Threat Intelligence Reporting00 Ratings8.5199 Ratings
    Automated Threat Identification00 Ratings8.5192 Ratings
    Zero Trust Security
    Comparison of Zero Trust Security features of Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway and Zscaler Internet Access
    Feature
    Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Internet Access
    8.9
    262 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Continuous Verification00 Ratings8.7245 Ratings
    Secure Web Gateways00 Ratings9.0236 Ratings
    Network Flow Control00 Ratings8.1217 Ratings
    Network Traffic Analysis00 Ratings8.8219 Ratings
    Segmentation Leveraging00 Ratings8.6194 Ratings
    Admin Access Control00 Ratings9.0230 Ratings
    Network Data Encryption00 Ratings8.8207 Ratings
    Network Topology Mapping00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Forcepoint SWGZscaler Internet Access
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    UniFi Cloud Gateways
    Score8.3 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Skyhigh Secure Web Gateway
    Score8 out of 10
    Forescout Vistaro Platform
    Score6.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Forcepoint SWGZscaler Internet Access
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (76 ratings)
    9.0
    (295 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    8.4
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    8.8
    (279 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.2
    (10 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.3
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Forcepoint SWGZscaler Internet Access
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Forcepoint
    Over the years, [in our experience], the maintenance of the Forcepoint Web Security solution proved to be more cumbersome and troublesome with each version upgrade. In addition, it did not transition well to support the large increase of remote workers. We also experienced weird incompatibilities with the client. We have since replaced this solution with Zscaler Internet Access, a cloud-based secure web gateway solution with a client that behaves as expected, is more flexible, and requires significantly less administration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    I feel the product is very good to set up basic standards and go beyond that in many aspects. However, due to being sometimes too simple, it limits the ability to do some other complex changes. Having the ability to do both would be ideal for some, if not all, of the products within Zscaler Internet Access. A simple setup to have it stand-up, and more advanced settings for those more experienced.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Forcepoint
    • It prevents users from accessing websites that may have recently been created for the purpose of distributing malware.
    • It prevents users from accidentally or intentionally accessing websites that are considered inappropriate for a work environment.
    • It allows us to create different policies for different teams in our organization.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    • Provides a secure VPN connection point for endpoint connectivity.
    • Provides the VPN connectivity in a fast and reliable connection state.
    • Very dependable, once connected the connection stays up and there's no fuss.
    • Very good at letting you know when you are not authenticated.
    • Very easy to authenticate and regain access when your session times out.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Forcepoint
    • The user access logs contain a lot of useless information. I understand this is very hard to tackle as I've seen this across any product that logs web activity.
    • I would like to see more customization options of website block pages.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    • ZS CLI support to turn off ZIA and ZDX service specifically on mac.
    • Better visibility into failed posture devices, including a timeline and the reason the posture failed (This is about the Zscaler mobile portal: Enrolled devices --> Failed posture devices).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Forcepoint
    It is very stable, the organisation has "locked in" the product and has no plans to change or try another product. We have already renewed our 2019-2020 licenses. It is user friendly and people catch on easily when they first use it. The only downtime is when we install Microsoft updates! It has excellent reporting which help in determining how the organisation's Internet is used and also during both internal and external IT audits.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    While Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) delivers critical value in cloud security and RBI compliance, I rate renewal likelihood 7/10 due to evolving needs versus platform limitations. Below is my rationale:
    Key Gaps:
    1. Advanced Threat Costs:
    ZIA’s add-ons (e.g., Advanced DLP, Sandboxing) incur 35%+ cost premiums – straining budgets as transaction volumes (UPI/iMobile) grow 50% YoY.
    2. API Banking Scalability:
    ZIA’s API rate limits throttle real-time policy sync during UPI peaks (10K+ TPS), forcing workarounds for finacle integrations.
    3. RBI Future-Proofing:
    Limited native support for upcoming digital rupee (CBDC) security rules requires custom development, increasing compliance overhead.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Forcepoint
    Despite the intimidating Linux CLI when you use the appliance for troubleshooting, the web security usability compensates as most of the Administration of the system is done there. It is GUI based and has an easy to use UI where one can navigate around rather easily like getting reports, checking alerts, looking the whole setup under deployment to check if all services are running in one place though there are other parts to the system.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    Getting started was pretty straightforward. We can tell the product is way more robust than we are using it. It started as a replacement for previous DNS-blocking content filtering, but we're exploring how this will add value with an upcoming DLP redesign and with traffic optimization at some of our remote sites with severe bandwidth limits.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Forcepoint
    No answers on this topic
    Zscaler
    There are often performance issues reported
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Forcepoint
    The is a quick first response to acknowledge your issue and the Engineers never take more than two hours to fix an issue and we hardly get issues looking at the fact that the system is pretty stable. There is also a robust Knowledge Base in the site for known problems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    Zscaler's ZIA support is quick and knowledgable. They respond within 1-2 hours of you submitting your ticket. They are very thorough and are typically ready to jump on a live troubleshooting session. Our ZIA platform and how we use is it unique so at times tickets can be open for weeks but we alway get quality support compared to other unrelated product support in our enterprise
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Forcepoint
    Research known issues with upgrading from the Support Knowledge base, this will enable you avoid road blocks along the way and reduce your dependence on Forcepoint Support
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    good the engineer give excellent support and eplanation
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Forcepoint
    To be honest, once using Forcepoint for our Web Security, I have not wanted to look anywhere else. The dashboard gives me quick insight of threats, productivity, and bandwidth usage. Again, this is a layer in my security and it fills many holes. I feel safe and I do like I can just let it do its thing
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    The overall user community and scope of supportability outweighed the others on our short list. Netskope was a close second, but the risk, though small, was greater than that of bringing Zscaler aboard. We were looking for a mature, well-supported, highly functional, and fine-grained solution that met all our user and information security requirements.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Forcepoint
    • Being a non-profit the cost is a bit higher than some competitors so our ROI takes a bit longer to recoup. I would really like to see better non-profit pricing.
    • The ease of doing a report on someone cuts down on the IT man-hours to do website tracking for managers as we can do it from a central point whereas in the past (prior to Forcepoint/Websense) we would have to ghost their machine to look for activity as well as their local servers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    • I would say it has a very good ROI, as whenever someone can't access something, they submit a ticket to our network engineer, and within minutes, the site is safely added to ZIA with best-practice configurations. After seeing a little of the UI from the Zenith event, it seems very user-friendly to control these policies.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Zscaler Internet Access Screenshots

    Screenshot of an overview of Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA), 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 Zscaler's security cloud, it replaces legacy network security solutions, preventing advanced attacks and data loss with a comprehensive zero trust approach. ZIA is integrated into the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ to provide superior defense-in-depth, secure connectivity, end user experience, and administrative visibility and control.