SASE platforms · October 2026 Edition
Cato Networks vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Eleven of fourteen models named Cato Networks first on the direct prompt; zero named Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange. Cato Networks was named by thirteen of the fourteen models and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange by fourteen and Cato Networks carries 40 labels and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange 53, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share35%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate15%43%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#7A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels4053A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Cato Networks reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Fortinet FortiSASE was named alongside these two in eleven of the fourteen direct answers. Cato Networks vs Cloudflare One · Cato Networks vs Cato SASE Cloud · Cato Networks vs Fortinet FortiSASE
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the SASE platforms page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Cato NetworksFirst choices, of fourteen modelsZscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Direct1106 against Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Paraphrase203 against Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Comparative12
Budget-constrained013 against Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Scale-constrained402 against Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Negative006 against Cato Networks · 9 against Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Cato Networks and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange were named in the same answer seventy-eight times, of the 129 answers naming Cato Networks and the 166 naming Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange. In those answers Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange took the first choice twelve times and Cato Networks twenty-three.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Cato Networks and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | |||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | |||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | ||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | ||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | |||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | |
Cato Networks Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Cato Networks on the left and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Cato Networks and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange stood in it.
Cato Networks first, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange an alternative
11 of 14 modelsZscaler Zero Trust Exchange was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Claude Haiku 4.5Cato Networks alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE
Gemini 3.5 FlashCato Networks alternatives: Cisco Secure Connect, Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE
Perplexity SonarCato Networks alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE
Grok 4.1 FastCato Networks alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE
Mistral SmallCato Networks alternatives: Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE
DeepSeek V4 FlashCato Networks alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE
Qwen 3.7 FlashCato Networks alternatives: Cloudflare One
Kimi K2Cato Networks alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE
MiniMax M2.5Cato Networks alternatives: Cloudflare One, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
GPT-6 LunaCato Networks alternatives: Fortinet FortiSASE, Netskope One, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Muse Glimmer 30BCato Networks alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE, Netskope One
Neither was the first choice, one was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.GPT-5.4 miniCato SASE Cloud alternatives: Fortinet FortiSASE, Netskope One, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Llama 4 MaverickCato SASE Cloud alternatives: COSGrid Z3 SASE, Fortinet FortiSASE, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
GLM 4.7 FlashXFortinet FortiSASE alternatives: Cato Networks, Cloudflare One
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Cato Networks leads by four points.
Cato Networks4%#4 of 10Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange0%#10 of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
Cato Networks leads by thirty-three points.
Cato Networks35%#1 of 11Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange2%#7 of 11Enterprise
The order flips: Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange leads at enterprise.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange22%#2 of 10Cato Networks12%#4 of 10What the models said about Cato Networks
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Platform to Approach with Caution: Cato Networks. ... peer reviews consistently highlight a lack of granularity” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Makes Cato a poor fit for environments that need on-prem inline controls or guaranteed log residency.” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“Cato Networks: Some speed/performance issues in user reviews ... licensing/fine-tuning challenges” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“Widely considered the pioneer of true "single-vendor SASE." ... incredibly popular with mid-market companies because of its ease of deployment and low management overhead.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“"For most mid-market teams that want one vendor, one console, and predictable per-site pricing, Cato Networks SASE Cloud is the strongest overall pick."” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct prompt · first choice
“Cato is widely considered the top choice for mid-market companies that want to replace their legacy firewalls with a single, managed solution.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
What the models said about Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Frequent Outages: Over 2,855 tracked incidents over six years on Downdetector” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“vendors like Zscaler or Cato may be worth considering—but they generally skew more enterprise and are less obviously budget-first” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · soft negative
“they are often too complex, too expensive, and require too much dedicated staff to manage and fine-tune for a mid-market organization” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Pros: Advanced threat protection, high scalability, strong integration with cloud environments” Mistral Small · comparative prompt · first choice
“Zscaler is the vendor most enterprises benchmark everyone else against.” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
“Cloudflare One or Zscaler offer the best value” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Cato Networks vs Cloudflare OneCato Networks vs Cato SASE CloudCato Networks vs Fortinet FortiSASECato Networks vs Netskope OneCato Networks vs Check Point Harmony SASECloudflare One vs Zscaler Zero Trust ExchangeCato SASE Cloud vs Zscaler Zero Trust ExchangeFortinet FortiSASE vs Zscaler Zero Trust ExchangeNetskope One vs Zscaler Zero Trust ExchangeCheck Point Harmony SASE vs Zscaler Zero Trust ExchangeAll twenty-one head-to-head pages and the full SASE standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.