# Cloudflare One vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange: which do AI models recommend for SASE, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, SASE platforms. Zero of fourteen models named Cloudflare One first on the direct prompt; zero named Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/network/sase-platforms/cloudflare-one-vs-zscaler-zero-trust-exchange/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare One | 33% | #2 of 11 | 13% | 62 | 14 of 14 |
| Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange | 2% | #7 of 11 | 43% | 53 | 14 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato SASE Cloud) (alternatives: Fortinet FortiSASE, Netskope One, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Cisco Secure Connect, Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato SASE Cloud) (alternatives: COSGrid Z3 SASE, Fortinet FortiSASE, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Cloudflare One)
- Kimi K2: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Fortinet FortiSASE) (alternatives: Cato Networks, Cloudflare One)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Fortinet FortiSASE, Netskope One, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE, Netskope One)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE)

## What the models said about Cloudflare One

- "lacks mature security features ... Avoid if: You need comprehensive security features alongside connectivity" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "recommends testing it rather than assuming it matches the traditional routing, local-services, and survivability depth" (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Complex onboarding, steep learning curve, limited features, opaque pricing (26% negative labels in AI review analysis)" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "My recommendation: Start with Cloudflare One's free tier... It's the lowest-risk, most transparent SASE option on the market right now" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt, first choice)
- "the strongest practical choice is usually Cloudflare One, because it has the clearest low-cost entry point and even a free tier" (Perplexity Sonar, budget prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange

- "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)

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. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.