SASE platforms · October 2026 Edition
Fortinet FortiSASE vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
One of fourteen models named Fortinet FortiSASE first on the direct prompt; zero named Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange. Both were named by all fourteen models and Fortinet FortiSASE carries 58 labels and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange 53, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in two categories this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share6%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate10%43%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#7A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels5853A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Fortinet FortiSASE reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Cato Networks was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Cato Networks vs Fortinet FortiSASE · Cato Networks vs Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange · Cloudflare One 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.
Fortinet FortiSASEFirst choices, of fourteen modelsZscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Direct101 against Fortinet FortiSASE · 6 against Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Paraphrase203 against Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Comparative02
Budget-constrained011 against Fortinet FortiSASE · 3 against Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Scale-constrained002 against Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
Negative004 against Fortinet FortiSASE · 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, Fortinet FortiSASE and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange were named in the same answer 108 times, of the 163 answers naming Fortinet FortiSASE and the 166 naming Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange. In those answers Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange took the first choice fourteen times and Fortinet FortiSASE four.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Fortinet FortiSASE 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 | | | | | |
Fortinet FortiSASE Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Fortinet FortiSASE on the left and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Fortinet FortiSASE and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange stood in it.
Fortinet FortiSASE first, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange not the choice
1 of 14 modelsZscaler Zero Trust Exchange was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GLM 4.7 FlashXFortinet FortiSASE alternatives: Cato Networks, Cloudflare One
Neither was the first choice, one was named
11 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Cato Networks alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE
GPT-5.4 miniCato SASE Cloud alternatives: Fortinet FortiSASE, Netskope One, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
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
DeepSeek V4 FlashCato Networks alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE
Llama 4 MaverickCato SASE Cloud alternatives: COSGrid Z3 SASE, Fortinet FortiSASE, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
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 named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Mistral SmallCato Networks alternatives: Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE
Qwen 3.7 FlashCato Networks alternatives: 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
Fortinet FortiSASE leads by four points.
Fortinet FortiSASE4%#3 of 10Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange0%#10 of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
Fortinet FortiSASE leads by four points.
Fortinet FortiSASE6%#4 of 11Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange2%#7 of 11Enterprise
The order flips: Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange leads at enterprise.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange22%#2 of 10Fortinet FortiSASE0%#7 of 10What the models said about Fortinet FortiSASE
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Critical Compliance Failures: Fails FedRAMP authorization, HIPAA-BAA, and PCI-DSS” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“Good if you are already heavily invested in Fortinet hardware at your branches, though it can sometimes be more complex to implement.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · soft negative
“The platform struggles with integration challenges, particularly integrating with legacy applications” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“For most mid-market B2B companies, Fortinet FortiSASE offers the best balance of price, features, and reliability.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · direct prompt · first choice
“The Best All-Rounder: Fortinet (FortiGate)... Fortinet offers the highest "bang for your buck."” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Top Recommendation: FortiSASE” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase 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 Fortinet FortiSASECato Networks vs Zscaler Zero Trust ExchangeCloudflare One vs Fortinet FortiSASECloudflare One vs Zscaler Zero Trust ExchangeCato SASE Cloud vs Fortinet FortiSASECato SASE Cloud vs Zscaler Zero Trust ExchangeFortinet FortiSASE vs Netskope OneFortinet FortiSASE vs Check Point Harmony SASENetskope 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.