# SASE platforms for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, September 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "SASE platform" and as "secure access service edge solution", six framings each, to twelve models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/network/sase-platforms/smb/

**Standing:** Cloudflare One leads with 54% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 48 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cloudflare One | 54% | 2% | 54 |
| 2 | Cato Networks | 12% | 9% | 32 |
| 3 | Fortinet FortiSASE | 6% | 25% | 36 |
| 4 | Check Point Harmony SASE | 6% | 19% | 26 |
| 5 | Cato SASE Cloud | 2% | 18% | 11 |
| 6 | Netskope One | 2% | 58% | 19 |
| 7 | Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange | 2% | 62% | 39 |
| 8 | NordLayer | 0% | 0% | 14 |
| 9 | Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE | 0% | 88% | 16 |

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Cato SASE Cloud, Check Point Harmony SASE; alternatives Cloudflare One, NordLayer
- GPT-5.4 mini: Cloudflare One; alternatives Cato SASE Cloud, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Check Point Harmony SASE; alternatives Cato SASE Cloud, Cloudflare One, Todyl
- Perplexity Sonar: Cato Networks; alternatives Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiSASE, NordLayer
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Cloudflare One; alternatives Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Secure Access, Fortinet FortiSASE, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange
- Mistral Small: Cato Networks, Cloudflare One
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Cloudflare One; alternatives Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Cato Networks, Cloudflare One; alternatives Fortinet FortiSASE
- Kimi K2: Cloudflare One; alternatives Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Fortinet FortiSASE
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Cloudflare One; alternatives Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Cisco Secure Access, Fortinet FortiSASE
- MiniMax M2.5: Cloudflare One; alternatives Cato Networks

## Sources the answers cite

62 of 72 answers came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- gartner.com: 27 answers, 40 citations
- cotocus.com: 26 answers, 26 citations
- blog.openvpn.net: 25 answers, 25 citations
- pickmysoft.com: 22 answers, 22 citations
- techrepublic.com: 21 answers, 23 citations
- sase.cloud: 20 answers, 45 citations
- g2.com: 20 answers, 32 citations
- cybervendorguide.com: 19 answers, 19 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://cotocus.com/blog/top-10-sase-platforms-features-pros-cons-comparison (26 answers)
- https://blog.openvpn.net/best-sase-solution (25 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/single-vendor-sase (24 answers)
- https://pickmysoft.com/blog/best-secure-access-service-edge-sase-platforms (22 answers)
- https://techrepublic.com/article/secure-access-service-edge-platforms (21 answers)
- https://cybervendorguide.com/guides/sase-zero-trust (16 answers)
- https://esecurityplanet.com/products/secure-access-service-edge-sase (15 answers)
- https://blueclone.com/secure-access-service-edge/how-to-select-the-right-sase-platform-a-practical-guide-for-smbs-exploring-secure-access-service-edge-solutions (14 answers)
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/best-sase-tools (12 answers)
- https://costbench.com/best/sase-for-mid-market (12 answers)

## Warned against

- Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE: 14 of 16 labels negative. "Often called out as "expensive compared with most other vendors" in Gartner cautions... Not ideal for simple setups." (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt)
- Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange: 24 of 39 labels negative. "What to Avoid - Zscaler ... Zscaler in particular is expensive and complex for small teams" (Kimi K2, paraphrase prompt)
- Fortinet FortiSASE: 9 of 36 labels negative. "often criticized for requiring extensive setup and partner involvement... may be overkill for very small businesses" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Netskope One: 11 of 19 labels negative. "avoid "Full SASE" platforms like Zscaler, Netskope, or Cato Networks" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, budget prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.