Zero trust network access · October 2026 Edition
Cato Networks vs Tailscale
Four of fourteen models named Cato Networks first on the direct prompt; zero named Tailscale. Cato Networks was named by ten of the fourteen models and Tailscale by twelve and Cato Networks carries 14 labels and Tailscale 25, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in three categories this edition.
First-choice share6%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate0%24%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#3#7A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels1425A 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.Cloudflare One was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Twingate vs Cato Networks · Twingate vs Tailscale · Cloudflare One vs Cato Networks
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 zero trust network access 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 modelsTailscale
Direct40
Paraphrase002 against Tailscale
Comparative001 against Tailscale
Budget-constrained002 against Tailscale
Scale-constrained01
Negative011 against Tailscale
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.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Cato Networks and Tailscale 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 Tailscale first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Cato Networks on the left and Tailscale on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Cato Networks and Tailscale stood in it.
Cato Networks first, Tailscale not the choice
4 of 14 modelsTailscale was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Claude Haiku 4.5Cato Networks, Twingate alternatives: Cloudflare One, NordLayer
Llama 4 MaverickCato Networks alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, OpenVPN CloudConnexa
GLM 4.7 FlashXCato Networks alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiZTNA
MiniMax M2.5Cato Networks, Cloudflare One alternatives: Axis Security, Banyan Security, OpenVPN CloudConnexa
Neither was the first choice, one was named
6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Gemini 3.5 FlashTwingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Microsoft Entra Private Access
Perplexity SonarCloudflare One, NordLayer alternatives: Cato Networks, Cisco Secure Access, Portnox
Grok 4.1 FastCloudflare One, Twingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Microsoft Entra Private Access, OpenVPN CloudConnexa
DeepSeek V4 FlashCloudflare One, Twingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, NordLayer
Kimi K2Cloudflare One, Twingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Netskope Private Access, NordLayer, Zscaler Private Access
Muse Glimmer 30BCloudflare One, Twingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Fortinet Universal ZTNA
Neither was named
4 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.GPT-5.4 miniZscaler Private Access alternatives: Cloudflare One, Netskope One SSE, Prisma Access
Mistral SmallCheck Point Harmony SASE, Netskope Private Access alternatives: Cloudflare One, Twingate, Zscaler Private Access
Qwen 3.7 FlashTwingate alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet Universal ZTNA
GPT-6 LunaCloudflare One alternatives: Microsoft Entra Private Access, Twingate
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 is not named for this buyer.
Tailscale8%#3 of 10Cato Networks—not namedMid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Cato Networks leads at mid-market.
Cato Networks6%#3 of 11Tailscale2%#7 of 11Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
Cato Networks0%#– of 8Tailscale0%#– of 8What the models said about Cato Networks
No label in this category carried a quote.
What the models said about Tailscale
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Good for developer-heavy environments, but operates more at network layer (Layer 4) than true application-layer zero trust” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“may lack full enterprise ZTNA compliance (e.g., advanced posture or auditing) without self-hosting effort” Grok 4.1 Fast · budget prompt · soft negative
“License concerns: 2024 BSL (Business Source License) switch raised community concerns” MiniMax M2.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Pure ZTNA (e.g., Twingate, Tailscale, Cloudflare Zero Trust): Great if you just want to kill the VPN and grant app-level access. Low overhead, easy to implement.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“Tailscale: For rapid deployment and ease of use (avoid if you need strict compliance granularities)” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · first choice
“Best for developer-friendly private networking: Tailscale, for engineering teams that need fast, lightweight secure remote access.” Muse Glimmer 30B · paraphrase prompt · alternative
Also compared
Twingate vs Cato NetworksTwingate vs TailscaleCloudflare One vs Cato NetworksCloudflare One vs TailscaleCato Networks vs NordLayerCato Networks vs OpenVPN CloudConnexaCato Networks vs Zscaler Private AccessCato Networks vs Check Point Harmony SASENordLayer vs TailscaleOpenVPN CloudConnexa vs TailscaleZscaler Private Access vs TailscaleTailscale vs Check Point Harmony SASEAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full ZTNA 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.