Zero trust network access · October 2026 Edition
Cloudflare One vs NordLayer
Seven of fourteen models named Cloudflare One first on the direct prompt; one named NordLayer. Cloudflare One was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and NordLayer by nine and Cloudflare One carries 56 labels and NordLayer 18, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in six categories this edition.
Named in four categories this edition.
First-choice share38%3%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate4%11%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#4A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels5618A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Cloudflare One reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Cato Networks was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Twingate vs Cloudflare One · Twingate vs NordLayer · 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.
Cloudflare OneFirst choices, of fourteen modelsNordLayer
Direct71
Paraphrase411 against NordLayer
Comparative00
Budget-constrained1001 against NordLayer
Scale-constrained30
Negative002 against Cloudflare One
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 Cloudflare One and NordLayer 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 | | | | |
Cloudflare One NordLayer first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Cloudflare One on the left and NordLayer on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Cloudflare One and NordLayer stood in it.
Both were the first choice
1 of 14 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.Perplexity SonarCloudflare One, NordLayer alternatives: Cato Networks, Cisco Secure Access, Portnox
Cloudflare One first, NordLayer an alternative
6 of 14 modelsNordLayer was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.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
MiniMax M2.5Cato Networks, Cloudflare One alternatives: Axis Security, Banyan Security, OpenVPN CloudConnexa
GPT-6 LunaCloudflare One alternatives: Microsoft Entra Private Access, Twingate
Muse Glimmer 30BCloudflare One, Twingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Fortinet Universal ZTNA
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.Claude Haiku 4.5Cato Networks, Twingate alternatives: Cloudflare One, NordLayer
GPT-5.4 miniZscaler Private Access alternatives: Cloudflare One, Netskope One SSE, Prisma Access
Gemini 3.5 FlashTwingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Microsoft Entra Private 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
GLM 4.7 FlashXCato Networks alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiZTNA
Neither was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Llama 4 MaverickCato Networks alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, OpenVPN CloudConnexa
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
Cloudflare One leads by fifty-eight points.
Cloudflare One58%#1 of 10NordLayer0%#6 of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
Cloudflare One leads by thirty-four points.
Cloudflare One38%#2 of 11NordLayer3%#4 of 11Enterprise
Cloudflare One leads by twelve points.
Cloudflare One12%#2 of 8NordLayer0%#– of 8What the models said about Cloudflare One
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Two of two in this category shown.
“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
“Cloudflare Zero Trust (specifically Cloudflare Access for ZTNA) stands out as the best option for a company with a limited budget.” Grok 4.1 Fast · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about NordLayer
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“More of a "business VPN with ZTNA features" than a pure zero trust architecture” DeepSeek V4 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Affordable but no robust free tier.” Grok 4.1 Fast · budget prompt · soft negative
“NordLayer is the safest pick if you want the simplest mid-market VPN replacement with fast onboarding” Perplexity Sonar · direct prompt · first choice
“I'd lean toward Twingate or NordLayer” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“A strong option for mid-sized organizations wanting zero trust access controls without extensive infrastructure changes” Claude Haiku 4.5 · direct prompt · alternative
Also compared
Twingate vs Cloudflare OneTwingate vs NordLayerCloudflare One vs Cato NetworksCloudflare One vs OpenVPN CloudConnexaCloudflare One vs Zscaler Private AccessCloudflare One vs TailscaleCloudflare One vs Check Point Harmony SASECato Networks vs NordLayerNordLayer vs OpenVPN CloudConnexaNordLayer vs Zscaler Private AccessNordLayer vs TailscaleNordLayer 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.