Zero trust network access · October 2026 Edition
NordLayer vs Check Point Harmony SASE
One of fourteen models named NordLayer first on the direct prompt; one named Check Point Harmony SASE. NordLayer was named by nine of the fourteen models and Check Point Harmony SASE by twelve and NordLayer carries 18 labels and Check Point Harmony SASE 30, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in four categories this edition.
Named in five categories this edition.
First-choice share3%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate11%33%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#8A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels1830A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, NordLayer 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 NordLayer · Twingate vs Check Point Harmony SASE · Cloudflare One vs NordLayer
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.
NordLayerFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCheck Point Harmony SASE
Direct11
Paraphrase101 against NordLayer
Comparative001 against Check Point Harmony SASE
Budget-constrained001 against NordLayer · 1 against Check Point Harmony SASE
Scale-constrained00
Negative008 against Check Point Harmony SASE
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, NordLayer and Check Point Harmony SASE were named in the same answer thirty-three times, of the 74 answers naming NordLayer and the 142 naming Check Point Harmony SASE. In those answers Check Point Harmony SASE took the first choice two times and NordLayer one.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where NordLayer and Check Point Harmony SASE 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 | | | | |
NordLayer Check Point Harmony SASE first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, NordLayer on the left and Check Point Harmony SASE on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where NordLayer and Check Point Harmony SASE stood in it.
NordLayer first, Check Point Harmony SASE not the choice
1 of 14 modelsCheck Point Harmony SASE was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Perplexity SonarCloudflare One, NordLayer alternatives: Cato Networks, Cisco Secure Access, Portnox
Check Point Harmony SASE first, NordLayer not the choice
1 of 14 modelsNordLayer was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Mistral SmallCheck Point Harmony SASE, Netskope Private Access alternatives: Cloudflare One, Twingate, Zscaler Private Access
Neither was the first choice, one was named
7 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
Gemini 3.5 FlashTwingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Microsoft Entra Private Access
DeepSeek V4 FlashCloudflare One, Twingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, NordLayer
Llama 4 MaverickCato Networks alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, OpenVPN CloudConnexa
Kimi K2Cloudflare One, Twingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Netskope Private Access, NordLayer, Zscaler Private Access
GLM 4.7 FlashXCato Networks alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiZTNA
Muse Glimmer 30BCloudflare One, Twingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Fortinet Universal ZTNA
Neither was named
5 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
Grok 4.1 FastCloudflare One, Twingate alternatives: Cato Networks, Microsoft Entra Private Access, OpenVPN CloudConnexa
Qwen 3.7 FlashTwingate alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet Universal ZTNA
MiniMax M2.5Cato Networks, Cloudflare One alternatives: Axis Security, Banyan Security, OpenVPN CloudConnexa
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
Check Point Harmony SASE leads by two points.
Check Point Harmony SASE2%#4 of 10NordLayer0%#6 of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: NordLayer leads at mid-market.
NordLayer3%#4 of 11Check Point Harmony SASE2%#8 of 11Enterprise
Level: the same share of first choices.
NordLayer0%#– of 8Check Point Harmony SASE0%#– of 8What 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
What the models said about Check Point Harmony SASE
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of five in this category shown.
“Avoid or delay: Any vendor from the DEF CON research until you verify their remediation is architectural, not just patched” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · hard negative
“Hard-coded encryption keys (CVE-2025-3831) that exposed customer data through diagnostic logs” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · hard negative
“When to avoid: If log security or crypto hygiene is critical.” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · hard negative
“Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) and Netskope ZTNA are the top recommendations” Mistral Small · direct prompt · first choice
“"Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) is a cloud-based zero-trust platform combining ZTNA with a Secure Web Gateway."” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · alternative
Also compared
Twingate vs NordLayerTwingate vs Check Point Harmony SASECloudflare One vs NordLayerCloudflare One vs Check Point Harmony SASECato Networks vs NordLayerCato Networks vs Check Point Harmony SASENordLayer vs OpenVPN CloudConnexaNordLayer vs Zscaler Private AccessNordLayer vs TailscaleOpenVPN CloudConnexa vs Check Point Harmony SASEZscaler Private Access vs Check Point Harmony SASETailscale 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.