# Zscaler Private Access vs Check Point Harmony SASE: which do AI models recommend for ZTNA, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Zero trust network access. One of fourteen models named Zscaler Private Access first on the direct prompt; one named Check Point Harmony SASE. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/network/zero-trust-network-access/zscaler-private-access-vs-check-point-harmony-sase/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zscaler Private Access | 3% | #6 of 11 | 45% | 51 | 14 of 14 |
| Check Point Harmony SASE | 2% | #8 of 11 | 33% | 30 | 12 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- GPT-5.4 mini: zscaler private access first (first choices: Zscaler Private Access) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, Netskope One SSE, Prisma Access)
- Mistral Small: check point harmony sase first (first choices: Check Point Harmony SASE, Netskope Private Access) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, Twingate, Zscaler Private Access)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Twingate) (alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Microsoft Entra Private Access)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare One, Twingate) (alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, NordLayer)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, OpenVPN CloudConnexa)
- Kimi K2: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare One, Twingate) (alternatives: Cato Networks, Netskope Private Access, NordLayer, Zscaler Private Access)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Cato Networks) (alternatives: Check Point Harmony SASE, Cloudflare One, Fortinet FortiZTNA)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither first, one named (first choices: Cloudflare One, Twingate) (alternatives: Cato Networks, Check Point Harmony SASE, Fortinet Universal ZTNA)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: Cato Networks, Twingate) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, NordLayer)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare One, NordLayer) (alternatives: Cato Networks, Cisco Secure Access, Portnox)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare One, Twingate) (alternatives: Cato Networks, Microsoft Entra Private Access, OpenVPN CloudConnexa)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: Twingate) (alternatives: Cloudflare One, Fortinet Universal ZTNA)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named (first choices: Cato Networks, Cloudflare One) (alternatives: Axis Security, Banyan Security, OpenVPN CloudConnexa)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare One) (alternatives: Microsoft Entra Private Access, Twingate)

## What the models said about Zscaler Private Access

- "Avoid Zscaler for mid-market: It's powerful but designed for Fortune 500 scale—complex, expensive, and often overkill" (Kimi K2, paraphrase prompt, hard negative)
- "ZTNA Vendors to Approach with Caution ... Zscaler ... CVE-2025-54982: A SAML authentication bypass" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "CVE-2025-54982: SAML authentication bypass due to failure to validate signed assertions" (Kimi K2, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Zscaler Private Access is the market-leading ZTNA solution, delivering inside-out connectivity that never exposes applications to the internet" (Claude Haiku 4.5, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "Complex, global enterprise needing high compliance | Zscaler Private Access | Robust, highly certified, and built for massive scale." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "Zscaler is often treated as the canonical pure-play ZTNA vendor... Choose Zscaler if you want a widely recognized ZTNA leader" (GPT-5.4 mini, comparative prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Check Point Harmony SASE

- "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)

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. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.