Cato Networks
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a multi-site or mid-size org consolidating SD-WAN, ZTNA and web security into one cloud platform.
New check
Comparison
Cato Networks vs Zscaler
Cato Networks and Zscaler both land on Depends.
Zscaler
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a large organization with security staff replacing VPNs, appliances, and legacy perimeter tools.
| Compare | Cato Networks | Zscaler |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Multi-site companies replacing MPLS | Large distributed enterprises |
| Who it's not for | Small teams needing only a VPN or basic firewall | Small teams needing simple web filtering |
| Privacy | Operates a public vulnerability disclosure and rapid CVE mitigation program; several client and Socket CVEs are published with patch advisories.⁸ | Active advisory program, but 2026 Client Connector CVEs and a 2025 Salesloft Drift supply-chain breach are on record. |
| Support quality | No user evidence found | Buyers publicly question post-sales support |
| Public sentiment | Reddit IT communities actively weigh Cato against Zscaler, Palo Alto and Fortinet, with at least one networking buyer reporting they ended up choosing Cato.⁴ | Large orgs praise the zero-trust scale while sysadmins grumble about complexity, cost, and support. |
| Biggest gotcha | Implementation is the top complaint in reviews; plan a real deployment project, not a weekend install.² | Quote-based only; buyers report 2025 price hikes . negotiate multi-year terms hard |
Pick Cato Networks when
- Multi-site companies replacing MPLS
- Mid-size IT teams consolidating security point tools
- Distributed workforces needing ZTNA
- Buyers wanting one SASE vendor instead of many
When Cato Networks is not a fit
- Small teams needing only a VPN or basic firewall
- Anyone wanting published, self-serve pricing
- Orgs without network staff to run a migration project
- Buyers who refuse single-vendor lock-in
Pick Zscaler when
- Large distributed enterprises
- Zero-trust / VPN-replacement projects
- Regulated sectors like government
- Orgs consolidating many point security tools
When Zscaler is not a fit
- Small teams needing simple web filtering
- Startups with no dedicated security admin
- Buyers wanting published, transparent pricing
- Anyone unwilling to manage a heavy client agent
Sources
- Cato Networks homepagecatonetworks.comofficial
- Cato SASE Cloud Reviews . Capterracapterra.comreview
review
review
- Cato SASE Cloud Review . eSecurity Planetesecurityplanet.comreview
- Converged Networking and Security review . The Hacker Newsthehackernews.comreview
- CVE-2025-14213 . SentinelOne vulnerability databasesentinelone.comsecurity
- CVE-2024-6977 . NIST NVDnvd.nist.govsecurity
- Cato Windows client CVE advisoryknowledge.catonetworks.comsecurity
news
- Cato exceeds $415M ARR . Cato newsroomcatonetworks.comnews
- Fisher & Company MPLS cost case studycatonetworks.comofficial
- Cato Networks pricing . Vendrvendr.comreview
- Zscaler homepagezscaler.comofficial
- Zscaler Pricing and Planszscaler.comofficial