Worried about your network’s blind spots?
Outdated security tools just can’t keep up with today’s sophisticated threats, especially with employees working from anywhere. This leaves your network exposed.
The worst part is that escalating cyber threats put immense pressure on your already tight IT budget, making every security decision critical.
It’s a widespread issue. A Cybersecurity Insiders report shows 53% of organizations report low confidence in monitoring employee access. This uncertainty creates significant gaps that attackers can easily exploit.
But a modern secure web gateway (SWG) solves this by delivering complete visibility and control over web traffic, stopping threats before they hit.
In this article, I’ll help you navigate the options. We’ll review the best secure web gateways platform to strengthen your defenses and reduce costs in 2025.
You’ll learn how to find a solution that integrates with your security stack, simplifies compliance reporting, and scales with your team.
Let’s get started.
Quick Summary:
| # | Software | Rating | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zscaler → | Large Global Enterprises | |
| 2 | Skyhigh Security → | Mid-Large IT Security Teams | |
| 3 | Palo Alto Networks → | IT Security Managers | |
| 4 | Netskope → | Hybrid Workforce Security | |
| 5 | Menlo Security → | Mid-Sized Organizations |
1. Zscaler
Are you wrestling with complex security challenges?
Zscaler offers secure web gateways that provide seamless, secure, and reliable access for your users, applications, and data. This means you can protect your workforce while preventing cyberthreats and data loss.
It directly addresses your need to replace outdated solutions by offering a cloud-native platform that secures everything from users to IoT/OT devices, providing zero trust connectivity and robust threat protection.
Here’s how Zscaler simplifies your security strategy.
Zscaler’s Zero Trust SASE platform integrates AI to stop advanced threats and provide comprehensive visibility and control over your data. This allows you to build and run secure cloud applications, ensuring protection from data center to cloud. You also get capabilities like Secure Internet Access (ZIA) and Secure Private Access (ZPA) to empower hybrid workforces. Plus, with full TLS/SSL inspection, you achieve complete data security at scale across the SSE platform, ensuring all traffic is thoroughly vetted for hidden threats.
This comprehensive approach helps mitigate real-time threats across multi-cloud environments.
Key features:
- Zero Trust SASE with AI: Combines secure access service edge with artificial intelligence to stop AI-powered threats and provide enterprise-wide visibility and data protection.
- Comprehensive Data Security: Leverages full TLS/SSL inspection at scale across the SSE platform, including Web and Email DLP, Multi-Mode CASB, and Unified SaaS Security for complete data protection.
- Secure Internet Access (ZIA): Protects users against compromise and lateral threat movement by providing secure and reliable access to the internet, applications, and data from anywhere.
Learn more about Zscaler features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Zscaler’s comprehensive AI-driven Zero Trust SASE platform excels at securing your workforce, cloud, and IoT/OT, making it a powerful choice for the best secure web gateways platform. With 35% of Global 2000 companies trusting Zscaler and securing over 500 billion daily transactions, you can be confident in its proven ability to stop threats and streamline operations.
2. Skyhigh Security
Stop threats, cut costs, simplify security.
Skyhigh Security offers a mature, intelligent Secure Web Gateway solution, providing protection from zero-day threats and enforcing data protection.
This means you can safeguard your data and prevent data loss across all vectors, securing your organization from evolving cyber threats while ensuring compliance.
You need a unified security approach.
Skyhigh Security enables your remote workforce, addressing cloud, web, data, and network security needs, improving productivity and efficiency.
You get advanced Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for consolidated data protection through a unified policy across web, cloud, email, and private apps.
Additionally, Skyhigh’s Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) delivers complete visibility and control for your cloud applications, offering real-time data protection and threat prevention. The Private Access (ZTNA) also serves as an effective VPN alternative, securing remote workforces accessing private applications.
Effortless security across your entire organization.
Key features:
- AI-powered SSE solutions: Safeguard your data, prevent threats, and ensure compliance, enabling secure and efficient AI innovation within your organization.
- Unified data protection: Consolidate data loss prevention across web, cloud, email, and private applications, managed from a single cloud-native platform.
- Comprehensive threat prevention: Secure your workforce from zero-day threats and enforce data protection when accessing web and cloud applications.
Learn more about Skyhigh Security features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Skyhigh Security provides a cloud-native, unified platform perfect for IT security managers seeking to replace outdated solutions. Its advanced DLP, CASB, and secure web gateway capabilities make it a strong contender as the best secure web gateways platform, allowing you to centralize management and reduce TCO.
3. Palo Alto Networks
Battling cyber threats feels like a constant uphill battle.
Palo Alto Networks provides AI-powered network security and cloud security platforms to proactively block sophisticated attacks. This means you can secure your hybrid workforce without overwhelming your IT team.
Their platform offers real-time threat prevention with less complexity, driving digital transformation.
How can you fight AI with AI?
Palo Alto Networks introduces Prisma AIRS, an AI security platform designed to stop AI-generated threats in real time. This allows you to unify security operations, simplifying compliance reporting across multi-cloud environments.
The Strata Network Security Platform, built for Zero Trust and powered by AI, proactively monitors and prevents threats, supporting secure growth. Additionally, their Cortex XSIAM 3.0 offers AI-driven Exposure Management and Advanced Email Security, consolidating your SOC capabilities. With 30.9 billion inline attacks blocked per day and 480 billion endpoints scanned daily, they deliver battle-tested, AI-driven protection.
Secure everything, everywhere, with less complexity.
While discussing threat detection and response, you might find my guide on IT alerting software solutions helpful for optimizing your incident management.
Key features:
- Precision AI™ powered platforms stop AI-generated threats in real time, ensuring real-time threat mitigation across your multi-cloud environments, reducing alert fatigue for your team.
- Zero Trust Network Security proactively monitors, analyzes, and prevents sophisticated threats with less complexity, enabling seamless integration with your existing security stack.
- AI-Driven Security Operations (SecOps) transforms your SOC with unified data, AI, and automation, simplifying compliance reporting and accelerating threat detection and response.
Learn more about Palo Alto Networks features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Palo Alto Networks provides a comprehensive AI-powered platform for network and cloud security, ideal for IT Security Managers seeking robust real-time threat mitigation and simplified operations. Their ability to block up to 30.9 billion inline attacks daily makes them a strong contender for the best secure web gateways platform, justifying ROI against escalating cyber threats.
4. Netskope
Are you struggling with overwhelming SWG options?
Netskope One acts as a unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Security Service Edge (SSE) solution, converging multiple security services to eliminate evaluation paralysis.
This platform empowers IT Security Managers to confidently choose a secure web gateway that integrates seamlessly, ensuring your hybrid workforce remains secure. It delivers continuous adaptive trust-based policy controls.
Simplify security and networking now.
Netskope unifies your security services, including Next Gen Secure Web Gateway, Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), and Data Loss Prevention (DLP), all within a single cloud-native platform. This means you can secure cloud, web, and AI access from any device or location.
The Netskope Zero Trust Engine, powered by SkopeAI, provides contextual visibility and protection, adapting security based on every interaction. This allows for real-time threat mitigation across multi-cloud environments, ensuring your data is protected wherever it moves. Additionally, the Netskope One Client simplifies endpoint administration with a single agent for various security needs, and the NewEdge Network provides optimized connectivity for a phenomenal user experience. You gain advanced analytics to apply data-driven insights and implement better policies, identifying trends and areas of concern.
The result is reduced cost and complexity.
Key features:
- Next Gen Secure Web Gateway provides reliable and secure access to AI, web, and cloud applications from any device, securing your distributed workforce.
- Unified Data Security uses patented AI and ML techniques to adapt security based on interaction context, preventing data loss across your multi-cloud environment.
- SASE and SSE Convergence consolidates security and networking services into one cloud-native platform, simplifying operations and reducing IT costs.
Learn more about Netskope features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Netskope offers a comprehensive, AI-powered platform for IT Security Managers seeking the best secure web gateways platform, allowing them to consolidate infrastructure, maintain compliance, and protect data across multi-cloud environments, as demonstrated by customers like Colgate-Palmolive and Apria Healthcare.
5. Menlo Security
Is your browser a major security blind spot?
Menlo Security transforms any browser into a Secure Enterprise Browser without new software or managing versions.
This means you can block phishing, ransomware, and zero-day threats before they ever reach your network, ensuring real-time protection.
Here’s how to shield your enterprise from unseen threats.
Menlo Protect with HEAT Shield AI prevents browser-based threats like zero-hour phishing and evasive ransomware, which legacy tools miss. It integrates easily into your existing stack without touching the endpoint.
Additionally, Menlo Secure Application Access provides simple, secure, everywhere access for both managed and unmanaged devices, bypassing complex, outdated VDI or VPN solutions. This capability extends to remote employees, contractors, and partners, simplifying deployment and access revocation. Plus, you gain unprecedented browsing visibility for faster incident resolution, threat hunting, and compliance.
The result is a risk-free internet experience, without compromising performance.
While we’re discussing secure access, understanding identity management solutions is equally important for holistic security.
Key features:
- Secure Enterprise Browser: Transforms any existing browser into a highly secure, digital twin that protects against phishing, ransomware, and zero-day threats before they hit your network.
- HEAT Shield AI Protection: Proactively stops highly evasive adaptive threats (HEAT), including zero-hour phishing and evasive ransomware, providing real-time, AI-powered threat prevention at the browser level.
- Secure Application Access: Offers fine-grained control and last-mile DLP features for secure, seamless access to applications and data for all users, including BYOD and unmanaged devices, reducing reliance on VPNs or VDI.
Learn more about Menlo Security features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Menlo Security excels by securing the browser itself, a common attack vector, through its HEAT Shield AI and Secure Cloud Browser. Its ability to block zero-day and evasive threats in real-time, coupled with seamless integration and secure application access, makes it an excellent choice as the best secure web gateways platform for mid-sized organizations.
6. Forcepoint
Struggling with overwhelming secure web gateway options?
Forcepoint Data Security Cloud secures your data everywhere from a single platform, integrating capabilities like DSPM, DLP, DDR, CASB, and SWG. This means you can unify policy management across your entire organization.
You can prevent data exfiltration everywhere by creating a Data Loss Prevention policy once and enforcing it across cloud, web, email, endpoint, and network on both managed and unmanaged devices, giving you pinpoint accuracy and transparent reporting.
Simplify your security management.
Forcepoint helps you uncover hidden data threats by continuously monitoring your data to spot potential breach activity and prevent threats before they occur. This means you can discover what data you have and where it lives, even uncovering data duplication or over-permissioned files.
You can streamline compliance with over 1,700 out-of-the-box policy templates and classifiers for more than 160 regions, ensuring consistent enforcement and easy auditing with centralized reporting. Additionally, Forcepoint’s AI Mesh provides reliable clarity on your data’s sensitivity, allowing you to dynamically adjust policies as threats emerge and automate workflows.
It truly simplifies security.
While we’re discussing data and management, you might find my article on campaign management software helpful for broader operational efficiency.
Key features:
- Secure data everywhere from a single platform, unifying capabilities like DSPM, DLP, DDR, CASB, and SWG for comprehensive protection and visibility.
- Prevent data exfiltration across cloud, web, email, endpoint, and network on both managed and unmanaged devices with a single, enforceable DLP policy.
- Streamline compliance with over 1,700 out-of-the-box policy templates and classifiers for more than 160 regions, enabling easy auditing and centralized reporting.
Learn more about Forcepoint features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Forcepoint offers a comprehensive data-first approach, simplifying security management by unifying visibility and control from a single platform. Its ability to classify with context using AI Mesh and enforce policies across all channels makes it an excellent best secure web gateways platform, allowing you to dynamically adapt to risk and stop data loss.
7. Cloudflare
Struggling with escalating threats and budget constraints?
Cloudflare offers a comprehensive Connectivity Cloud with over 60 services, including Secure Web Gateway, designed to protect your workforce from phishing and email attacks. This means you can secure corporate applications and web browsing, accelerating your journey to Zero Trust and SASE/SSE. It’s about streamlining your security while enhancing performance.
So, how do you fix it?
Cloudflare helps you modernize your network and protect your attack surface with its unified SASE and SSE solutions. This allows you to keep your people safe and productive on any device, in any location. You can deploy serverless code and AI on the edge for speed and reliability, ensuring your applications auto-scale without manual provisioning. Additionally, Cloudflare’s global network blocks 247 billion cyber threats daily, insulating your users from Internet-borne dangers.
This secures everything you connect.
While discussing network security and productivity, you might also be interested in my analysis of best AI productivity tools to boost team gains.
Key features:
- Secure Web Gateway (SWG): Protects your workforce from phishing and email attacks while securing corporate applications and web browsing.
- Zero Trust and SASE/SSE Solutions: Unifies security across any device and location, modernizing your network and accelerating your journey to advanced threat protection.
- Global Cloud Network with AI: Leverages a vast network that blocks billions of cyber threats daily and allows you to build and scale AI applications effortlessly.
Learn more about Cloudflare features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Cloudflare’s Connectivity Cloud simplifies your tech stack with its Secure Web Gateway and unified SASE/SSE solutions, making it an excellent best secure web gateways platform. Its global network, blocking 247 billion cyber threats daily, ensures real-time threat mitigation and scalable architecture for remote teams, addressing common IT security manager challenges.
8. Cisco
Are your current security solutions truly enough? Cisco’s AI-ready smart switches future-proof your network architecture, delivering security, scale, and flexibility purpose-built for an AI enterprise. This means you can address escalating cyber threats effectively. Cisco helps your organization accelerate workplace AI transformation. It is time to transform your security.
Cisco helps you achieve real-time threat mitigation across multi-cloud environments. Its Hybrid Mesh Firewall provides better enforcement points, smarter segmentation, and multi-vendor policy. You can also explore Nexus Dashboard to gain end-to-end visibility across networks, GPUs, and AI tasks for proactive issue detection. Additionally, Cisco and Splunk ThousandEyes unify views across application, infrastructure, and networking domains, delivering exceptional wireless performance for high-density venues. This comprehensive approach simplifies compliance reporting.
Key features:
- AI-Ready Smart Switches: Future-proof your network with security, scale, and flexibility tailored for the AI enterprise, essential for advanced threat detection and prevention.
- Hybrid Mesh Firewall: Bolster your network’s defenses with better enforcement points, smarter segmentation, and robust multi-vendor policy capabilities for comprehensive protection.
- Nexus Dashboard & Splunk Integration: Gain end-to-end visibility across networks and AI tasks, unifying application, infrastructure, and networking domains for proactive issue detection.
Learn more about Cisco features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Cisco offers a compelling solution for IT Security Managers seeking the best secure web gateways platform, combining AI-ready infrastructure with robust security features. Its focus on secure AI infrastructure, Hybrid Mesh Firewall capabilities, and unified visibility through Nexus Dashboard addresses key pain points around threat detection and compliance.
9. Check Point Software
Struggling to unify security across your hybrid workforce?
Check Point’s Hybrid Mesh Network Security provides a flexible, scalable architecture. This means your organization can protect physical, virtual, cloud and endpoint environments seamlessly.
This unified approach centralizes management, significantly reducing the complexity and IT overhead you might face with disparate security solutions. It ensures secure connectivity across all your users and sites.
Here’s how Check Point delivers comprehensive protection.
Their solutions simplify protection without impacting performance, integrating network, cloud, and workspace security into one platform. For instance, their CloudGuard automation matches the pace of modern DevOps, securing your cloud applications. Additionally, Harmony protects your entire workspace, including email, devices, and SaaS applications. This unified security solution secures everywhere work gets done, even blocking thousands more emails each month for organizations like the City of Kamloops.
Check Point’s Infinity Platform, powered by ThreatCloud AI, makes over 2.8 billion security decisions daily, predicting and protecting against advanced cyber attacks with AI-powered threat intelligence and automated security operations tools. The AI Copilot simplifies security administration, enhancing your team’s efficiency.
The result is comprehensive, enterprise-wide security.
Speaking of reducing IT costs, if you’re also looking to reduce operational costs in other areas, my guide on best janitor software can help.
Key features:
- Hybrid Mesh Network Security: Unifies physical, virtual, cloud, and endpoint protection for seamless, secure connectivity across all environments with SASE at its core.
- AI-Powered Threat Prevention: leverages ThreatCloud AI to make billions of daily security decisions, predicting and protecting against advanced cyberattacks with deep intelligence.
- Unified Security Management: Consolidates network, cloud, and workspace security into a single, scalable platform, simplifying protection and boosting performance.
Learn more about Check Point Software features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Check Point Software offers a robust, AI-powered secure web gateways platform, unifying management and threat prevention across hybrid environments. It simplifies compliance, reduces IT costs, and provides real-time threat mitigation, making it a strong contender for the best secure web gateways platform for mid-sized organizations.
10. Broadcom
Are you struggling with overwhelming secure web gateway options? This means finding the right balance between advanced threat detection and budget limitations can be incredibly challenging.
Broadcom’s enterprise software and mainframe solutions help you innovate faster and manage complex IT environments with ease. This provides the agility and control your security team needs.
You need to deliver security that is both effective and cost-efficient. This addresses your need for justifying clear ROI. Here’s how Broadcom helps.
Broadcom empowers your organization to innovate and grow.
Their enterprise software streamlines complex IT operations, offering solutions that enhance security, ensure compliance, and boost efficiency across your entire infrastructure. This includes robust threat mitigation.
Their focus on cybersecurity and enterprise software helps reduce your IT costs and improve security. This means your team can achieve real-time threat mitigation across multi-cloud environments, integrating seamlessly with your existing security stack. Broadcom also helps simplify compliance reporting, a key desired outcome for your organization. Plus, their scalable architectures support your global remote teams.
The result is robust, cost-effective security.
Key features:
- Enterprise Software Solutions: Streamline operations, boost efficiency, and enhance security across your IT infrastructure, simplifying complex security management.
- Cybersecurity Focus: Protect your data and digital assets with advanced cybersecurity measures, specifically designed to mitigate evolving cyber threats and ensure compliance.
- IT Cost Reduction: Improve your security posture while significantly reducing IT operational costs, allowing your team to optimize budget allocation effectively.
Learn more about Broadcom features, pricing, & alternatives →
Verdict: Broadcom’s strong emphasis on cybersecurity and IT cost reduction makes it a compelling contender for the best secure web gateways platform. Its ability to simplify compliance reporting and support global remote teams directly addresses the pain points of IT Security Managers seeking integrated, scalable solutions that justify ROI.
Conclusion
Feeling exposed by modern threats?
Choosing the right SWG is truly overwhelming. You need robust threat detection and full visibility without blowing your limited IT budget.
This move away from legacy systems is happening fast. A Cybersecurity Insiders report shows that 62% of organizations confirm active plans to ditch old VPNs. This shift to modern SSE solutions is becoming essential for survival.
So, what should you choose?
Based on my review, Zscaler is the clear winner. It directly tackles the challenge of replacing outdated tools with a cloud-native, zero-trust approach.
I’m impressed by its Zero Trust SASE platform, which uses AI to stop advanced threats before they hit. It’s the best secure web gateways platform for gaining complete visibility and control.
Beyond securing network access, protecting your software applications from vulnerabilities is also vital. My guide on best static application security testing tools offers further insights.
I strongly recommend you book a free demo of Zscaler to see how its AI-driven protection works firsthand for your team.
You’ll finally secure your hybrid workforce.
