Best Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) Solutions
Best value overall: Cloudflare. Published per-user pricing, a free tier you can genuinely deploy on, and a global edge network behind it.
Best for small technical teams: Twingate.
Best enterprise scale: Zscaler.
Most specialized: Appgate for regulated environments and Nozomi (Tempered) for OT.
One warning before the table: four of the twelve names on the standard Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) vendor list no longer exist as independent products. If you’re comparing shortlists, that matters more than any score below.
This category consolidated heavily, and comparison articles have largely not kept up. All four of these still circulate as standalone SDP vendors:
| Name you’ll see listed | What it actually is now |
| Banyan Security | Acquired by SonicWall, sold as SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge |
| Tempered Networks | Acquired by Nozomi Networks, now part of its OT security portfolio |
| Wandera | Acquired by Jamf, folded into Jamf’s security portfolio (Apple-centric) |
| Perimeter 81 | Acquired by Check Point, sold as Check Point Harmony SASE |
We’ve evaluated each under its current owner below, because that’s who you’d actually be buying from, supported by, and dependent on for roadmap.
The practical implication: if a shortlist you’ve been handed contains both Perimeter 81 and Check Point, or lists Banyan as an independent option, it was assembled from outdated sources and should be rebuilt.
| Rank | Solution | Access model (25%) | Coverage & scale (25%) | Deployment ease (20%) | Pricing transparency (15%) | Ecosystem (15%) | Total |
| 1 | Cloudflare | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9.2 |
| 2 | Twingate | 9 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8.6 |
| 3 | Zscaler | 10 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 8.1 |
| 4 | Appgate | 10 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7.2 |
| 5 | Palo Alto Networks | 9 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 7.7 |
| 6 | Netskope | 9 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 7.6 |
| 7 | Check Point Harmony SASE | 9 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 7.6 |
| 8 | Cisco | 8 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 7.6 |
| 9 | SonicWall (Banyan) | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 6.9 |
| 10 | Absolute (NetMotion) | 8 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 6.7 |
| 11 | Nozomi (Tempered) | 9 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6.3 |
| 12 | Jamf (Wandera) | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 6.5 |
Weighted averages rounded to one decimal. Rank reflects overall buyer fit including the ownership notes above.
A structured research-based evaluation, not a lab test, with no testing claims. Five criteria weighted for buyers comparing shortlists:
• Access model (25%) — per-application versus network-level access, continuous verification, device posture, and how completely infrastructure is hidden from unauthenticated users.
• Coverage and scale (25%) — global points of presence, concurrent user capacity, and protocol support including legacy applications.
• Deployment ease (20%) — time from purchase to working access, and whether it can be done without professional services.
• Pricing transparency (15%) — whether you can find out the cost without a sales process.
• Ecosystem (15%) — identity provider integration, SIEM and endpoint integration, and the breadth of platform you can grow into.
This category has better pricing transparency than most of network security. Cloudflare and Twingate publish per-user rates and offer free tiers you can deploy on properly. SonicWall, Jamf, and Check Point publish partial information. The enterprise platforms Zscaler, Palo Alto, Netskope, Cisco, Appgate, Absolute, Nozomi are quote-based.
Everything is per user, per month or year. Watch for two things: whether connector or gateway components are counted separately, and whether the tier you’re quoted includes device posture checks, which many buyers assume is standard and often isn’t.
The free tiers are unusually usable. Cloudflare and Twingate both offer free tiers that support real small teams rather than being demos. If you’re a startup or small business, you can run production access on a free tier and upgrade when you outgrow it that is genuinely rare in enterprise security.
Compare against what you already own. If you run Palo Alto, Check Point, Cisco, or Zscaler firewalls or platforms, zero-trust access is often available within licensing you hold or an incremental subscription rather than a new vendor relationship. Check before you shortlist.
Budget migration, not just licence. The cost that surprises people is the application inventory and migration work — finding every application, testing protocol support, and running parallel with the VPN for months. Licence cost is predictable; migration effort is what determines whether the project finishes.
Why it scores here: a perfect transparency score and a perfect coverage score. Cloudflare Access authenticates users at one of the largest edge networks in the world, and you can look up exactly what it costs.
Strengths: published per-user pricing with a genuinely usable free tier; exceptional global performance; clientless access for web applications; integrates with the wider Cloudflare One platform.
Trade-offs: legacy on-premises protocol support is lighter than enterprise specialists; enterprise support tiers cost extra; deepest value when broadly on Cloudflare.
Pricing: published per-user tiers plus a free tier.
Image ALT: Cloudflare Access identity-based application access at the edge
Why it scores here: a perfect ease score alongside perfect transparency. Deploy a connector next to your resources, define access, and users connect through a client requiring no configuration — no inbound firewall ports needed, enforcing strict per-resource access control.
Strengths: fastest time-to-value here; per-resource access control; published pricing with a free tier; excellent developer and infrastructure-team experience.
Trade-offs: compliance and audit reporting lighter than enterprise platforms; smaller enterprise reference base; less suited to complex legacy protocols.
Pricing: published per-user tiers with a free tier.
Image ALT: Twingate zero trust connector and per-resource access policy
Why it scores here: perfect scores on access model and coverage. Zscaler Private Access brokers every connection through its global cloud, so applications are never exposed to the internet at all.
Strengths: proven at very large scale; applications completely invisible; excellent global footprint; consolidates with Zscaler’s web security into one policy model.
Trade-offs: platform-level pricing and commitment; deployment across a large legacy estate takes planning; no pricing transparency.
Pricing: quote-based per user within platform tiers.
Image ALT: Zscaler Private Access brokered application connectivity
Why it scores here: strong access model and coverage. Prisma Access provides zero-trust application access with full next-generation firewall inspection applied to the traffic, not just a connection.
Strengths: inspection depth unmatched by pure-play access vendors; consistent policy across remote users, branches, and data centres; natural progression from GlobalProtect.
Trade-offs: complexity and cost reflect the breadth; over-scoped if you only need application access; platform commitment required.
Pricing: quote-based per user within Prisma Access licensing.
Image ALT: Palo Alto Prisma Access zero trust application access with inspectio
Why it scores here: strong across access and ecosystem. Netskope Private Access shares a policy model and console with its SSE platform, so access control and DLP are one decision rather than two products.
Strengths: unified policy across private applications, SaaS, and web; excellent cloud application context; strong data protection alongside access.
Trade-offs: you’re buying an SSE platform; over-scoped if access is the only requirement; quote-based pricing.
Pricing: quote-based per user within platform tiers.
Image ALT: Netskope Private Access zero trust connectivity and data protection
Why it scores here: good balance across all five criteria with partial pricing transparency. Combining conventional VPN and ZTNA with Check Point threat prevention allows migration to occur gradually.
Strengths: cloud-native architecture with straightforward administration; ZTNA alongside VPN for phased migration; Check Point threat prevention integration; accessible for mid-market.
Trade-offs: ecosystem commitment; pricing climbs as SASE components are added; discount older comparisons that list Perimeter 81 separately.
Pricing: per-user tiered; some information published.
Image ALT: Check Point Harmony SASE zero trust network access
Why it scores here: a perfect ecosystem score. Cisco Secure Access delivers zero-trust application access integrated with Duo identity, ISE posture, Umbrella web security, and the wider Cisco security portfolio.
Strengths: unmatched integration breadth for Cisco estates; strong identity and posture context; global scale; existing enterprise relationships simplify procurement.
Trade-offs: licensing complexity; deployment requires planning; product naming has shifted across generations, so confirm what applies to you.
Image ALT: Cisco Secure Access zero trust application connectivity with Duo
Why it scores here: a perfect access model score. Appgate is one of the purest implementations of SDP principles single-packet authorization means the infrastructure genuinely does not respond to unauthenticated traffic.
Strengths: rigorous SDP architecture; strong for regulated, government, and defence environments; its ZTNA solution achieved “Awardable” status on the US Department of War’s Platform One Solutions Marketplace in October 2025, and it shipped protection for agentic AI workloads in December 2025 — evidence of active investment.
Trade-offs: smaller commercial footprint than the platform vendors; quote-based pricing; deployment requires more expertise than the cloud-natives.
Pricing: quote-based per user.
Image ALT: Appgate SDP single-packet authorization zero trust access
Why it scores here: good ease and reasonable transparency at mid-market scale. Banyan Security’s technology is now SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge, giving SonicWall customers a zero-trust access path alongside their firewalls.
Strengths: device trust scoring inherited from Banyan; accessible for mid-market; integrates with SonicWall firewalls; partner-friendly delivery.
Trade-offs: smaller global footprint than the leaders; confirm post-acquisition roadmap and product naming; ecosystem narrower than the platform vendors.
Image ALT: SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge zero trust access with device trust scoring
Why it scores here:solid across the board with one genuine differentiator session persistence keeps connections alive as devices move across cellular networks, backed by endpoint resilience technology
Strengths: unmatched for field workforces on unreliable connectivity; genuine zero-trust policy rather than a relabelled VPN; integrates with Absolute’s endpoint resilience technology embedded in many device firmwares.
Trade-offs: specialized rather than general-purpose; premium pricing; smaller ecosystem.
Image ALT: Absolute Secure Access with session persistence for mobile workforces
Why it scores here: reasonable ease and transparency, limited scope. Wandera’s technology now sits inside Jamf’s security portfolio, paired with threat intelligence tools built around Apple device management.
Strengths: strong fit if your estate is Mac and iOS and you already run Jamf; good mobile threat context; unified device management and security.
Trade-offs: not a general-purpose enterprise SDP — this is Apple-ecosystem security; confirm current product naming and scope; irrelevant for Windows-centric organizations.
Image ALT: Jamf security cloud zero trust access for Apple device estates
Why it scores here:a strong access model score in a narrow domain. Tempered Networks’ Airwall technology creates cryptographically isolated overlay networks for OT environments where devices cannot be modified.
Strengths: genuinely strong for OT, industrial, and legacy equipment that cannot run modern agents; cloaks devices entirely from network discovery; Nozomi’s OT security expertise behind it.
Trade-offs: narrow applicability outside industrial and OT contexts; small footprint for general enterprise remote access; confirm current product positioning within Nozomi’s portfolio.
Image ALT: Nozomi Airwall cryptographic overlay network for OT environments
Deploy the free tiers before you take a sales call. Cloudflare and Twingate both let you run a real small deployment for free. Doing this first tells you more about the model than any vendor demonstration, and it gives you a pricing anchor.
Inventory your protocols before comparing anything. SDP handles web and TCP applications well. Legacy protocols, server-initiated connections, and anything relying on broadcast need specific verification. This inventory determines which vendors are actually viable, and it eliminates several immediately.
Confirm device posture is in your tier. Requiring patch level, encryption, or endpoint agent presence before granting access is often a higher-tier feature. It’s also the thing that makes SDP meaningfully better than a VPN, so don’t buy a tier without it.
Ask what happens when the broker is unreachable. Cloud-delivered SDP creates a dependency on the provider. Ask about historical availability, regional redundancy, and whether any emergency access mechanism exists.
Check identity provider integration properly. SDP is only as strong as the identity behind it. Confirm your provider is supported, MFA enforcement works as expected, and de-provisioning removes access immediately rather than at the next directory sync.
Common mistakes: running SDP while leaving the old VPN concentrator internet-facing, so you’ve added cost without removing exposure; assuming SDP covers server-to-server traffic, which needs microsegmentation; and shortlisting vendors whose ownership changed years ago.
Pricing is per user per month or year, and this category has unusually good transparency Cloudflare and Twingate publish rates including free tiers, and SonicWall, Jamf, and Check Point publish partial information.
Enterprise platforms from Zscaler, Palo Alto, Netskope, Cisco, Appgate, Absolute, and Nozomi are quote-based.
Yes. Cloudflare Access and Twingate both offer free tiers that support genuine small-team production use rather than being time-limited trials. OpenZiti is a capable open-source zero-trust networking project for teams willing to self-host. For small organizations, a free tier is often sufficient indefinitely.
For small teams, Cloudflare and Twingate free tiers cost nothing. Beyond that, published per-user pricing from both is generally below enterprise platform rates.
If you already own Palo Alto, Cisco, Check Point, or Zscaler infrastructure, zero-trust access may be available within existing licensing check before buying separately.
They overlap almost entirely and vendors use the terms interchangeably. SDP describes the architectural model authenticate first, then connect, with infrastructure hidden from unauthenticated users. ZTNA describes the product category delivering zero-trust application access. For purchasing purposes, treat them as the same market.
For most remote user access, yes. Legacy protocols, server-initiated connections, and site-to-site connectivity usually still require conventional tunnels.
Most organizations run both during a migration measured in months and retire the VPN once the last dependent application is handled and the security benefit only fully arrives when the old concentrator is actually switched off.
Several. Banyan Security is now part of SonicWall, Tempered Networks is part of Nozomi Networks, Wandera is part of Jamf, and Perimeter 81 is now Check Point Harmony SASE. Many comparison articles still list these as independent vendors, so verify current ownership before building a shortlist.
Cloudflare takes the top score for combining genuine transparency, a usable free tier, and world-class infrastructure — start there unless you have a reason not to.
Twingate is the best fit for small technical teams, Zscaler for large-scale VPN retirement, and Appgate where the access model has to satisfy a regulator. Nozomi (Tempered) is the specialist answer for OT.
Above all, rebuild your shortlist from current information: a third of the standard SDP vendor list now belongs to somebody else.
• Best Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) Solutions
• Best Business VPN Solutions, Compared and Priced
• Best Microsegmentation Tools, Compared and Priced
• Best Network Access Control (NAC) Solutions, Compared and Priced
• Best Secure Web Gateway Solutions, Compared and Priced
• Best Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
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