Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment gives a vendor more visibility, higher up on the review pages; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in zero trust network access (ZTNA) software
cannot hold places 1 to 3. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category,
wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
The 12 tools, reviewed
#1 Twingate
Connector-based private access for small IT teams · United States · twingate.com
Published prices Connector model Free tier
Twingate is what most ten to two-hundred-person companies imagine when they say they want to get rid of the VPN. You run a connector next to the private resources, define each resource and the groups that may reach it, and users sign in through their identity provider.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Starter is free for up to 5 users and 50 resources. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Small IT teams retiring a VPN
- Strengths: Connector deployment; Per-resource access policies; Device posture checks.
Where it falls short
Several things sit behind the Business tier or are sold as add-ons: DNS filtering and static IPs are marked as available add-ons, geoblocking and invoice payment sit in Enterprise, and Teams is capped at 100 users.
Wrong for
A buyer who needs web filtering, SaaS controls and data loss prevention from one agent should look at Cloudflare or Netskope.
Visit Twingate →
#2 NetBird
Open source zero trust overlay from Berlin · Germany · netbird.io
EU entity Open source Self-hostable
NetBird comes from a German company registered in Berlin, and its pricing page reads like an engineer wrote it: a free tier, a six-euro team plan, a twelve-euro business plan, and billing only for users and machines that connected during the month.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Free up to 5 users and 100 machines. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: EU teams wanting open, self-hostable access
- Strengths: Peer-to-peer encrypted connections; Access control policies; SSO and MFA.
Where it falls short
The product is closer to a modern overlay network than to a clientless, browser-based gateway, so third parties normally need the agent installed. The machine-count billing needs a look if you run many servers or containers.
Wrong for
Companies that need browser-only access for unmanaged contractor laptops should check Systancia or Cloudflare.
Visit NetBird →
#3 Teleport
Identity-based access to infrastructure for engineers · United States · goteleport.com
Infrastructure access Open source community Session audit
Teleport is the one entry here designed for people who log into production machines rather than open a wiki. Per its site, access runs on identity with just-in-time requests instead of standing privileges, and a machine identity feature covers automation.
- Pricing: Usage-based. Quote through a form; the site says pricing follows active users and protected resources, with cloud, self-hosted and hybrid deployment. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Engineering teams with audited production access
- Strengths: SSH and server access; Kubernetes access; Database access.
Where it falls short
Its model is infrastructure first, so a sales colleague who needs an internal web app or a shared drive is not its audience, and there is no published price list to plan around.
Wrong for
A company whose internal apps are mostly web tools, files and desktop sessions will find Twingate or a suite simpler.
Visit Teleport →
#4 Systancia
European zero trust access for IT and OT · France · systancia.com
EU entity IT and OT access PAM included
Systancia describes itself as a European zero trust platform for access to IT and OT systems, which is a narrow and useful claim for companies that run factories, utilities or managed services.
- Pricing: Quote only. No public prices; contact form and demo-led sales. Free plan: none.
- Best for: European firms with industrial or third-party access
- Strengths: Zero trust remote access; Privileged access management; Third-party access.
Where it falls short
The documentation and pricing are not public, so you cannot compare it to Twingate on a spreadsheet before a sales call, and the product range is wide enough that scoping takes effort.
Wrong for
A small company that only needs a handful of cloud apps reachable should not buy a platform with PAM and OT modules.
Visit Systancia →
#5 Appgate
Direct-routed ZTNA for IT, OT and AI · United States · appgate.com
Direct-routed OT access Add-on modules
Appgate argues for direct-routed ZTNA, where connections go from user to resource without detouring through a third-party cloud, and the website lists it as the way to keep latency low and traffic under your control. The portfolio covers IT, OT and a newer module for observing what AI agents can reach, plus Optimizer for discovering applications and Risk Sentinel for context-based scoring.
- Pricing: Quote only. No public prices; demo and partner sales, with optional add-on modules. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Regulated firms wanting traffic kept off a vendor cloud
- Strengths: Direct-routed access; ZTNA for IT; ZTNA for OT.
Where it falls short
Gateways and controllers are yours to deploy and size, so the operational load is heavier than with a cloud-brokered service.
Wrong for
Teams without a network engineer will struggle with the deployment model, and Twingate is simpler.
Visit Appgate →
#6 Absolute Secure Access
ZTNA and SSE built for unreliable connections · Canada · absolute.com
Resilient connectivity SSE editions Endpoint tie-in
Absolute positions its network line as SSE for the anywhere workforce, built for mobility, for field and mobile staff. Edge targets the software-defined perimeter, Enterprise adds web and cloud controls on top of private-app access, and Insights for Network diagnoses connectivity trouble. A customer that already uses Absolute's endpoint persistence and device visibility gets one vendor for the laptop and its connection.
- Pricing: Quote only. No public prices; sales contact, with Core, Edge and Enterprise editions. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Mobile and field workforces on shaky networks
- Strengths: Software-defined perimeter; Private app access; Secure web gateway.
Where it falls short
Naming has changed, so a product known as Secure Access now appears under editions, and a buyer must confirm which edition contains which feature. There is no public price, and independent comparison data are thin.
Wrong for
A company with desk-based staff on stable broadband gains little from its resilience features.
Visit Absolute Secure Access →
#7 Sophos ZTNA
ZTNA gateway built into Sophos Firewall · United Kingdom · sophos.com
UK vendor Firewall-integrated Bundle-sold
The attraction here is what you do not have to deploy. Every Sophos Firewall carries a ZTNA gateway, endpoint health from Sophos Endpoint can feed access decisions, and the Sophos protected browser includes an RDP and SSH client. A company that already pays for the firewall and endpoint tooling gets per-application access, denial visibility and device-state checks in the same console family.
- Pricing: Quote only. No prices on the product page; sold in the Workspace Protection bundle, with a free trial linked. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Sophos firewall customers adding app-level access
- Strengths: Built-in gateway on Sophos Firewall; RDP and SSH client in protected browser; Device health conditions.
Where it falls short
The product page does not describe a clientless option, and the value falls away if your edge is another vendor's firewall. Pricing is bundled and not displayed, so the ZTNA share of the bill is unclear.
Wrong for
An organization on Fortinet, Palo Alto or a cloud-only edge gains little from a Sophos gateway.
Visit Sophos ZTNA →
#8 Ivanti Zero Trust Access
Gateway-based ZTNA that coexists with existing VPN · United States · ivanti.com
Self-deployed gateways Phased VPN migration Continuous verification
Ivanti ZTA keeps traffic on gateways you deploy on premises or in a public or private cloud, creates per-application mTLS tunnels from its unified client, and separates the control plane from application traffic. The page describes application discovery that lets teams draft policy before users are affected, plus coexistence with existing VPN products so apps move across one group at a time.
- Pricing: Quote only. Contact sales; no prices published on the product page. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Ivanti and Pulse VPN customers migrating in phases
- Strengths: Per-application mTLS tunnels; Customer-deployed gateways; Application discovery.
Where it falls short
There is no public price or trial, the gateways are yours to patch and size. Its public documentation and trial path are limited.
Wrong for
A company without an existing Ivanti relationship and without gateway skills should start with a cloud-brokered tool.
Visit Ivanti Zero Trust Access →
#9 Cloudflare Access
Application access delivered from Cloudflare's edge · United States · cloudflare.com
Global edge Free proof of concept Suite module
Cloudflare runs access control on the same edge network it uses for DNS and CDN, so a distributed workforce connects to a nearby point of presence rather than a single head office. The free plan is the practical draw: a team can attach a few applications, test policies with real users and decide later.
- Pricing: Per user / month. The site offers a free plan to start a proof of concept. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Cloudflare customers adding private app access
- Strengths: Zero trust network access; Cloudflare One client; Secure web gateway.
Where it falls short
Access is one module of a suite that also covers gateway, isolation and data protection, and pricing details are spread across tiers and packaging pages, which complicates comparison with a flat rate card.
Wrong for
A company that wants traffic kept off a third-party cloud should read Appgate.
Visit Cloudflare Access →
#10 Netskope Private Access
Private application access inside Netskope One · United States · netskope.com
Suite module Data protection link Enterprise sales
Netskope sells private access as a universal ZTNA component of its Netskope One security service edge, which means the same agent, policy language and data protection controls span SaaS, web and private applications. A security team that standardizes on one policy model across all three gets fewer exceptions to manage.
- Pricing: Quote only. Quote-only; no published tiers. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Netskope platform customers adding private apps
- Strengths: Zero trust network access; App-level segmentation; Private app discovery.
Where it falls short
Buying means a formal sales cycle, the ZTNA piece is hard to adopt in isolation, and no public price exists.
Wrong for
A forty-person company with five internal apps would pay for breadth it will not use.
Visit Netskope Private Access →
#11 Zscaler Private Access
Enterprise ZTNA on the Zero Trust Exchange · United States · zscaler.com
Enterprise scale Cloud-routed Platform module
Zscaler Private Access is the product many security architects mean when they say ZTNA, and its inclusion in the Zero Trust Exchange lets a large company manage web and private app policy in one place. App segmentation and workload-to-workload controls address east-west movement inside data centers and clouds, a use that small-team tools only partly cover.
- Pricing: Quote only. Quote-only; no self-serve signup or published rates. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Large enterprises standardizing on the Zscaler platform
- Strengths: Zero trust network access; App segmentation; Workload-to-workload security.
Where it falls short
Evaluation always starts with a sales process, no price is published, and the deployment model expects a network security team. Traffic crosses Zscaler's cloud, which is the design but also the dependency.
Wrong for
A mid-sized company that wants a trial next week should look elsewhere.
Visit Zscaler Private Access →
SASE platform Published SLAs Firewall vendor
Prisma Access is Palo Alto Networks' cloud-delivered SASE service, and its ZTNA module sits next to the vendor's firewall estate, which matters to teams that already run it. The vendor publishes service commitments on its page: a 99.999 percent uptime SLA, ten milliseconds of security processing and 35 milliseconds for SaaS performance.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Quote-only; licensing is described in a Prisma Access licensing guide, with mobile-user licenses. Free plan: none.
- Best for: Palo Alto firewall estates moving to SASE
- Strengths: Zero trust network access; Cloud-delivered security; Mobile user licensing.
Where it falls short
It is priced and packaged for large organizations, the licensing guide is a document to study rather than a rate to read, and the ZTNA module is only one part of a broad platform.
Wrong for
A company without Palo Alto in its network will not benefit from policy familiarity.
Visit Prisma Access →
Questions and answers
What is the best zero trust network access (ZTNA) software in 2026?
Twingate ranks first of 12, best for small IT teams retiring a VPN. NetBird is second (eU teams wanting open, self-hostable access) and Teleport third (engineering teams with audited production access). Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands, wherever the category has them.
How is ZTNA different from a VPN in practice?
A VPN joins the device to a network and lets it see everything routed there. ZTNA authorizes one user and device for one application at a time, so a stolen laptop reaches only what that person was granted.
Do I need to replace my VPN all at once?
No. Most rollouts run both in parallel for a quarter, moving one application group at a time and retiring VPN access last. Ivanti's documentation explicitly describes working alongside existing VPN products for phased adoption.
Which ZTNA products have a free plan?
Twingate offers a free Starter plan for up to five users and 50 resources, NetBird has a free tier for up to five users and 100 machines, and Cloudflare lets you start a proof of concept on its free plan.
Can a ZTNA product protect SSH, Kubernetes and databases, not only web apps?
Yes, but not all equally. Teleport is built around infrastructure targets and machine identity, and Twingate's Enterprise tier lists privileged access for Kubernetes, SSH, databases and web apps. Systancia combines remote access with privileged access management.
What does ZTNA cost for a 100-person company?
At published prices, Twingate Business at $10 per user is about $1,000 a month before yearly discount, and NetBird Business at €12 is about €1,200 with 1,100 machines included.
Is cloud-routed or direct-routed ZTNA better?
Neither wins on every axis. Cloud-routed services such as Zscaler and Cloudflare give consistent global performance and add web filtering in the same path, but all traffic crosses a provider network.
What happens to access if the vendor's cloud goes down?
It depends on the architecture.
Does ZTNA satisfy NIS2 or DORA expectations?
No product satisfies a regulation by itself, but ZTNA supports the access control and logging parts of both.
How long does a ZTNA migration take for a small company?
A company with one office and a cloud network can usually move its first applications in a week and finish within two months. Complexity comes from legacy apps with hard-coded IPs, split DNS, and users on personal devices.
Should I buy ZTNA on its own or as part of a security service edge suite?
Buy standalone when you only need private application access and have no appetite for a larger rollout; Twingate, NetBird and Teleport fit that.
