Comparison

CitrusGlaze vs Zscaler

Zscaler AI Guard is enterprise zero-trust with AI bolted on. CitrusGlaze is AI security built from scratch — local, fast, and 10x cheaper.

Feature CitrusGlaze Zscaler
Price $10/user/month $200+/user/year
Deploy time 5 minutes Months (ZPA + ZIA)
Data routing 100% local Through Zscaler cloud
Secret detection 254+ AI-specific patterns Generic DLP + AI Guard
Token/cost tracking Yes — per request No
CLI tool coverage 39+ verified Partial (ZCC agent)
Architecture Local MITM proxy Cloud-routed zero trust
Network changes None ZPA + ZIA + Zscaler Client
Self-serve Yes Sales call required

Where Zscaler wins

Zero-trust platform

Zscaler pioneered cloud-delivered zero-trust. If you need ZPA (private access), ZIA (internet access), and AI Guard as one platform, Zscaler is the established choice. CitrusGlaze only does AI security.

Compliance certifications

SOC 2 Type II, FedRAMP High, ISO 27001, HIPAA. If your procurement requires these from every vendor, Zscaler has them. We're open-source and early-stage.

AI app catalog

Zscaler maintains a catalog of 800+ GenAI apps for policy creation. Useful if you need to create broad allow/deny policies across many SaaS AI tools at once.

Where CitrusGlaze wins

1

Your data stays local

Zscaler's architecture requires all traffic to route through their cloud for inspection. That means your source code, credentials, and prompts pass through Zscaler's infrastructure before reaching the AI provider.

CitrusGlaze inspects everything locally. Your prompts never leave your machine for "security processing."

2

Deploy in minutes, not months

Zscaler requires deploying the Zscaler Client Connector, configuring ZIA/ZPA policies, integrating with identity providers, and routing traffic. Enterprise deployments take months.

CitrusGlaze: bash install.sh && citrusglaze start. Five minutes.

3

Developer tools actually work

Zscaler's Client Connector intercepts traffic at the system level. CLI tools like Claude Code, npm, pip, and git often break behind enterprise proxies due to certificate pinning, custom certificate stores, and HTTP/2 incompatibilities.

We've tested and verified 39 AI tools through our MITM proxy — including the ones that notoriously break behind enterprise proxies.

4

Cost visibility, not just security

Zscaler AI Guard focuses on data protection. It doesn't track tokens, calculate costs, or attribute usage per team.

CitrusGlaze gives you a single dashboard for security and cost: per-request token counting, provider-level cost tracking, per-application attribution.

5

10x less expensive

Zscaler requires an enterprise contract — typically $200+/user/year for the platform, with AI Guard as an add-on. For a 50-person team, that's $10,000+/year before the AI module.

CitrusGlaze: $10/user/month. Self-serve. Cancel anytime.

Full feature comparison

Feature CitrusGlaze Zscaler
Prompt content inspection ✓ ✓
Response content inspection ✓ ✓
Secret detection (AI-specific) ✓ 254+ patterns Generic DLP + AI Guard
Token counting ✓ —
Cost tracking per request ✓ —
Shadow AI discovery ✓ ✓
Browser AI coverage ✓ ✓
CLI tool coverage ✓ 39 verified Partial (ZCC)
SDK/API call coverage ✓ Partial
Agent traffic coverage ✓ Partial
Prompt injection detection ✓ Limited
Tool call policy engine ✓ —
Rate limiting / cost caps ✓ —
Local-only deployment ✓ —
GenAI app catalog — ✓ 800+ apps
SOC 2 / FedRAMP — ✓
SSO / SAML Roadmap ✓
24/7 support Community ✓

Who should pick which

Pick Zscaler if

  • • You need a full zero-trust platform (ZPA + ZIA + AI)
  • • You're already a Zscaler customer
  • • You need FedRAMP High authorization
  • • You have 1,000+ employees and a security team
  • • You need to block 800+ GenAI apps by category

Pick CitrusGlaze if

  • • You need AI security specifically, not full zero trust
  • • Your developers use CLI tools and AI agents
  • • You want data to stay on your machines
  • • You need cost tracking alongside security
  • • You want to deploy today, not next quarter

See what your AI tools are sending

No sales call. No enterprise contract. No routing your data through someone else's cloud.

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