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 | Free tier + enterprise | $200+/user/year |
| Deploy time | 5 minutes | 6 months (Zscaler enterprise PS SKU) |
| Data routing | Local-first | Through Zscaler cloud |
| Secret detection | 349+ AI-specific patterns | Generic DLP + AI Guard |
| Token/cost tracking | Yes — per request | No |
| CLI tool coverage | 39+ verified | Partial (ZCC agent) |
| Architecture | Local prompt firewall | 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 covers it. CitrusGlaze is purpose-built for AI security — not trying to be a full SASE platform. That focus means deeper AI threat coverage: 349+ secret patterns, prompt injection detection, and MCP Gateway security that Zscaler AI Guard doesn't touch.
Compliance certifications
SOC 2 Type II, FedRAMP High, ISO 27001, HIPAA. If your procurement requires these certifications from every vendor, Zscaler has them. CitrusGlaze is working toward SOC 2 — and because all inspection runs locally, your AI prompts never touch our infrastructure to begin with.
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
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 AI traffic locally on your device. No cloud round-trip for "security processing."
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.
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 local AI inspection engine — including the ones that notoriously break behind enterprise proxies.
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.
Free to start, fraction of the cost at scale
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: free for developers, enterprise pricing on request. No minimum seat count.
Full feature comparison
| Feature | CitrusGlaze | Zscaler |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt content inspection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Response content inspection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Secret detection (AI-specific) | ✓ 349+ 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 local-first AI traffic inspection
- • 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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