The leading zero trust network access services in 2026, the different ways to buy them, and how to choose one that retires your VPN without disrupting the people who depend on it.
Updated 30 September 2026 · Approx. 11 min read · Audience: IT leads, MSPs, security buyers
Vendors evaluated in Gartner’s 2026 Magic Quadrant for Security Service Edge, published 29 July 2026.
Fortinet flaws in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue as of July 2026.
Intrusions investigated by Mandiant in 2025 where RDP was the main tool for lateral movement.
Automated credential attacks blocked by MFA, according to Microsoft’s 2025 Digital Defense Report.
Top-rated ZTNA services are available from four places: directly from the security vendors, through a managed service provider or MSSP, from telecoms carriers that sell managed SASE, and through cloud marketplaces and IT distributors. The best-reviewed platforms in 2026 include Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Zscaler Private Access and Netskope One Private Access for larger organisations, and Cloudflare Access, Microsoft Entra Private Access and Twingate for smaller teams or those already committed to one ecosystem.
Which route suits you depends less on the product than on who will run it. A business with its own security team can buy direct. A small or mid-sized business without one usually gets better results buying ZTNA as part of a managed service, because most VPN replacement projects fail on policy design and rollout, not on the technology.
A traditional VPN puts a listening service on the internet and, once a user connects, often gives them access to large parts of the network. Both of those properties have become liabilities. Internet-facing VPN appliances from Fortinet, Ivanti, SonicWall, Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Citrix and Check Point have all been exploited as ransomware entry points over the past three years, and patching has not been enough to stop it.
ZTNA works the other way round. Applications sit behind connectors that only make outbound connections, so there is nothing to find or attack from the internet. Each user is checked on identity and device health, then given access to specific applications rather than the whole network. If an account is compromised, the attacker’s reach is limited to the apps that account was allowed to use.
| Factor | Traditional VPN | ZTNA |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure | Public listening port on an appliance | No inbound ports. Apps are invisible from the internet |
| Access scope | Network level, often whole subnets | Individual applications, per user and device |
| Trust model | Trusted once connected | Checked continuously on identity, device and context |
| User experience | Manual connect, slow when backhauled | Always on, routed to the nearest PoP |
| Maintenance | Appliance patching, often urgent | Provider maintains the service. You manage connectors and agents |
| Third-party access | Accounts on the VPN with broad reach | Browser-based access to named apps only |
Many “best ZTNA” lists are vendor marketing or affiliate content. A more reliable picture comes from combining three kinds of evidence. Analyst research such as Gartner’s Magic Quadrant assesses product depth, strategy and execution against enterprise needs. Peer reviews on sites such as Gartner Peer Insights and G2 show how the product behaves in real deployments. Your own proof of concept shows how it performs for your users, from your locations, with your applications.
Keep in mind that analyst rankings are written for large enterprise buyers. A Leader in the Magic Quadrant can be the wrong choice for a 40-person firm that needs simple setup and monthly billing, while a product analysts do not cover can be exactly right for it.
ZTNA is now usually bought as part of a security service edge (SSE) platform, alongside web and SaaS security. Gartner’s 2026 Magic Quadrant for SSE, published on 29 July 2026, evaluated eight vendors and described SSE as a mature market. Three vendors have publicly confirmed Leader placements.
| Vendor | ZTNA product | Reported placement |
|---|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks | Prisma Access | Leader, highest in ability to execute and furthest in completeness of vision (vendor statement) |
| Netskope | Netskope One Private Access | Leader for the fifth year in a row |
| Zscaler | Zscaler Private Access | Leader for the fifth year in a row |
| Broadcom, Cisco, Cloudflare, iboss, Skyhigh Security | Various | Evaluated. Exact placements not publicly reported |
Gartner does not endorse vendors, and the full report is available only to Gartner clients or through vendor reprints.
The services below are the ones most often shortlisted for VPN replacement in 2026. They are grouped by the type of organisation they suit best rather than ranked, because the right choice depends heavily on size, existing tools and who will manage the service.
| Service | Best suited to | Notable strengths | Things to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zscaler Private Access | Large enterprises | Hides applications completely. Large global PoP network. Strong BYOD and third-party options | Enterprise pricing and complexity for small teams |
| Palo Alto Prisma Access | Enterprises, especially existing Palo Alto firewall users | App and sub-app level controls. Policy consistent with on-premises firewalls | Pricing is typically at the top of the market |
| Netskope One Private Access | Enterprises focused on data protection | Single console across web, SaaS and private apps. Strong DLP | Best value when the wider Netskope platform is used |
| Cloudflare Access | Tech-led SMBs to enterprises | Tunnel-based publishing of internal apps. Free tier for small teams. Agentless browser access | Policy model suits technical teams. Check data residency options |
| Microsoft Entra Private Access | Microsoft 365 organisations | Uses existing Entra ID conditional access. Familiar admin experience | Newer than specialist products. Feature depth outside Microsoft apps |
| Cisco Secure Access | Cisco and Meraki estates | Combines ZTNA, SWG and DNS security with Duo identity | Gartner noted management complexity across its SD-WAN and SSE products |
| Check Point Harmony SASE | SMB and mid-market, MSP-delivered | Simple console, agentless support, MSP tenant management | Confirm PoP coverage for your regions |
| Twingate | SMBs and developer teams | Fast setup, free starter tier, Terraform and Kubernetes support | Focused on access. Web security is lighter than full SSE suites |
| Timus, Todyl | SMBs buying through an MSP | Built for MSPs, per-user pricing, multi-tenant consoles | Only available through partners. Check roadmap after recent ownership changes |
The same ZTNA product can often be bought several ways. The route affects price, contract length, who configures the policy and who you call when something breaks.
| Route | Best for | Advantages | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct from the vendor | Organisations with in-house security staff | Direct relationship, full control, volume discounts | You own design, rollout and tuning. Often annual commitments |
| Through an MSP or MSSP | SMBs and mid-market firms without a security team | Design, deployment and monitoring included. Monthly billing | Quality varies. Check certifications and references |
| From a telecoms carrier | Multi-site firms buying connectivity at the same time | One contract for network and security. SLAs across both | Longer contracts. Less flexibility to change vendor |
| Cloud marketplace or distributor | Firms with committed cloud spend | Can count against AWS, Azure or Google spend commitments | Usually no deployment help included |
Start with a short list of three services that fit your size and existing tools, then test them against the questions that matter in practice. The questions below separate products that demo well from those that work well.
| Area | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| Applications | Can it handle every app we use today, including UDP, VoIP, legacy thick clients and server-initiated connections? |
| Identity | Does it integrate natively with our identity provider and use our existing groups and MFA? |
| Devices | What posture checks are available, and how does it treat unmanaged and contractor devices? |
| Performance | Where are the nearest PoPs to our staff, and what latency do we see in a real test? |
| Resilience | What happens to access if a connector, a PoP or the identity provider goes down? |
| Data residency | Where is traffic decrypted and where are logs stored for our region? |
| Growth | Can we add web security, CASB and SD-WAN later on the same platform? |
| Commercials | Is there monthly billing, and what are the minimum users and contract length? |
VPN replacement goes best when it runs alongside the old VPN for a short period, then removes it cleanly. The sequence below works for most organisations of up to a few hundred users.
Week 1. List every application reached over the VPN, who uses it and on which ports. VPN logs are the fastest source.
Weeks 2 to 3. Install connectors, publish the apps individually and move a friendly team across. Keep the VPN available as a fallback.
Weeks 3 to 6. Deploy agents through your device management tool, move groups across in stages and fix the edge cases each group reveals.
Week 6 onwards. Disable the VPN service, close the port and confirm nothing breaks. Decommission the appliance after a short rollback window.
Tip. Closing the VPN port is the step that actually reduces risk. Set a firm date for it at the start of the project, or the old VPN tends to stay open “just in case” for months.
Where to Get Top-Rated ZTNA Services · Prepared 30 September 2026. Product features and placements change frequently; verify against current vendor documentation before purchase.
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