Nightfall vs. Zscaler DLP

Innovative security teams are switching to Nightfall – the all-in-one data loss prevention platform that increases visibility and lowers overhead.

Four reasons innovators are switching

Comprehensive coverage

Nightfall covers Endpoints, SaaS, and GenAI apps across both data in motion and data at rest.

Frictionless deployment and maintenance

Deploy in hours, not weeks. Nightfall introduces no friction for end-users.

AI-native intelligence

Nightfall is the only solution with both data lineage and LLM powered content classification.

Lower overhead

Nightfall’s automation and remediation capabilities are built for security teams that do more with less. No clunky UX.

"I've used Zscaler DLP. The return on investment on these regex-based products has been minimal because there is so much noise. They're not as efficient as they should be."

CISO, Tech company

Comprehensive Coverage

No more visibility gaps when data traverses across SaaS.

Nightfall covers SaaS, endpoints, GenAI apps, and unmanaged devices — Zscaler's inline proxy architecture only scans data in transit, leaving significant exposure gaps for data at rest.
Coverage for data in motion, data at rest, and posture management - Zscaler misses programmatic updates and workflow integrations that bypass inline inspection entirely.

Usable and Lightweight

Eliminate end-user frustrations and complex rollouts.

Deploy in hours, not weeks — Nightfall is primarily API-native and our agent is extremely lightweight. Zscaler's inline proxy architecture adds latency to all cloud application access, degrading end-user experience while their intrusive agents consume high CPU and memory resources.
Nightfall empowers users to prevent breaches with real-time, in-app guidance. Zscaler offers limited user engagement and remediation options.

"One of our use cases in Zscaler today is to block any upload to non-approved file shares. It blocks uploads to Google Drive unless you're in a certain user group. That’s a pain point because depending on whether you're using a thick client or actually going through a website, you might have a different experience. Our users didn’t understand why they were blocked.’"

Security Operations Manager, Fintech

"After installing Zscaler, the system is getting slow and facing many connectivity issues. Sometimes it causes slowdowns with certain applications or websites. Overall, there's degradation in user experience."

IT Security Admin, Healthcare

AI-Native Intelligence

Marry data lineage and content classification with high accuracy.

Nightfall's AI-driven data lineage tracks sensitive data across SaaS, endpoints, and unmanaged devices.
LLM-powered data classification pinpoints sensitive content with high accuracy, allowing for granular policies. Zscaler relies on basic pattern matching and regular expressions with no specialized detectors, overwhelming security teams with noisy false alerts.

Lower Overhead

Get more out of the box with Nightfall.

Automate data protection with policies that can take action natively inside of SaaS apps. Zscaler's inline proxy creates bottlenecks with scanning delays of hours to days in high-volume environments, with some content remaining undetected indefinitely.
Nightfall is the #1 rated DLP on G2 in multiple categories, including Fastest Implementation, Best Estimated ROI, and Easiest to Do Business With.

Nightfall vs. Zscaler DLP

Features

Nightfall AI

Zscaler DLP

DLP Coverage

Nightfall AI

SaaS, endpoints, GenAI apps, and unmanaged devices

Cyberhaven

Limited by inline proxy architecture, no data-at-rest coverage

Data at Rest

Nightfall AI

Coverage across common SaaS

Cyberhaven

No coverage - inline CASB only scans data in transit

Automation

Nightfall AI

Real-time remediation in the SaaS app and on the endpoint

Cyberhaven

Limited automated actions, events not resolved when content is removed

Data Lineage

Nightfall AI

Data lineage across SaaS, endpoints, and unmanaged devices

Cyberhaven

No visibility into full data lineage or movement patterns

Ease of Deployment

Nightfall AI

Lightweight, API-first, fast deployment

Cyberhaven

4-6 months typical deployment, complex network routing required

Human Firewall

Nightfall AI

Real-time user coaching and remediation

Cyberhaven

No end-user coaching or in-app remediation capabilities

AI-Powered Content Classification

Nightfall AI

Yes, high accuracy detection across PII, PHI, PCI, secrets and credentials and more powered by LLMs, with comprehensive file type support

Cyberhaven

No, basic patterns with poor support for files >30MB or images

False Positive Reduction

Nightfall AI

Model annotations and end-user feedback improve accuracy over time

Cyberhaven

High false positives from regex, DLP not primary focus of SASE platform

Best of Breed

Nightfall AI

Purpose-built, best-of-breed DLP platform with unified experience

Cyberhaven

DLP is small component within broader SASE, fragmented across functions

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Nightfall AI

All-in-one coverage, ease of use, and automation give time back to your security team.

Cyberhaven

Security team needs to invest more time in tuning and investigating alerts.

Features

Pros

Cons

Cloud DLP

Shift-left security that detects and protects data at the source, before proliferation and wide disclosure

Does not block data movement.

Network DLP

Inline (in the middle) scanning all web traffic

Compromised end-user privacy as all data is decrypted and scanned, much of which should remain private (e.g. credentials, private keys)

Endpoint DLP

Last line of defense (command and control)

Compromised end-user privacy for anything that should remain private that is on disk (e.g., private keys)

Features

Pros

Cons

Cloud DLP

Real-time and historical data insight with context and granular remediation actions

Limited by cloud provider functionality / API limitations (e.g. download activity data)

Network DLP

Real-time of data in transit on the network

Only data in transit, no insight of historical data

Endpoint DLP

Monitoring at the endpoint for file activity from downloads to removable media

Limited to what is saved on endpoint disk

Features

Pros

Cons

Cloud DLP

Powerful data protection that does not depend on the availability of a device (computer / network) or resources (CPU, memory and bandwidth)

Limited to specific SaaS / Cloud apps

Network DLP

Not limited by endpoint resources

Singular point of failure and bottleneck on the network; adds latency and availability of network and bandwidth

Endpoint DLP

Covers managed endpoints

Limited interoperability with endpoint OS / updates / other agents and highly dependent on endpoint resources (CPU, memory, bandwidth)

Features

Pros

Cons

Cloud DLP

All users and system accounts, APIs and BYODs

Does not cover shadow IT

Network DLP

User and system accounts and sometimes BYOD

API connection data movement is not monitored

Endpoint DLP

All managed endpoints

No coverage of BYOD, API, or third party unmanaged devices

Features

Pros

Cons

Cloud DLP

Business-enabling with no blocking of end-users

Does not block users

Network DLP

Can block users and monitor shadow IT beyond sanctioned apps

Offers blocking only and may break applications with network filtering

Endpoint DLP

Can block user actions

Can block users and will require security intervention.

Features

Pros

Cons

Cloud DLP

Continuously improving high accuracy from machine learning

Network DLP

Regular express and rules-based

Limited complexity due to network requirements for low latency and responsiveness

Endpoint DLP

Regular express and rules-based

Limited complexity due to low latency requirements (CPU, memory) on endpoint

Features

Pros

Cons

Cloud DLP

Real-time coverage in minutes - no agent, device, or network installation or configuration

1-2 weeks of tuning for appropriate insight

Network DLP

Deployment and maintenance is highly expensive, complex and resource intensive

Endpoint DLP

Deployment and maintenance is expensive, complex and resource intensive; re-deployment is required for every new endpoint

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SASE platforms with DLP add-ons are not enough.

Data lineage is not enough.

Innovative security teams are switching to Nightfall – the all-in-one data loss prevention platform that increases visibility and lowers overhead.

Comprehensive coverage

Frictionless deployment and maintenance

AI-native intelligence

Lower overhead

Comprehensive Coverage

Usable and Lightweight

AI-Native Intelligence

Lower Overhead

Nightfall vs. Zscaler DLP

Security Posture

Depth of insight

Scalability

Coverage

Impact

Accuracy

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

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