Zscaler vs. Tailscale vs. Pomerium: Detailed Comparison

If you have shortlisted Zscaler, Tailscale, and Pomerium to implement an efficient IAM solution for your distributed teams and remote infrastructure, this comparison guide will help you make a well-informed final decision. In this article, we will compare eight core features of Zscaler, Tailscale, and Pomerium to give you a comprehensive analysis of their core strengths, limitations, pricing, and ideal use cases. Let’s begin. 

Zscaler vs. Tailscale vs. Pomerium: Key Takeaways

If you don’t have time to read the detailed comparison, the below table will help you skim through the major points. 

Zscaler vs. Tailscale vs. Pomerium: 8 Differences

Here is a detailed comparison of Zscaler, Tailscale, and Pomerium to help you make a conscious choice. 

1. Architecture 

Zscaler’s Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is a cloud service proxy designed to secure web traffic and applications by routing traffic through Zscaler’s servers. ZPA provides an interconnected private internet connection for tunnels (Zscaler’s servers) through which it limits access to authorized users. 

Tailscale is a mesh VPN service that allows secure, encrypted connections across devices without backhauling traffic, promoting faster connectivity. It creates secure point-to-point tunnels between devices, making it easy to manage distributed infrastructure​.

Pomerium acts as a reverse proxy and a VPN replacement. It is built to manage secure, clientless access to web applications, databases, and Kubernetes clusters. It is ideal for HTTP-based services. Pomerium is self-hosted, open-source, and deployed at an edge. 

2. Pricing

Zscaler has gated pricing. The pricing is confusing because Zscaler offers many products and services, and the pricing page doesn’t display any standalone plans specifically for ZPA.

Tailscale uses a tiered pricing structure with five available plans, requiring buyers to carefully analyze features based on their needs before choosing. Another issue with Tailscale pricing is that it changes frequently. So, you might need some flexibility in the budget. 

Here are Tailscale’s pricing plans. 

• Free plan for personal use.

• Plus plan: $5/month per user.

• Starter plan: $6/month per user.

• Premium plan: $10/month per user.

• Enterprise tier with custom pricing.
  

Pomerium has only three transparent pricing plans. The first plan is open-source and can be used by anyone for personal projects or even for a small-sized team. The business plan has a flat rate of $7/month/user and supports up to 1,000 users. For large enterprises, the pricing is custom. 

• Zero for personal use: Free and open-source (OSS) core version.

• Zero for business: $7/month per user.

• Custom pricing for enterprise needs.

3. Client Requirements

Zscaler requires a client application to download. For user devices, you are required to install a Zscaler Client Connector, and for services, an App Connector agent is needed. That means the tunneling issue is not solved even after the VPN tunnels have been replaced. 

Tailscale: A client is required for all devices and protocols to establish mesh connections. In simpler words, Tailscale requires individual client installations on each endpoint for its point-to-point device connectivity concept to work.

Pomerium: Does not require a client for HTTP-based services, providing a self-hosted, clientless solution. There are no third-party servers or clients that intercept your traffic and sensitive information, making it a true zero-trust solution.

4. Speed

Zscaler is slower, as traffic is backhauled through Zscaler’s servers, adding latency. Tailscale is faster than Zscaler due to the mesh network setup, avoiding unnecessary detours. Pomerium is the fastest among the three, thanks to its clientless design and edge deployment, reducing latency further.

5. Context Awareness

Both Zscaler and Pomerium offer identity-aware access with some dynamic access capabilities. Pomerium Supports context-aware access by integrating institutional context into policy decisions. It takes into consideration user identity, IP address, geographical location, and device security before granting or denying access to resources. Tailscale lacks context-aware features in its access control.

6. Auditing and Logging

All three solutions—Zscaler, Tailscale, and Pomerium—offer auditing and logging features.

7. Identity Provider Integration

Zscaler, Tailscale, and Pomerium: Each supports integration with multiple identity providers like Google, Office 365/Azure AD, Okta, etc., enhancing compatibility and security.

8. Continuous Verification

Zscaler gives you two options. Either you opt out for continuous verification or use Zscaler SSL inspection where Zscaler decrypts all your data and man-in-the-middle everything. To enable continuous verification, you pay the price of exposing your private and sensitive data to Zscaler, a third-party service. Tailscale and Pomerium, both include continuous verification capabilities, allowing enhanced security by regularly rechecking authentication or access conditions. 

Pomerium doesn’t intercept your data to enable continuous verification as it comes with self-hosting capabilities. Hence, your data doesn’t leave your servers in the first place. Continuous verification is the key pillar of ZTNA and hence, Pomerium is considered a much better solution when it comes to establishing a zero-trust model.

Conclusion on Zscaler vs. Tailscale vs. Pomerium

Zscaler excels in managed cloud security but may add latency and man-in-the-middle to your data. It has a gated pricing and is much more suitable for larger enterprises. Tailscale is a lightweight, user-friendly mesh VPN service with fast, encrypted connections. Pomerium is a self-hosted reverse proxy, ideal for secure, clientless access to web applications, Kubernetes clusters, and databases. It comes with the added benefit of context awareness, continuous verification, and edge-deployed architecture, making it the perfect solution to replace the corporate VPN and implement the zero-trust model in your organization.