GoGuardian Admin vs. Lightspeed Filter vs. Zscaler Internet Access

GoGuardian is excellent for any district with a 1:1 Chromebook program. Our program would not be nearly as successful without it. GoGuardian does work with other devices (Windows, iPads) but I believe some features do not work as well in those setups. We haven't tried using it for anything other than Chromebooks and I am not aware of anyone using it for iPad/Windows or Macs.

Incentivized

Lightspeed web filtering using the Chromebook Relay agent is amazing and does a great job for a cloud filtering solution. The reports that are available are great and can be customized and retains data for 90 days. Reports are easily shared with staff and/or parents for transparency and disciplinary reasons. The agent for Lightspeed (Relay) does not work well with OSX and works okay in Windows, but doesn't allow you to access local IP addresses in the web browser. There needs to be a way to bypass filtering for local network access. This can make it unusable in some cases.

Incentivized

It's best suited for a distributed remote workforce, securing internet access for users from anywhere. Suitable for highly regulated industries, such as banking and Healthcare. Not a good fit for an organisation where most of its legacy is in an on-premises environment. Bandwidth-intensive industries like media/entertainment firms.

Incentivized

• The reporting Dashboard page gives you a great picture of what your users are doing on the internet.
• The Theft recovery piece works very well and helps recover devices that are missing in action.

Incentivized

• Reduces bandwidth consumption.
• Improves network performance.
• It is compatible with a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.
• It can be implemented in both wired and wireless networks.
• It can be installed in minutes and you can configure its settings with a few clicks.
• Learning environments work.

Incentivized

• Single Pane of Glass Management - Everything is very easy to access and monitor the entire environment from an internet security perspective.
• Install Flexibility - We can and do install Zscaler Internet Access on both our client devices as well as our SD-WAN appliances and servers. This allows us to control internet security even on devices without an agent in our networks.

Incentivized

• With the new Minnesota state laws regarding student data privacy - it made it somewhat challenging for us to continue utilizing GoGuardian Admin. However, they provided some updates to their software to address these issues.
• GoGuardian Admin recently put out an option to checkbox COPPA/CIPA compliance verifications for web filtering. It seems that this still needs some work, as several educational websites we utilize are coming up as "uncategorized" - and then are being falsely flagged and declining access.

Incentivized

• It sometimes takes longer than expected for new filtering rules to apply.
• Sometimes a site is blocked due to sub-sites or links, but it does not easily identify the source of the block if it is buried in the site.
• They have several reports included, but it would be nice to create custom reports.

Incentivized

• The logs feel kind of lack luster
• When issues are arising with SSL Inspection, logs show everything working despite end user experience
• Could use some kind of global find functionality or something that would allow you to search the entire configuration for matching URLs and the like

Incentivized

Does what we need it to do and more in a very cost-effective manner. Relatively easy to use and great customer support. They are quick and clear and will walk you through things in real time.

Incentivized

While Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) delivers critical value in cloud security and RBI compliance, I rate renewal likelihood 7/10 due to evolving needs versus platform limitations. Below is my rationale:

Key Gaps:

1. Advanced Threat Costs:

ZIA’s add-ons (e.g., Advanced DLP, Sandboxing) incur 35%+ cost premiums – straining budgets as transaction volumes (UPI/iMobile) grow 50% YoY.

2. API Banking Scalability:

ZIA’s API rate limits throttle real-time policy sync during UPI peaks (10K+ TPS), forcing workarounds for finacle integrations.

3. RBI Future-Proofing:

Limited native support for upcoming digital rupee (CBDC) security rules requires custom development, increasing compliance overhead.

Incentivized

It is unreliable and does not function as it is supposed to do so. As previously mentioned, there is a glitch when creating a block list.

The application is easy to install and configure on all Windows devices. To troubleshoot any internet issue, we can easily collect all the relevant logs from Zscaler and check the exact issue. The only problem is with the uninstall, as a dedicated crew needs to provide the password.

Incentivized

There are often performance issues reported

Incentivized

GoGuardian support is the best in the business. Within seconds of the business day I can chat with a human being about any issue.

Incentivized

Zscaler's ZIA support is quick and knowledgable. They respond within 1-2 hours of you submitting your ticket. They are very thorough and are typically ready to jump on a live troubleshooting session. Our ZIA platform and how we use is it unique so at times tickets can be open for weeks but we alway get quality support compared to other unrelated product support in our enterprise

Incentivized

GoGuardian Admin has been leading the way in content filtering for both on and off site with an easy-to-use interface. At the time, it was one of the first to offer cloud-based off-site filtering for Chromebooks. They continue to grow and provide new features every year with great tutorials and updates.

Incentivized

We were already a [Lightspeed] customer so the transition was seamless to Relay. Their support and team at [Lightspeed] are top-notch. We have been with Lightspeed for over 20 years and have evaluated on occasions other options and [ended] up back with [Lightspeed] each time. Their price point, ease of use, great team of engineers, and overall customer focus keep them on top in my eyes.

Incentivized

Zscaler Intenet Access outperformed the competition due to its lightning-fast policy delivery and cross-compatibility. It is easy to track employee usage and block unnecessary websites, reducing company internet usage. Zscalar installed on every system increases cloud-based software bandwidth, decreasing user turnaround time and increasing efficiency.

Incentivized

• GG Admin has made it easy to justify the use of Chromebooks in our district.
• GG Admin has alerted us to times where students might be in a dangerous/unwanted situation.
• GG Admin has helped us locate quite a few lost or stolen devices over the years.

Incentivized

• Very costly per year
• Does a great job with 1:1 filtering on Chromebooks
• Safety Check checks student for possible self harm and alerts staff

Incentivized

• Has allowed us to remove other products that were suboptimal
• Saved us money overall by stacking it with other Zscaler products
• Created a more secure work environment for our users through intelligent internet policies that are not needlessly restrictive while still maintaining security best practices

Incentivized