Every single-vendor SASE provider claims convergence, cloud-native design, advanced security, Zero Trust, and AI readiness. That’s the baseline. What enterprises need to know is how those claims hold up after deployment. Most head to Gartner Peer Insights
as part of their recon because real-world feedback is the best reality check.
Gartner® is arguably the most recognized analyst in tech, trusted by thousands of organizations for impartial, considered research. It’s a reputation we see echoed in the popularity of Gartner Peer Insights.
Reviews on the site come only from verified users. The system can’t be gamed. You get honest opinions on single-vendor SASE experiences, filterable by role, industry, company size, or through side-by-side vendor comparisons.
Patterns
Reviews range from glowing to blunt, technical to experiential. What matters are the patterns.
When IT pros across industries and regions say deployment took days or weeks, not quarters—that’s signal. When customer support is praised again and again—that’s signal. And when reviews mention GUI complexity, cost creep, or feature gaps—that’s signal too.
Ratings and Reviews: Smart Buyer Insights for Single-Vendor SASE | Download the report
What’s with the “with”?
Take a look at the SASE naming conventions on Gartner Peer Insights in the Single-Vendor SASE (Transitioning to SASE Platforms) category. Do you notice something? Most of them include a “with.” Mainly [Vendor SASE] with [Vendor SD-WAN].
If that’s just to tell you networking is included alongside security, then fair enough. But SASE by definition is networking and security (and access). A “with” could indicate those SASE offerings are assembled, stitched, or integrated from multiple parts. That might be enough to meet the framework requirements, but is that really convergence? Really a platform?
So pay attention to reviews that complain about management console UX, different policy engines, visibility, and slow deployments.
Without the “with”
Cato SASE Cloud doesn’t have a “with.” It’s one platform, built from the ground up, converging networking, security, and ZTNA. And now, following the Aim Security acquisition, AI security (AISEC) will become part of the platform. Not bundled on-converged.
AAA (Ask About the Architecture)
And the difference is architecture.
You can review vendor feature sheets, capabilities, customer stories, analyst awards. But architecture is fundamentally the most important consideration in single-vendor SASE:
- Was it built as one platform, or built to look like one?
- Is there a single context and policy model, or a shared login screen on top of multiple products?
- Are new features and capabilities native to the platform and delivered instantly from the cloud, or do they trigger another project or integration?
- Is there one support team, or a handoff/runaround process?
Because when the architecture is truly converged, the experience is truly unified. And when it isn’t, that’s what you inherit. Better than legacy of course, but still fragmented.
More than just a handful of stars
Here’s another thing you’ll notice. Most SASE vendors have a few dozen reviews, maybe a few more.
Cato has over 300. As of August 2025, Cato is the most-reviewed vendor in the Single-Vendor SASE (Transitioning to SASE Platforms) category, with an all-time rating of 4.7 out of 5.
It’s easy to rate high with a handful of reviews. It’s a lot harder when hundreds of different enterprise users weigh in. Volume will always test consistency, and consistency is exactly what enterprises need from SASE.
What the numbers say about Cato
Cato’s review volume reflects adoption at scale, and a customer base willing to go public with their experiences. Busy IT pros and leaders don’t write reviews unless something really changes for them or for their environment.
SASE leadership is confirmed in the wild
Analysts play an important role in single-vendor SASE due diligence, but enterprise voices give you straight-talking facts from the field. So yes, read the reviews, search for the similarities, watch for the patterns. But above all, Ask About the Architecture.
Because in SASE, the difference between “with” and “built from the ground up” isn’t semantics. It’s the difference between another cycle of complexity or choosing a platform built to carry your business forward.
For an inside, unfiltered look at Cato on Gartner Peer Insights, download Ratings and Reviews: Smart Buyer Insights for Single-Vendor SASE.
The post Read the SASE reviews, then read between the lines. appeared first on Cato Networks.
