Best CASB for Unified SASE

Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs) are a critical component of unified SASE platforms, providing visibility and control over SaaS application usage, shadow IT discovery, and data protection. We evaluated the leading SASE vendors on their CASB capabilities including inline DLP,

5 tools listed|2026|No editorial scoring|Part of the SASE & Zero Trust guide

What this shortlist looks at

Shadow IT Discovery

Ability to discover and catalog unsanctioned cloud application usage, assess risk, and provide actionable visibility into shadow IT across the organization.

Inline DLP

Real-time data loss prevention capabilities for cloud traffic, including exact data match, fingerprinting, OCR, and machine learning-based classification.

App Risk Scoring

Comprehensiveness of cloud application risk assessment, including the number of apps cataloged, risk attributes evaluated, and customizability of risk thresholds.

API-Mode Coverage

Depth of out-of-band API integrations with sanctioned SaaS applications for retroactive scanning, collaboration control, and at-rest data protection.

Granular Policy Controls

Ability to create fine-grained policies based on user, device, app, activity, and data sensitivity rather than simple allow/block decisions.

Tools listed here

Cisco Secure Access

Best for Cisco-Centric Networks

Cisco's CASB capabilities within Secure Access (formerly Umbrella) provide solid shadow IT discovery and cloud app control integrated with the broader Cisco security stack. Multimode CASB covers inline and API use cases, and Cisco's acquisition of CloudLock strengthened its API-mode capabilities for sanctioned app governance.

Cisco's unified SASE platform converging Umbrella, Duo, and Meraki into cloud-delivered security

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Netskope

Best Data-Centric CASB

Netskope's CASB capabilities are widely regarded as the strongest in the SASE market. Its Cloud Confidence Index catalogs over 80,000 cloud apps with granular risk scoring, and its inline DLP engine provides real-time data protection across managed and unmanaged SaaS applications. API-mode coverage for sanctioned apps is comprehensive, with out-of-the-box policies for all major SaaS platforms.

Cloud-native SASE platform with CASB and granular SaaS visibility

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Palo Alto Prisma Access

Best for Palo Alto Ecosystem

Prisma Access includes SaaS Security capabilities with inline and API-based CASB controls. Organizations already invested in the Palo Alto ecosystem benefit from unified policy management across NGFW, SASE, and CASB. App-ID technology provides granular application-level visibility and the DLP engine integrates with Enterprise DLP across all Palo Alto products.

Enterprise SASE platform extending Palo Alto's next-gen firewall to cloud-delivered security

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Skyhigh Security

Best Standalone CASB Heritage

Skyhigh Security (formerly McAfee MVISION Cloud) was a standalone CASB pioneer before the category merged into SASE. Its CASB engine offers deep API-mode coverage with granular activity-level controls, strong DLP with exact data match and fingerprinting, and comprehensive shadow IT reporting. The SASE integration is newer but the CASB fundamentals remain strong.

Data-aware SSE platform with pioneering CASB technology and deep cloud data protection

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Zscaler

Best Inline CASB at Scale

Zscaler's CASB benefits from its massive inline inspection infrastructure, providing real-time visibility and control over cloud application usage. Shadow IT discovery is automatic for all traffic flowing through the Zero Trust Exchange, and the platform's DLP engine handles structured and unstructured data across cloud apps. API-mode CASB covers major SaaS platforms with pre-built integrations.

Cloud-native SASE and zero trust platform for secure internet and private application access

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For the full category walkthrough with every tool compared, see the SASE & Zero Trust guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) is one of the core security components in a SASE platform, alongside SWG, ZTNA, and FWaaS. Within SASE, CASB provides visibility into cloud application usage, enforces data protection policies, discovers shadow IT, and governs access to sanctioned SaaS applications. All delivered from the same cloud platform as other SASE services.

For most organizations, a CASB within a unified SASE platform is the better approach. It eliminates the integration complexity of a standalone CASB, provides consistent policy enforcement across web and cloud traffic, and reduces vendor sprawl. Standalone CASBs may still make sense if you need the deepest possible API-mode coverage and already have separate SWG and ZTNA solutions.

CASB discovers shadow IT by analyzing all cloud-bound traffic flowing through the SASE platform. It identifies which cloud applications employees are using, categorizes them by risk level, and provides reports on usage volume, data uploads, and user counts. This visibility helps security teams make informed decisions about which apps to sanction, restrict, or block.