Illumio Zero Trust Security vs Pomerium Enterprise: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

Illumio Zero Trust Security

Mid-market and enterprise security teams managing hybrid infrastructure will get the most from Illumio Zero Trust Security because microsegmentation actually stops lateral movement where network segmentation alone fails. The platform covers three critical NIST CSF 2.0 functions,identity management, infrastructure resilience, and continuous monitoring,which means you're not just preventing breach spread but catching what gets through. Skip this if your environment is mostly SaaS-first with minimal on-premises workloads; Illumio's strength is taming sprawling hybrid and multi-cloud setups where traditional perimeter controls don't apply.

Pomerium Enterprise

Enterprise and mid-market teams managing mixed human, service, and AI agent access will get the most from Pomerium Enterprise because it's one of the few self-hosted proxies that treats AI workflows as a first-class access problem, not an afterthought. The platform covers PR.AA (identity and access control) and DE.CM (continuous monitoring) through time-bound policies and audit trails, giving you authorization visibility across autonomous systems where traditional PAM fails. Skip this if your organization lacks the infrastructure expertise to run and maintain an on-premises proxy, or if you need vendor-managed SaaS with near-zero operational overhead; Pomerium's value scales with your willingness to own the deployment.