What Should You Use Instead of SquareX?
The practical SquareX disposable browser alternative depends on what you used SquareX for. If you want a throwaway tab for a suspicious link, Legba is the closest self-serve swap at $10 a month. If your security team needs browser DLP and phishing isolation, Zscaler’s bundles, Island, Prisma Browser or LayerX are the enterprise route. If you need isolated profiles for client accounts, a browser profile manager like Send.win fits better.
📌 TL;DR Executive Summary
- Core Takeaway: Zscaler closed its acquisition of SquareX on 5 February 2026, and the extension no longer has a public marketplace listing. What you replace it with depends on whether you bought it for phishing isolation or for keeping one piece of work away from another.
- Key Risk/Challenge: The alternatives sit in two price worlds. Legba publishes $10 a month. Island publishes nothing, and reported AWS Marketplace contracts run around $250,000 for 12 months.
- Recommended Solution: Match the isolation model, not the brand — an extension for disposable tabs, a managed browser for DLP and session recording, and a browser profile manager like Send.win when the real job is running many isolated profiles and shared client logins.
| Option | What it actually is | Best fit | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| SquareX (now Zscaler) | Browser Detection and Response extension, plus Browser DLP and enterprise browser features | Security teams already on Zscaler | Strong technology, no self-serve buying path |
| Legba | Chrome extension with Ghost (private route) and Shield (off-device isolated tab) modes | Individuals who want one disposable tab | Cheapest direct swap for the disposable-tab habit |
| Island | Managed Chromium enterprise browser with browser-level DLP and app access control | Regulated enterprises and large fleets | Deepest control, enterprise budget only |
| Send.win | Desktop app and cloud browser of isolated profiles, each with its own cookies, storage, fingerprint settings and proxy | Agencies, sellers, QA and support teams running many accounts | Best for profile separation and shared logins, not a security filter |
What Changed When Zscaler Bought SquareX
SquareX launched from Singapore in 2023, founded by Vivek Ramachandran, and shipped as a lightweight extension for Chrome and Edge rather than a replacement browser. Its pitch was narrow: catch malicious extensions, isolate suspicious pages, and keep corporate data out of clipboard, uploads, downloads and generative AI prompts.
Run Squarex Disposable Browser Alternative in the Cloud With Send.win
Send.win’s cloud browser runs isolated browser profiles on a server in the EU — open a clean session from any device without installing anything:
- Instant cloud sessions – launch an isolated browser in seconds, no local install
- Isolated profiles – separate cookies, storage and fingerprint settings per session
- Cloud sync & profile sharing – pick up the same profiles on the desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux) or share them with your team
- Residential proxies included – on Pro and Team, with timezone and locale matched to the proxy
You can try it right now: the Send.win demo browser opens an isolated cloud session directly in this browser tab. Paid plans start at $19/month, with a 7-day money-back guarantee on your first card purchase — see pricing.
Zscaler acquired the company in a deal that closed on 5 February 2026. Terms were not disclosed, and the technology now sits inside Zscaler’s zero-trust platform. SquareX was not shut down; it was absorbed.
The purchase path is what changed. Legba’s comparison page reports that SquareX’s public Chrome Web Store listing is gone, leaving no current self-serve way to buy the extension. Zscaler sells the capability through bundles that include Cyber Isolation and a Zero Trust Browser add-on with per-user isolation traffic allowances. If you are not a Zscaler customer, you are now shopping for a different product.
Three Isolation Models, and Why They Aren’t Interchangeable
Every SquareX disposable browser alternative on the market right now falls into one of three categories, and vendors blur the lines in marketing. Sort the options by model first and the pricing stops looking random. Push Security’s browser security market review separates extensions, enterprise browsers and remote browser isolation.
Extension-based isolation
SquareX, Legba, LayerX, Push Security and Seraphic all run as an extension or endpoint agent inside the browser you already use. Deployment is fast and coverage is broad: Seraphic’s stated differentiator after CrowdStrike acquired it in early 2026 is that it works across any browser through an agent.
The trade-off is structural. An extension inherits the profile it sits in, so cookies, logins and local storage stay put unless the product routes the page somewhere else. Legba splits the two: Ghost gives a private route, while Shield opens the page in an isolated browser off your device and destroys the session when the tab closes.
Enterprise browsers
Island and Prisma Browser, formerly Talon, replace Chrome with a managed Chromium fork. Control sits below the page: copy-paste, screenshots, downloads, session recording and app access become policy decisions rather than extension permissions. Island enforces this without a proxy, which is why it deploys well in regulated environments; Prisma Browser targets contractors, BYOD and remote workers and ties into Prisma Access and Cortex.
Off-device cloud browsing
Remote browser isolation renders the page on a server and streams the pixels, so nothing executes locally. SquareX used it for suspicious links, and Legba’s Shield does the same at consumer prices. Send.win’s cloud browser is a different flavour: profiles run on a server in Helsinki, Finland, and you reach them from any device with nothing to install.
For what a session leaves behind on disk, in cookies and in storage, see our disposable browser isolation guide.
Whatever you choose, ask two questions first: where does the page render, and who owns the profile it renders in? DLP rules, admin consoles and per-seat pricing all follow from those answers.
Feature-by-Feature: SquareX, Legba, Island and Send.win
| Capability | SquareX (Zscaler) | Legba | Island | Send.win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form factor | Extension for Chrome and Edge; no current public listing | Chrome extension | Managed Chromium browser | Desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus cloud browser |
| Where the page renders | Locally, with suspicious pages isolated off-device | Locally in Ghost, off-device in Shield | Inside the managed browser on the device | In an isolated local profile, or on Send.win’s EU cloud server |
| Phishing and malicious-page isolation | Yes — the original core feature | Shield mode | Policy-driven, plus zero-trust app access | Not a security filter; page content is not inspected |
| Clipboard, upload and download DLP | Yes, part of Browser DLP | No DLP controls | Yes, granular at browser level | No |
| Generative AI data controls | Yes, one of three named pillars | No | Part of the wider platform | No |
| Separate profiles with their own cookies and storage | Not the focus | No — one browser identity | Managed policy, not per-client profiles | Yes, per profile |
| Per-profile proxy | No | Ghost routing | No proxy by design | Residential proxies on Pro and Team, plus bring-your-own HTTP/SOCKS5 |
| Share live sessions with teammates | No | No | Admin console, not session sharing | Yes — profiles and live cloud sessions |
All four can put a page somewhere other than your everyday browsing context. For one suspicious link, Shield, SquareX isolation and Send.win’s cloud browser solve the same immediate problem: the page never sees your saved cookies. The difference shows on the third visit, when one tool has forgotten everything and another has kept a client signed in on purpose.
SquareX, Island and LayerX answer a security questionnaire: they inspect what a page tries to do, log it and enforce policy. Send.win answers an operations question: how do twelve people run forty client accounts without passing passwords around? Buying one to do the other wastes money.
Disposable Browser Mechanics: Cookies, Downloads and Logins
A disposable browser is only disposable where it actually clears. Three things decide whether a session disappears: cookies and storage, downloads and clipboard, and the login state you wanted to keep.
Cookies and storage. Legba’s Shield destroys the session when the tab closes, so nothing carries into the next visit. An extension that isolates one page but keeps running in your main profile leaves the rest of your browsing intact — fine for phishing, useless for keeping two pieces of client work apart.
Downloads and clipboard. An enterprise browser makes both a policy question: Island can allow, block or record them at browser level. Extensions rely on permission hooks, which deploy in minutes but sit inside a browser the signed-in user still controls.
Logins. This is where people get surprised. A disposable tab is deliberately bad at staying signed in; a profile manager is deliberately good at it. Each Send.win profile keeps its own cookies, storage, sessions, fingerprint settings and proxy, so a client’s storefront stays signed in between sessions while a second client’s profile never sees those cookies.
If you are weighing a disposable tab against a disposable session, our roundup of disposable browser online options compares what happens at the close-the-tab moment.
Pricing: What Each Option Actually Costs
Only two vendors in this group publish a price. The rest quote per contract, and the number moves with seat count, reseller and marketplace.
| Option | Published or reported price | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| SquareX (Zscaler) | No verified public price. Zscaler bundles include Cyber Isolation and a Zero Trust Browser add-on with per-user isolation traffic allowances | No current extension listing, so there is no consumer price point to compare |
| Legba | $10/mo or $100/yr; 30-day free trial with no card | Lowest published self-serve price in this comparison |
| Island | No list price. Reported AWS Marketplace contracts around $250,000 for 12 months; MSP-managed deployments from about $25,000 a year; MSP per-user rates roughly $50 to $825 per user per month | Figures come from reseller and analyst write-ups, not official list prices |
| LayerX (Akamai) | Custom quote only as of October 2026, no published dollar amount | Akamai completed the acquisition in July 2026 and folded it into its Zero Trust portfolio |
| Prisma Browser, Seraphic, Push Security | Quote-based, now inside platform contracts | Pricing usually follows the parent platform, not the browser line item |
| Send.win | Pro $19/mo or $83.88/yr ($6.99/mo). Team $49/mo or $251.88/yr ($20.99/mo). Add-ons $6 per GB of proxy bandwidth and $0.05 per extra profile | Free cloud demo gives 10 minutes a day; 7-day money-back guarantee on the first card purchase |
Omdia research cited by Push Security found that 88% of organisations rank browser security a top-five priority, 26% make it the top one, and 86% have meaningfully increased spending in response to threats. Analysts quoted on Island’s pricing estimate fewer than 10% have adopted a secure enterprise browser. Consolidation is the predictable result: Seraphic, SquareX, LayerX and Keep Aware were all acquired in 2026.
Proxy quality matters as much as isolation. Our explainer on how sites flag a proxy IP covers what gets checked at the network layer.
Honest Pros and Cons for Each Option
SquareX, now part of Zscaler
Pros. The research pedigree is real: eleven major browser research releases through its Year of Browser Bugs programme at DEF CON, Black Hat, RSA and BSides. The three pillars — detection and response, browser DLP, and enterprise access to internal apps — cover more ground than most extensions, and no browser rollout is needed.
Cons. There is no self-serve purchase any more. Procurement runs through Zscaler contracting, which suits existing customers and frustrates everyone else. The marketplace listing is gone and standalone pricing is unpublished, so you cannot budget without a sales conversation.
Legba
Pros. For most people who searched for a SquareX disposable browser alternative to handle one suspicious link, this is the cheapest direct answer: $10 a month or $100 a year, with a 30-day trial that does not ask for a card. Two modes cover private routing and off-device isolation, and there is no console to learn.
Cons. One browser identity means no separation between work and client accounts, and no DLP, reporting or audit trail. It solves the phishing click, not the profile problem.
Island, Prisma Browser and LayerX
Pros. The deepest control available — copy-paste, screenshots, downloads, session recording and app access all become enforceable policy. Prisma Browser ties into Prisma Access and Cortex; Island enforces policy without a proxy and now layers AI governance across browsers and desktop apps.
Cons. Cost and rollout weight. Reported AWS Marketplace contracts run around $250,000 for 12 months, MSP deployments start near $25,000 a year, and no list price is published. Island is sold as a broader platform now, which changes how deals are scoped. If your problem is that each client needs a separate profile, this is a data centre to fix a filing cabinet.
Send.win
Pros. Every profile carries its own cookies, storage, sessions, fingerprint settings and proxy. Residential proxies are included on Pro and Team with metered bandwidth, and bring-your-own HTTP/SOCKS5 works too. Sharing a profile with a paid teammate opens it already signed in, cloud sync carries logins across devices (20 profiles on Pro, 100 on Team), and either plan runs up to 50 profiles at once. Pricing is published.
Cons. Not a security product: no page inspection, no download blocking, no DLP, so it will not replace SquareX for a SecOps team. There is no API, SDK, headless mode or automation interface on any plan. The desktop app requires a paid plan, and the free cloud demo is the way to evaluate it before you buy.
Which Should You Pick?
| Your situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want a throwaway tab for a link you do not trust | Legba | Shield renders off-device and destroys the session on tab close, for $100 a year |
| Your company already runs Zscaler | Zscaler bundles | The SquareX technology sits inside a contract you can extend rather than replace |
| You need DLP, session recording and audit evidence | Island or Prisma Browser | Policy is enforced below the page, which is what auditors ask for |
| You manage client accounts across several platforms | Send.win | Separate profiles with their own cookies, storage, fingerprint settings and proxy |
| Ten freelancers need the same client login | Send.win | Shared profiles open already signed in, and live cloud sessions can be handed over |
| Your QA team needs fresh environments per region | Send.win cloud browser | Profiles run on an EU server, reachable from any device, with timezone and locale following the proxy exit |
Every SquareX disposable browser alternative in that table is good at something, and the decision comes down to one question: are you protecting a person from a page, or a page from a person? Security suites assume the first and price accordingly. Profile isolation assumes the second, which is what most agency, seller and support work looks like.
One rule applies to every tool here. Use it with accounts you own or are authorised to manage, and follow each platform’s terms. Where a platform limits how many accounts one person may hold, use its official route — Amazon’s approval process for an additional seller account, or Business Manager roles on Meta for agencies — rather than working around the limit.
QA and support teams have their own version of this problem; our notes on choosing a cloud browser for QA testing cover how to keep environments separate between runs.
🏆 Send.win Verdict
Judged as a SquareX disposable browser alternative, Send.win covers the workflow half and says so plainly — no page inspection, no DLP, no download policy. What it replaces is the quieter reason many people installed SquareX: keeping one piece of work away from another. Each profile keeps its own cookies, storage, sessions, fingerprint settings and proxy, so profiles do not share one browser identity, and a shared profile opens for a paid teammate already signed in. That is the gap the enterprise suites ignore, because they are built to police a workforce, not to run one.
See Send.win plans — Pro from $19/mo for 150 profiles and 5 GB of proxy bandwidth, backed by a 7-day money-back guarantee on your first card purchase, or start with the free cloud demo, which needs no install: a 3-minute preview without signup, then 10 minutes a day with a free account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SquareX still available as a Chrome extension?
No current public listing exists. Legba’s comparison page reports that SquareX’s Chrome Web Store listing disappeared after the acquisition, and Zscaler sells the Browser Detection and Response technology through its own bundles instead. SquareX was acquired and folded in, not shut down. If you need an extension you can install today, Legba, Push Security or LayerX are the realistic routes.
What does SquareX cost now that it is part of Zscaler?
There is no verified public price for SquareX as a standalone product. Zscaler’s bundles include Cyber Isolation and a Zero Trust Browser add-on with per-user isolation traffic allowances, and those are quoted through Zscaler contracts. Treat any standalone SquareX price you find online as out of date.
What is a disposable browser and how does it stop phishing?
It renders a page somewhere you can throw away: off-device, or in a session destroyed when the tab closes. Credentials typed into a fake login page never reach your local cookie store, and nothing carries over to the next visit. Legba’s Shield mode and SquareX’s page isolation both work this way.
What is the difference between BDR, an enterprise browser and remote browser isolation?
BDR is detection and response delivered through an extension inside your existing browser. An enterprise browser is a managed Chromium replacement that enforces policy below the page, as Island and Prisma Browser do. Remote browser isolation renders the page on a server and streams the result. The outcomes overlap, but where the control sits changes the price and the rollout.
Is there a free or open-source alternative to SquareX?
None of the tools here is open source. Legba publishes a 30-day trial that asks for no card. For Send.win, paid plans start at $19/mo with a 7-day money-back guarantee on the first card purchase, and the free cloud demo needs no install at all — a 3-minute preview without signup, then 10 minutes a day with a free account. For ongoing paid use, Legba at $100 a year is the lowest published self-serve price in this comparison.
Which alternative is best for small businesses?
The best SquareX disposable browser alternative for a small business depends on the job. For a few people who want a disposable tab, Legba at $10 a month is the simplest answer. For a small agency running client accounts and storefronts, Send.win Pro at $19 a month covers 150 isolated profiles, 5 GB of proxy bandwidth and six seats.
How does Island pricing compare with Legba and Send.win?
Not the same market. Island publishes no list price, with reported AWS Marketplace contracts around $250,000 for 12 months and MSP-managed deployments from about $25,000 a year. Legba costs $100 a year and Send.win starts at $19 a month, both self-serve. Island buys enforceable policy; the others buy isolated browsing.
Can Send.win replace SquareX?
Only for part of what SquareX did. Send.win gives each profile its own cookies, storage, sessions, fingerprint settings and proxy, and lets paid teammates open shared profiles and live cloud sessions. It does not inspect pages, block downloads or run data loss prevention, so a security team replacing SquareX still needs Zscaler, Island, LayerX or an equivalent.