Both ALLOD and Bowtie run entirely in your own infrastructure with no vendor cloud in the traffic path. The difference is what each one is built to inspect - Bowtie moves you from device to resource; ALLOD inspects everything a user sends and receives along the way.
| Dimension | ALLOD | Bowtie |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Self-hosted on your own infrastructure - single-node or scaled-out multi-proxy | Self-hosted controller VM in your own cloud or data centre |
| Traffic model | Inline forward proxy - HTTP CONNECT with full TLS interception of general web/SaaS traffic | Direct WireGuard tunnels from device to resource - enforcement happens on-device, not at a central inspection point |
| DLP | Content inspection of request/response bodies plus clipboard capture via endpoint agent | Not the primary design point - on-device access control, not content inspection |
| CASB | Inline SaaS traffic tagging and classification as part of the inspection path - shipping today | Listed on Bowtie's own site as "in development" - not yet generally available |
| Firewall | Domain/category/app/process rules, JA4/JA4H fingerprinting, threat intel feeds | Resource-level access policy |
| ZTNA | Included | Core product - purpose-built VPN replacement |
| Vendor jurisdiction | Allod Solutions AB, Sweden | Bowtie Security, Santa Clara, California, US |
Bowtie replaces your VPN. ALLOD replaces your Secure Web Gateway. Both happen to be self-hosted - that doesn't make them interchangeable.
ALLOD's inline TLS MITM proxy sees the actual content of every outbound request - the same position a traditional SWG occupies, just self-hosted. That's what makes body-level DLP and SaaS activity classification possible.
Bowtie's WireGuard overlay is purpose-built for fast, direct zero-trust access to internal apps - without backhauling traffic through any intermediary, inspecting or otherwise. If that's the whole problem you have, it's a lean answer to it.
Inline inspection of outbound web/SaaS traffic and zero-trust access to internal apps are adjacent but distinct problems. ALLOD covers the former with ZTNA included; check whether your DLP and CASB requirements can be met by an access-control-first architecture before deciding.
Yes. Bowtie's controller runs as a VM in your own cloud or data centre, similar to ALLOD's monolith deployment. Neither product routes traffic through a vendor-operated cloud.
Bowtie is built ZTNA-first, with enforcement running on-device rather than at a central inspection point. As of writing, Bowtie's own site lists CASB as "in development" - not yet generally available. ALLOD's CASB tagging and content-based DLP ship today, made possible by its inline TLS MITM position. If deep DLP and CASB over general web/SaaS traffic is your primary requirement, that's ALLOD's core design point right now.
Bowtie connects devices directly to resources over WireGuard with no inline inspection point. ALLOD is an inline forward proxy that inspects general web traffic, not just access to private resources.
Replacing a VPN with fast direct access to internal apps: Bowtie's overlay is purpose-built for that. Full inline inspection of outbound web/SaaS traffic - firewall, DLP, CASB - alongside ZTNA: that's what ALLOD is built for.
Book a 30-minute demo - we'll walk through the firewall, DLP, CASB and ZTNA capabilities on your own traffic.