LayerX vs Island: Which One Fits Your Enterprise Browser Stack?
Workforce Protector and the Island Extension both run in browsers people already use. The documented split is DLP actions, identity audit, and logging. The Island Enterprise Browser adds controls its extension page does not confirm.
Akamai completed the LayerX acquisition on 2 July 2026. The product name now is Akamai Workforce Protector. Its product page describes an extension on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari, with no browser-replacement project. The Island Extension runs in those browsers plus other Chromium browsers, deploys through MDM on Windows and macOS, and does not require a browser switch or a user sign-in.
LayerX’s BYOD page also offers an integrated browser that already contains the extension, for unmanaged devices. Island sells an Enterprise Browser and Desktop as separate deployments. A SASE-native browser comparison is Island vs Prisma Access Browser. Shortlists sit under enterprise browsers.
| Job | Browser extension for AI, SaaS, and web controls on browsers people already run | Browser extension for data protection, access, and AI governance on browsers people already run |
|---|---|---|
| How a bad day closes | Warn, redact, block, or guide on text input, copy and paste, uploads, downloads, and other data exchanges | Application boundaries, watermarking, and blocks on screen capture and printing, plus AI data controls, in the browser already open |
| Day-to-day workflow | Prompt, paste, upload, and third-party extension events from the Workforce Protector extension | Logged actions, extension-risk review, and AI-use controls from the Island Extension |
| Deploy | Extension. No browser-replacement project on the product page. BYOD page also offers an integrated browser with the extension built in | MDM push on Windows and macOS. No imaging and no VDI on the extension page. Users are not required to sign in |
| Who operates it | The team rolling an extension onto Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari | The team rolling the Island Extension through existing MDM onto those browsers |
We reviewed first-party product pages for Workforce Protector, the Island Extension, and the Island Enterprise Browser.
LayerX
Island
Editions and pricing
On 3 Oct 2026 no public price with currency, unit, period, commitment, and included product was found for either vendor. No dollar amount is stated here. Compare equivalent quotes and the deployment cost of an extension only, or of that extension plus the Enterprise Browser or Desktop.
| How it is sold now | Sales demo. The product name is Akamai Workforce Protector. | Sales demo. |
|---|---|---|
| What the quote should name | Workforce Protector, the browsers it will cover, and whether the integrated browser from the BYOD page is included. | The Island Extension, and the Enterprise Browser or Desktop only if those are on the quote. |
| Deployment cost to compare | Extension rollout on managed and unmanaged devices. The BYOD page does not require a device-management project for that path. | MDM push of the extension. The extension page does not require browser imaging. |
LayerX and the Island Extension
Not confirmed in public documentation, for either extension: a control that stops removal of that vendor’s own extension; copy and paste named as an Island Extension control; a named identity-provider product; a SIEM destination on the Island Extension page; a rule that personal browsing stays unmonitored. A missing sentence is not a claim that the product cannot do the control.
| DLP controls | Product page: text input, copy and paste, uploads, downloads, and other data exchanges. Actions named there: warn, redact, block, or guide. For EAA HTTP applications, in limited availability, the Akamai doc adds screenshots, printing, watermarks, masking, and alerts. | Extension page: application boundaries, watermarking, block screen capture and printing, and data movement by context and content. AI controls: see use, keep sensitive data out of ungoverned AI apps, and redirect unsanctioned AI apps to sanctioned ones. |
|---|---|---|
| Extension governance | Product page: block other risky or overprivileged extensions. | Extension page: assess the risk of other extensions. Device Guard, on a separate endpoint page, detects browser tampering and then adjusts access. That page does not call this a removal lock. |
| Browser support | BYOD page and product page: Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox. The BYOD page also offers an integrated browser with the extension built in. | Extension page: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and other Chromium browsers, on Windows and macOS, through MDM. The Enterprise Browser FAQ also names ChatGPT Atlas and Perplexity Comet for the extension. |
| Identity integrations | Identity page: audit of corporate, personal, and non-SSO identities in the browser; password strength, reuse, account sharing, and OAuth permissions; SSO mandated so an identity provider can see corporate identities, with MFA as a secondary mechanism. | Extension page: enrollment does not require the user to sign in. Conditional access that assesses identity is documented on the Enterprise Browser page. The extension page did not confirm it. |
| Logging | Product page: capture prompts, data, and user actions, and integrate with a SIEM. Identity page: a full audit of identities that pass through the browser. EAA doc: alerts when a DLP rule is violated on an EAA HTTP application. | Extension page: every action is logged for audit and compliance, with full visibility. Sharing work activity with a SIEM is documented on the Enterprise Browser page. The extension page did not confirm that destination. |
| BYOD privacy | BYOD page: extension or integrated browser on unmanaged devices, activated by a browser sign-in, with device-posture visibility. SaaS access can require the protection to be on. Product page: read-only sessions and watermarking. | Extension page: a fit for BYOD and contractors, with no browser switch. A work-versus-personal split, with personal sites staying private, is documented on the Enterprise Browser page. The extension page did not confirm that split. |
Capabilities documented for Island Enterprise Browser
That comment names a mandated Island browser beside another browser, and a machine that could not run both. It does not mention Workforce Protector.
These rows are documented on the Island Enterprise Browser page. The Island Extension page did not confirm them, and a control named only there does not prove the extension lacks it. The extension page says the Enterprise Browser is the full Chromium experience, the extension covers core capabilities, and parity is not possible in some cases because of extension restrictions. It does not name the missing controls. An operating-system list for LayerX’s integrated browser is not confirmed in public documentation.
| What this column is | The extension, plus the integrated browser named on the BYOD page. | The Island Enterprise Browser, a Chromium browser. The extension page says users do not have to switch. |
|---|---|---|
| DLP the browser page adds | In-browser controls from the extension row: text input, copy and paste, uploads, and downloads. | Last-mile controls for print, downloads, screenshots, and copy and paste, including outside the browser. The use-case list also names websites, desktop apps, and uploads. |
| Apps outside the browser | Public pages name the extension and an integrated browser. | Device posture, plus policy for tools the page names: Zoom, Slack, Teams, or WhatsApp. |
| BYOD privacy split | Read-only sessions and watermarking for unmanaged devices. | Work and personal activity are separated. Policies apply to work sites. Personal sites stay private. An on-screen indicator shows when monitoring is on. |
| Logging destination | SIEM integration is named on the Workforce Protector product page. | Work activity can be shared with a SIEM. The page also names a detailed browser activity log. |
| Where it runs | Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox, or the integrated browser on the BYOD page. | Browser: Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chromebook. Mobile: iOS, iPadOS, and Android. Desktop, a separate install, is macOS and Windows. |
Where they overlap
Both extensions name data controls and AI governance on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari.
Which documented requirement decides
Favor Workforce Protector when the requirement is what its pages name: warn, redact, block, or guide on text input, copy and paste, uploads, and downloads; an identity audit of corporate, personal, and non-SSO accounts, including password reuse and OAuth; SIEM integration on the product page; or a BYOD path that stays the extension or an integrated browser with that extension built in.
Favor the Island Extension when the requirement is what its page names: application boundaries, watermarking, blocks on screen capture and printing, data movement by context, AI visibility with a block on sensitive data into ungoverned AI and a redirect to sanctioned AI, a log of every action, extension-risk review, and an MDM deploy on Windows and macOS that does not require the user to sign in.
The Enterprise Browser is the add-on after that choice: last-mile DLP outside the browser, policy for Zoom, Slack, Teams, or WhatsApp, the work and personal split with an on-screen indicator, and the wider desktop and mobile list. Island’s extension page says many organizations run the extension and the Enterprise Browser together. Workforce Protector beside Island is a second product.
Match the extension to the control its pages name. Add the Enterprise Browser only for outside-the-browser DLP, named desktop apps, and the work and personal split.
FAQs
Which documented requirement favors Workforce Protector over the Island Extension?
Favor Workforce Protector for warn, redact, block, or guide on text input, copy and paste, uploads, and downloads; the identity audit of corporate, personal, and non-SSO accounts; and SIEM integration on the product page. Favor the Island Extension for application boundaries, watermarking, screen-capture and print blocks, AI data controls, an action log, and an MDM deploy that does not require a user sign-in.
Are LayerX and Island the same enterprise browser?
No. Workforce Protector is an extension, and the BYOD page also offers an integrated browser with that extension built in. Island sells an Extension, an Enterprise Browser, and Desktop.
Is this the same decision as Island vs Prisma Access Browser?
No. That page compares Island with a SASE-native Prisma browser. Here the products are Workforce Protector, the Island Extension, and the Enterprise Browser additions.
