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Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs Cisco Umbrella comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Client (includ...
Ranking in Cisco Security Portfolio
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
70
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (4th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (4th), ZTNA as a Service (8th)
Cisco Umbrella
Ranking in Cisco Security Portfolio
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
111
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Internet Security (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (3rd), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Cisco Security Portfolio category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is 8.5%, down from 10.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 12.5%, down from 15.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cisco Security Portfolio
 

Featured Reviews

VinaySingh - PeerSpot reviewer
Connect securely from any location with reliable and easy multifactor authentication
Whenever I am away from the office, I use Cisco Secure Client to connect to the office network, accessing the secure network to place calls to our secure servers that are built on-premise. It is used across our domain, including telecom and app networks, primarily for IT connectivity across the…
Alessandro Braga - PeerSpot reviewer
Has comprehensive reporting and scales easily
The reports and notifications are the most useful part of the platform. As soon as you deploy the security layers, the reporting is very comprehensive. It helps you to have, at a glance, a clear view of what's going on. The integration between Cisco Secure solutions is pretty good. We have been able to deliver the solution in a few days. The integration of Umbrella and Meraki is literally one click away from the customer. One of the reasons why we chose Umbrella was its capability to perform end-to-end detection of malware and web traffic. In the last two years, we have been covered, detection has been faster, and we have been able to contain some potential threats along the way. We use the Umbrella stack from DNS protection to web and content protection. Our workforce is made up of 150 Macs; thus, we use Mac as a client. We have some PCs and integration with the network in our co-working spaces. Utilizing Cisco Secure has helped us save time. Being a nimble organization, we don't have IT staff who are fully dedicated to security. The maintenance is also not very time-consuming. In terms of the amount of time saved, it would be half an FTE a year, given the fact that we are informed and notified when threats arise. In terms of operating expenditures, we have been able to negotiate a better cyber insurance rate with our insurance company due to the fact that we are covered by Umbrella. Another benefit of using Cisco Umbrella is application scanning. We have been able to understand how many other applications we were consuming in the cloud, address them, and save money. Without Cisco Umbrella, we would not have realized that we had so many cloud applications in the company. We have been able to close at least four or five applications that were duplicates of others that we were already using in the company. We have realized approximately 10,000 to 12,000 euros a year of immediate savings in an organization of 150 people, which is quite significant.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The ability to add multiple two-factor authentication options for the user to choose from when they log in has helped increase the security of our network, especially with so many people working remotely."
"It's a very scalable solution. We are using the maximum licensing they offer, and it's very affordable given the value."
"The product is easy to use."
"It does not slow down anything, unlike other solutions."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"What I like most about Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is that it's easy to use, and that is its main advantage. You can use it without the need for any setup because it's centrally pre-installed, so you just need to log in with your username and password. I didn't experience any problems with the solution in terms of losing connectivity. It works very well every time."
"This is a secure product that has had zero stability issues since I started using it in 2019."
"The system is reliable, simple and secure."
"I was able to implement it myself. It was really easy to install. You could install it on a server locally if you want to. If you have the biggest site, you would do that, but for my site, it was just directing all the traffic out through the Cisco Umbrella DNS. It was really handy. When the owners of the company went overseas, I knew that they would be secure because even if they were not on the company network, they would still go through the Cisco Umbrella servers. It was a complete solution for protecting the company with outgoing data."
"Cisco's support is fantastic, providing assistance when needed, especially during the initial installation process."
"We've found it to be stable and good for our customers."
"Using this solution has meant that we've needed to make fewer firewall changes."
"Helps block personal email accounts."
"We use Cisco Umbrella for DNS filtering and as a secure gateway."
"For me, it's important that I get a connection to my corporate network in a secure and fast way. This product just runs in the background and doesn't need any attention. For me, as a user, it's perfect."
"Cisco Umbrella is such a solution and can be implemented very fast and easy. All that we must do is redirect the DNS registers in their routers, or the active directory service of the enterprise that are going to use in Umbrella services. If you buy the service now, in two hours you are protected by the service because it's very fast to put in service."
 

Cons

"Complicated scenarios are difficult to deploy. On a scale from one to ten, with one being the most difficult, I'd give a rating of between two and three for the initial setup."
"Frequency of updates could be reduced."
"Sometimes if we're always having some network issues, or maybe the client is having some network issues, we might get disconnected."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is its ease of use and simple interface. It's always available as long as I have a good network connection."
"There are some issues with connectivity and latency that should be improved."
"Sometimes when you are on the VPN, it can be a little bit slow."
"Whenever there's a drop in internet or a connection fluctuation, it gets disconnected automatically."
"There are times the WiFi connectivity has disruptions and you have disconnections. It doesn't work with two connections. I have two switches back and forth sometimes. It doesn't have a failback scenario feature. However, on the gateway side, it does, but on the user device, it doesn't have that kind of option. It would be nice to have this feature."
"The design of the screens could be improved. Sometimes you're trying to look for information, for what you think is critical that should be on that first screen of the dashboard so that you can quickly take screenshots to have people help out, but you have to hop between screens to find little pieces of evidence."
"Its DNS service does not support IPv6 query."
"The only thing I can think of is that I'd like to see a little more flexibility in policy creation. The way that policy is currently structured is like a "first hit succeeds" kind of policy. It would be nice if it were more hierarchical."
"The main issue that we have is with the final steps or the full integration and getting rid of Zscaler. The company still has to fall back to Zscaler when something in Umbrella is not working as expected, such as when we enable SSL inspection. When something is not working 100%, the company is falling back to Zscaler."
"I would like to see a graphical representation of the entire network."
"I would like them to make some videos, practical videos, the kind with steps that people can use to learn and deploy"
"I would like to see integration with SecurNX in the future."
"Looking at the full umbrella suite in the light of SASE, Secure Access Service Edge, they are clearly lacking in the inline CASB."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Sometimes there is a problem with the number of licenses for the end-user. The number of concurrent users is limited due to a valid license."
"The solution is based on an annual licensing model and is expensive."
"It costs around 80,000 Indian rupees for a hundred licenses, so approximately $1,020 USD."
"My company has a three-year or a four-year license. In scenarios attached to a solution where the product may be reaching an end-of-support or end-of-life phase, Cisco provides OS support in such environments."
"I would rate the pricing for the license of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client around four to five out of ten. It's not the cheapest option, but it's also not overly expensive."
"I am using a paid version of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client."
"There is a license needed to use this solution. There are different licensing models available, such as a three-year license."
"We pay for an annual subscription. Additionally to the subscription, we thought in order to connect this solution to the Active Directory we had to purchase a Cisco ACS, Access Control System. It turns out we did not actually need it."
"The price of Cisco Umbrella is a little higher than similar solutions, like Gateway."
"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."
"Cisco Umbrella is not a cheap product. However, it's not a matter of the cost; it's more a matter of the value of security. It is easy to measure this value when you have a security incident. I think the price is a good trade-off for a product that can help you avoid security threats."
"You get what you pay for."
"It has a reasonable price. It is certainly not as expensive as it used to be. It is in line with other offerings on the market. There are a number of different flavors of Umbrella. They could bring Umbrella SIG down a bit because its price is a little bit high for what it does, but I also understand why its price is high."
"Cisco uses subscription models for the pricing and there are three subscription plans."
"You get what you pay for if you break the solution up into tiers."
"We have a security Enterprise Agreement with Cisco, so the pricing is good."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
50%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Government
4%
Educational Organization
25%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
The tool is user-friendly, robust and easy to use in any environment.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
Cisco Secure Client is a reasonable solution in terms of cost. I wouldn't be aware of the specific pricing details, as my sales team would handle that.
What needs improvement with Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
Creating a profile for the users might be good. Additionally, if user authentication has already been done on a device, such as a Microsoft Indian portal, maybe there could be connectivity directly...
Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler?
Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried. Zscaler Internet Access is a good option for carrying out multiple security functi...
Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Microsoft Cloud App Security?
Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-native solution, unifying multiple features like DNS-layer security, threat intelli...
What do you like most about Cisco Umbrella?
Cisco Umbrella is easy to monitor, manage, and deploy.
 

Also Known As

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client
OpenDNS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST, Molina Healthcare, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Arup, New South Wales Rural FireService
Chart Industries, City of Aspen, Eastern Mountain Sports, FLEXcon, George Washington University, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, Ohio Public Library Information Network, PTC, Richland Community College, Smart Motors, Tulane University, VeriClaim
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs. Cisco Umbrella and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.