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Cisco Umbrella vs Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

iboss
Sponsored
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
23rd
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
11th
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
15th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (8th), Web Content Filtering (5th), ZTNA as a Service (15th)
Cisco Umbrella
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
1st
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
1st
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Number of Reviews
109
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (1st), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd)
Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
8th
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
6th
Ranking in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (13th), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (9th), Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Protection (5th), Access Management (5th), Bot Management (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (5th), ZTNA (1st), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2024, in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category, the mindshare of iboss is 1.6%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 11.8%, down from 13.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform is 9.2%, up from 5.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
 

Featured Reviews

JB
Feb 2, 2021
Cloud-based platform with knowledgeable and responsive support
My role is security solutions architect. I do the research for the customers. We are implementors and consultants. We provide solutions for our clients. With everybody working from home due to COVID, iboss was the solution that we implemented as the security architecture for those who were working…
Alfonso Reimunde - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 4, 2022
A proactive security layer that filters outside the network that is scalable and easy to set up
The rule-making process for blocking sites or for blocking characteristics can use some simplification. For example, types of malware. This would make it easier to use because it has a learning curve. There is a possibility of creating users that have explicit permissions to access sites that nobody else should access. This process can be cumbersome and it would be helpful if there was an easier way to create users and assign roles to special users. Cisco could ease the process of defining the number of licenses and the price considering the number of licenses we require. Currently, we have to get a quote for anything over 100 licenses.
FS
May 24, 2024
Protects and regulates access to internal applications based on policies
Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, we have clients who typically encounter challenges. The usual setup involves configuring a forward proxy, an IDP, and a CASB. Orchestrating these solutions can be challenging if the client already uses a VPN client such as Check Point or Mobile VPN. Clients typically do not replace their VPNs all at once; instead, they gradually phase out the old solution. The interaction between Cloudflare Access and the legacy VPN solution can be complex, particularly ensuring seamless access without introducing new restrictions. This complexity arises not from the product itself but from the nature of migrating to a new system. Migrating ten thousand employees daily is impractical, so a step-by-step approach throughout about a year is often necessary to facilitate a smoother transition.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."
"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."
"Technical support is pretty sharp and very responsive."
"Iboss is a solution that prevents advanced persistent threats, and has a zero tolerance for attacks."
"The security aspect of the solution, particularly the malware behind it, is excellent. That's something that really helped us out. It's not just a simple proxy that just blocks the insights of potential threats that come on behind it. They do malware detection and that helps us a lot."
"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"
"Its initial setup was straightforward."
"Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss."
"Umbrella enables customers to be secure. We are happy with this and this is the most important benefit for customers."
"The most valuable feature is its ability to detect if a URL has malware or is vulnerable."
"The most valuable features for us include tenant lock, content filtering, and DLP solutions, looking for PII and information being exfiltrated."
"Its simplicity is most valuable. I can install it and get it up and running, and it can be pervasive across my business within a business day. It is pretty simple and straightforward to install and configure. Its remit is reasonably clearly defined. When you look at solutions like Darktrace and Carbon Black, the mission objective isn't as clearly defined. Cisco Umbrella, Sophos Central, or some of the other solutions have a more standardized approach to antivirus, which includes enhanced response from the machine learning or deep learning perspective."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to filter malware sites that could infect clients or allow them to download infected files."
"I like the original functionality, which allows for providing secure DNS services."
"We like Cisco Umbrella because of DNS security. It's one step ahead of whatever we are using for regular web filtering. In that way, it's more secure than other web filtering products."
"Helps block personal email accounts."
"Cloudflare Access is part of the Zero Trust philosophy."
"The best feature is rate limiting. If I'm expecting 500 visits per hour, Cloudflare will limit the requests if I suddenly get 50,000."
"Cloudflare DDoS mitigates DDoS attacks."
"The tool also offers good scalability, and the dashboard, along with real-time analytics, is very good."
"This solution is easy to understand and easy to configure."
"It's the endpoint exposition. We don't need to expose our VPN server to the internet and need a zero-test solution. I can apply some conditional access to the endpoint that's connecting to our network to check their security policies or the security condition of their workstation. Once the workstation is trying to connect to my internal network, then I would like to check the discrete condition of these endpoints that are trying to access my internal network. We created some conditional access. We have CrowdStrike, to check if the CrowdStrike is installed, to check if it's updated, and to check for Windows updates. We created some conditional policies to check it."
"The simplicity of the solution is its valuable features as almost no effort was needed to learn the configurations. It is also one of the cheapest firewalls available in this category."
"Cloudflare is simple to use."
 

Cons

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."
"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."
"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."
"The dashboards for local use could be better."
"Sometimes the agent stops working in iboss, and we have to reinstall the agent."
"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."
"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."
"Its pricing could be better."
"For us, as an MSP, the initial licensing changes were a roadblock, and they still could be a lot clearer. Specifically, it's an honor-based licensing system. We'd like it to be more specific to our traffic or our users so that we can make sure that the customer is paying for all their licensing."
"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."
"Something on our end that might make it better is alerting going to our ticketing system. It's not something that we have discussed, but that would be a proactive option for us to provide a learning experience for the staff."
"Network connectivity was a bit of a challenge at the beginning, but we were able to get the right help from Cisco."
"It could be more secure. It would be better if they provided a transferring proxy as an add-on and more integration."
"The pricing could always be a little bit better."
"We would like them to add more features to Cisco Umbrella."
"I would like for them to continue building on IPS and IDS functionalities."
"Cloudflare DDoS has poor technical support."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform needs to improve its documentation. It took time to do the implementation."
"They don't have a person to provide support for customers using the solution under their free plan."
"The initial onboarding was causing us some confusion."
"For the topic of improvement, providing some training material is one of my suggestions."
"Our customers no longer use Cloudflare because its service is subpar."
"Operating and tuning the product is difficult."
"The tool should provide on-premise versions. Currently, all versions are cloud-based."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"I am not sure, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think it's $1.00 or so per device/month."
"There are three models for licensing with different feature sets."
"It needs a better price point."
"The licensing and pricing structure of Cisco Umbrella is in line with standard systems on the market, and we have no specific requirements in this area. Overall, we have found it to be an acceptable pricing model for our organization."
"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."
"I think it's worth the money."
"There are no hidden costs with Umbrella. Everything is included in the package."
"In my opinion, Cisco Umbrella now has a good price in the basic packages. When it comes to Cisco Umbrella SIG Essentials package and Cisco Umbrella Secure Internet Gateway (SIG) Advantage package, it depends on whether the project has a good price or not"
"The prices are slightly expensive."
"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."
"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The pricing of the solution is cheap. The licensing cost is also very low. I rate the cost and pricing a three out of ten."
"The solution is not that expensive."
"My company has to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. There are no hidden charges apart from the licensing costs of the solution."
"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions are best for your needs.
801,394 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Educational Organization
20%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iboss?
Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.
What needs improvement with iboss?
Sometimes the agent stops working in iboss, and we have to reinstall the agent. This is a hiccup that iboss should im...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
We use iboss for the proxy solution. I used iboss in my organization to block a few sites for a few of my employees.
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. Zs...
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-nat...
What do you like most about Cisco Umbrella?
Cisco Umbrella is easy to monitor, manage, and deploy.
What do you like most about Cloudflare Access?
The tool also offers good scalability, and the dashboard, along with real-time analytics, is very good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudflare Access?
The price of Cloudflare Access is the same as compared to Akamai, but I get better performance from Cloudflare. My co...
What needs improvement with Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, ...
 

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
OpenDNS
Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.
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
23andMe
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Umbrella vs. Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform and other solutions. Updated: August 2024.
801,394 professionals have used our research since 2012.