Cisco Umbrella vs iboss comparison

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Cisco Umbrella

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Cisco Umbrella and iboss offer competitive solutions in the cybersecurity arena. Based on features and integration capabilities, Cisco Umbrella holds an advantage with its robust threat intelligence and seamless integrations, while iboss leads in cost-effectiveness and comprehensive security coverage.

Features: Cisco Umbrella excels in DNS protection and traffic redirection, enhancing network security with Cisco Talos's threat intelligence. Its centralized management and features like Experience Insights and Remote Browser Isolation offer enhanced security and productivity. Additionally, Umbrella's dashboard provides excellent visibility, facilitating straightforward network security management. iboss offers advanced persistent threat prevention and comprehensive network traffic scanning across all ports. Its user-friendly console and single-pane management enhance the user experience, providing a comprehensive security solution.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Umbrella could improve by offering more granular policy configurations and expanding third-party integrations. Enhancing firewall capabilities and simplifying some features would further elevate its offerings. iboss, while providing cost-effective solutions, needs to enhance security features to match competitors and improve reporting speed and efficiency. Further development in data loss prevention capabilities would bolster its market position.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Umbrella supports various deployment models, including public, private, and hybrid clouds, and is often praised for robust technical support, although licensing can be complex. It benefits from a broad partner network which often expedites problem resolution. Similarly, iboss supports multiple deployment models and is noted for excellent customer support and a streamlined implementation process, contributing to overall positive customer experiences.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Umbrella offers various pricing tiers, perceived as costly by small businesses but delivering value through security, yielding favorable ROI in time savings and reduced support needs. iboss stands out for competitive and transparent pricing, catering to specific user growth needs. Its predictability and cost-effectiveness in providing comprehensive security solutions make it a preferred choice for many users seeking value for money.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Umbrella vs. iboss Report (Updated: March 2026).

Cisco Umbrella vs. iboss

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Helped 885,444 peers since 2012

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 Umbrella

Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

1st

Ranking in Internet Security

1st

Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

123

Ranking in other categories

Domain Name System (DNS) Security (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd)

iboss

Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

5th

Ranking in Internet Security

3rd

Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Web Content Filtering (1st), ZTNA as a Service (7th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 12.8%, down from 19.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of iboss is 2.5%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Umbrella	12.8%
iboss	2.5%
Other	84.7%

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

Bryan Bettencourt

Senior Network Engineer at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Ensures comprehensive protection with seamless threat logging and efficient policy management

My favorite feature of Cisco Umbrella is probably just the DNS and the fact that when a security threat happens, all of that gets logged in their Umbrella portal, and it's very easy to find who's been accessing the site and how many people have accessed it, so that we can go to them and make sure they're not compromised. The features of Cisco Umbrella benefit my company by providing less time to search for things through logs, to look for what we need. It's just one place to go, and we just search for it, and we find it really fast. The fact that there's a virtual database that has all that information is great on our portal.

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reviewer2701851

Managing Director

Enhances web security with a single pane of glass and flexible deployment

I don't see any need for improvement; one of the really good things about iboss as a company is that they listen to customer feedback. I have suggested enhancements, and they are responsive, making changes for the better, and they do a lot of testing. To improve iboss, although we haven't used it, we considered the VPN solution that comes with the highest tier licensing, which includes DLP and various other add-ons. We prefer using another product which automatically logs you back onto your network when turning on your PC. With iboss, the connection is manual, which doesn't meet our needs. Additionally, sizing can be tricky because, although the initial recommendations may seem adequate, actual usage may require more gateways than anticipated.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I highly recommend SMBs and enterprises use it to enhance their network security with minimal cost through the OpenDNS cloud solution."

"The core business of Cisco Umbrella is non-malware. That's all it does: block the malware on the gateway."

"Umbrella, being one pane for managing, being all-encompassing, allows us to quickly go in, make a change, and it applies to either every location, if we want it to, or we can have policies in place that only apply to certain users or certain computers."

"Application performance has greatly improved and there are less operational issues. Productivity has been going up because we have less operational issues. Also, we have happy customers."

"Cisco Umbrella offers DNS layer security, a secure web gateway, and cloud access security broker functionality."

"I also think that the dashboard view is really helpful. Whenever sites get blocked, we get the details and the users who are connecting to them."

"When it comes to hybrid work it's pretty effective. We've got the agents. We can protect people inside our building and, when they're using their laptops out in the field, they're still protected. It's working well."

"We are very new users of the solution and are still in the exploration stages, but we are happy with the product thus far."

More Cisco Umbrella pros

"The console is cloud-based, which is something I really appreciate."

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

"I would rate the technical support of iboss a solid 10 without a shadow of a doubt."

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"iboss is easy to use despite its complexity. Multiple engineers manage it, but it's significantly more straightforward to administer than traditional VPNs and web proxies."

"From a corporate perspective, I understand that it's important to keep the company data safe."

"Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss."

"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."

More iboss pros

Cons

"The detection of wireless attacks or targeted attacks reports many false rates. This is an area that needs some improvement."

"Actually, we recently switched over to Zscaler because it has more features and it's more scalable than Cisco Umbrella."

"Cisco Umbrella does not have a Malware Protection engine itself."

"There are a couple of different pieces that have different portals. I know they're working on getting them all into one portal, but that's probably the biggest thing that needs improvement right now. It's not a single pane of glass yet."

"I don't think our workers like it all that much. It has actually made employee morale worse because we block a lot of stuff."

"It could be more secure. It would be better if they provided a transferring proxy as an add-on and more integration."

"The pricing is a bit high."

"Basically, it is not fully mature, which means it's not yet ready to replace the WSA, however, over a period of time, it could to a certain extent."

More Cisco Umbrella cons

"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."

"Its pricing could be better."

"Fold that in with the risk intelligence they're getting from all of the different subscriptions they are a part of. Now, these security companies subscribe to things like emerging threats, databases, etc. You can fold all this intelligence to decide what's happening on an endpoint. I would love to see them start moving into that space. That would compete directly with Microsoft. Maybe that's why they haven't. Having that ability native within the solution would be great. The other area in which I would love to see improvement is more detailed descriptions of why they block websites."

"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."

"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"The endpoint-type solution is an area that needs some improvement."

"The dashboards for local use could be better."

More iboss cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You get what you pay for if you break the solution up into tiers."

"Licensing with Cisco can be a little complex, but I think it's comparable with that of other similar products. It's always hard to put a price on security, but the price is fair for the value it provides."

"The price could be lower."

"Its price for us is quite expensive because it's a subscription, and we just use it for the DNS log. So, for us, it's quite expensive."

"Our licensing fees are on a yearly basis."

"The price is fair, and the licensing cost is based on the number of users. We have seen a good ROI."

"There are three models for licensing with different feature sets."

"It needs a better price point."

More Cisco Umbrella pricing and cost advice

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	50
Midsize Enterprise	30
Large Enterprise	51

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Umbrella?

The pricing for Cisco Umbrella is fair compared to other platforms out there for DNS security. We acquired it as a bundle with other Cisco purchases.

What needs improvement with iboss?

For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil. While iboss performed well, some competitors offered simpler implementati...

What is your primary use case for iboss?

Previously when I used iboss, we did the POC for iboss for ExxonMobil. Four or five people wanted to move from our old proxies to cloud proxies, and we did POCs with different giants at that time. ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern. There are cheaper alternatives available, but they do not perform as well. Since iboss is cloud-based,...

Zscaler Internet Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Comparisons

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 3% of the time

Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 1% of the time

More Cisco Umbrella Competitors

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 10% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 8% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs iboss

Compared 8% of the time

FortiSASE vs iboss

Compared 7% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 5% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Product Reports

Cisco Umbrella

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Also Known As

OpenDNS

iBoss Cloud Platform

Overview

Cisco Umbrella provides fast-deploying DNS-layer security with powerful threat protection capabilities. Trusted by over 30,000 entities, it ranks highly in DNS security and effectively supports secure remote work environments.

Cisco Umbrella offers comprehensive DNS security, web filtering, and ease of use, enhancing network security through robust threat protection and malware prevention. It processes over 600 billion requests daily, making it a leader in its field. The seamless integration with existing infrastructures and cloud-based nature makes it suitable for remote and distributed work environments, ensuring consistent security throughout. Management is streamlined with a single-pane interface that simplifies administration, while in-depth reporting capabilities provide valuable insights for continuous monitoring.

What are the key features of Cisco Umbrella?

DNS Security: Provides leading protection by managing DNS queries and blocking malicious sites.
Web Filtering: Offers granular control over web content to safeguard internet usage.
Ease of Integration: Fits well into existing infrastructures, simplifying deployment and use.
Intuitive Management: Single-pane management streamlines administration and enhances usability.
Cloud-Based Flexibility: Supports secure remote work environments.

What benefits can users expect from using Cisco Umbrella?

Superior Threat Protection: Reduces risk by effectively detecting and preventing cyber threats.
Consistent Security: Provides uniform protection across network environments.
Efficiency and Visibility: Leverages comprehensive reporting for better security insights.
Easy Deployment: Quick and straightforward setup with minimal disruption.

Cisco Umbrella is widely adopted in industries requiring advanced DNS-level security to counteract malware, phishing, and cyber threats. Its ability to monitor and protect remote and roaming employees makes it an attractive option for sectors highly dependent on cloud services. By managing DNS queries and blocking harmful sites, Cisco Umbrella enhances cybersecurity across networks, providing an added layer of protection for businesses worldwide.

Cisco

Iboss offers a comprehensive cloud-based security platform valued for its scalability and autonomous features, ensuring robust security with easy deployment and management capabilities.

Renowned for its robust security architecture, Iboss integrates seamlessly within diverse networks, delivering efficient granular filtering and advanced content categorization. Its single pane of glass console provides ease of management, allowing rapid scalability suitable for rapidly deploying environments. Operates in BYOD setups due to inline filtering without device installation. Integration with cloud-based applications enhances user control, and features like SASE, SSL inspection, and ChatGPT risk protection stand as highlights. Despite its strengths, users have pointed out areas for enhancement like direct navigation in reports, SSL decryption, and better cloud integration while having room to improve data loss prevention.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

Scalability: Supports rapid deployment across diverse networks.
SASE: A consolidated approach to secure access.
SSL Inspection: Ensures safe data transmission.
Granular Filtering: Detailed control over accessible content.
Single Pane Management: Unifies control through a centralized console.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Offers competitive pricing with robust features.
Autonomous Operation: Reduces management overhead.
Responsive Support: Provides assistance when needed.
Flexible Deployment: Available for both cloud and on-premises environments.

The usage of Iboss spans educational institutions, specifically K-12, to enforce internet policies, protect data, and support remote work environments. It provides web filtering and security frameworks to ensure safe browsing. Its platform-as-a-service model offers flexibility for both cloud-based and on-premises requirements, integrating seamlessly to deliver enhanced security features suitable for various deployment needs including zero trust, CASB, and network security for work-from-home setups.

Sample Customers

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

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

Cisco Umbrella vs. iboss