Cisco Umbrella vs Palo Alto Networks DNS Security comparison

Cisco Umbrella vs. Palo Alto Networks DNS Security

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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 Domain Name System (DNS) Security

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

113

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Internet Security (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (3rd), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd)

Palo Alto Networks DNS Secu...

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 22.4%, down from 27.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is 12.4%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

Featured Reviews

Alessandro Braga

Chief Digital Officer at Talent Garden

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.

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Partha Dash

Global Network Tech Lead at Thoughtworks

Protects against threats by quickly identifying insider risks and compromised devices

Palo Alto should explore agentless approaches to integrate DNS Security more easily and efficiently. The existing system sometimes presents challenges with backbone routing, impacting productivity. An agentless approach could be more lightweight and user-friendly. Additionally, there is a need for improvement in the pricing model for support and license renewals.

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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

"The agent that gets installed on the endpoints or on people's laptops and devices is a Cisco AnyConnect Umbrella module. It's one of the most impressive things because you are able to protect your users anywhere they are."

"The DNS data exfiltration and the blocking of DNS tunneling are the most effective features for threat prevention in our company."

"The initial setup is very easy and takes only a few minutes."

"The customer experience is very good, and the product improves security posture."

"Provides dependable DNS monitoring of external devices."

"The solution is very easy to manage. We found the initial setup, for example, to be quite simple."

"The most valuable thing is how easy it is to deploy. We did it with 9,000 users at my last job, and it took a week to get to all the endpoints. Doing that without having to physically touch all those endpoints was very simple."

"We immediately block impersonating users from accessing services over Cisco Umbrella-controlled devices."

More Cisco Umbrella pros

"Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is a stable solution."

"The support team has good knowledge about the solution."

"DNS sinkhole is a valuable feature."

"The solution's most valuable features are data exfiltration and DNS tunneling."

"The most valuable features of DNS Security include its ability to protect against command and control traffic, anonymizers, newly registered domains, and DNS tunneling."

"We now have insight into our DNS requests and we can actively see how many thousands of malicious requests have gotten knocked down in the last day or week that we didn't have before. There's more insight for both security and more insight."

"The most valuable features of the solution are DNSSEC and the domain generation algorithm."

"The most valuable features of DNS Security include its ability to protect against command and control traffic, anonymizers, newly registered domains, and DNS tunneling."

More Palo Alto Networks DNS Security pros

Cons

"It's a very new product, so it's quite immature at the moment. It can be more user friendly."

"We faced an issue regarding virtual appliances (VAs) during deployment. They could improve the quality and management of the virtual appliances offered right now. You can't see much because it is a Linux machine, and they have customized it. You don't have any route access to the machine, only seeing limited things in it. When we opened a ticket, they didn't know much about VAs themselves. So, that is where it is lacking right now. I know this will improve in the long run."

"The reporting could be improved by way of the information that's displayed. For example, when you pull a report, it shows an internal employee going to many websites, but you can spin that right down by saying a lot of it is being cached."

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

"There is room for improvement in the dashboard. It could stand to be a bit more detailed. I would also like to be able to customize the dashboard to focus more on what is important for my company."

"Cisco Umbrella should introduce an on-premises device."

"We would like to see the enhancements made to the EDR, as we see features that are running endpoint management."

"Missing a real data leakage prevention solution."

More Cisco Umbrella cons

"Pricing is one of the areas of concern in Palo Alto Networks DNS Security since it is an expensive product. I feel that the product's pricing is an area that could be improved."

"Palo Alto should explore agentless approaches to integrate DNS Security more easily and efficiently."

"The solution’s scalability could be improved."

"We would like to have cloud-based management."

"Every vendor that sells DNS or firewalls needs to be able to protect against DNS look-up attacks and DNS naming hacks. This is true of Palo Alto as well as others."

"I have found customer service to be quite problematic. The support is often outsourced, leading to delayed response times."

"If the tool offers improved data security, I think it would be good."

"With Palo Alto Networks DNS Security, sometimes the DNS clients don't work well, and they get disconnected, making it an area where improvements are required."

More Palo Alto Networks DNS Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"I think it's worth the money."

"Cisco should make the solution cheaper."

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

"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."

"The licensing fee is paid on a yearly basis."

"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 depends on the use case, and it's a bit linear. But it depends on the customer's strategy and how Cisco plans to optimize the costs."

More Cisco Umbrella pricing and cost advice

"The solution's pricing is equal to Cisco AMP or Cisco Umbrella."

"Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is an expensive product. I rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten points are expensive."

"It is not an expensive solution."

"The product is expensive compared to Fortinet."

"If one is very cheap and ten is very expensive, I rate the tool's price as two."

"There aren't many vendors offering DNS security solutions, but generally, Palo Alto subscriptions tend to be more expensive than other security vendors."

"The product is expensive. My company makes payments on a quarterly basis towards the solution's costs."

"There is an annual license for the solution and I am satisfied with the pricing."

See which vendors are best for you

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845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

26%

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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 do you like most about Cisco Umbrella?

Cisco Umbrella is easy to monitor, manage, and deploy.

What do you like most about Palo Alto Networks DNS Security?

I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten.

What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks DNS Security?

What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks DNS Security?

I primarily use DNS Security for protecting against command and control traffic, newly registered domains, and dynamic DNS. It provides added protection for users, allowing me to quickly identify a...

Zscaler Internet Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Comparisons

Compared 18% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 10% of the time

Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 6% of the time

Cloudflare vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco Umbrella Competitors

Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection vs Palo Alto Networks DNS Security

Compared 34% of the time

Infoblox BloxOne Threat Defense vs Palo Alto Networks DNS Security

Compared 11% of the time

DNSFilter vs Palo Alto Networks DNS Security

Compared 7% of the time

Akamai Secure Internet Access Enterprise vs Palo Alto Networks DNS Security

Compared 2% of the time

EfficientIP DNS Firewall vs Palo Alto Networks DNS Security

Compared 2% of the time

More Palo Alto Networks DNS Security Competitors

Product Reports

Cisco Umbrella

Download Cisco Umbrella product report

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security

Download Palo Alto Networks DNS Security product report

Also Known As

OpenDNS

No data available

Overview

Cisco Umbrella delivers rapid DNS security with over 30,000 customers, providing outstanding threat protection and handling more than 600 billion requests daily. It's recognized for high threat efficacy in the SSE domain and integrates elements like SWG, ZTNA, CASB, and more.

Cisco Umbrella is renowned for its effective DNS-layer security against ransomware and phishing. It offers flexible content filtering and integrates seamlessly with existing networks while providing single-pane-of-glass management for centralized monitoring. Its robust threat intelligence and customizable policies are central to its appeal. Users highlight room for improvement in areas like WHOIS data inclusion, malware enhancement, and reporting analytics. Integration with other threat feeds and better client support are requested for more comprehensive coverage.

What are the key features of Cisco Umbrella?

DNS-Layer Security: Blocks malicious domains, preventing ransomware attacks.
Web Content Filtering: Allows users to manage lists for strict content control.
Seamless Integration: Blends with systems like Active Directory and Meraki.
Remote Protection: Keeps remote users safe across different locations.
Single-Pane Management: Facilitates effective monitoring and reporting.

What should users expect in reviews about Cisco Umbrella?

Threat Intelligence: Provides comprehensive malware and attack data.
Customizable Policies: Enables tailored security measures for users.
Integration Options: Works with diverse systems for holistic security.
Ease of Use: Offers a straightforward experience for administrators.
Remote Worker Security: Ensures protection outside traditional networks.

Industries implement Cisco Umbrella primarily for DNS-level security, web filtering, and protecting remote employees. It strengthens cybersecurity frameworks by blocking malware and avoiding access to harmful sites. The tool is widely integrated with Active Directory and Cisco Meraki, providing consistent internet security for employees.

Cisco

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is a solution that can stop attackers from abusing DNS for malicious activities like data theft, command and control, phishing, and ransomware. The solution offers organizations automated protections, prevents attackers from bypassing security measures, and eliminates the need for independent tools.

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security Features

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Full protection: Palo Alto Networks DNS Security uses deep learning algorithms that predict and identify new and advanced threats to offer protection against sophisticated DNS-based attacks.

Comprehensive visibility: With the solution, you gain complete visibility into your organization’s blind spots to prevent attacks from exploiting your network and stealing your data.

Real-time prevention: The solution includes real-time analysis and can identify millions of malicious domains before an attack even happens.

Native integration with your NGFW (Next Generation Firewall): You don’t have to reroute your DNS traffic or work through lengthy change management processes to deploy the solution.

Category-based action: The solution allows you to create policies specific to DNS traffic types. All DNS queries are checked against Palo Alto’s scalable cloud database to determine appropriate enforcement actions.

SaaS Security: Palo Alto Networks DNS Security delivers integrated SaaS security that lets you see and secure new SaaS applications, protect data, and prevent zero-day threats at the lowest TCO.

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Palo Alto Networks DNS Security. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Saves time and money: The solution helps you reduce costs and extend your NGFW investment by saving time in operations with a single coordinated network security stack for all alerts, policies, rule violations, IDPS, web security, malware analysis, and DNS.

Uninterrupted security innovations: Palo Alto Networks DNS Security seamlessly adds new detection, prevention, and analytics capabilities without requiring reconfiguration.

Optimized security posture: The solution’s Security Analytics dashboard ensures protection for NGFWs with significant DNS traffic.

Reviews from Real Users

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it has remarkable anti-hacking features, excellent stability, provides valuable insights, and has good DNS filtering.

A Senior Technical Project Manager at a university explains why he likes the solution: “They have anti-hacking features which are quite useful. They have virus protection within the firewall. The stability is excellent and the product is very mature.”

Others express how the solution has been valuable in providing insights. A Network Engineer at an educational organization says, “We can actively see how many thousands of malicious requests have gotten knocked down in the last day or week that we didn't know about before.”

“The solution has good DNS filtering, is scalable, and highly-integrated,” mentions a Group Network Specialist at a financial services firm.

Palo Alto Networks

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

Information Not Available

Cisco Umbrella vs. Palo Alto Networks DNS Security