Cisco Umbrella vs Prisma SD-WAN comparison

The compared Cisco and Palo Alto Networks solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #1 in DS , with an average rating of 9.2, and holds a 20.8% mindshare in the category. Palo Alto Networks is ranked #5 in SDW , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 5.4% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

Cisco Umbrella

Read 123 Cisco Umbrella reviews

19,468 Views
6,035 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Prisma SD-WAN

Read 25 Prisma SD-WAN reviews

4,053 Views
2,634 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cisco Umbrella

Prisma SD-WAN

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Prisma SD-WAN and Cisco Umbrella are both key competitors in the network management and security market. Prisma SD-WAN appears to have an edge in terms of deep visibility and zero-touch provisioning, while Cisco Umbrella stands out with its broad DNS-layer security capabilities.

Features: Prisma SD-WAN offers advanced VPN tunnel creation, dynamic path selection, and Layer 7 intelligence for deep application visibility and path management. Cisco Umbrella provides extensive DNS-layer security, domain blocking, and seamless integration with existing security infrastructure, focusing on broad protection against DNS-level threats.

Room for Improvement: Prisma SD-WAN users seek improvements in system maintenance, troubleshooting with routing policy changes, and enhanced support training. Cisco Umbrella could benefit from better integration with other security solutions, more advanced security features beyond DNS filtering, and improved customization and reporting capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Prisma SD-WAN supports versatile deployment across cloud and on-premises environments, though customer support response times and knowledge levels need improvement. Cisco Umbrella is noted for consistent and responsive support, while both solutions could enhance technical support and integration depth.

Pricing and ROI: Prisma SD-WAN is viewed as expensive but justified by its features and potential cost savings in large-scale deployments, offering ROI through reduced outages and operational efficiency. Cisco Umbrella’s pricing is considered high but aligns with its robust security offering, emphasizing its value in DNS security protection despite being perceived as costly compared to competing solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Umbrella vs. Prisma SD-WAN Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella vs. Prisma SD-WAN

June 2025

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Helped 882,744 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

7.2

Cisco Umbrella enhances security, reduces costs, and integrates easily, offering quick deployment and significant financial returns within a year.

Sentiment score

7.6

Transitioning to Prisma SD-WAN reduced costs by 50%, improved stability, and replaced expensive MPLS links with affordable broadband.

Cisco is a big brand in the networking domain, but in security, they are pushing a lot and improving day by day.

Rajender Bhandari

Chief Technology Officer at Binary Global Limited

From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using the solution is that it makes it a lot easier to delegate some of the tasks that were traditionally used, such as building policies on the firewalls and doing it through Cisco Umbrella.

Omar Mohammed

Network Engineer at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees

The biggest return on investment when using Cisco Umbrella for me is the ease of use of the fact that we've deployed this with our Cisco VPN Secure Client, so every computer has the Umbrella module in it.

Bryan Bettencourt

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

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Umbrella report

Prisma SD-WAN helps reduce network costs.

Srinivas-S

Senior IT Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Prisma SD-WAN report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

8.0

Cisco Umbrella offers professional, reliable customer support with expertise, though some users desire faster response times and streamlined processes.

Sentiment score

6.7

Palo Alto's Prisma SD-WAN support is effective but occasionally slow, with a need for training and faster responses.

I would rate customer support ten out of ten due to the excellent assistance throughout the POC process.

Majid Ali

Manager Cyber Security Department at Mana

Cisco's support is fantastic, providing assistance when needed, especially during the initial installation process.

Sabbir Ahmed

Director at Infosonik Systems Ltd

If I don't need to go to support all the time, that means the product is working fine, so I'm very happy with them.

Omar Mohammed

Network Engineer at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Umbrella report

They respond promptly and are good at finding issues.

Adekunle Kembi

Owner

I would rate the support at minimum eight plus.

Srinivas-S

Senior IT Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Since we are at a premium level, customer service is rated at eight or 8.9 out of ten.

Sureshot

Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Prisma SD-WAN report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

8.2

Cisco Umbrella offers a scalable, adaptable, and efficient solution for various company sizes, simplifying user and site management.

Sentiment score

7.6

Prisma SD-WAN efficiently supports scalable complex networks, praised for ease of deployment and site addition despite documentation concerns.

Cisco Umbrella scales incredibly with the growing needs of my organization.

NicholasCarroll

Network Engineer at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Cisco Umbrella scales really well with the growing needs of my company, bringing the ability to ensure that people are safe and connected.

Bryan Bettencourt

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

Cisco Umbrella scales effectively with the growing needs of my company; it's excellent, and I have experienced no issues.

Andrew Cerio

Senior Network Engineer at Boys Town

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Umbrella report

Everything is managed by the service provider, Palo Alto Networks, allowing me to manage my infrastructure without overheads or extra costs to adapt the management infrastructure to the actual needs of the field.

Engineerinfosec67

Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor

I rate it a ten out of ten since we can easily scale by just paying for additional licenses as needed.

Sureshot

Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Scalability is a significant concern for us due to the poor documentation that limits our ability to understand and utilize their system effectively.

reviewer2706744

Cybersecurity Analyst at a government with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Prisma SD-WAN report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.3

Cisco Umbrella is praised for its stability, reliability, minimal maintenance, and quick resolution of rare connectivity issues.

Sentiment score

7.8

Prisma SD-WAN is noted for high stability and reliability, with improved performance and rare downtime, despite complex setup.

I have not experienced any major stability issues with Cisco Umbrella.

Sabbir Ahmed

Director at Infosonik Systems Ltd

Cisco Umbrella Secure Access is pretty stable in my mind, and we have not seen many glitches that would have interrupted services at customer locations.

Rajender Bhandari

Chief Technology Officer at Binary Global Limited

The stability and reliability of the Cisco Umbrella platform have been great.

Bryan Bettencourt

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

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Umbrella report

Stability is high, I rate it 9.8 out of ten.

Sureshot

Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Prisma SD-WAN is an absolutely stable solution.

Engineerinfosec67

Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor

Our engineers make the system appear stable through effective management.

Kevin Fitzsimmons

At Messer Manager, Network & Communications (Americas) at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Prisma SD-WAN report

Room For Improvement

Cisco Umbrella needs enhancements in reporting, integration, user-friendliness, protection, licensing, infrastructure, and support for an improved user experience.

Prisma SD-WAN needs better usability, technical support, integration, and competitively priced features, with improvements in security and automation.

Making it more flexible and easy to deploy, particularly when integrating with other technologies like Active Directory and proxies, would be beneficial.

Majid Ali

Manager Cyber Security Department at Mana

The product can only shield a small area, making it less effective for larger spaces or multiple users.

Sabbir Ahmed

Director at Infosonik Systems Ltd

I have to write an email to Umbrella support to get assistance, unlike the other products where I can call the Cisco technical assistance center and get an engineer.

Sidi Abdul

CTO at Next Technologies Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Umbrella report

Scalability is a significant concern for us due to the poor documentation that limits our ability to understand and utilize their system effectively.

reviewer2706744

Cybersecurity Analyst at a government with 201-500 employees

If there were an option to extend management to other firewalls, users could perform staggered migrations.

Sureshot

Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

It would be beneficial if the solution integrated the SD-WAN features of Prisma SD-WAN with the security features of Palo Alto's next-generation firewalls.

Engineerinfosec67

Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor

For more quotes and insights, download the Prisma SD-WAN report

Setup Cost

Cisco Umbrella's pricing is fair yet varies, offering value in security coverage with opportunities to bundle for discounts.

Prisma SD-WAN offers premium pricing but valued functionality and integration, ideal for medium to large enterprises, with package discounts.

We've bundled that with our firewall stuff and our VPN, which brings the price down and adds the ability to grow.

Bryan Bettencourt

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

The only cost associated is the license cost unless additional solutions need to be integrated with Umbrella, which would incur extra costs.

Sabbir Ahmed

Director at Infosonik Systems Ltd

The prices need to be lower as the current pricing is exceedingly high.

reviewer1727910

Network Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Umbrella report

The solution is not cost-effective for smaller environments and is more suitable for medium to large companies.

Engineerinfosec67

Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor

The price for Prisma is a bit high.

Sureshot

Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

The product could be a bit cheaper for the services it provides.

John Helsmoortel

CTO at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Prisma SD-WAN report

Valuable Features

Cisco Umbrella offers DNS-based protection, ease of use, and integration, enhancing productivity, security compliance, and visibility across networks.

Prisma SD-WAN enhances network resilience with seamless integration, intelligent routing, centralized management, and optimal connectivity across multiple sites.

The DNS layer security provided by Cisco Umbrella is very effective for our security posture, offering us vast improvements in visibility over DNS queries and potential threats.

Majid Ali

Manager Cyber Security Department at Mana

The most valuable feature of Cisco Umbrella is its DNS security.

reviewer1727910

Network Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

The best possible thing is that it is very easy to deploy, easy to configure, and very fast to get onboarded with a customer because this is a cloud-based service.

Rajender Bhandari

Chief Technology Officer at Binary Global Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Umbrella report

By reducing the need for expensive internet connections, Prisma SD-WAN allows customers to achieve cost savings.

Engineerinfosec67

Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor

Prisma is a mature platform in terms of security.

Sureshot

Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

The most valuable feature is the single pane of glass, especially since we have Palo Alto firewalls.

John Helsmoortel

CTO at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Prisma SD-WAN report

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Umbrella

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

123

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Internet Security (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)

Prisma SD-WAN

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (5th), WAN Edge (5th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (9th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Umbrella is designed for Domain Name System (DNS) Security and holds a mindshare of 20.8%, down 25.1% compared to last year.
Prisma SD-WAN, on the other hand, focuses on Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions, holds 5.4% mindshare, down 5.7% since last year.

Domain Name System (DNS) Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Umbrella	20.8%
Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection	11.5%
Palo Alto Networks DNS Security	7.6%
Other	60.1%

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Prisma SD-WAN	5.4%
Fortinet FortiGate	13.2%
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN	10.5%
Other	70.9%

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

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.

Read full review

reviewer2706744

Cybersecurity Analyst at a government with 201-500 employees

Navigating documentation challenges leads to reduced incidents with strong setup

The areas that need improvement include documentation/customer support and cross-communication between the support teams. The documentation tends to be outdated, often directing us to resources that are no longer accurate or available, and this is one of the reasons we are potentially looking at alternatives. In terms of the Prisma SD-WAN security integrations, we have seen some benefits, but part of our difficulty is trying to get all of that information on what it does and set up properly. Because we've had issues in the past with getting devices set up properly, scalability is a significant concern for us due to the poor documentation that limits our ability to understand and utilize their system effectively.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Legal Firm

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	4
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	13

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco Umbrella?

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

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma SD-WAN?

Regarding whether Prisma SD-WAN is an expensive solution, I would say the price is competitively high. Everything depends on what security features customers need and what budget they have, so we w...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Prisma SD-WAN?

I am still working on what should be improved in Prisma SD-WAN to make this product better, and I cannot give any update on that part as of now. The costing part might need improvement, but regardi...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Prisma SD-WAN?

Our customers' main use cases for Prisma SD-WAN are to connect multiple branches since they have numerous locations that need to be interconnected. My customers are in multiple industries, includin...

See all answers

Comparisons

Zscaler Internet Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 19% of the time

Cisco Secure Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 6% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 4% of the time

Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Umbrella Competitors

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 19% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 10% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 10% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 7% of the time

BigLeaf vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 5% of the time

More Prisma SD-WAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella

February 2026

Download Cisco Umbrella product report

Buyer's Guide

Prisma SD-WAN

February 2026

Download Prisma SD-WAN product report

Also Known As

OpenDNS

CloudGenix

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

Simplify management, enable app-defined SD-WAN policies and deliver a secure, cloud-delivered branch today with the Industry’s first next-generation SD-WAN.

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

Open Networking User Group, Columbia Sportswear Company, Coca Cola

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella vs. Prisma SD-WAN

June 2025

Free Report: Cisco Umbrella vs. Prisma SD-WAN

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Umbrella vs. Prisma SD-WAN and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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We monitor all Domain Name System (DNS) Security reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.