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Cisco OpenDNS vs Cisco Secure Access comparison

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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 OpenDNS
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
17th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Secure Access
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (4th), Firewalls (12th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), ZTNA (3rd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Cisco OpenDNS is 2.9%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 4.1%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Domain Name System (DNS) Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Access4.1%
Cisco OpenDNS2.9%
Other93.0%
Domain Name System (DNS) Security
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1678521 - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead - Global IT Networks at a recruiting/HR firm with 10,001+ employees
A stable solution that can be used for upgrades, vulnerability remediation, configuration, and standardization
I am using the latest version of Cisco OpenDNS. Users should prioritize the challenges that they have before implementing the solution. They need to be very clear about what they are looking for. Those parameters need to be defined, success criteria need to be checked, and then they can proceed with the solution that meets the requirements. Overall, I rate Cisco OpenDNS a nine out of ten.
reviewer2788500 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Operations Engineer at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Secure access has unified zero trust and web protection while AI assistance automates tasks
From a feature perspective, I have not experienced any issues, drawbacks, or shortcomings. However, the cost of Cisco's products and licensing is high. My clients usually prefer cheaper options if possible. Mid-size or smaller businesses typically cannot afford Cisco Secure Access. Additionally, there is a steep learning curve, as it is very intensive. Someone with significant knowledge can work on it, but a new professional would have to spend considerable time to get accustomed to it. It is hard to find engineers who can work on it. Overall, we get what we pay for, as it is a pretty good feature and service. The pricing of Cisco's products and licensing is higher than competitors. If they could be more reasonable, that would help. The support offered for two years also has higher costs. Overall, the client's IT budget gets affected. It was challenging to learn because, as mentioned, it has a significant learning curve and requires considerable training to become proficient.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The platform is highly stable."
"We use Cisco OpenDNS for upgrades, vulnerability remediation, configuration, and standardization."
"I find it an amazing product, and as it is an upgrade for Umbrella, it has all the good sides of Umbrella while removing some bad sides."
"It is very flexible, a very competitive solution, very helpful, and very secure; it includes everything a business needs, and the pricing is also available."
"Cisco Secure Access has definitely helped our organization, cutting incident response time at least in half and giving us analytics that let us quickly identify devices and users so everything from headquarters contacting the base to the on-site tech removing a rogue device from the classroom network is much quicker."
"The firewall section for IDP is the most used for remote sites. It fits better with all the data we're collecting from the protection site and the information that we provide to another customer."
"Our security posture has improved significantly with Cisco Secure Access."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Access is the secure web gateway, which provides the secure edge."
"Cisco Secure Client is really efficient for all the users and mostly for the enterprise, so I would say Cisco Secure Client would be the primary one."
"Cisco Secure Access allows us to get a little deeper into some of the things, and having everything on one platform definitely helps, so I do not have to log into fifteen different things to access our switches."
 

Cons

"The platform's DNS database area needs improvement."
"The solution’s dashboard could be improved."
"Regarding support, I do not know what happened to Cisco. I contact them, and the support has been a pain."
"Cisco Secure Access is a strong platform, but there are a few areas that could be improved."
"From a licensing perspective, there could be some enhancement."
"Cisco Secure Access could be improved with fewer bugs; we need to address less software bugs, as there are technical issues and errors in the software, which we are trying to resolve to achieve a more stable version that companies can use without issues, but it is a working process, and we understand this."
"Cisco Secure Access can be improved by developing a portal to control all tools together, which is the feature I want most as we are on this journey and learning about it."
"My experience with the Experience Insight feature, called DEM, is not good. I find the integration between Cisco Secure Access and ThousandEyes does not work well and does not deliver what it is supposed to."
"From a licensing perspective, Cisco can improve."
"I chose eight out of ten primarily due to only the PoP presence."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive yet cost-effective. I rate the pricing an eight out of ten."
"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"It is confusing. When you look at the prices, you have different licensing and years of licensing that you have to purchase. Additionally, it's unclear what service you get from those licenses regarding end-user support. We have a representative who has to walk me through it every time."
"For what you get, it's a fair price in comparison to other products."
"The pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Cisco Secure Access have been very competitive compared to other platforms. I believe that if Cisco continues to improve costs or offers something similar to a Cisco credit, it would attract more customers."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
24%
Construction Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise41
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?
In my experience with the Experience Insights feature or Digital Experience Monitoring of Cisco Secure Access, ThousandEyes is a fine tool, but currently, my experience with our customer is that it...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?
We use Cisco SD-WAN in our own company for our own needs, and we are also selling this to our customers while performing operations for customer networks. My personal customer scope is the large en...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?
Currently, AI Supply Chain Risk Management is not really an issue for us today. I would rate Cisco Secure Access a seven out of ten overall.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. Netflix 2. IBM 3. Deloitte 4. Airbnb 5. Pinterest 6. Box 7. LinkedIn 8. Adobe 9. Spotify 10. Uber 11. Twitter 12. Cisco Systems (the parent company) 13. The New York Times 14. Verizon 15. Coca-Cola 16. General Electric 17. Microsoft 18. Facebook 19. Apple 20. Amazon 21. Google 22. Intel 23. Oracle 24. AT&T 25. Cisco Meraki 26. Salesforce 27. Cisco Webex 28. Cisco Umbrella 29. Cisco Talos 30. Cisco AMP for Endpoints 31. Cisco AnyConnect 32. Cisco Stealthwatch
1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. Google 5. Apple 6. Cisco Systems 7. Oracle 8. Intel 9. HP Inc. 10. Dell Technologies 11. Verizon Communications 12. AT&T 13. Comcast 14. T-Mobile 15. Sprint 16. Vodafone 17. Orange 18. BT Group 19. Deutsche Telekom 20. Telefonica 21. Nokia 22. Ericsson 23. Samsung Electronics 24. Sony 25. Panasonic 26. LG Electronics 27. Siemens 28. General Electric 29. Ford Motor Company 30. General Motors 31. Toyota Motor Corporation 32. Volkswagen Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco OpenDNS vs. Cisco Secure Access and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.