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Cisco OpenDNS vs Cisco Umbrella comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

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
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Umbrella
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
122
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Internet Security (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Cisco OpenDNS is 2.9%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 21.6%, down from 25.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Domain Name System (DNS) Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Umbrella21.6%
Cisco OpenDNS2.9%
Other75.5%
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.
Emilio Montoya - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at PROA
Ensures internet navigation safety and boosts productivity
The features of Cisco Umbrella I prefer most are DNS protection and traffic redirect. With Cisco Talos's threat intelligence, we reduce the impact of malware traffic in our network, and we currently see the behavior of equipment and choose the correct sites. Cisco Talos has helped us reduce the impact of malware traffic. We can see the behavior and choose the correct sites. We're currently testing secure access with Umbrella in order to secure access to core applications. It's a product that the user doesn't even know is there, even though it is protecting them. It's not hard on the equipment. And, for us, it centralizes everything, which improves productivity. With the Experience Insights feature of Cisco Secure Access, we've seen impacts on the management of user connectivity by allowing us to deliver safe connectivity. We are testing the Secure Access product with Cisco Umbrella to improve our connectivity with our users in order to secure access to the corporate applications. Cisco Umbrella is in the cloud, which is nice.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We use Cisco OpenDNS for upgrades, vulnerability remediation, configuration, and standardization."
"The platform is highly stable."
"The implementation is pretty easy."
"The solution is extremely stable. It has excellent performance."
"One of the great advantages of Umbrella DNS is that it's really simple to deploy. It's easy to install, the users do not notice that it's there, and it doesn't interfere with your work. The simplicity and transparency are great advantages of Cisco Umbrella."
"For me, it's important that I get a connection to my corporate network in a secure and fast way. This product just runs in the background and doesn't need any attention. For me, as a user, it's perfect."
"I haven't needed to reboot the servers for years due to their excellent stability."
"I like the original functionality, which allows for providing secure DNS services."
"Some clients only want DNS security, while others want more of the advanced features that it has available."
"The most valuable features are the dashboard, visibility, and reporting capabilities. Our customers can see how much Umbrella is protecting their organization. If you don't know what you've got, you can't protect it. With Umbrella, you get the visibility and see the protection that it's providing. We can get PDF reports on a weekly basis of any malware activities and any denial of service or command-and-control-type activities."
 

Cons

"The solution’s dashboard could be improved."
"The platform's DNS database area needs improvement."
"Customization for basic users can be complex, as it is targeted toward only technical users."
"The firewall capabilities could be better. Cisco is starting to introduce some layer 7 capabilities now, but there's still some room to grow. They should continue with the development of Umbrella so that it is a full-blown cloud-managed firewall solution."
"Having ready-to-go templates with best practices is definitely something that would be an improvement. Deployment, from day one, is something that definitely needs to be improved for Cisco customers."
"The design of the screens could be improved. Sometimes you're trying to look for information, for what you think is critical that should be on that first screen of the dashboard so that you can quickly take screenshots to have people help out, but you have to hop between screens to find little pieces of evidence."
"Actually, we recently switched over to Zscaler because it has more features and it's more scalable than Cisco Umbrella."
"Security, overall, can always be improved."
"The solution's technical support is not very good."
"They should provide more integrations and bring things together so that there is a more standard feel to their platform. We also use Cisco ISE, and it has a very different feel from Cisco Umbrella."
 

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."
"The pricing was marvelous."
"There is room for improvement when it comes to the cost."
"We did a good negotiation, and at the moment, its price is fine."
"Cisco has a model called ELA. With ELA, if you buy the solution you will have the complete security portfolio and you can pay it yearly or after three years, it depends on the contract."
"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."
"The pricing model is easier compared to some of the other solutions, and it is also competitive."
"In the region I'm from, that of EMAR, Europe, the Middle East, Eastern Asia and Africa, our organizations do not have many liquid cash assets, so the price could be better."
"Cisco solutions are generally perceived to be rather expensive. We have constant internal discussions as to whether we should offer lower-priced security solutions from some of the competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Retailer
8%
Construction Company
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business49
Midsize Enterprise30
Large Enterprise51
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco OpenDNS?
We use Cisco OpenDNS for upgrades, vulnerability remediation, configuration, and standardization.
What needs improvement with Cisco OpenDNS?
The solution’s dashboard could be improved. I would like to see anything with best practices pre-config templates automated to address the zero-day threats.
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.
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenDNS
 

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
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco OpenDNS vs. Cisco Umbrella and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.