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Cisco Umbrella vs Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Cisco Umbrella delivers high ROI by saving time, enhancing security, and integrating smoothly, leading to increased productivity and satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.3
Zscaler's Cloud Security Connector enhances security and productivity, cutting costs, time, and overhead while improving efficiency and response times.
Cisco is a big brand in the networking domain, but in security, they are pushing a lot and improving day by day.
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.
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.
Senior Network Engineer at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
Incident troubleshooting time reduced by 35 to 45 percent because Zscaler logs could be directly used instead of correlating multiple cloud and firewall logs.
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
Overall, this has improved team productivity, allowing the same team to handle more deployments without increasing headcount.
Automation Engineer at Techmahindra
Now, with Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler, we do it in about thirty seconds, which shows significant time saved.
Senior Consultant at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
Cisco Umbrella support is praised for quick resolutions, professional service, and effective technical guidance despite occasional delays.
Sentiment score
8.5
Cloud Security Connector support for Zscaler is praised for prompt, effective service with room for faster complex issue resolution.
I would rate customer support ten out of ten due to the excellent assistance throughout the POC process.
Manager Cyber Security Department at Mana
Cisco's support is fantastic, providing assistance when needed, especially during the initial installation process.
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.
Network Engineer at a tech consulting company with 501-1,000 employees
In more complex scenarios such as routing or policy tuning, support provided best practices and recommendations, which made the implementation smoother.
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
We reached out to customer support three weeks back due to an issue where Zscaler got stuck, and they identified and solved the problem within 45 minutes, which is exceptional.
Head Of The Operations at Flash AI
The support team is knowledgeable and responsive, especially for standard issues.
Automation Engineer at Techmahindra
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cisco Umbrella efficiently supports scalability for businesses of all sizes with seamless adaptation and minimal resource demand.
Sentiment score
8.7
Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler offers seamless scalability and integration, adapting efficiently to organizational growth and regional expansions.
Cisco Umbrella scales incredibly with the growing needs of my organization.
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.
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.
Senior Network Engineer at Boys Town
As workloads grow, routing can be updated and traffic can be distributed across multiple connectors without major architecture changes.
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is highly scalable since it is built on cloud-native architecture and can support organizations ranging from small businesses to large enterprises without requiring significant infrastructure changes.
Automation Engineer at Techmahindra
Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler's scalability is definitely impressive, as it has handled growth and changes in our organization well.
Head Of The Operations at Flash AI
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Cisco Umbrella offers reliable, stable performance with excellent uptime, effective security features, and minimal disruptions for enterprise needs.
Sentiment score
8.4
Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is reliable and stable, with minimal downtime and robust performance once configured.
I have not experienced any major stability issues with Cisco Umbrella.
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.
Chief Technology Officer at Binary Global Limited
The stability and reliability of the Cisco Umbrella platform have been great.
Senior Network Engineer at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
There have not been any major downtime or critical issues.
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
Once it is properly configured and deployed, it performs reliably with minimal issues.
Automation Engineer at Techmahindra
It gives us high reliability and the user or the admin can genuinely trust the results that they are getting out of the security platform itself.
Center Of Excellency For Sase And Ot And Io T Security at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Umbrella users seek better endpoint integration, simplified licensing, improved support, enhanced security features, and easier system compatibility.
Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler needs improvements in configuration, integration, and analytics for better efficiency and user experience.
Making it more flexible and easy to deploy, particularly when integrating with other technologies like Active Directory and proxies, would be beneficial.
Manager Cyber Security Department at Mana
The product can only shield a small area, making it less effective for larger spaces or multiple users.
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.
CTO at Next Technologies Ltd
A key learning from this was that while Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler provides strong security control, proper policy tuning and understanding application behavior is critical for smooth deployment.
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
The improvements they can make include a highly resilient, context-aware PAC, proxy auto-configuration engine built directly into the local appliance firmware that can cleanly evaluate complex regular expressions and long hostnames.
Systems Engineer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
If I need to suggest an improvement, it would be to simplify the steep learning curve, as it can be complex for newcomers without prior experience.
Head Of The Operations at Flash AI
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Umbrella pricing varies in cost-effectiveness based on features, with flexible licensing and potential discounts for certain partners.
Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler provides competitive pricing, scalability, and strong value, adapting to organization size and budget.
We've bundled that with our firewall stuff and our VPN, which brings the price down and adds the ability to grow.
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.
Director at Infosonik Systems Ltd
The prices need to be lower as the current pricing is exceedingly high.
Network Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Overall, while pricing depends on the enterprise agreement, the solution delivers good value considering the visibility, control, and security it provides.
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
While it may have a higher initial investment than some alternatives, I believe it provides good value because of its scalability, cloud-native architecture, centralized management, and strong security capabilities.
Automation Engineer at Techmahindra
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is definitely competitive.
Head Of The Operations at Flash AI
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Umbrella provides DNS security, integration, and user management, enhancing protection for hybrid work environments and remote users.
Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler ensures efficient, agentless cloud security with centralized management, zero-trust support, and seamless cloud integration.
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.
Manager Cyber Security Department at Mana
The most valuable feature of Cisco Umbrella is its DNS security.
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.
Chief Technology Officer at Binary Global Limited
It also provides Layer 4 routed bypass for TCP, UDP, and ICMP traffic, enabling granular traffic control that streamlines our services working with Zscaler.
Head Of The Operations at Flash AI
Previously, if a particular task was taking 10 minutes, now it is significantly reduced to two to three minutes only.
Decision Scientist 3 at Mu Sigma Inc.
I find the strong zero-trust approach for cloud workloads to be the most valuable day-to-day because Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is designed around zero-trust connectivity, not legacy network extension.
Security Practitioner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Umbrella
Ranking in Internet Security
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
124
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (3rd)
Cloud Security Connector fo...
Ranking in Internet Security
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Internet Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 27.0%, down from 34.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is 0.8%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Internet Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Umbrella27.0%
Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler0.8%
Other72.2%
Internet Security
 

Featured Reviews

SS
Sr. Technical Executive at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Has required extensive customization for non-technical users and still needs better simplification
Customization for basic users can be complex, as it is targeted toward only technical users. It would be beneficial if Cisco simplifies the customization process while still ensuring strong security to prevent unauthorized access. Simplifying the customization part could enhance Cisco Umbrella, but overall, it is a good solution for me.
Vibin Thomas - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Team Lead - Content Security at Valuepoint Systems
Unified cloud policies have improved zero-trust controls and simplified workload monitoring
A challenge faced during the initial implementation involved routing and application dependency. After routing cloud workload traffic through Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler, a few applications started failing because they depended on specific external services that were getting blocked due to strict policies or SSL inspection. To resolve this, traffic was analyzed using Zscaler logs, the exact domains and services being impacted were identified, and a controlled policy exception was created while maintaining overall security. This helped strike the right balance between security and application availability, which is very important in production environments. A key learning from this was that while Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler provides strong security control, proper policy tuning and understanding application behavior is critical for smooth deployment. Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler has had a very positive impact, especially in terms of security and operational efficiency. Before implementation, cloud workloads had direct internet access through the NAT gateway, which limited visibility and control over outbound traffic. After adopting Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler, all traffic was routed through Zscaler, giving centralized visibility and full policy enforcement. One improvement observed was a significant increase in threat detection. The ability to identify and block suspicious outbound connections that were previously not visible improved the overall security posture. From an operational perspective, troubleshooting became much faster. Instead of checking multiple cloud logs, Zscaler logs could be directly used to analyze traffic behavior, which reduced incident resolution time. The dependency on traditional firewall appliances in cloud environments was reduced, which simplified the architecture and lowered operational overhead. Additionally, for compliance-driven clients in banking, it helped meet audit requirements by providing detailed logs and consistent policy enforcement across both users and workloads. Measurable improvements were observed after implementing Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler. In terms of visibility and threat detection, a 25 to 35 percent increase in identifying suspicious outbound connections was seen that were previously not visible when traffic was going through NAT. From an operational standpoint, troubleshooting time reduced by 45 to 55 percent because Zscaler logs could be directly analyzed instead of checking multiple cloud logs. Dependence on additional security appliances in the cloud was also reduced, which helped lower operational overhead and simplified the architecture. In terms of compliance, better audit readiness was achieved with centralized logging and consistent policy enforcement across workloads and users. While Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is a strong solution, one area that could be improved, especially for teams that are new, is configuring route tables, ensuring proper traffic flow, and avoiding asymmetric routing, which can be challenging, particularly in large or multi-VPC environments. More automated deployment options or guided configurations, especially for AWS or Azure, would simplify the onboarding process. Another area for improvement is better visibility at the cloud-native level, such as tighter integration with cloud logs or more context-aware insight for workload behavior, which would make troubleshooting even faster. Once properly implemented, it works efficiently and provides strong security and visibility. In addition to deployment simplicity, improvements around policy tuning and documentation would add significant value. From a policy perspective, when Zscaler policy is extended to cloud workloads, it sometimes requires careful fine-tuning to avoid impacting application dependency. More predefined templates or workload-specific policy recommendations would help teams implement it faster with fewer disruptions. In terms of documentation, while the existing guides are helpful, more step-by-step real-world deployment examples, especially for multi-VPC or hybrid environments, would make onboarding smoother for teams. Tighter integration guidance with cloud-native tools such as AWS logging or monitoring services would further improve troubleshooting and visibility. From a support standpoint, faster access to best practice recommendations or reference architecture would help teams avoid common misconfigurations during the initial setup.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Construction Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Insurance Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business50
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise51
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler reveals that the pricing can be complex since it is rarely sold at a stand-alone price. Instead, the l...
What needs improvement with Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler?
Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler agents have some issues while applying the policies, and the main thing is when we try to apply policies over the ZCC agent, it takes a couple of minutes. I thi...
What is your primary use case for Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler?
The main use case for Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is monitoring the cloud traffic that we do, and we can connect cloud security applications with the AWS and GCP infrastructure so that we ...
 

Also Known As

OpenDNS
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Umbrella vs. Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.