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Cisco Umbrella vs F5 BIG-IP DNS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 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 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)
F5 BIG-IP DNS
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 22.2%, down from 28.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP DNS is 6.7%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Domain Name System (DNS) Security
 

Featured Reviews

Sabbir Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Blocks threats before they reach the user's device
Cisco Umbrella can be improved in terms of limited coverage and wind vulnerability. The product can only shield a small area, making it less effective for larger spaces or multiple users. Additionally, strong winds can disrupt its functionality, and the opening and closing mechanism can be awkward in tight spaces.
Richard Polyak - PeerSpot reviewer
A robust solution designed to inspect network and form an internal topology network with clients
While we haven't explored AI-driven features yet, it's part of our roadmap for future versions. I would recommend F5 BIG-IP DNS to others in the industry. Overall, I would rate it an eight out of 10 as it meets our current needs but it will always have room for improvement.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The documentation is good, and we have been able to resolve any issues ourselves."
"Provides dependable DNS monitoring of external devices."
"Stability-wise, it's good. I have never encountered any bugs."
"DNS protection, domain blocking, SIP component, and the Cisco Umbrella roaming client are the valuable features of Cisco Umbrella."
"We like Cisco Umbrella because of DNS security. It's one step ahead of whatever we are using for regular web filtering. In that way, it's more secure than other web filtering products."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the Web Filtering and the APT."
"Threats never come close to your network with security at the DNS level​."
"The initial setup is very easy and takes only a few minutes."
"For one of our clients, F5 improved global server load balancing with an active-active site configuration for Disaster Recovery."
"F5 technical support is quite good and they follow up if there are any issues."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The solution is easy to configure and deploy. It is scalable and works without any downtime. F5 BIG-IP DNS is a flexible solution."
"F5 BIG-IP DNS is a stable solution."
"The configuration process is straightforward, making it easy to set up wide IPs and distribute traffic across local US sites and data centers via VPN."
"BIG-IP DNS's best features are DNS monitoring and global service load balancing."
"The management is very easy."
 

Cons

"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."
"The pricing could always be a little bit better."
"They need to improve analytics so they report on more of the specifics of user activity."
"The channel of support needs improvement. It is not under normal Cisco support, and I cannot simply call for support."
"There are cheaper solutions in the market"
"I would like for them to continue building on IPS and IDS functionalities."
"I would like to see more integrability with other products."
"It needs better integration with external threat feeds to improve scoring."
"CNC (control and command) communication would be beneficial. We would like to have control and command blocking to prevent visiting malicious websites."
"The solution's initial setup is complex compared to Fortinet."
"Scalability is a concern, it could be improved."
"The tool needs to improve its UI."
"The initial setup is a step-by-step process, so it can be a bit complicated for someone who's using it for the first time."
"In the product, one of the shortcomings is related to its configuration part...Though you can find some manuals or F5 documents, in real life, it's very hard to understand this product."
"The initial setup could be easier."
"It would be great to see a F5 BIG-IP DNS cloud version. What we within the Australian government are looking at doing is utilizing a secured DNS service much the same as the English GCHQ version of their protected DNS service."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco is expensive. For example, we are looking at Nexus Dashboard, and it's costing about 250,000 euros. I ask, "What do I get from it?" I'm still not convinced that we have to spend on it, so pricing is a problem."
"It was a little bit expensive on a per seat basis, but the company I was running was only a midsize Australian company, and it was a reasonable budget per computer for that system. It started off being a free product, and then Cisco bought it, and it went to a reasonable price. I was using Cisco AMP as well. So, my per computer cost was reasonably high, but for a small company, it was within an acceptable level."
"There is room for improvement when it comes to the cost."
"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."
"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."
"The price could be lower."
"You can request an evaluation license​."
"They are competitively priced."
"You cannot do much around DDoS protection without an additional license from F5."
"In some cases, it is expensive."
"BIG-IP DNS is more expensive than its competitors like Citrix, but it gives good value for money."
"The on-prem version is only available on a yearly license, but the cloud version can be paid for on a day-by-day basis."
"I would rate the pricing a three out of ten, with ten being a low price."
"Cost is a factor. It is really costly."
"This product is quite pricey but if you compare the feature set and its compatibility with similar products on the market, you would understand why it's that price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
23%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

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 F5 BIG-IP DNS?
For one of our clients, F5 improved global server load balancing with an active-active site configuration for Disaster Recovery.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP DNS?
In terms of pricing, F5 BIG-IP is not cheaper compared to other solutions like Fortinet or Citrix. The cost can be high due to its comprehensive modules.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP DNS?
The support response time could use improvement. In critical cases, such as in the big environment projects, faster support is needed to address critical issues promptly.
 

Also Known As

OpenDNS
F5 BIG-IP DNS, F5 DNS Delivery
 

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
Ricacorp Properties, Bangladesh Post Office, Shawbrook Bank, Shinsegae Internet Duty Free
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Umbrella vs. F5 BIG-IP DNS and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.