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Cisco Umbrella vs OpenText Core DNS Protection​ comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
125
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Internet Security (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (3rd), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd)
OpenText Core DNS Protection​
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
20th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 17.0%, down from 22.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Core DNS Protection​ is 1.9%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Domain Name System (DNS) Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Umbrella17.0%
OpenText Core DNS Protection​1.9%
Other81.1%
Domain Name System (DNS) Security
 

Featured Reviews

KamranJameel - PeerSpot reviewer
Head Of IT at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Secure browsing has protected users from DNS threats and improves malware defense
The major issue is that sometimes when you install the client, it shows you protected and displays that it is live with the backend servers and everything. However, in reality, it was not getting any feed from the main client and is just sending your traffic to open DNS, which sometimes causes an issue because the protection you have implemented can be breached by users. The primary thing that Cisco Umbrella lacked most of the time is their client. Previously, they had a separate Cisco client. Now they have merged everything into the Cisco Secure Endpoint client—one client for everything, for Cisco Endpoint, for Cisco AnyConnect, and for Cisco Umbrella, which they did probably in 2025.
James Selby - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Security Division at Virtual-IT
Offers reasonable pricing and solid scalability in the enterprise context
In my limited experience with Webroot, it has shown good scalability, particularly in the enterprise context. When it comes to Webroot DNS, I find it to be a nice solution but prefer a more comprehensive approach. I lean towards XDR vendors that can integrate DNS protection into a unified dashboard, especially as traditional anti-malware solutions like Webroot face challenges with evolving threat actors. Currently, I have around 60,000 Webroot users for anti-malware, but for DNS protection, it is a fraction—about one or two percent—since some clients opt for other solutions. Traditional anti-malware technology is becoming less effective against sophisticated threats.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You can manage and create policies based on a group of users. It can permit some URLs and block others."
"Overall, as a program, it has saved us a ton of time and stress by not having to worry about malware or viruses or anything malicious."
"My favorite feature is the command and control callback blocking."
"The security and access control features."
"I have found the malware protection feature valuable; it is helpful and deliverable and is able to protect my entire organization from getting compromised, and it also prevents us from visiting any malicious sites which are not visible to the users."
"Cisco Umbrella is such a solution and can be implemented very fast and easy. All that we must do is redirect the DNS registers in their routers, or the active directory service of the enterprise that are going to use in Umbrella services. If you buy the service now, in two hours you are protected by the service because it's very fast to put in service."
"It offers good visibility for the Administrator. The administrator has full visibility of what is blocked or has the knowledge of where users go when they are surfing the internet."
"Umbrella is the best product available as of now."
"Almost everyone who uses it is happy about the product. I don't get any types of complaints from my clients."
"DNS protection is valuable."
"The installation is easy and doesn't take long. The program speedy and doesn't crash. It doesn't consume computer hardware or software."
"I would recommend Webroot; it is a very good solution and a solid solution that keeps our computers protected."
"When compared with other products, Webroot DNS Protection is the best to secure the end users."
"Webroot excels in DNS protection, particularly in blocking malicious sites and phishing."
 

Cons

"It needs better integration with external threat feeds to improve scoring."
"The major issue is that sometimes when you install the client, it shows you protected and displays that it is live with the backend servers and everything; however, in reality, it was not getting any feed from the main client and is just sending your traffic to open DNS, which sometimes causes an issue because the protection you have implemented can be breached by users."
"Lower costs including licensing, support, and renewals would be beneficial."
"It's easier for us to have support features with companies who are Cisco representatives, but sometimes, it's hard for us to get the help we need without having to use our contacts within Cisco."
"They need to improve analytics so they report on more of the specifics of user activity."
"Their support should be improved. It is necessary that the support is efficient. It is not really easy to get a resolution for an issue from Cisco support. They should be faster and more efficient."
"It could be improved by having a local data center and caching, which can provide protection support."
"It had the ability to do a lot of app control. So, every single app that went through that portal was registered, but there is a general issue with the whole app control. As soon as you add a mobile phone to your network, all of the apps get registered through the system, and you can approve, reject, or just let them go through. When I looked at it, it was impossible to manage app control. There was just so much data. I didn't apply that service because I just didn't have the time to manage it. It would be good if there was a way to categorize applications."
"It addresses a specific risk related to malicious sites but doesn't cover broader security aspects."
"It needs to be more secure for production environments, currently, it is reliable and secure but as per new internet attacks, it should be ready with a proactive approach to eliminate attack chances."
"Reporting is not done in real-time. Rather, it is done in 15-minute intervales. This is something that should be configurable by the admin."
"The reporting system needs improvement. They should make is that we can customize it so we can add, remove or change its interface but they use a template. The reports cannot be changed."
"It needs to be more secure for production environments."
"The price could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think Cisco Umbrella is priced well. We have a mix of customers with different verticals such as education. We have clients in the commercial space as well. Umbrella is at a good price point for all of our customers."
"Cisco Umbrella is not a cheap product. However, it's not a matter of the cost; it's more a matter of the value of security. It is easy to measure this value when you have a security incident. I think the price is a good trade-off for a product that can help you avoid security threats."
"The licensing part for Umbrella is really flexible."
"You get what you pay for if you break the solution up into tiers."
"Cisco should make the solution cheaper."
"Pricing and licensing of Cisco Umbrella is a bit confusing because you have to separate the DNS solution and the full-feature solution. Cisco in Portugal helped us understand which one was the right one for us."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"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."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
14%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business51
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise51
No data available
 

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?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing reveals that the pricing is acceptable, but it is marginally a bit high. However, the services provided are much better, leading to a good retu...
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Also Known As

OpenDNS
SecureAnywhere DNS Protection
 

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
1. Cisco  2. Dell  3. HP  4. IBM  5. Microsoft  6. Oracle  7. Symantec  8. McAfee  9. Trend Micro  10. Palo Alto Networks  11. Fortinet  12. Check Point Software Technologies  13. Juniper Networks  14. F5 Networks  15. Citrix Systems  16. VMware  17. FireEye  18. Splunk  19. Proofpoint  20. Carbon Black  21. Barracuda Networks  22. SonicWall  23. WatchGuard Technologies  24. Sophos  25. Kaspersky Lab  26. Bitdefender  27. Avast  28. AVG Technologies  29. ESET  30. Malwarebytes  31. Webroot (the company itself)  32. OpenDNS (now part of Cisco)
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Umbrella vs. OpenText Core DNS Protection​ and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.