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Cisco Umbrella vs Palo Alto Networks DNS Security 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
7.2
Number of Reviews
124
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Internet Security (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (3rd)
Palo Alto Networks DNS Secu...
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 16.5%, down from 23.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is 10.2%, up from 8.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Domain Name System (DNS) Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Umbrella16.5%
Palo Alto Networks DNS Security10.2%
Other73.3%
Domain Name System (DNS) 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.
reviewer2695164 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Provides comprehensive protection for outgoing traffic and has improved management through AI features
I am currently working in IT security, focusing mainly on firewalls and IDS solutions. My primary focus is on Palo Alto Networks DNS Security. I only work with physical firewalls, specifically the 400 series and 1400 series, not with K2-Series firewall, Prisma Access, or CN-Series. We are using the URL Filtering license, Advanced Threat Prevention license, and DNS Security license. I think the price of Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is quite realistic; it's not too expensive, but of course, it's not cheap. Our clients are mainly using on-premises solutions. On a scale of 1-10, I rate Palo Alto Networks DNS Security an 8.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The Secure Internet Gateway benefits my company because now our whole traffic goes to the Umbrella Cloud and it gets checked there, so nothing malicious is coming into our network."
"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."
"Meraki features and cloud-based functionality are advanced and easy to manage centrally."
"The customer service and technical support of Cisco Umbrella are great."
"Cisco's support is fantastic, providing assistance when needed, especially during the initial installation process."
"It blocks malicious DNS queries daily which is very beneficial."
"It provides centralized, device-agnostic management of the Internet experience."
"Cisco Talos threat intelligence significantly influences my company's ability to act against emerging threats, giving us the chance to patch our side or take precautions when zero-day vulnerabilities emerge."
"So, in general, it's very stable because the process to deliver new features and new releases in not so long...I rate the scalability a nine out of ten."
"The main feature of the Palo Alto Networks DNS Security protects our network from external attacks, malware, and data theft."
"The most valuable features of DNS Security include its ability to protect against command and control traffic, anonymizers, newly registered domains, and DNS tunneling."
"The product is easy to install."
"I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten."
"The stability is excellent and the product is very mature."
"Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is a stable solution."
"The solution's most valuable features are data exfiltration and DNS tunneling."
 

Cons

"The different levels of security, such as backend security and internet security, need improvement."
"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."
"It would be good if the more complex versions of Umbrella are simplified so that we can offer them in a more standardized way. We, as a telco, do not operate the same as a traditional integration partner would, who can sell all its services. We try to have a standardized approach as much as we can so that we can sell the solution with as many services added to it as possible. If you look at the structure of businesses in Switzerland, 95% of them have 10 persons or less, and they do not have a security specialist. Therefore, the higher the automated and standardized features, the better it is for them."
"If the virtual appliances could also gather traffic bandwidth reports, that would be great."
"I'd like to see this solution more closely integrate with other products Cisco has in its portfolio."
"It is a value for money product for sure. However, it does not have that kind of awareness plus brand within the customer, as they are influenced more by brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet."
"Its DNS service does not support IPv6 query."
"It could be more secure. It would be better if they provided a transferring proxy as an add-on and more integration."
"I'm not really sure what needs improvement. The only hiccup I've really seen is a couple of the DNS requests get flagged as the Sophos traffic instead of DNS traffic, but that's more of their app detection in the DNS Security. I haven't really seen any issues with the DNS security."
"The installation is more complex because the solution has another approach to security."
"I have found customer service to be quite problematic. The support is often outsourced, leading to delayed response times."
"The scalability can be improved."
"The pricing of the Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is very high."
"There should be an on-premise version of this solution."
"The number of hotfixes indicates that there are many bugs in the new releases. Comparing a few years earlier, a release contained much fewer hotfixes."
"Sometimes, it blocks legitimate traffic for custom applications, requiring manual intervention."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are no hidden costs with Umbrella. Everything is included in the package."
"It needs a better price point."
"Cisco has a set price for a single license up to 100, but whenever we get over 100, we have to ask for a quote."
"You get what you pay for."
"Cisco uses subscription models for the pricing and there are three subscription plans."
"There is a subscription cost."
"It has a reasonable price. It is certainly not as expensive as it used to be. It is in line with other offerings on the market. There are a number of different flavors of Umbrella. They could bring Umbrella SIG down a bit because its price is a little bit high for what it does, but I also understand why its price is high."
"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 solution's pricing is equal to Cisco AMP or Cisco Umbrella."
"There is an annual license for the solution and I am satisfied with the pricing."
"Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is an expensive product. I rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten points are expensive."
"The product is expensive. My company makes payments on a quarterly basis towards the solution's costs."
"It is not an expensive solution."
"If one is very cheap and ten is very expensive, I rate the tool's price as two."
"The product is expensive compared to Fortinet."
"There aren't many vendors offering DNS security solutions, but generally, Palo Alto subscriptions tend to be more expensive than other security vendors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Performing Arts
6%
 

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 Business6
Large Enterprise10
 

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 needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks DNS Security?
DNS Security protects us against threats, malware, and malicious domains or malicious navigation to the internet, which is where it can be improved the best. Palo Alto helps us with support, so I d...
What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks DNS Security?
I can describe my use cases for Palo Alto Networks DNS Security, which is used for protecting our network. I use this product, Palo Alto Networks DNS Security, with Palo Alto firewalls.
What advice do you have for others considering Palo Alto Networks DNS Security?
I don't have experience with Palo Alto Networks AutoFocus. Regarding the DNS Security, I have firewalls with the DNS Security module in the firewall. DNS Security is something we configure in our f...
 

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. Palo Alto Networks DNS Security and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.