Cisco Umbrella vs Twingate comparison

Cisco and Twingate are both solutions in the Internet Security category. Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.2, while Twingate is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0. Cisco holds a 30.4% mindshare in IS, compared to Twingate’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Twingate users who would recommend it.

Cisco Umbrella

Read 123 Cisco Umbrella reviews

19,468 Views
4,867 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Twingate

Read 1 Twingate review

2,357 Views
141 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Umbrella

Twingate

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Cisco Umbrella and Twingate compete in network security solutions, each offering unique security approaches. Cisco Umbrella holds an advantage due to its comprehensive security measures and DNS-layer protection.

Features: Cisco Umbrella provides threat intelligence, secure web gateway functions, and DNS-layer protection. Twingate offers Zero Trust model connectivity, dynamic resource access, and scalability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Umbrella features a stable deployment model and strong support. Twingate delivers a streamlined deployment process and proactive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Umbrella offers dependable ROI with robust features but may entail higher upfront costs. Twingate presents flexible pricing strategies suitable for budget-conscious organizations, offering attractive immediate ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Internet Security Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Internet Security

January 2026

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Helped 881,733 peers since 2012

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 Internet Security

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

123

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)

Twingate

Ranking in Internet Security

13th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Access Control (NAC) (12th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (15th), ZTNA as a Service (17th), ZTNA (6th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (17th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Internet Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 30.4%, down from 37.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Twingate is 1.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Internet Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Umbrella	30.4%
Twingate	1.9%
Other	67.7%

Internet Security

Featured Reviews

Emilio Montoya

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.

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Joey Benamy

Senior Cyber Liability Engineer at OncoLens

Helps reduce access-related support tickets, is quick to deploy, and streamlines onboarding

We were able to add Twingate into our infrastructure without having to change our infrastructure or how people work. We reaped the benefits of Twingate immediately because it replaced an alternative solution with a lot of overhead. Twingate helped reduce access-related support tickets by 80 percent. Twingate streamlines onboarding for our company, especially for the engineering team, by automating resource access through directory integrations. New employees generally require no manual configuration within Twingate, saving us significant time and effort. The resiliency is directly proportional to the level of control we exert over its components. We can manage Twingate connectors to support high availability, ensuring the system is as reliable as needed. This flexibility and control enhance Twingate's resiliency capabilities significantly.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco Umbrella offers DNS layer security, a secure web gateway, and cloud access security broker functionality."

"The initial setup is very easy and takes only a few minutes."

"When it comes to hybrid work it's pretty effective. We've got the agents. We can protect people inside our building and, when they're using their laptops out in the field, they're still protected. It's working well."

"Cisco Umbrella is the first layer of security that protects me while surfing the net, identifying untrusted websites to prevent access."

"We use Cisco Umbrella for DNS filtering and as a secure gateway."

"The feature that we find most valuable is to be able to filter out those web requests that you don't want."

"The DNS data exfiltration and the blocking of DNS tunneling are the most effective features for threat prevention in our company."

"It blocks malicious DNS queries daily which is very beneficial."

More Cisco Umbrella pros

"I appreciate Twingate's developer-first approach, particularly its excellent developer tools for deployment and management."

Cons

"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."

"It could be more secure. It would be better if they provided a transferring proxy as an add-on and more integration."

"Network connectivity was a bit of a challenge at the beginning, but we were able to get the right help from Cisco."

"It has happened in the past that Cisco Umbrella has denied us access to secure websites."

"The integration with Cisco could be better."

"Cisco Umbrella hasn't integrated customized reporting yet. With Cisco Secure Endpoint Hub, I can see a report on user downloads and set it up to constantly get an email alert. Based on my understanding, Cisco Umbrella can't do that. You can set it up with third parties, but it would be better if that were built into the platform."

"If I want to see which users access a website, I need an Active Directory registered on Umbrella's cloud."

"The product can be pretty expensive."

More Cisco Umbrella cons

"Twingate's lack of native support for Windows Server is a significant limitation."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Cisco Umbrella is expensive and could be cheaper."

"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."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"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 product is pricey compared to Cisco Firepower."

"The pricing model is easier compared to some of the other solutions, and it is also competitive."

"The price is quite good."

More Cisco Umbrella pricing and cost advice

"Twingate's pricing is fair."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Comms Service Provider

18%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	50
Midsize Enterprise	30
Large Enterprise	51

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...

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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...

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What do you like most about Cisco Umbrella?

Cisco Umbrella is easy to monitor, manage, and deploy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Twingate?

Twingate's pricing is fair.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Twingate?

Twingate's lack of native support for Windows Server is a significant limitation. While it hasn't directly affected my company, I've encountered this issue when assisting others. Additionally, the ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Twingate?

We use Twingate for remote access.

See all answers

Comparisons

Zscaler Internet Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 19% of the time

Cisco Secure Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 9% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 6% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 4% of the time

Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Umbrella Competitors

Tailscale vs Twingate

Compared 26% of the time

Cloudflare One vs Twingate

Compared 24% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Twingate

Compared 7% of the time

NordLayer vs Twingate

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos Network Access Control vs Twingate

Compared 4% of the time

More Twingate Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella

February 2026

Download Cisco Umbrella product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Access Control (NAC)

January 2026

Download Twingate product report

Also Known As

OpenDNS

No data available

Overview

Cisco Umbrella provides fast-deploying DNS-layer security with powerful threat protection capabilities. Trusted by over 30,000 entities, it ranks highly in DNS security and effectively supports secure remote work environments.

Cisco Umbrella offers comprehensive DNS security, web filtering, and ease of use, enhancing network security through robust threat protection and malware prevention. It processes over 600 billion requests daily, making it a leader in its field. The seamless integration with existing infrastructures and cloud-based nature makes it suitable for remote and distributed work environments, ensuring consistent security throughout. Management is streamlined with a single-pane interface that simplifies administration, while in-depth reporting capabilities provide valuable insights for continuous monitoring.

What are the key features of Cisco Umbrella?

DNS Security: Provides leading protection by managing DNS queries and blocking malicious sites.
Web Filtering: Offers granular control over web content to safeguard internet usage.
Ease of Integration: Fits well into existing infrastructures, simplifying deployment and use.
Intuitive Management: Single-pane management streamlines administration and enhances usability.
Cloud-Based Flexibility: Supports secure remote work environments.

What benefits can users expect from using Cisco Umbrella?

Superior Threat Protection: Reduces risk by effectively detecting and preventing cyber threats.
Consistent Security: Provides uniform protection across network environments.
Efficiency and Visibility: Leverages comprehensive reporting for better security insights.
Easy Deployment: Quick and straightforward setup with minimal disruption.

Cisco Umbrella is widely adopted in industries requiring advanced DNS-level security to counteract malware, phishing, and cyber threats. Its ability to monitor and protect remote and roaming employees makes it an attractive option for sectors highly dependent on cloud services. By managing DNS queries and blocking harmful sites, Cisco Umbrella enhances cybersecurity across networks, providing an added layer of protection for businesses worldwide.

Cisco

Twingate is a cloud-based network security platform that offers secure, zero-trust access to corporate applications and resources. Its primary use case is to provide remote access to employees, contractors, and partners, allowing them to work securely from anywhere. Twingate's most valuable functionality is its ability to create secure access policies based on user identity, device, and network context. This enables organizations to enforce granular access controls, reducing the risk of data breaches and insider threats.

By leveraging Twingate, organizations can improve their security posture and reduce the IT burden of managing traditional VPNs. It also helps organizations to comply with regulatory requirements, such as GDPR and HIPAA, by providing a secure and auditable access solution.

Twingate

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

Blend, Modern Health, Webflow, Liberis, Cerebral, Homebase, Bloomreach, Cameo, Hippo and Bitpanda

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Zscaler, iboss and others in Internet Security. Updated: January 2026.

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