Axis Security vs Cisco Umbrella comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Cisco are both solutions in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #17 with an average rating of 10.0, while Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.0. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 1.0% mindshare in WSG, compared to Cisco’s 9.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Cisco Umbrella and Axis Security are key players in the enterprise security market. Cisco Umbrella is generally considered superior in scalability and customer support, while Axis Security is recognized for its advanced features that may justify its higher pricing.

Features: Cisco Umbrella stands out for its robust DNS-layer security, seamless integration with existing infrastructure, and efficient threat detection. It also excels in content filtering and offers strong protection against ransomware and phishing. Axis Security, on the other hand, is known for its comprehensive Zero Trust approach, providing secure access without relying on a network perimeter. This feature enhances flexibility and is especially suitable for organizations prioritizing secure access and validation.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Umbrella could enhance its pricing model and provide more advanced threat intelligence. There is also room to improve its interface for a smoother user experience. Axis Security might benefit from simplifying its initial setup process and reducing the complexity of its integration requirements. It could also explore offering more competitive pricing tiers to make its solutions more accessible.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Umbrella offers an easy deployment process with excellent customer service, making it appealing for quick integration needs. Its solution is cloud-based, which facilitates a streamlined setup. Axis Security focuses on cloud-based deployments as well, but its setup might require more extensive initial configuration efforts. However, this is balanced by the responsiveness of their support team.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Umbrella provides competitive pricing with lower initial setup costs, ideal for price-conscious buyers seeking cost-effective security solutions. Its customers often report a strong return on investment. Axis Security tends to have higher initial expenses, but its advanced feature set can deliver significant long-term ROI, making it a compelling option for those prioritizing maximum security benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Axis Security vs. Cisco Umbrella Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Axis Security vs. Cisco Umbrella

September 2026

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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

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.2%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Axis Security is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 9.4%, down from 16.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Umbrella	9.4%
iboss	3.2%
Axis Security	1.0%
Other	86.4%

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula

Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.

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ERIC OTIENO OJWANG

Acsys support Desk. at American Tower

Access monitoring and reporting optimize site security

In Axis Security, the most valuable feature is the ability to generate reports on who accessed a site at a particular time, specifically the entry and exit reports. It's important for analyzing incidents and understanding log-ins and log-outs. Another feature is the ability to blacklist a key if used improperly, preventing unauthorized access to sites.

Read full review

Suresh-Sharma

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.

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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

"Technical support is pretty sharp and very responsive."

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

"From a corporate perspective, I understand that it's important to keep the company data safe."

"As I mentioned, the return on investment is significant, as it saved our office locations' bandwidth because when you are working remotely at home, your internet traffic routes directly to iboss and will not go to your office building, saving bandwidth bottlenecks and ensuring that issues with our building internet circuits will not impact your internet connectivity because you are directly going to the iboss data center."

"Iboss is a solution that prevents advanced persistent threats, and has a zero tolerance for attacks."

"iboss is easy to use despite its complexity. Multiple engineers manage it, but it's significantly more straightforward to administer than traditional VPNs and web proxies."

"I would say iboss is a very good product; its scalability is very good, and it's seamless for the user."

"The iboss solution gives me the ability to scan the traffic through all the ports, through all the 131,000 PCP and UDP ports, and with this ability, we have the granularity also for consults over social media and applications on mobile, and this is an advantage that the customers are looking for right now."

More iboss pros

"I rate Axis Security ten out of ten."

"The most valuable part so far has been Axis Security's ability to create identity connections to various servers, allowing users to access them. By doing so, we've managed to replace any old or existing VPN access with Axis Security. We are slowly but surely getting rid of our traditional VPN."

"The most valuable aspect is its ability to restrict unauthorized access, ensuring that only approved devices can connect to the network. T"

"The entire suite and the entire ZTNA process are very valuable."

"I would give it an A-plus for securing access to our applications, devices, and network. It does an extremely good job. Our security folks have analyzed it and tried to find loopholes, but they found none."

"The way the access connectors work is valuable."

"As far as the IT infrastructure team goes, we're all happy with the product; it definitely takes a lot of load off of our plate and it's been functioning very efficiently and effectively, doing everything we need it to do."

"The customer service and technical support of Cisco Umbrella are great."

"In general, it increases the security level, helps us prevent threats from being accessed, and increases the visibility into internet-bound traffic, so overall it increases the internet security of the organization."

"In general, Umbrella is a competitive solution for small or large enterprise."

"I think we got our return on investment within the first month of its use, because of the increased security that we had in the organization; the ability to have a product that is protecting our end-users."

"Meraki features and cloud-based functionality are advanced and easy to manage centrally."

"There was a positive effect on productivity because we could track and confront the users that were frequently using social media or streaming video during the work day."

"Cisco Umbrella's integration with other solutions has been a great feature in terms of ease of administration. Administration and troubleshooting are faster. The single pane of glass is great as well. Another great feature of Cisco Umbrella is remote browser isolation. With this feature, you open a virtual browser, and it's seamless to the user. If the user ends up going to a bad website that's passed a policy and something bad tries to download, it will not download into the machine because it is a virtual window somewhere in the cloud. You are protected by this feature."

More Cisco Umbrella pros

Cons

"One thing I would like to see differently with their Zero Trust platform is that some of the AI aspects related to high-risk activities have more false positives."

"The area I would like to see improvement in is the ability with in the reporter to navigate directly to the content the user is traversing. It is kind of there, but it's not perfect. Quite frequently, I receive links that lead me to pages with error messages."

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

"Its pricing could be better."

"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."

"If they could implement an extra security layer preventing access to iboss from the open internet, it would be great."

"For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil."

"The endpoint-type solution is an area that needs some improvement."

More iboss cons

"I would appreciate more automated learning capabilities or increased integration with other security tools, allowing us to establish automation."

"There should be a notification alarm with geofencing."

"The support team should be more skilled in offering assistance."

"I would like more detailed logging in the Axis Security interface."

"I would like more statistics about what's going on in terms of usage. There is little-to-no usage reporting. That's one thing we've requested, and I think they're working on it."

"They need to improve the networking and security tools a little in the troubleshooting and 'bad-actor' areas to help us analyze security threats a little better. They have some things built-in, but I would like to see more advanced tools."

"In the way we are using the solution it would be good for us if they would do some simplification of the analytics. They need to improve this feature so they have analytics to show the content of the user activity."

"The biggest frustration I have encountered with Cisco Umbrella is that people can exit the Cisco Umbrella roaming client to bypass security, and some technically savvy individuals might know how to bypass it by modifying the hosts file to exclude Cisco Umbrella."

"The locks and management could be better. The product is fairly new, and it may take some time to get all the features up and running."

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

"It should have a real-time malware classification engine. It should check the malware on the website. It would be good if it had a real-time malware check for the websites because currently, it just compares the DNS queries of the blacklist. It should also have malware control over file execution and the types of files that the users are allowed to download."

"Data reporting is something I would like to see improved."

"We faced an issue regarding virtual appliances (VAs) during deployment. They could improve the quality and management of the virtual appliances offered right now. You can't see much because it is a Linux machine, and they have customized it. You don't have any route access to the machine, only seeing limited things in it. When we opened a ticket, they didn't know much about VAs themselves. So, that is where it is lacking right now. I know this will improve in the long run."

"Lower costs including licensing, support, and renewals would be beneficial."

More Cisco Umbrella cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"The pricing is very competitive from what I've seen."

"The pricing is quite fair. It's better than what we gave up, which was Cisco AnyConnect."

"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."

"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."

"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"Its value exceeds its pricing."

"When talking about Cisco solutions in general there pricing model is horrible. For example, you can sell a Meraki-based solution, but if the customer starts shopping around, someone is going to have access to the pricing at a level that you cannot compete because they do not have uniform pricing. Not everybody gets fair pricing. Unless you are one of the real major corporations selling the solution your ability to compete is impossible. Cisco will acknowledge the situation and assure you next time it will be in your favor but it never becomes favorable for you. Cisco is not very good in this regard. However, Umbrella is good."

"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."

"There are no hidden costs with Umbrella. Everything is included in the package."

More Cisco Umbrella pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

12%

Manufacturing Company

University

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	50
Midsize Enterprise	31
Large Enterprise	51

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

I think iboss could be improved by making reporting and dashboard customization more flexible, and simplifying troubl...

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What is your primary use case for iboss?

I use iboss as a cloud-based secure web gateway to provide secure internet access, web filtering, and protect remote ...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

My experience with iboss's pricing structure, setup cost, and licensing model has been positive, straightforward, and...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Axis Security?

Axis Security is affordable. While I cannot provide financial specifics, we have never had complaints about pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Axis Security?

There should be a notification alarm with geofencing. When a person is at the gate, a notification alarm should alert...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Axis Security?

We monitor access for individuals who log in and out, as there are codes we log in with. The code is generated by an ...

See all answers

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. Zs...

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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-nat...

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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 bu...

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Comparisons

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 10% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs iboss

Compared 8% of the time

FortiSASE vs iboss

Compared 6% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 5% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Axis Security

Compared 14% of the time

Cisco Security Cloud vs Axis Security

Compared 10% of the time

Netskope vs Axis Security

Compared 9% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Axis Security

Compared 5% of the time

Forcepoint ONE vs Axis Security

Compared 2% of the time

More Axis Security Competitors

Zscaler Internet Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 22% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Secure Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 4% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 3% of the time

Cloudflare vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Umbrella Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

September 2026

Download iboss product report

Buyer's Guide

Axis Security

September 2026

Download Axis Security product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella

September 2026

Download Cisco Umbrella product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

No data available

OpenDNS

Overview

iboss is the Zero Trust SASE platform that gives organizations complete visibility and governance over their AI, data, and applications through one unified platform, one console, one policy engine, and one data lake.

Your endpoints may already stop malware. Your data and application activity can still be invisible. iboss decrypts and understands every connection, then turns that signal into answers security leaders can act on.

The platform leads with three capabilities in this order: AI Security and Visibility, Data Security and Visibility, and App Visibility and Control. Zero Trust Network Access, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN sit underneath as the access fabric that carries those three. Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

- AI Security and Visibility: conversation capture, shadow-AI discovery, AI DLP, and agent governance across Claude, Co-Work, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok, and emerging services.

- Data Security and Visibility: full SSL/TLS decryption, deep content inspection, MIP label compliance, and one-click compliance reporting.

- App Visibility and Control: signatureless CASB, dual risk scoring, in-app controls, and SSPM for major SaaS.

- Containerized Zero Trust SASE: dedicated containers, isolated SSL keys, one console, one policy engine, one data lake.

- Access fabric: ZTNA, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN under the same platform.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

- Complete visibility over AI, data, and applications from one platform instead of separate point tools.

- Encrypted traffic is inspected by default so data decisions use content and context together.

- Shadow SaaS and new web tools appear as they are used, with enforceable controls in one console.

- Native data sovereignty through dedicated containers, in-region inspection, and per-customer SSL key custody.

- Scale proven in published materials: 10M+ users, 100+ countries, 150B+ transactions, 2.5B+ threats blocked.

Economic buyers are CISOs, CIOs, and VPs of Security. Champions include security architects, network and infrastructure leaders, SecOps, and GRC. Primary segments: enterprise and business, financial services, government (including FedRAMP Gov Cloud), healthcare, manufacturing, legal and professional services, retail and hospitality, and MSP/MSSP partners. Education, including K-12, is one vertical among these.

iboss

Axis Security provides secure and seamless access to cloud infrastructures with features that support both modern and legacy applications, enhancing connectivity and performance.

As a leader in secure connectivity, Axis Security simplifies access management with its easy deployment and configuration. It integrates directly with Okta for single sign-on and replaces traditional VPNs, ensuring trust for access requests while restricting unauthorized access. Its interface combines Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and secure web gateway functions into one, offering a unified approach for managing secure connections across platforms including Azure, AWS, and Google. Users find its reporting capabilities beneficial for access analysis, supporting multiple protocols to establish secure connections effortlessly.

What are the most important features of Axis Security?

Easy Deployment and Configuration: Streamlines access management.
Secure Connectivity: Direct integration with cloud providers like Azure, AWS, Google.
Single-pane Interface: Combines ZTNA and secure web gateway functions.
Single Sign-On: Okta integration enhances seamless access.
Access Analysis: Comprehensive reporting features aid security insights.

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Enhanced Security: Replaces VPNs and restricts unauthorized access.
Improved Performance: Reduces latency with seamless global infrastructure access.
Protocol Support: Supports multiple protocols for flexible connectivity.

In the biopharma industry, Axis Security enables entities to manage infrastructure access, safeguarding proprietary data and meeting compliance. Insurance subsidiaries use it to monitor access across retail environments, while cloud deployments help secure network devices against unauthorized access and manage code generation for site monitoring and authentication.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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

Sample Customers

Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

Cardenas Markets, Armis, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Visionworks

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

Buyer's Guide

Axis Security vs. Cisco Umbrella

September 2026

Free Report: Axis Security vs. Cisco Umbrella

Find out what your peers are saying about Axis Security vs. Cisco Umbrella and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.

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