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Axis Security vs Cisco Umbrella comparison

 

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

Axis Security
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
17th
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
16th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA as a Service (16th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (16th)
Cisco Umbrella
Ranking in Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
1st
Ranking in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
124
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (1st), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Secure Web Gateways (SWG) category, the mindshare of Axis Security is 1.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 9.5%, down from 18.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Umbrella9.5%
Axis Security1.0%
Other89.5%
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

EO
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.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I rate Axis Security ten out of ten."
"The entire suite and the entire ZTNA process are very valuable."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to restrict unauthorized access, ensuring that only approved devices can connect to the network. T"
"The way the access connectors work is 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 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."
"It makes it really easy to accomplish content filtering. We don't have to do a lot of customization. You just click the box for the content category and it's up to date."
"This product is very straightforward and simple to setup."
"The documentation is good, and we have been able to resolve any issues ourselves."
"I was able to implement it myself. It was really easy to install. You could install it on a server locally if you want to. If you have the biggest site, you would do that, but for my site, it was just directing all the traffic out through the Cisco Umbrella DNS. It was really handy. When the owners of the company went overseas, I knew that they would be secure because even if they were not on the company network, they would still go through the Cisco Umbrella servers. It was a complete solution for protecting the company with outgoing data."
"The most valuable thing is how easy it is to deploy. We did it with 9,000 users at my last job, and it took a week to get to all the endpoints. Doing that without having to physically touch all those endpoints was very simple."
"My favorite feature is the command and control callback blocking."
"It has improved our company a lot because we now see where the users are going and prevent them from going to malicious websites."
"It transparently protects users from rogue web sites."
 

Cons

"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."
"There should be a notification alarm with geofencing."
"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."
"The support team should be more skilled in offering assistance."
"I would appreciate more automated learning capabilities or increased integration with other security tools, allowing us to establish automation."
"I would like more detailed logging in the Axis Security interface."
"Some countries don't have a DNS server leading to a domain resolution IP, not at a local level."
"The price could be better. The price is definitely a bit high, but we have to pay a premium for Cisco products."
"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."
"If the security issues are taken care of it would be better."
"The API is very Cisco orientated, which is absolutely fine if you're using Cisco Firepower and SecureX kind of products, but if you want to integrate with third parties, it is a bit tricky."
"Basically, it is not fully mature, which means it's not yet ready to replace the WSA, however, over a period of time, it could to a certain extent."
"Overall, I'm quite happy with Cisco products, but there could be one place where you can check what's going on. There could be one place where you get all the information about these products so that you don't need to look around. You get the status, information about what lately happened, and if there was anything on the machine in one single place."
"I would like to see more integrability with other products."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"There is room for improvement when it comes to the cost."
"The price is fair, and the licensing cost is based on the number of users. We have seen a good ROI."
"The price should be slightly lower than the current price because if you look at the whole solution, it is simply a threat intelligence solution to block blacklisted things. The price should be lower looking at the features provided by the solution. The price isn't too high either, but it could be lower."
"Its price for us is quite expensive because it's a subscription, and we just use it for the DNS log. So, for us, it's quite expensive."
"The pricing is great and very competitive with the rest of the market."
"Cisco Umbrella is expensive and could be cheaper."
"The price of Cisco Umbrella is a little higher than similar solutions, like Gateway."
"The pricing model is easier compared to some of the other solutions, and it is also competitive."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Secure Web Gateways (SWG) solutions are best for your needs.
909,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
8%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Non Profit
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business50
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise52
 

Questions from the Community

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.
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 us, enabling quick identification of who is trying to access our sites, which c...
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 app installed on our phones, which updates when we request the code, showing who...
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.
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenDNS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Axis Security vs. Cisco Umbrella and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.