Azure DNS vs Cisco Umbrella comparison

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9,216 views|7,868 comparisons
93% willing to recommend
Cisco Logo
19,965 views|13,585 comparisons
97% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Dec 11, 2022

We performed a comparison between Azure DNS and Cisco Umbrella based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of Azure DNS share mixed reviews on deployment. In contrast, users of Cisco Umbrella agree that deployment is easy and simple.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their stability and scalability.

    Azure DNS users like the solution’s ease of use, automation features, and the fact that it integrates quickly with other products. Users say that the process of creating a virtual mission could be improved, and that the solution has some latency issues.

    Cisco Umbrella users like its single pane of glass because it helps save a lot of time. Reviewers mention that the solution has some interface issues, and that more flexibility in policy creation would be useful.
  • Pricing: Azure DNS users say the pricing of the solution is competitive. Cisco Umbrella has a free version and a paid version. Regarding the paid version, users shared mixed opinions on the pricing.
  • Service and Support: Users of Azure DNS share mixed reviews on the level of support they receive. However, Cisco Umbrella users are satisfied with the support.
  • ROI: Users of both solutions report a positive ROI.

Comparison Results: In this comparison, Cisco Umbrella takes the lead. It is easy to deploy, has a free version and a paid version of the product, as well as good support. In contrast, Azure DNS users share mixed opinions on deployment and support.

To learn more, read our detailed Managed DNS Report (Updated: April 2024).
768,740 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The tool is easy to manage and use.""The setup is relatively straightforward.""From a security perspective, Microsoft is much better than other cloud providers.""One of the key benefits of Azure DNS is its integration with other Azure services. As it is a solution developed by Microsoft, it is easy to integrate with other Azure offerings. Azure DNS also includes Defender for DNS, a feature that protects against anomalies and threats on the DNS. This added security is provided directly by Microsoft. The integration and security features of Azure DNS make it a valuable option for users of the Azure cloud platform.""The solution is easy to use and flexible.""Azure DNS provides value beyond its user-friendly interface and easy learning curve.""Azure DNS is a user-friendly and very easy-to-manage solution.""The most valuable feature is the ease of installation."

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"It analyzes the domain security helps us implement the securest policy.""The core business of Cisco Umbrella is non-malware. That's all it does: block the malware on the gateway.""The most valuable feature is that it secures our network against blacklisted or malicious websites.""It's very stable, reliable and does its job.""Umbrella has helped my IT staff in two ways. First, our security team was able to get more insights into the users, their devices, and the sites they browse. Second, our system administration team was able to manage DNS resolutions in a way that is more accessible and less intrusive to our domain system.""The most valuable feature is its ability to detect if a URL has malware or is vulnerable.""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.""Stability-wise, it's good. I have never encountered any bugs."

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Cons
"The security features and stability needs to be bettered.""The process of creating a virtual mission could be improved.""The web interface to manage the solution must be made easier.""They should include more integration with other platforms.""Azure DNS does provide enhanced support for applications and includes several security features to protect against threats. One of the security features it offers is the ability to detect and prevent dangling DNS records, which can be used in cyber attacks. Dangling DNS records occur when a website owner creates a domain name but forgets to remove the CNAME record, leaving the domain vulnerable to takeover by malicious actors. Azure DNS includes security measures to identify and prevent such threats, helping to keep your DNS infrastructure secure. However, if Microsoft could add more security capabilities to the DNS, that would be great to detect and identify anomalies that are happening to prevent cyber threats.""The CDN integration could be improved.""The pricing can be more competitive.""I would like to see more integration with other platforms, improved stability, enhanced security, and better pricing because there is always room for improvement."

More Azure DNS Cons →

"It's a very new product, so it's quite immature at the moment. It can be more user friendly.""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.""Although Cisco Umbrella has an excellent global network footprint, there is still room for improvement and growth in this area. Additionally, there are bandwidth limitations associated with the connectors that need to be addressed. To be a viable solution for larger offices, Cisco Umbrella must continue to expand and improve its capabilities in these areas.""The main issue that we have is with the final steps or the full integration and getting rid of Zscaler. The company still has to fall back to Zscaler when something in Umbrella is not working as expected, such as when we enable SSL inspection. When something is not working 100%, the company is falling back to Zscaler.""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.""If I want to see which users access a website, I need an Active Directory registered on Umbrella's cloud.""It could be improved by having a local data center and caching, which can provide protection support. I would like to be able to channel my intel and my network traffic to their clouds, and this feature is not available. Advanced protection or any malware file support, which might be required, is not available.""Actually, we recently switched over to Zscaler because it has more features and it's more scalable than Cisco Umbrella."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The solution payment model is based on how many users use it. This is not an expensive solution, but it can depend on how long we use it. However, if the price was decreased it would be helpful."
  • "We have an enterprise license agreement with Microsoft. Their pricing is competitive. I would rate it a three and a half out of five."
  • "The solution itself is free but you need to pay for the Microsoft Azure infrastructure and host your domains in Azure to use it."
  • "The solution's price is reasonable."
  • "The price is low and it's a reasonable price for that product."
  • "Azure DNS is a cheap solution, and I rate it a two out of ten for pricing."
  • "We use the tool's free version."
  • "To use Azure DNS, I need to buy the license meant for Windows Server."
  • More Azure DNS Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "​The pricing is fair."
  • "You can request an evaluation license​."
  • "It needs a better price point."
  • "The product is pricey compared to Cisco Firepower."
  • "The price could be lower."
  • "There is a one-time cost of approximately $800 USD per user, and then a yearly support fee of about $50 per user."
  • "Our costs were negotiated, and they are okay."
  • "Our licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
  • More Cisco Umbrella Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Azure DNS is a hosting service of DNS domains. It has excellent operating time and performance, resulting in fast resolution. We like the ability to view everything in the Azure portal - this makes… more »
    Top Answer:Can be configured to achieve a hundred percent reliability
    Top Answer:There's always room for improvement in any product. The reason I rate it highly is because within Azure, everything is managed through a single console called the Microsoft Azure management console… more »
    Top Answer: 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… more »
    Top Answer: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… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco Umbrella is easy to monitor, manage, and deploy.
    Ranking
    2nd
    out of 24 in Managed DNS
    Views
    9,216
    Comparisons
    7,868
    Reviews
    27
    Average Words per Review
    320
    Rating
    8.4
    Views
    19,965
    Comparisons
    13,585
    Reviews
    49
    Average Words per Review
    907
    Rating
    8.9
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    OpenDNS
    Learn More
    Overview

    Azure DNS is a hosting service for DNS domains, providing name resolution using Microsoft Azure infrastructure. By hosting your domains in Azure, you can manage your DNS records using the same credentials, APIs, tools, and billing as your other Azure services.

    Cisco Umbrella offers flexible, cloud-delivered security according to users’ requirements Cisco Umbrella includes secure web gateway, firewall, and cloud access security broker (CASB) functionality all delivered from a single cloud security service. Cisco Umbrella’s protection is extended to devices, remote users, and distributed locations anywhere. As company employees work from many locations and devices, Cisco Umbrella is the easiest way to effectively protect users everywhere in minutes.

    Cisco Umbrella uses machine learning to search for, identify, and even predict malicious domains. By learning from internet activity patterns, this DNS-layer security solution can automatically identify attacker infrastructure being staged for the next threat. These domains are then proactively blocked, protecting networks from potential compromise. Cisco Umbrella analyzes terabytes of data in real time across all markets, geographies, and protocols.

    Cisco Umbrella works with leading IT companies to integrate its security enforcement and intelligence. Built with a bidirectional API, Cisco Umbrella makes it easy to extend protection from on-premises security appliances to cloud controlled devices and sites.

    Cisco Umbrella is suitable for small businesses without dedicated security professionals, as well as for multinational enterprises with complex environments.

    Why use Cisco Umbrella?

    • Simplify security management: Cisco Umbrella is the fastest and easiest way to protect all users within minutes and reduces the number of infections and alerts sent from other security products by stopping threats at the earliest point. With no hardware to install and no software to manually update, ongoing management is simple

    • Reliable reporting: Cisco Umbrella reports show activity for each device or network in the system. Users gain a more complete picture of the security risks facing their organization and can take action to remedy them.

    • Manage and control cloud apps: Umbrella provides visibility into sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud services in use across the enterprise. Users can uncover new services being used, see who is using them, identify potential risk, and block specific applications easily.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Cisco Umbrella stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Some of the major ones are its DNS-based protection, ability to protect users no matter where they are located, stability, and high performance.

    Daniel B., a network specialist at Syswind Kft, writes, “We primarily use the solution as cloud security for our branches. It protects us from direct internet outbreaks. It makes for good flexibility. The solution is very easy to manage. We found the initial setup, for example, to be quite simple. Efficient protection on the DNS level and even higher. The sandboxing feature analyses and handles the complicated security risks.”

    Victor M., SOC & Security Services Director at BEST, notes, “It provides security for the remote workers and it helps to improve enterprise security in a very easy way. We mainly enjoy web software protection capabilities. It prevents the end-users from getting into bad sites or sites that potentially could have malware or could be phishing. It helps end-users avoid the wrong sites. The solution works very smoothly. The user interface is good.”

    OpenDNS is a part of Cisco providing a suite of consumer products aimed at making the internet faster, safer, and more reliable.

    Sample Customers
    M-Files
    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
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm27%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Retailer13%
    Pharma/Biotech Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Educational Organization6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Educational Organization16%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise7%
    Large Enterprise63%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise58%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise39%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise26%
    Large Enterprise55%
    Buyer's Guide
    Managed DNS
    April 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cloudflare, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Managed DNS. Updated: April 2024.
    768,740 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Azure DNS is ranked 2nd in Managed DNS with 31 reviews while Cisco Umbrella is ranked 1st in Secure Web Gateways (SWG) with 108 reviews. Azure DNS is rated 8.4, while Cisco Umbrella is rated 8.8. The top reviewer of Azure DNS writes "Offers good performance and helps its users with disaster recovery". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Cisco Umbrella writes "Protects endpoints wherever they are, always pushing people to the right locations to avoid malicious intent". Azure DNS is most compared with Amazon Route 53, Cloudflare DNS, Infoblox DDI, Google Cloud DNS and Quad9, whereas Cisco Umbrella is most compared with Zscaler Internet Access, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, Palo Alto Networks DNS Security and Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway.

    We monitor all Managed DNS reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.