BlueCat Edge vs Cisco Secure Access comparison

BlueCat and Cisco are both solutions in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category. BlueCat is ranked #8 with an average rating of 9.0, while Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3. BlueCat holds a 2.8% mindshare in DS, compared to Cisco’s 6.3% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of BlueCat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

BlueCat Edge

Read 6 BlueCat Edge reviews

1,096 Views
1,096 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Cisco Secure Access

Read 16 Cisco Secure Access reviews

2,584 Views
1,111 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

BlueCat Edge

Cisco Secure Access

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between BlueCat Edge and Cisco Secure Access based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Domain Name System (DNS) Security solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed BlueCat Edge vs. Cisco Secure Access Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BlueCat Edge vs. Cisco Secure Access

December 2025

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Helped 879,425 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

BlueCat Edge

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco Secure Access

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (9th), Firewalls (18th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (5th), ZTNA (7th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of BlueCat Edge is 2.8%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 6.3%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Domain Name System (DNS) Security Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Secure Access	6.3%
BlueCat Edge	2.8%
Other	90.9%

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

Featured Reviews

reviewer2340669

Enterprise Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Invaluable at detecting DNS threats, improving performance, and reducing operational expenses

I have concerns about several aspects of BlueCat's site management. Firstly, the cleanup process doesn't seem thorough enough, leaving behind residual data. Secondly, the logging duration has been significantly reduced. When I started using Edge, I had access to 3-6 months of historical data, but now this window has shrunk to just two weeks. I understand that the platform processes over one and a half billion queries per week, which necessitates data management. However, I believe access to longer-term logs would be beneficial for our analysis. The current two-week window limits our ability to identify trends and track historical events effectively. BlueCat Edge has a limitation of 10,000 records for exports. While I understand the need to export all data, it would be more efficient if I could selectively export the data I need. Currently, there is only one export mechanism that provides all 10,000 records. I would prefer the ability to select specific values and export more records at once, as I don't require all the data available.

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Vasil Blagov

Manager, Network at Duracell International, Inc.

Easy management and security ensure reliable 24/7 connectivity

Zero Trust Network Access has helped my organization in securing standard applications because it's mandated to have it. It provides peace of mind knowing that we have that deployed in our network. Cisco Secure Access's ability to provide secure access via standard HTTP2, and optionally, QUIC protocol is good. It complies with the new standards. The impact of Cisco Secure Access on protecting my organization from phishing and ransomware threats has been good so far. We've been doing well with no threats.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"IP Address Management (IPAM) is the most valuable."

"Edge has reduced the complexity and has been more reliable."

"What I found most valuable is the ability to put it in place and integrate it very quickly. It allows us to create routing rule sets to route DNS traffic where it needs to go most efficiently in our environment."

"We implemented BlueCat Edge to solve the visibility and security issues we were having."

"It allows us to easily monitor our subnets and routers."

"The unparalleled visibility offered by BlueCat Edge is arguably the most critical benefit we receive."

"I find the zero trust approach helpful and beneficial in securing standard applications, which means you are accessing the applications directly instead of giving privilege to access the network itself."

"I rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten."

"Cisco Secure Access has benefited my organization by allowing people to connect 24/7, ensuring reliability."

"The firewall section for IDP is the most used for remote sites. It fits better with all the data we're collecting from the protection site and the information that we provide to another customer."

"I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten."

"The feature of Cisco Secure Access I appreciate the most is the DNS functionality."

"Cisco Secure Access has had a positive impact on protecting our organization from threats such as phishing and ransomware."

"The integrated capabilities of Cisco Secure Access deliver significant ROI through reduced mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR), with resource efficiency notably improved as fewer personnel are needed for triage and system management."

More Cisco Secure Access pros

Cons

"I have concerns about several aspects of BlueCat's site management."

"The main improvement for BlueCat Edge's security configuration would be more granular control."

"I would like to see improvements in threat detection and the ability to add categorization for blocking queries, such as those related to adult entertainment."

"Its price is on the higher side."

"One pain point concerning DNS Edge is the inability to see per Edge endpoint, what devices are querying against it. They do have the capability for you to look at that data, but the data is roughly 24 to 48 hours old. I am looking for real-time data, and I cannot get that per Edge endpoint."

"A more graphical user interface would be a benefit."

"It is expensive."

"The worst part was the migration from Umbrella to Cisco Secure Access; we experienced some difficulties during that process."

"However, the cost of Cisco's products and licensing is high, and mid-size or smaller businesses typically cannot afford Cisco Secure Access."

"The main issue with pricing is that it is higher compared to other competitors, making it challenging to work with customers unless they specifically request Cisco."

"Cisco is not well accepted in the market since they are somewhat behind their competitors."

"The worst part was the migration from Umbrella to Cisco Secure Access; we experienced some difficulties during that process."

"Managing Cisco Secure Access in a single cloud management console is moderate in difficulty."

"The licensing is confusing."

More Cisco Secure Access cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We find the current pricing model more reasonable compared to the previous per-IP pricing."

"The licensing model for BlueCat Edge seems very good, although I can't confirm if it's specific to our contract."

"I'm doing a costing and licensing comparison between the BlueCat DNS Integrity and Micetro by Men&Mice. BlueCat has given me a range instead of a specific price. They gave me a range of ten thousand to two hundred thousand USD. That was a bit too wide for the cost comparison. Based on what I'm seeing, they are definitely on the higher side and very expensive."

"One of the nice benefits of getting DNS Edge is that you buy the subscription, and you are allowed to deploy as many Edge endpoints as you need. You do not need a separate license for each one. If you deploy 20 of them, you will not be billed for that many. It is one subscription. You can deploy as many as you need and consume as much as you need. The cost comes in based on the number of IPs that you are consuming and running through DNS Edge. We have that pretty much locked in for what we need for internal purposes. Being able to save money on deploying Edge endpoints has saved us drastically from deploying other BlueCat products in lieu of that."

"It is confusing. When you look at the prices, you have different licensing and years of licensing that you have to purchase. Additionally, it's unclear what service you get from those licenses regarding end-user support. We have a representative who has to walk me through it every time."

"The pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Cisco Secure Access have been very competitive compared to other platforms. I believe that if Cisco continues to improve costs or offers something similar to a Cisco credit, it would attract more customers."

"For what you get, it's a fair price in comparison to other products."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Large Enterprise	9

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BlueCat Edge?

We implemented BlueCat Edge to solve the visibility and security issues we were having.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BlueCat Edge?

I'm not aware of the exact pricing and licensing as I was not part of the procurement process. However, there was a significant cost reduction thanks to BlueCat Cloud DNS managing external solutions.

See all answers

What needs improvement with BlueCat Edge?

BlueCat should consider deploying feature enhancement requests faster, especially if they are simple to implement. They need to focus and deploy such features in the next version itself, which woul...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?

Price-wise, we get a significant discount with Cisco. I actually prefer Juniper products. From a professional perspective, I prefer Palo Alto and Juniper probably more than I do anybody else. But I...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?

Cisco Secure Access is used as a security tool within the tenant as a firewall and serves as a cloud-delivered Zero Trust access platform. It is used for Microsoft Intune as conditional access, Glo...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?

No negative aspects have been observed so far; everything seems good. The review rating for this product is 9 out of 10.

See all answers

Comparisons

EfficientIP DNS Firewall vs BlueCat Edge

Compared 18% of the time

Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection vs BlueCat Edge

Compared 16% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs BlueCat Edge

Compared 15% of the time

EfficientIP DNS Guardian vs BlueCat Edge

Compared 12% of the time

F5 BIG-IP DNS vs BlueCat Edge

Compared 11% of the time

More BlueCat Edge Competitors

Cisco Umbrella vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 46% of the time

Netskope vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 11% of the time

FortiSASE vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 10% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 9% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Secure Access Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BlueCat Edge

December 2025

Download BlueCat Edge product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Access

December 2025

Download Cisco Secure Access product report

Also Known As

BlueCat DNS Edge

No data available

Overview

BlueCat Edge is an intelligent DNS resolver and caching layer that leverages existing DNS infrastructure to provide unprecedented visibility and control over DNS traffic. As a first hop DNS resolver, BlueCat Edge intelligently manages DNS forwarding rules and logs all queries to offer intuitive analytics and data governance. By monitoring all queries and IP addresses with BlueCat Edge, enterprises can also leverage BlueCat’s advanced Threat Protection and policy-based network/security features to protect the enterprise against cyber threats, such as domain name generation algorithms and tunneling that lead to data exfiltration or network downtime.

BlueCat

Cisco Secure Access is a comprehensive Security Service Edge (SSE) solution (a key component of a SASE solution) that addresses the complexities of securing a hybrid enterprise. Cloud-delivered and grounded in zero trust, it delivers a unique blend of user simplicity and IT efficiency for frictionless, secure access to all applications—SaaS (with gen AI), private apps, and the internet—regardless of user location or device. Secure Access protects users, data, and devices against relentless, sophisticated, and constantly evolving threats including AI-driven attacks and identity breaches.

Provides all core SSE components (ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and FWaaS) plus extended capabilities.

Includes VPN-as-a-Service (VPNaaS), data loss prevention (DLP), AI Assistant, visibility/control/guardrails for generative AI use, digital experience monitoring (DEM), reserved IP, remote browser isolation (RBI), DNS-layer security, flexible security enforcement (in cloud or on-premises), policy verification, and more.
Protects users as they seamlessly access resources and apps with no extra steps needed, regardless of protocol, port, or level of customization
Simplifies IT operations through a single client, single dashboard, single license, and unified policies.
Lowers risk with least privilege, granular controls backed with unmatched threat intelligence of Cisco Talos.
Eases interoperability with other products from Cisco and third-party vendors with common administrative controls, data structures, and policy management.

Robust integrations

Integrates with Cisco Identity Intelligence to protect against the startling increase in identity-based attacks.
Integrates with many SAML Identity Providers (IDPs) such as AD, Azure AD, Okta, Ping, etc.
Integrates with Cisco offerings including SD-WAN, Splunk, XDR, Thousand Eyes, third party technologies such as Menlo RBI, Chrome Enterprise Browser, and AppOmni for SSPM.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Swisslos, Cologne Bonn Airport, TYROLIT

1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. Google 5. Apple 6. Cisco Systems 7. Oracle 8. Intel 9. HP Inc. 10. Dell Technologies 11. Verizon Communications 12. AT&T 13. Comcast 14. T-Mobile 15. Sprint 16. Vodafone 17. Orange 18. BT Group 19. Deutsche Telekom 20. Telefonica 21. Nokia 22. Ericsson 23. Samsung Electronics 24. Sony 25. Panasonic 26. LG Electronics 27. Siemens 28. General Electric 29. Ford Motor Company 30. General Motors 31. Toyota Motor Corporation 32. Volkswagen Group

Buyer's Guide

BlueCat Edge vs. Cisco Secure Access

December 2025

Free Report: BlueCat Edge vs. Cisco Secure Access

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