No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco ScanSafe Web Security SaaS [EOL] vs Cisco Umbrella vs McAfee Web Protection [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Featured Reviews

Enrique-Diaz Jolly - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Consulting Engineer, Founder, Own at Jolly Security Inc
Super stable with huge capacity but is retired so is no longer supported
The solution is scalable and has a huge capacity. You may experience delays if you are sending requests outside of websites because the proxy has to download and provide content. Speed is dependent on many factors including the combination of networks, tasks, locations, and networking services. Things have become a bit more complicated than with classic website models where the server contained content so there was a straight connection. Now there are distribution networks and other services that are all configured to work differently in various directions. At the end of the day, URLs are still URLs so their categorization remains the same.
BB
Senior Network Engineer at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
Ensures comprehensive protection with seamless threat logging and efficient policy management
My favorite feature of Cisco Umbrella is probably just the DNS and the fact that when a security threat happens, all of that gets logged in their Umbrella portal, and it's very easy to find who's been accessing the site and how many people have accessed it, so that we can go to them and make sure they're not compromised. The features of Cisco Umbrella benefit my company by providing less time to search for things through logs, to look for what we need. It's just one place to go, and we just search for it, and we find it really fast. The fact that there's a virtual database that has all that information is great on our portal.
VivekGupta7 - PeerSpot reviewer
DGM at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Secure, reasonably priced, and performs well
We used cloud services for testing purposes. We used Amazon cloud services. Depending on the solution, there are a variety of options. There are several options such as Endpoint, WAF, NAC, and SIEM are currently available. A variety of solutions are implemented. It was a third-party implementation by Inspira. McAfee also provides an endpoint solution. McAfee's DLP is also present. Previously, we had used Trend Micro and Symantec. There is a method we had to upgrade our systems, a solution was required, and it had to match the three, four solutions from one company that were going to be cheaper, and there is a bidding process, whoever comes first, based on quality and cost, wins the competition. The requirements were speed, quality, and cost. Because Symantec was about to be renewed, our renewal would be more expensive.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is an easy solution to implement, the web security is great, the filtering of different URLs has been very helpful, it also acts as a firewall which is quite helpful in terms of security, we've used it for content scanning and filtration in the data center, since this is on the cloud the cost has gone down, it's got good features and is easily manageable, and Cisco is rather well-known and robust."
"The web security is great."
"The cyber security features they offer are most trusted."
"The solution is super stable because it is made up of a bunch of mega proxies."
"It is valuable to be able to block whole categories or groups at one time."
"What we like most is security and how easy it is to integrate with other appliances."
"Overall, it has been pretty helpful for what we're using it for."
"Cisco Umbrella is the first layer of security that protects me while surfing the net, identifying untrusted websites to prevent access."
"It blocks malicious DNS queries daily which is very beneficial."
"I like the original functionality, which allows for providing secure DNS services."
"We can have a full overview and a quick overview of all the DNS requests. For us, it's quite important."
"The weekly reportings are great. The investigation is super and the application management is equally great."
"It enables us to finally allow laptops to be used as workstations and allow data to leave the building."
"McAfee Web Protection is a good solution and its mature security environment has helped our organization."
"McAfee Web Protection is good technology, absolutely, and it has a very particular configuration that you can implement in a granular way."
"Some of the most valuable features are the USB locking on system port blocks, and we are now implementing the policies by pushing the Active Directory policy and group policies on all the systems."
"Using this type of solution is best practice in the industry."
"It's a solution that permits making a granular configuration and it is easier to deploy the same configuration on a lot of devices using the central console. It is the master of the product."
"The most valuable feature is the ease in the configuration for security roles."
"McAfee Web Protection was a good tool because in the olden days when you had to use a proxy tool when browsing the internet. Today the logic has changed slightly, in the sense your protection's taken onto the cloud. You'll exit a predefined gateway on the cloud before your internet browsing happens and therefore you're secured."
"One of the best things we've found is when you are at home, all the rules that we applied here in our facility or our office go to the cloud, the same rules apply to anyone who works at home, and we block the ability to go to any site that is found on the blacklist, which has improved a lot lately because now we have almost zero PC compromise."
 

Cons

"Cisco has good technical support although sometimes our clients would like it to be better in some areas."
"The solution is not supported because it is legacy and almost out of market."
"Setup is not that difficult, but it really requires proper technical training."
"The licensing could be better. They are an expensive product."
"The product has been rejected by business due to the pricing; no ROI as such."
"The only frustration I have with Cisco Umbrella is that people can exit the Umbrella roaming client to bypass the security."
"My experience is that it is a bit slow. The response is a bit slow, but they provide support."
"We would like to see the enhancements made to the EDR, as we see features that are running endpoint management."
"The solution's technical support is not very good."
"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."
"They need to improve analytics so they report on more of the specifics of user activity."
"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."
"I'm not sure if the solution itself is cloud-based or not. If it isn't they really need to begin to develop that out a bit."
"We used a consultant to help us set it up. Unfortunately, he was not that good. They were out of McAfee people. He was a consultant and knew the product, but he was not a McAfee person. How they managed it and how they worked was not straightforward."
"The initial setup could be simplified, there is a learning curve during the implementation."
"There is a real need to make sure all the updates and improvements are in order to keep the security at top performance to continue defeating threats that come daily."
"The solution is stable unless there are dynamic components. If you have remote users then there are a lot of issues in terms of the replication that happens within the hybrid solution."
"Lacking filter for spam."
"It is not strong in terms of spam filter so I do get that at times."
"Add McAfee Client Proxy agents for mobiles to Web SaaS instead of the consumer based mobile security platform."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Cisco Umbrella is expensive and could be cheaper."
"Licensing with Cisco can be a little complex, but I think it's comparable with that of other similar products. It's always hard to put a price on security, but the price is fair for the value it provides."
"In my opinion, Cisco Umbrella now has a good price in the basic packages. When it comes to Cisco Umbrella SIG Essentials package and Cisco Umbrella Secure Internet Gateway (SIG) Advantage package, it depends on whether the project has a good price or not"
"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."
"The pricing is pretty fair. It's good."
"You can request an evaluation license​."
"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."
"The licensing part for Umbrella is really flexible."
"The pricing is cheaper than some of the other options that are available."
"The license number would be approximately $35,000."
"In McAfee Web Protection you have the ability to install any appliance you want with the same license. If you need an appliance on-premise, you can install it with the same license because the license is for users, not for appliances. If you need one more, you can install it and you don't have problems with the license or need to change your environment."
"$150 Canadian per year."
"It is not very expensive. It costs 100 Canadian Dollars per year per license. I buy one-year or two-year protection. The license covers my PC, laptops, and telephone. The cost is per user but for multiple devices. It has just the standard licensing fees. There are some options for extended protection. For example, if I wanted to have a VPN, there will be an extra cost. So, there are upgradable features, but I'm very happy with what it is giving me with the basic plan. It gives me the basic privacy protection that I need."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Internet Security solutions are best for your needs.
899,204 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Non Profit
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Construction Company
12%
Marketing Services Firm
12%
Performing Arts
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business50
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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...
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...
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...
Do you recommend McAfee Web Protection?
I highly recommend McAfee Web Protection. In my opinion, it is a comprehensive web protection platform with a great f...
 

Also Known As

ScanSafe Web Security SaaS
OpenDNS
McAfee Web Gateway, McAfee SaaS Web Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Arup Group, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, K&L Gates, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Transplace
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
Sicredi
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Zscaler, iboss and others in Internet Security. Updated: May 2026.
899,204 professionals have used our research since 2012.