Cisco Umbrella vs Heimdal Endpoint Security comparison

Cisco and Heimdal are both solutions in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category. Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.2, while Heimdal is ranked #12 with an average rating of 9.0. Cisco holds a 20.5% mindshare in DS, compared to Heimdal’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Heimdal users who would recommend it.

Cisco Umbrella

Read 123 Cisco Umbrella reviews

20,182 Views
6,458 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Heimdal Endpoint Security

Read 1 Heimdal Endpoint Security review

1,717 Views
206 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Umbrella

Heimdal Endpoint Security

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Cisco Umbrella and Heimdal Endpoint Security compete in cybersecurity solutions. Cisco often has the upper hand due to efficient user management and extensive threat intelligence, although Heimdal offers more comprehensive security features.

Features: Cisco Umbrella provides a threat intelligence network, DNS-layer security, and real-time threat analytics. Heimdal Endpoint Security offers proactive threat prevention, ransomware protection, and advanced endpoint protection techniques.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Heimdal Endpoint Security offers a straightforward deployment process and strong customer support. Cisco Umbrella provides cloud-based deployment and efficient integration with existing infrastructures, along with comprehensive service documentation and support portals.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Umbrella is seen as cost-effective for robust security without extensive endpoint complexities, providing good ROI through lightweight nature and ease of integration. Heimdal Endpoint Security, while potentially higher in cost, justifies it through in-depth protection features, offering greater long-term ROI for businesses needing advanced security measures.

To learn more, read our detailed Domain Name System (DNS) Security Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

March 2026

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Helped 884,933 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

Cisco Umbrella

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

123

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Internet Security (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd)

Heimdal Endpoint Security

Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security

12th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (40th), Anti-Malware Tools (27th), Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (25th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (37th), Ransomware Protection (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 20.5%, down from 25.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Heimdal Endpoint Security is 1.2%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Domain Name System (DNS) Security Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Umbrella	20.5%
Heimdal Endpoint Security	1.2%
Other	78.3%

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

Featured Reviews

Bryan Bettencourt

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.

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DEEPAK KUMAR PACHDEO DUBEY

Senior IT Support Specialist at PXGEO

Delivers efficiency and agility with USB control limitations

One area where we lag is that, since we use everything from Heimdal, including XDR and other features, we also use the privilege manager feature called Elevation. What we lack is granular USB control. We have an issue where we can only switch USB on or off. I want to whitelist specific devices in the network, which I currently cannot do.

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

"When it comes to hybrid work it's pretty effective. We've got the agents. We can protect people inside our building and, when they're using their laptops out in the field, they're still protected. It's working well."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to block users from reaching places that they should not even try to reach has been a boon."

"DNS protection, domain blocking, SIP component, and the Cisco Umbrella roaming client are the valuable features of Cisco Umbrella."

"One of the great advantages of Umbrella DNS is that it's really simple to deploy. It's easy to install, the users do not notice that it's there, and it doesn't interfere with your work. The simplicity and transparency are great advantages of Cisco Umbrella."

"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 Secure Internet Gateway benefits my company because now our whole traffic goes to the Umbrella Cloud and it gets checked there, so nothing malicious is coming into our network."

"It has helped reduce my unit's security events."

"Cisco Talos threat intelligence significantly influences my company's ability to act against emerging threats, giving us the chance to patch our side or take precautions when zero-day vulnerabilities emerge."

More Cisco Umbrella pros

"As compared to multiple solutions I have used in the past, Heimdal is a very agile and lightweight solution."

"Heimdal is a very agile and lightweight solution."

Cons

"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."

"There are a couple of interface issues. I know that they say that there are feature enhancements that are noted. For example, we've got the Cisco Meraki security appliances, and there, we geofence our company to where we're allowed to send and receive traffic. So, in our case, by default, we only allow traffic to six different countries, which allows us to effectively prevent traffic for the majority of bad players in the world, but they don't give you an easy way to do that in Cisco Umbrella. With Cisco Meraki, I can specify or pick the countries. I can say that I want to only allow traffic from these six countries, and I'm done. With Cisco Umbrella, I have to rely on the fact that they're going to prevent traffic to other countries. They're going to decide if it's good or bad."

"iOS devices and mobiles are huge in my environment right now, and I cannot run them on Cisco Umbrella 24/7."

"The solution's technical support is not very good."

"I would be happy if they could add the whois information of an IP."

"I would like to see more integrations with more products. Some of the integrations need to be simpler as well. For example, the integration with Cisco Secure Firewall could be simpler. It would be good to make reporting simpler. For those who don't use SecureX, it would be good to make Umbrella really simple to use upfront. It's not a difficult product, but it can be daunting for someone who isn't exposed to it because there are so many options."

"Cisco Umbrella is difficult to manage and needs to include a dashboard. It needs to improve pricing as well."

"The pricing changes too fast. We get the license and we need to relicense it because they already made changes to it. We always need to be on top of the licenses because they're always changing."

More Cisco Umbrella cons

"What we lack is granular USB control. We have an issue where we can only switch USB on or off."

"What we lack is granular USB control."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think it's worth the money."

"We did a good negotiation, and at the moment, its price is fine."

"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."

"The price is fair, and the licensing cost is based on the number of users. We have seen a good ROI."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"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"

"Pricing depends on the automation requirements of the organization."

"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."

More Cisco Umbrella pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Non Profit

Media Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	50
Midsize Enterprise	30
Large Enterprise	51

No data available

Questions from the Community

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...

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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-native solution, unifying multiple features like DNS-layer security, threat intelli...

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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 bundle with other Cisco purchases.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Heimdal Endpoint Security?

Pricing, compared to what we had before, was quite economical. There was a difference of about twenty percent or something between the solutions.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Heimdal Endpoint Security?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Heimdal Endpoint Security?

My company colleagues and I use this antivirus solution. I am part of a company where I deploy solutions, and I also work in the IT department of that company. Therefore, I have chosen this antivir...

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Comparisons

Zscaler Internet Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 8% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 7% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Umbrella Competitors

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 9% of the time

Coro vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 5% of the time

Infoblox BloxOne Threat Defense vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 5% of the time

Huntress Managed EDR vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 5% of the time

More Heimdal Endpoint Security Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella

March 2026

Download Cisco Umbrella product report

Buyer's Guide

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

February 2026

Download Heimdal Endpoint Security product report

Also Known As

OpenDNS

Heimdal Next-Gent Endpoint Antivirus, Thor Vigilance Enterprise, Heimdal Endpoint Detection and Response, Heimdal DNS Security - Endpoint, Heimdal Threat Prevention, Heimdal Ransomware Encryption Protection

Overview

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

Heimdal Endpoint Security, is a comprehensive suite of security tools designed to safeguard devices from a range of cyber threats. Offering functionalities like Next-Generation Antivirus, Endpoint Detection and Response, Application Control, Firewall, and Mobile Device Management, Heimdal ensures a multi-layered defense against malware, suspicious activities, and unauthorized applications. Its benefits include proactive threat detection, enhanced efficiency through task automation, centralized management for streamlined administration, and dedicated mobile device security features. Targeted primarily at businesses and organizations of all sizes, Heimdal Endpoint Security caters to the diverse cybersecurity needs of modern enterprises, providing robust protection against evolving threats.

Heimdal

Sample Customers

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

Brother, Symbion, CPH West

Buyer's Guide

Domain Name System (DNS) Security

March 2026

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