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Cisco Umbrella vs Palo Alto Networks DNS Security 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

Cisco Umbrella
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
125
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (1st), Internet Security (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (3rd)
Palo Alto Networks DNS Secu...
Ranking in Domain Name System (DNS) Security
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Domain Name System (DNS) Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 17.5%, down from 25.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is 9.1%, down from 9.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Domain Name System (DNS) Security Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Umbrella17.5%
Palo Alto Networks DNS Security9.1%
Other73.4%
Domain Name System (DNS) Security
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Andres Briceño - PeerSpot reviewer
Cybersecurity Coordinator at Pronaca
Comprehensive security protects networks effectively while support excels
The main feature of the Palo Alto Networks DNS Security protects our network from external attacks, malware, and data theft. I use the DNS Security's real-time threat intelligence, as it's a feature that works in real-time in the firewalls. Because we configured this real-time help feature in our firewalls, this feature works during internal navigation to the internet. If we have a virus or malware in our network, the firewall detects this threat and protects our network. DNS Security protects us against threats, malware, and malicious domains or malicious navigation to the internet. The threat analytics has helped us because it works together with the SOC analytics and the platform manager, so this has affected our approach to zero-day vulnerabilities and threat updates. The reporting and analytics tools help provide insights into trends and threat vectors. We configured a dashboard where we can see all threat preventions and DNS Securities. If the SOC analytics detect threats or anomalies in the dashboard, we work quickly to prevent these threats.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"For us and for customers, it's the ease of integration with Meraki. It's just a couple of clicks. That allows us to deploy very fast, and it doesn't change the way a customer uses his service. It's just more secure."
"The initial setup is very easy and takes only a few minutes."
"We like Cisco Umbrella because of DNS security; it's one step ahead of whatever we are using for regular web filtering, and in that way, it's more secure than other web filtering products."
"We use the entire Cisco solution and we are happy with the product integration."
"Cisco Umbrella is a totally different solution; they are the first to come up with this idea of security and it's a totally new concept of security for everybody, for every time, real time, perfectionism."
"It has excellent resilience in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity for my organization is very important because we are a banking organization. We need this security to protect the personal information of our clients. This is very important for our security."
"We can have a full overview and a quick overview of all the DNS requests. For us, it's quite important."
"My favorite feature is the command and control callback blocking."
"A lot is working well."
"When comparing other cloud-based DNS security solutions to this one I have found the main beneficial feature in this solution to be we do not need to change our architecture."
"So, in general, it's very stable because the process to deliver new features and new releases in not so long...I rate the scalability a nine out of ten."
"I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten."
"The main feature of the Palo Alto Networks DNS Security protects our network from external attacks, malware, and data theft."
"The most valuable features of DNS Security include its ability to protect against command and control traffic, anonymizers, newly registered domains, and DNS tunneling."
"I think it's easy to manage Palo Alto Networks DNS Security compared to other firewalls, and the feature set is really good."
"Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is a stable solution."
 

Cons

"Perhaps an option to be able to block only specific users would be a way to improve the free version of OpenDNS."
"It should have a real-time malware classification engine. It should check the malware on the website."
"There are a couple of different pieces that have different portals. I know they're working on getting them all into one portal, but that's probably the biggest thing that needs improvement right now. It's not a single pane of glass yet."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"While the way the solution works with the functions is fantastic, updates or the ability to secure the vault while offline for cloud-based services should be addressed."
"It would be good to have more extensions to third-party products and a client for other device types."
"In my experience with Umbrella support, sometimes the response times take a bit more time than we would like... sometimes, if you go through email, it can take quite a while to get a response."
"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. There are some key API connectors for the more prevalent SIEM tools. I would really like to see in Cisco Umbrella the ability to create customized reports and then assign the rights to view these reports to people within a group. I should be able to create a customized report, which is viewable by anybody who has the rights. I should be able to create groups within Cisco Umbrella, and then assign reports to groups and have those reports split out automatically only to those groups. I can kind of do it by restricting my email list, but it is a half-complete way of doing it."
"Every vendor that sells DNS or firewalls needs to be able to protect against DNS look-up attacks and DNS naming hacks. This is true of Palo Alto as well as others."
"The product is not as stable as other solutions, such as Cisco Umbrella, Infoblox, and EfficientIP."
"The solution’s scalability could be improved."
"The pricing of the Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is very high."
"The installation is more complex because the solution has another approach to security."
"Palo Alto should explore agentless approaches to integrate DNS Security more easily and efficiently."
"We would like to have cloud-based management."
"The product should provide email protection."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing part for Umbrella is really flexible."
"There is room for improvement when it comes to the cost."
"The product is pricey compared to Cisco Firepower."
"Our licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"You get what you pay for if you break the solution up into tiers."
"The price depends on the use case, and it's a bit linear. But it depends on the customer's strategy and how Cisco plans to optimize the costs."
"Pricing and licensing of Cisco Umbrella is a bit confusing because you have to separate the DNS solution and the full-feature solution. Cisco in Portugal helped us understand which one was the right one for us."
"The licensing fee is paid on a yearly basis."
"The product is expensive. My company makes payments on a quarterly basis towards the solution's costs."
"If one is very cheap and ten is very expensive, I rate the tool's price as two."
"Palo Alto Networks DNS Security is an expensive product. I rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten points are expensive."
"There aren't many vendors offering DNS security solutions, but generally, Palo Alto subscriptions tend to be more expensive than other security vendors."
"There is an annual license for the solution and I am satisfied with the pricing."
"The solution's pricing is equal to Cisco AMP or Cisco Umbrella."
"The product is expensive compared to Fortinet."
"It is not an expensive solution."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Domain Name System (DNS) Security solutions are best for your needs.
902,456 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Non Profit
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business50
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise10
 

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...
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.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks DNS Security?
DNS Security protects us against threats, malware, and malicious domains or malicious navigation to the internet, which is where it can be improved the best. Palo Alto helps us with support, so I d...
What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks DNS Security?
I can describe my use cases for Palo Alto Networks DNS Security, which is used for protecting our network. I use this product, Palo Alto Networks DNS Security, with Palo Alto firewalls.
What advice do you have for others considering Palo Alto Networks DNS Security?
I don't have experience with Palo Alto Networks AutoFocus. Regarding the DNS Security, I have firewalls with the DNS Security module in the firewall. DNS Security is something we configure in our f...
 

Also Known As

OpenDNS
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Umbrella vs. Palo Alto Networks DNS Security and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,456 professionals have used our research since 2012.