Cisco Umbrella vs Zscaler Internet Access comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jun 26, 2023

We compared Cisco Umbrella Zscaler Internet Access based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Cisco Umbrella has a simple and easy initial setup. Implementation resources are available, and maintenance is user-friendly with automatic updates. On the other hand, Zscaler Internet Access setup can be difficult depending on customer needs. It may require professional services and extensive configuration work, but maintenance is minimal once set up.
  • Features: Cisco Umbrella allows for granular customization of DNS blocking, tenant lock content filtering, and domain blocking. Meanwhile, Zscaler Internet Access provides cloud sandbox VNS security access control, data protection, and cloud browser isolation. It ultimately depends on the specific needs and preferences of the user.

  • What needs improvement: Cisco Umbrella could improve its integrations and compatibility, policy management, and firewall capabilities. Meanwhile, Zscaler Internet Access could improve its reporting, API documentation, pricing, VPN feature, filtering policy, and technical support.
  • Pricing: Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access offer different pricing models for their setup costs. Cisco Umbrella allows for negotiable pricing with no hidden costs, while Zscaler Internet Access has a transparent pricing model with a minimum license per user per year. Zscaler Internet Access also offers additional features that require an extra fee, but it replaces multiple vendor technologies with one. Ultimately, the pricing and features of each option may be appealing depending on the customer's specific strategy and use case.
  • ROI: Cisco Umbrella improves productivity and application performance while reducing operational issues, while Zscaler Internet Access saves costs by eliminating on-premise devices and reducing the total cost of ownership.
  • Service and Support: Users have given mixed reviews about the technical support provided by Cisco Umbrella. Some customers find the documentation high quality and appreciate the quick turnaround times, while others find it difficult to reach support. On the other hand, Zscaler's support team is generally rated positively, although some customers have experienced delays and suggested the need for more experienced staff.

Comparison Results: Cisco Umbrella offers more comprehensive features, including granular customization of DNS blocking, tenant lock content filtering, and support for hybrid work. It also has better integration with other products and more reliable technical support. Zscaler Internet Access has a competitive pricing model and a cloud-native proxy architecture, it lacks certain features such as VPN and client-to-client communication. Overall, Cisco Umbrella provides a more complete and user-friendly solution for organizations.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Umbrella vs. Zscaler Internet Access Report (Updated: September 2023).
733,828 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 most valuable features are the antivirus as a whole, the anti-malware, and all of the protection features that scan our enterprise devices.""The protection offered by the product is the most valuable feature. It detects vulnerabilities or traps on our users' phones and then prompts them to clean up their devices. Tools we used previously would only discover, which required us to gather information on the backend, so Lookout is a welcome upgrade."

More Lookout Pros →

"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.""Any time someone went off the network, the AnyConnect client had the Umbrella agent built in, and it would realize when their computer connected that they were not on the corporate network. It would monitor and they would have pretty close to the same rules that they had to follow when they were in the office, regarding what kind of website browsing they could do.""It has certainly saved us time. If we go and look at what's rejected on the requests from the hospital itself, it has saved about 5% or 6% time.""A single pane of glass saves time... This does have a lot of options available for us to see who's doing what, what trends, what errors. We can set up our alerting through it as well. It is definitely a great dashboard.""The integration features within, for example, the Cisco VPN product and the Umbrella module are valuable.""It has improved our organization from a security posture perspective. We feel more confident now knowing that we can block phishing attempts or any type of malware that is DNS-related. This is a very nice feature that provides peace of mind.""When we have laptops that leave the building, they could connect to public WiFi before they establish a VPN connection back into the company. For that duration or that period of time when they're not docked in the network or on a VPN, they effectively don't have that full layer of security that I provide inside the building. This tool stands in during that period of time, and we extend the security settings through their basic firewall or their cloud-based firewall at that time. So, we do content filtering and control access, but they also are looking at new domains, IP addresses, and bad requests. They're blocking them on my behalf when a laptop is not sitting behind our security appliances.""The most valuable feature is its ability to detect if a URL has malware or is vulnerable."

More Cisco Umbrella Pros →

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine and a half out of ten...The setup phase was easy.""The policies are very intuitive and easy to configure, with very little possibility of messing things up.""The most valuable feature of Zscaler Internet Access is that it is a consolidated solution, it comes with many features, such as DLP.""The users are at different locations, and Zscaler helps us to put the organization's central security controls on these roaming users.""One feature that is valuable to me from an implementation point of view is that it's very easy to implement.""Zscaler Internet Access's best feature is the granular policy controls.""The protection is most valuable.""Zscaler covers all the features needed to replace a VPN or proxy solution. They are good. They've been on the market for 15 years now, so they are mature enough."

More Zscaler Internet Access Pros →

Cons
"From the analysis that we've done, they do seem to be maybe a step behind in trying to enter the market with a new solution. But when they do pick up, they do come out with some good products.""We just submitted an enhancement request reflecting the main area we want to see improvement in; the APIs. Currently, we're able to build dashboards, but it's somewhat backward because we use our MDM API to create them. Lookout should provide API to customers so we can query our data and use it in our cloud, and this is the only outstanding area for improvement with the product right now."

More Lookout Cons →

"If you wish to inspect all the traffic and it's integrated with Cisco AnyConnect, all the traffic basically goes through Cisco AnyConnect, which is not a good idea. That means you need to have more internet capacity as a data sampler, so in the case of a split tunnel, we cannot inspect the traffic that is being migrated through the local internet. I'm not sure whether there is a possibility wherein Cisco Umbrella can also inspect the traffic that is outside the AnyConnect tunnel.""For us, as an MSP, the initial licensing changes were a roadblock, and they still could be a lot clearer. Specifically, it's an honor-based licensing system. We'd like it to be more specific to our traffic or our users so that we can make sure that the customer is paying for all their licensing.""Its reliability and the response time of the support team can be better.""Cisco Umbrella should add some more documentation on proxies.""I would like to see Cisco enable us to get objects from the internet. I would also like to be able to choose groups.""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.""Client delivery and client updates should be improved. Client delivery was not as easy as expected. Another area for improvement is the integration of escalation procedures for security issues.""Its price could be better."

More Cisco Umbrella Cons →

"We'd like to have more plugins and integration.""There are some performance issues when we add on additional controls.""The tool should improve the predefined dictionaries.""The solution can be improved by advancing some of the newer technologies such as the DLP feature, and adding email security.""What could be improved in Zscaler Internet Access is its price. It could be cheaper.""One thing that needs to be improved is their presence in China. I'm not sure if that's a Zscaler thing or if it's a problem with all vendors in this space, but it would be nice to have better coverage in China. This concern is a common one for vendors across the board when dealing with the Chinese market.""The reporting functionality could be a bit easier to use. There is a reporting function, but it's quite hard to do any good reporting, from a user-management perspective. For example, if a department manager wants to know how his department is using the web, there is a way to get the data, but it's quite cumbersome to get it and show it well. And that's true for comparing between departments.""In terms of user experience, it could be better."

More Zscaler Internet Access Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The pricing is fair; it's comparable to our previous solution, and we carried out multiple POCs and POVs (proof of value). The product is worth the money we pay for it."
  • "Lookout is definitely on the lower end when it comes to price point and that seems to be the only differentiator. The technology is in place in this space and it's really about who is coming in at the better price point now."
  • More Lookout Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "We were using the free version, and we implemented the paid version about two months ago. I'm paying a fair price, but everything is negotiable with Cisco. One of the benefits that I got by having Cisco Umbrella is the licensing of the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client."
  • "There are no hidden costs with Umbrella. Everything is included in the package."
  • "There is room for improvement when it comes to the cost."
  • "The pricing is pretty fair. It's good."
  • "We have a security Enterprise Agreement with Cisco, so the pricing is good."
  • "The pricing is great and very competitive with the rest of the market."
  • "As an educational partner, we get better licensing structures. We are very happy with that. It has been very nice that Cisco has partnered with the educational sector to bring that."
  • "Its value exceeds its pricing."
  • More Cisco Umbrella Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The pricing is fair based on its competitive market."
  • "The price is competitive. It's not cheap and it's not expensive."
  • "The pricing for Zscaler Internet Access could be made cheaper."
  • "The price of Zscaler Internet Access should improve, it is expensive."
  • "We have found the solution to be expensive."
  • "Licenses are available on a per-host basis. Some features like sandboxing require an additional fee, but most standard features are included in the license."
  • "We pay around 6,500 INR per user per year, which is very expensive. I would rate Zscaler's pricing one out of five."
  • "Because it's a cloud solution, we pay on a yearly basis. It is affordable and includes tech support and all features."
  • More Zscaler Internet Access Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Netanya Carmi
    reviewer1535313 - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer1535313 (Executive at a computer software company with 11-50 employees)
    Reseller

    I would widen my options to include Netskope. 


    Tech support is far better should or if you require it, deployment is much faster, and integrations with API's is better than either of the other two.

    John Okunade - PeerSpot reviewerJohn Okunade
    Real User

    Fantastic points you have highlighted Leah. The DNS functionality of the Umbrella. 


    I think the functionality I love about Umbrella is that it's an enterprise solution providing web security for both on-prem and mobile users. Being a cloud solution centralized management of the solution is made easy. Thank you, Cisco.

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The most valuable features are the antivirus as a whole, the anti-malware, and all of the protection features that scan… more »
    Top Answer:Lookout comes in at a lower price point and that's how they get their foot in the door with customers. I respect that.
    Top Answer:I can really only speak about Lookout in the consumer space, not the enterprise space, but something that they are… more »
    Top Answer: Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried.… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-native… more »
    Top Answer:For us and for customers, it's the ease of integration with Meraki. It's just a couple of clicks. That allows us to… more »
    Top Answer:We researched Netskope but ultimately chose Zscaler. Netskope is a cloud access security broker that helps identify… more »
    Top Answer:The policies are very intuitive and easy to configure, with very little possibility of messing things up.
    Top Answer:The pricing is decent, but it is not that low. If we need any extra features, the price will increase.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    CipherCloud
    OpenDNS
    ZIA
    Learn More
    Overview

    Lookout is a well-established and powerful secure web gateway (SWG) solution that protects more than 200 million users from threats that can result from the penetration of unsecured web traffic into their networks. Lookout is designed to enable organizations to work remotely while maintaining a tight blanket of security over their confidential business data. It provides administrators with security that extends from their endpoints to the cloud service that they are using to run their organization’s network. 

    Users of Lookout are able to proactively detect threats and keep themselves secure from a field of threats that constantly evolves. IT teams can protect their organizations without having to rely on any other security solutions. This singular solution can run on multiple kinds of mobile devices. The privacy of individuals is preserved while keeping compliance rules intact. Additionally, users gain access to a number of tools that enable them to prevent security breaches from taking place.

    Lookout Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by deploying Lookout include:

    • Ease of deployment. Lookout is a solution whose design makes it easy for users to deploy it. It provides users with simple, step-by-step instructions that remove the need for organizations to devote extensive amounts of time to make sure that it is properly set up. Anyone can quickly set up the solution without undergoing technical training. 
    • Built-in support. Users of the Lookout application have access to built-in demos that can teach them how to use various solution features. Instead of spending time trying to figure out the application, users can watch the demo that is most relevant to them and see for themselves how that particular feature is used.
    • Easy-to-use user interface. Lookout’s user interface is laid out in an intuitive way that makes it easy for administrators to navigate. This interface is present in both the mobile and desktop versions of this solution. 
    • Settings customization. Lookout has a built-in settings customization menu. This makes it possible for administrators to easily customize their settings so that they best conform to their needs. 

    Lookout Features

    • Activity monitoring and activity tracking. Lookout’s activity monitoring and activity tracking capabilities enable users to keep a close eye on the activities that are taking place in their networks. IT teams and administrators have the ability to watch their networks for any unusual activity. These features ensure that organizations can keep ahead of any potential threats. They provide the kinds of insights and warnings that make the jobs of those IT teams and administrators much easier and more streamlined. 
    • Encryption. Organizations that employ Lookout can encrypt their networks and keep crucial business data from being read by unauthorized parties. This feature keeps the secrets organizations are trying to keep out of the wrong hands.
    • Anti-virus tools. Lookout provides users with tools to block threats from harming their networks. These tools can successfully block 99.6 percent of threats without raising false alarms. 

    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.”

    Zscaler Internet Access is a cloud-native security service edge (SSE) platform. Its main purpose is to provide AI-powered protection for all users, all applications, and all locations. The solution replaces other legacy network security solutions to stop advanced attacks and prevent data loss by using a comprehensive zero trust approach.

    Zscaler Internet Access Features

    Zscaler Internet Access has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Proxy (native SSL)
    • IPS and advanced protection
    • Cloud sandbox
    • DNS security
    • Cloud firewall
    • URL filtering
    • Bandwidth control
    • DNS filtering
    • Cloud DLP w/EDM and IDM
    • Cloud access security broker (CASB)
    • Cloud security posture management (CSPM)
    • CloudBrowser isolation
    • Cloud secure web gateway (SWG)
    • Zero trust network access (ZTNA)
    • Digital experience monitoring

    Zscaler Internet Access Benefits

    There are several benefits to implementing Zscaler Internet Access. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Fast access with zero infrastructure: Zscaler Internet Access creates a fast, seamless user experience because of its direct-to-cloud architecture. With no infrastructure, Zscaler Internet Access helps you eliminate backhauling, which improves performance and simplifies network administration.
    • Threat intelligence: By using threat intelligence, Zscaler Internet Access can stop ransomware, zero-day malware, and advanced attacks via Inline inspection of all internet traffic, including SSL decryption, and a suite of AI-powered cloud security services. 
    • Consistent security: With Zscaler Internet Access, your security policy goes everywhere your users go. When you move security to the cloud, all users, applications, devices, and locations remain protected and secure based on identity and context.
    • Hybrid workforce: Zscaler Internet Access enables secure access to all external and internal apps from anywhere, so remote work is not an issue. You can also enforce business policies that follow the user, making security identical regardless of location.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Zscaler Internet Access users.

    A Service Manager at a construction company says, "There are a bunch of different capabilities that are valuable within the platform. We use quite a lot of them, but not everything. The ones that are most important to us are the URL Filtering and the application control. For our needs, the cloud-native proxy architecture is a very good solution. This architecture helps with cyber threats because we inspect most of the traffic and we can see that a lot of threats are stopped directly in the secure web gateway."

    Owen N., Security Architect at Claro Enterprise Solutions, explains that the solution’s most valuable features include “The integration of the gateway that inspects all ports and protocols. So, there is threat prevention; The cloud sandbox; VNS security; Access control that will protect URL filtering and the cloud firewall; Data protection that will protect your gateway, like your CASB or your cloud DLP; The capabilities of this will point your traffic to Zscaler Cloud.”

    An Architecture Senior Manager at an insurance company mentions, "The data loss prevention feature is the most valuable. It stops our users from inadvertently leaking our customers' data to the Internet or anywhere else it shouldn't go." He also adds, “The solution provides quick access to cloud services, securing our data and allowing us to inspect all our traffic.”

    Offer
    Learn more about Lookout
    Learn more about Cisco Umbrella
    Learn more about Zscaler Internet Access
    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
    Ulster-Greene ARC, BanRegio, HDFC, Ralcorp Holdings Inc., British American Tobacco, Med America Billing Services Inc., Lanco Group, Aquafil, Telefonica, Swisscom, Brigade Group
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company20%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Educational Organization8%
    Computer Software Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Educational Organization15%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider32%
    Pharma/Biotech Company12%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Computer Software Company12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization19%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise62%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business39%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise39%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise56%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise56%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise27%
    Large Enterprise54%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Umbrella vs. Zscaler Internet Access
    September 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Umbrella vs. Zscaler Internet Access and other solutions. Updated: September 2023.
    733,828 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Umbrella is ranked 1st in Secure Web Gateways (SWG) with 49 reviews while Zscaler Internet Access is ranked 2nd in Secure Web Gateways (SWG) with 33 reviews. Cisco Umbrella is rated 8.8, while Zscaler Internet Access is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cisco Umbrella writes "We can see all of our locations in one place and only have to make changes once for all our locations". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Zscaler Internet Access writes " AI decision-making on quarantined documents reduces manual work". Cisco Umbrella is most compared with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Palo Alto Networks DNS Security, Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet FortiGate SWG and Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection, whereas Zscaler Internet Access is most compared with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Netskope , Forcepoint Secure Web Gateway, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and Skyhigh Security. See our Cisco Umbrella vs. Zscaler Internet Access report.

    See our list of best Secure Web Gateways (SWG) vendors and best Internet Security vendors.

    We monitor all Secure Web Gateways (SWG) 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.