Azure DNS vs. Cisco Umbrella

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure DNS
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft offers Azure DNS, a managed network of name servers supplying availability, support for migration, and DNS security.
$0.10
per zone/per month
Cisco Umbrella
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Cisco now offers OpenDNS Umbrella Web Filtering. Cisco acquired OpenDNS in August 2015, and rebranded the product as Cisco Umbrella.N/A
Pricing
Azure DNSCisco Umbrella
Editions & Modules
Additional hosted DNS zones (over 25)
$0.10
per zone/per month
Additional DNS queries (over 1 billion)/month
$0.20
per million
First billion DNS queries/month
$0.40
per million
First 25 hosted DNS zones
$0.50
per zone/per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure DNSCisco Umbrella
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure DNSCisco Umbrella
Considered Both Products
Azure DNS

No answer on this topic

Cisco Umbrella
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Better integration with other Cisco portfolio of products.
We have an enterprise subscription and Cisco Umbrella dns was already included as part of the offering.
Also we are looking into integration with sd-wan in sites where it is hard to provide full spectrum of services that …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Azure DNSCisco Umbrella
Small Businesses
Cloudflare
Cloudflare
Score 8.8 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Cloudflare
Cloudflare
Score 8.8 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Enterprises
Google Cloud DNS
Google Cloud DNS
Score 9.0 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure DNSCisco Umbrella
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(8 ratings)
9.0
(90 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(11 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(7 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(8 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(62 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(9 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(8 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure DNSCisco Umbrella
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Using Azure DNS, you can easily and quickly deploy and manage your domain DNS. It's been an excellent introduction to our web services requirements. It offers all services on a single platform and integrates with other applications. It not only offers DNS services for websites but also for your applications.
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Cisco
So the well-suited product, it's actually in two areas. One I already touched base on earlier which is the ability to have a federal model where we have the flexibility to set high-level policies from a group perspective while giving the independence of the business unit to operate and model the system to meet their needs. The second one, which is very powerful, especially in the last few years, is the remote workers. I'm able to protect and extend that edge of my security to their endpoint regardless if they are a Cisco Live or if they are at a bar or on a train basically anywhere. So as a chemical company, we have a lot of OT or ICS industrial control systems, which are highly regulated and highly scrutinized and usually require a physical presence while Cisco umbrella is mostly a cloud native type of product. So it doesn't fit well in that environment, which is detached from the internet doing well.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • The Azure Private DNS has an option for automatic mapping which creates a DNS record automatically for all the resources in a particular Vnet, and adds new DNS entries for whenever a new resource is created.
  • The DNS entries can be shared between different VNets automatically and there is no need for manually populating it or syncing it with different networks.
  • The mapping or records is very easy as the target/source/backend is automatically populated and there is no need to keep those IP addresses handy instead you can map them using their name.
Read full review
Cisco
  • Effective prevention of ransomware and malware by blocking CNC traffic. rendering the malware useless.
  • Good reports, which are readable by non technical users
  • Using Talos for its threat database means that it rarely misses anything
  • Very good knowledgebase available which means that it is easy to learn how to use and implement the product
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Provides Name Resolutions using Microsoft Infrastructure
  • Not required to manage server to run this Azure Service
  • Simple DNS queries and fast apply
  • Secure & High Available
  • Custom DNS quires can possible . No complex policies
Read full review
Cisco
  • Umbrella Virtual Appliances have been buggy in resolving local domain hosts.
  • Integration between other Cisco and Meraki products is complicated.
  • Reporting is not always accurate; for example, if you configure a Meraki access point to use an Umbrella Virtual Appliance, you lose device reporting. All reporting shows up under the AP's IP.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Cisco
First off I never give anything a "10" unless it's perfect. LOL - I grade on the curve. I think OpenDNS/Umbrella is a very good product. I think that fact that Cisco absorbed them is one of the proofs of that. I have used the product back when it was free for companies our size. I have not always appreciated the cost - but in the post pandemic cyber chaos, I believe the cost benefit ratio is still very high. I have honestly not looked at other products because Umbrella continues to work to my satisfaction. I consider Umbrella to be one of the key layers in my cyber security strategy.
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Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Better features and easy to manage system with great customer support and overall usability is great as it works for hybrid environment with ease as it is having features for on prem users as wells as cloud users with great customer support and great team of trained engineers to support our opeartions.
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Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Cisco Umbrella's availability was great, they got back to me in less than an hour to get my problem solved.
We needed to get our Meraki AP's hooked up to Cisco Umbrella to monitor that specific traffic and they got back to me promptly, they guided me and explained every question I had.
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Performance
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Cisco
our experience with cisco products has always been awesome and same is the case with cisco umbrella .Under umbrella cisco provides flexible and scalable software solution to use across different dept and sites . These softwares are very user friendly ,pages load quickly as these applications are designed for minimum latency and reports are also provided quickely
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Support Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We have not had a chance to use Cisco support frequently, but when we needed to troubleshoot some issues that we were having with the agent installation, the support was very responsive and the solution that they offered worked. The only reason I give it one less point is that the turnaround time for non-critical issues is very long.
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Online Training
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Quite easy to understand training modules prepared by knowledgeable trainers. Training modules have included all the desired features of these softwares and the content delivery is very good from the respective module trainers and it explains in details the features and apart from that further training material support is also provided if needed.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Cisco
At the time we were forced to move from Cloud Web Security to Cisco Umbrella, Cisco Umbrella was far from being a direct replacement. It was frustrating and difficult to migrate due to the lack of functionality. This has since been addressed, however we now have legacy rulesets that were built as bandaids that cannot be removed. Hopefully the migration to Secure Access will address this.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
The implementation process was fairly easy, quick, and straightforward compared to other estimated timelines from competitors. The price is fair for the service, while the customer success team and engineers know what they are doing, making the entire process smooth and comfortable. Also, they are a big and known brand, which makes us more at ease with our choice
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Cisco
Auto SIG Tunnels is a feature that helps in provisioning tunnels automatically using Cisco Umbrella APIs and so this is one win for choosing Cisco Umbrella over others. With Cisco SD-WAN viptela, the Cisco Umbrella stacks up well because its the same vendor so less complexities and interoperability issues.
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Scalability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Cisco umbrella provides fleaxible and scalable software solutions which are easy deploy across multiple departments and sites wherever needed and this softwares are very easy to use and provides the best interface along with cisco support for other devices apart from cisco infrastructure but still there is scope for improvement on the inclusion of latest features
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • since Azure DNS belongs to Azure Cloud environment, there is no positive impact
  • since Azure DNS belongs to Azure Cloud environment, there is no negative impact
  • there would be a negative impact if Azure DNS would be missing
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Cisco
  • Cisco Umbrella has been an excellent investment for us. The extra protection it provides in a very simple way has been well worth the costs.
  • Cisco Umbrella is very easy to setup and manage and can do most of the things we need with little daily interaction so we are free to work on other systems that need more attention.
  • Utilizing the Cisco Umbrella reporting features, we can determine what systems might need additional attention. If we see systems attempting certain types of access, we quickly know there is likely something on the device that probably needs removed.
  • Specific Cisco Umbrella reports can help us determine if we need to do user education and develop cyber habits.
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