We performed a comparison between Azure DNS and Cisco Umbrella based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: In this comparison, Cisco Umbrella takes the lead. It is easy to deploy, has a free version and a paid version of the product, as well as good support. In contrast, Azure DNS users share mixed opinions on deployment and support.
"What I like about Azure DNS is that it doesn't have any issues and integrates quickly with other products. It has good integration, which is incredible. I also like that whenever you deploy private links and endpoints, Azure DNS gives you the option to select the Azure native DNS, private DNS, or go with the Azure custom DNS. It depends, but if you don't have any dependencies on the DNS, then, like many customers, you won't have DNS issues. Azure DNS is a very good solution that helps you with domains and other resources."
"The best feature is the domain register. The other great feature is that whenever you create any resources, Azure DNS will automatically create a record for you."
"Azure DNS provides value beyond its user-friendly interface and easy learning curve."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the simplicity of putting DBs."
"Azure DNS is a user-friendly and very easy-to-manage solution."
"The solution allows you to host DNS service without using Azure's servers."
"It is a very stable solution."
"The most valuable features of Azure DNS are the DNS forwarder and the DNS additional record editions."
"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."
"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."
"The documentation is good, and we have been able to resolve any issues ourselves."
"I have found the malware protection feature valuable. It is helpful and deliverable and is able to protect my entire organization from getting compromised. It also prevents us from visiting any malicious sites which are not visible to the users."
"What we like most is security and how easy it is to integrate with other appliances."
"Stability-wise, it's good. I have never encountered any bugs."
"The customer experience is very good, and the product improves security posture."
"We like Cisco Umbrella because of DNS security. It's one step ahead of whatever we are using for regular web filtering. In that way, it's more secure than other web filtering products."
"The DNSSEC feature is not yet available on the DNS server so it needs to be added."
"There are some issues with the solution's performance where improvements are needed."
"Domain registration is one of the problems. We need to go to application services or web apps to purchase the domain instead. If that were to be equivalent to AWS's Route 53 that would be good. But, it is not as flexible as that."
"The solution should provide better pricing."
"There are some latency issues that could be improved."
"The product must provide information on which DNS or application is consuming the most budget."
"The web interface to manage the solution must be made easier."
"Azure DNS sticks mostly with the Azure native solution and doesn't scale well in a multi-cloud or hybrid environment."
"User interface could be a little smoother and more intuitive."
"I would like them to make some videos, practical videos, the kind with steps that people can use to learn and deploy"
"It could be more secure. It would be better if they provided a transferring proxy as an add-on and more integration."
"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."
"If the virtual appliances could also gather traffic bandwidth reports, that would be great."
"Their support should be improved. It is necessary that the support is efficient. It is not really easy to get a resolution for an issue from Cisco support. They should be faster and more efficient."
"Lower costs including licensing, support, and renewals would be beneficial."
"It would be better if there was a little bit of flexibility for organizations that don't have SD One in their environment. Because of the complexity of the environment, it's not easy to actually turn on the feature of the secure internet gateway for our users. We have not been able to explore that option yet."
Azure DNS is ranked 2nd in Managed DNS with 31 reviews while Cisco Umbrella is ranked 1st in Secure Web Gateways (SWG) with 108 reviews. Azure DNS is rated 8.4, while Cisco Umbrella is rated 8.8. The top reviewer of Azure DNS writes "Offers good performance and helps its users with disaster recovery". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Cisco Umbrella writes "Protects endpoints wherever they are, always pushing people to the right locations to avoid malicious intent". Azure DNS is most compared with Amazon Route 53, Cloudflare DNS, Infoblox DDI, Google Cloud DNS and Quad9, whereas Cisco Umbrella is most compared with Zscaler Internet Access, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, Palo Alto Networks DNS Security and Quad9.
We monitor all Managed DNS 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.