DNS filtering blocks dangerous and unwanted websites before a page ever loads, on every device, in the office or at home. DNSFilter and Cisco Umbrella both do this well. For most 20 to 75 person businesses we recommend DNSFilter because it's simpler to manage, easy to tune by department and protects laptops wherever they go. Umbrella makes more sense if you're already standardized on Cisco's security platform.
Here's the real question: not "which DNS filter has the longest feature list," but "which one will actually be set up right and kept up to date in a business without a full-time security team?" That's how we think about it, and it's why this comparison is shorter than most.
Key takeaways
Every time someone clicks a link or types a web address, their device asks a DNS server where that site lives. DNS filtering sits in that lookup. If the site is a known phishing page, a malware host, a scam domain registered yesterday, or a category you've chosen to block, the request is stopped and the page never loads.
What most businesses don't realize is how much this catches that other tools miss. Your email filter only sees email. Your firewall only protects the office network. DNS filtering follows the click, whether it came from an email, a text message, a search result or an ad, and with a roaming agent it protects laptops at home, in a hotel or at a job site too.
It also gives you visibility. Reporting shows which threats were blocked and which sites your team is actually using, which is useful when you're writing an acceptable use policy or checking for unapproved apps.
| DNSFilter | Cisco Umbrella | |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Small and midsize businesses that want strong DNS protection without extra complexity | Organizations already invested in Cisco networking and security |
| Threat detection | Machine learning detection of malicious domains, which DNSFilter says finds threats up to 10 days ahead of traditional feeds | Backed by Cisco's large threat intelligence operation |
| Content control | 40+ categories with policies by group, plus allow and block lists | Category filtering and policies, with more options in higher tiers |
| Remote devices | Roaming clients protect devices off-network on all major operating systems | Roaming protection through Cisco's client software |
| Our take | Simpler day to day, and what we deploy for most clients | A solid choice if you want DNS as part of a wider Cisco security stack |
The honest answer is that either one beats having nothing. The bigger risk isn't picking the "wrong" product. It's buying one and never tuning the policies, never deploying the roaming agent to laptops, and never looking at the reports.
We're vendor-agnostic, with more than 100 technology partnerships, so we don't recommend tools out of habit. We use DNSFilter for most clients because:
DNS filtering is part of the "Insured" tier of our cybersecurity framework, alongside a password manager, managed detection and response and security awareness training. It's one of the controls cyber insurance carriers ask about. Not sure which tier fits your business? Take our cybersecurity tier quiz.
If you answer "no" to any of these, it's worth a look:
DNS filtering checks every website request against lists of dangerous and blocked sites and stops the bad ones before the page loads. It protects against phishing, malware and scam sites, and lets you block categories that don't belong on work devices.
Both are strong products. For most small and midsize businesses we prefer DNSFilter because it's simpler to deploy and manage, with easy policies by team and roaming protection for remote devices. Cisco Umbrella is a good fit if you already run Cisco's broader security platform.
In normal use, no. The check happens during the DNS lookup your device already makes, before the page loads. Users typically only notice it when a blocked site shows a block page.
Yes, if you deploy a roaming agent. The agent applies the same protection and policies on laptops at home, in hotels or on public Wi-Fi, not just on the office network.
Yes. DNS filtering is one layer. Email security stops threats before they reach the inbox, endpoint protection catches what runs on the device, and DNS filtering blocks the dangerous site if someone clicks anyway.
DNS filtering is priced per user or device per month, and you can add it to your Four Winds IT agreement on its own. We group it in our "Insured" tier because it's one of the controls cyber insurance carriers ask about, but every security layer we offer is chosen individually.
We get it. Another security tool sounds like another thing to manage. We deploy DNSFilter, tune the policies to how your teams work, and watch the reports so you don't have to, with local engineers who answer the phone. Talk to our team about your current setup.