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DNS filtering · November 2026 Edition

DNSFilter vs Cisco Umbrella

Thirteen of fourteen models named DNSFilter first on the direct prompt; one named Cisco Umbrella. Both were named by all fourteen models and DNSFilter carries 55 labels and Cisco Umbrella 58, so the shares are not directly comparable.

DNSFilter

endorsed leader

Named in one category this edition.

Cisco Umbrella

criticized challenger

Named in five categories this edition.

First-choice share52%14%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate5%26%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels5558A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, DNSFilter reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Cloudflare Gateway was named alongside these two in eleven of the fourteen direct answers. DNSFilter vs Cloudflare Gateway · DNSFilter vs NextDNS · DNSFilter vs Control D

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the DNS filtering page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
DNSFilterFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCisco Umbrella
Direct1314 against Cisco Umbrella
Paraphrase854 against Cisco Umbrella
Comparative561 against DNSFilter
Budget-constrained405 against Cisco Umbrella
Scale-constrained42
Negative002 against DNSFilter · 2 against Cisco Umbrella
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, DNSFilter and Cisco Umbrella were named in the same answer 147 times, of the 172 answers naming DNSFilter and the 213 naming Cisco Umbrella. In those answers Cisco Umbrella took the first choice thirty times and DNSFilter fifty-eight.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where DNSFilter and Cisco Umbrella stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
DNSFilter Cisco Umbrella first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, DNSFilter on the left and Cisco Umbrella on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where DNSFilter and Cisco Umbrella stood in it.

Both were the first choice

1 of 14 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.
Qwen 3.7 FlashCisco Umbrella, DNSFilter alternatives: Cloudflare Gateway, FortiGuard

DNSFilter first, Cisco Umbrella an alternative

12 of 14 modelsCisco Umbrella was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
GPT-5.4 miniCloudflare Gateway, DNSFilter alternatives: Cisco Umbrella
Gemini 3.5 FlashDNSFilter alternatives: Cisco Secure Access, Cloudflare Gateway
Perplexity SonarDNSFilter alternatives: Cisco Umbrella, Cloudflare Gateway, WebTitan
Grok 4.20DNSFilter alternatives: Cloudflare Gateway, Control D
Mistral SmallDNSFilter alternatives: Cisco Umbrella, Cloudflare Gateway
DeepSeek V4 FlashDNSFilter alternatives: Cisco Umbrella, Cloudflare Gateway, Control D
Llama 4 MaverickDNSFilter
Kimi K2DNSFilter alternatives: Cloudflare Gateway
GLM 4.7 FlashXDNSFilter alternatives: Cloudflare Gateway, Control D
MiniMax M2.5DNSFilter alternatives: Cisco Umbrella, Control D
GPT-6 LunaDNSFilter alternatives: Cisco Umbrella, Cloudflare Gateway
Muse Glimmer 30BDNSFilter alternatives: Cisco Umbrella, Cloudflare Gateway

Neither was named

1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
DNSFilter leads by thirty-five points.
DNSFilter40%#1 of 9
Cisco Umbrella5%#5 of 9
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
DNSFilter leads by thirty-eight points.
DNSFilter52%#1 of 11
Cisco Umbrella14%#3 of 11
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Cisco Umbrella leads at enterprise.
Cisco Umbrella52%#1 of 10
DNSFilter22%#2 of 10
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about DNSFilter

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.

“The biggest warnings are around DNSFilter's agent reliability” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · hard negative
“reviews mention recurring complaints about support, pricing, misconfigurations, and occasional outages or false positives” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“I'd verify current packaging/features before choosing it.” GPT-5.4 mini · comparative prompt · soft negative
“DNSFilter: Very popular for mid-market. High-performance threat detection using AI/ML, easy to deploy, fast global network, excellent pricing transparency.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“Best for: Companies seeking pure, high-performance DNS layer protection with straightforward pricing and excellent MSP/partner channel support.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“For most mid-sized B2B companies, I recommend starting with DNSFilter due to its purpose-built design for your size” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · first choice

What the models said about Cisco Umbrella

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.

“Unless you're already a Cisco shop, I'd avoid starting with a legacy product being phased out.” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · hard negative
“Avoid Cisco Umbrella if budget is the top concern, because it's more enterprise-oriented” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · hard negative
“often seen as more expensive, slower to deploy (hours vs. minutes), and complex for mid-market needs... Better for larger enterprises.” Grok 4.20 · direct prompt · soft negative
“Best for: Companies already using Cisco networking gear or those wanting a simple, standalone DNS solution with no hardware changes.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“Best enterprise default: Cisco Umbrella, especially when the organization already uses Cisco security products.” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · first choice
“Cisco Umbrella is the most widely deployed DNS filtering product, built on the OpenDNS resolver network.” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.