With Cisco Umbrella heading for end of sale in January 2027, many teams are reviewing alternatives. The right choice depends on whether you only need DNS-layer filtering or a full security service edge (SSE) platform with a web gateway, CASB, DLP and zero trust access.
Popular alternatives at a glance
| Product | Type | Worth considering if |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco Secure Access | SSE (Umbrella’s successor) | You want the most direct migration, with Cisco’s tooling and the Secure Client agent you may already run. |
| Zscaler Internet Access | SSE, full cloud proxy | You need large-scale inline inspection and mature SWG controls for a big enterprise. |
| Netskope One | SSE | Deep SaaS visibility, CASB and data protection are your top priorities. |
| Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access | SASE | You already run Palo Alto firewalls and want one policy model across them. |
| Cloudflare Zero Trust (Gateway) | DNS filtering, SWG and ZTNA | You want a simple start that can grow into a full SSE later. |
| DNSFilter | DNS-only security | You want a like-for-like replacement for Umbrella DNS, particularly as an MSP. |
| Control D | DNS filtering and resolver | You want flexible, privacy-focused DNS filtering with a simple setup. |
| Veraify, powered by Cloudbrink | Endpoint-first AI security and zero trust access | Your main gap is Shadow AI, AI data loss and access control for AI agents, which DNS filtering cannot see. |
How to choose
- Map what you use today. A DNS Essentials customer has very different needs from a SIG Advantage customer running tunnels, DLP and IPS.
- Decide how much inspection you need. DNS-only tools are simple to run. Full SSE platforms decrypt and inspect traffic, which adds complexity and tuning work.
- Consider where traffic is inspected. Cloud proxies route traffic through the vendor’s data centres, while endpoint-based tools enforce policy on the device. This affects latency, offline protection and what the tool can see.
- Look at AI usage. Staff now use chatbots, coding assistants, browser extensions and local AI agents. DNS can show that an AI domain was visited, but not which data was pasted or uploaded.
- Check migration effort. Agent replacement, policy rebuilding and SIEM integration usually take more time than the product switch itself.
A practical approach
Shortlist two or three options and pilot each for a few weeks with real traffic, comparing detection quality, user experience and admin workload. Many organisations pair a DNS or SSE service with a dedicated AI governance tool.