# Cisco Umbrella: how AI models rank it, September 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Named in 19 judge labels across 3 categories by 10 of 12 models. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/cisco-umbrella/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SASE platforms | 7% | 4 | 18% | 17 |
| Multi-factor authentication | 0% | 52 | 0% | 1 |
| Threat intelligence platforms | 0% | 109 | 100% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "Cisco Umbrella and Cloudflare generally offer the lowest barriers to entry" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, SASE)
- "The best SASE platform for a company with a limited budget is Cisco Umbrella" (Llama 4 Maverick, SASE)
- "Cisco Umbrella if you need basic security at the lowest cost" (MiniMax M2.5, SASE)
- "Cheapest paid tier, simple DNS/SWG focus, easy for mid-market | Less full SASE (add-ons for SD-WAN/ZTNA raise costs)" (Grok 4.1 Fast, SASE)

## And against it

- "integrates multiple products with no single centralized interface to track all of them conveniently, and there are reports of issues accessing customer services" (Claude Haiku 4.5, SASE)
- "Not a full TIP – more of a security stack, but includes threat intelligence" (MiniMax M2.5, Threat intel)
- "more of a lower-cost security layer than a full all-in-one SASE platform" (Perplexity Sonar, SASE)
- "it's more of an SSE/security tool than a full converged SASE platform" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, SASE)

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.