# Control D alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 200 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Control D holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/control-d/alternatives/

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- DNSFilter: 66
- Cisco Umbrella: 40
- Cloudflare Gateway: 20
- Cisco Secure Access – DNS Defense: 5
- Cloudflare: 5
- Cisco Secure Access: 4

## DNS filtering

**Small business**: 57 of 84 answers did not name Control D (Control D is #5 of 8 at 2%).

- DNSFilter: first choice in 26 of those 57
- Cloudflare Gateway: first choice in 11 of those 57
- Cisco Umbrella: first choice in 3 of those 57
- Cloudflare: first choice in 2 of those 57
- Quad9: first choice in 2 of those 57
- Cisco Umbrella DNS Security Essentials: first choice in 1 of those 57
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 1 of those 57
- Cloudflare's free DNS service: first choice in 1 of those 57

**Mid-market**: 63 of 84 answers did not name Control D (Control D is #4 of 9 at 2%).

- DNSFilter: first choice in 27 of those 63
- Cloudflare Gateway: first choice in 5 of those 63
- NextDNS: first choice in 4 of those 63
- Cisco Umbrella: first choice in 3 of those 63
- Cloudflare: first choice in 2 of those 63
- Quad9: first choice in 2 of those 63
- Cisco Secure Access – DNS Defense: first choice in 1 of those 63
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 1 of those 63

**Enterprise**: 80 of 84 answers did not name Control D.

- Cisco Umbrella: first choice in 34 of those 80
- DNSFilter: first choice in 13 of those 80
- Cisco Secure Access: first choice in 4 of those 80
- Cisco Secure Access – DNS Defense: first choice in 4 of those 80
- Cloudflare Gateway: first choice in 4 of those 80
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 2 of those 80
- Zscaler Internet Access: first choice in 2 of those 80
- Cloudflare: first choice in 1 of those 80

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.