# OpenDNS alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 243 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where OpenDNS 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/opendns/alternatives/

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

- DNSFilter: 86
- Cisco Umbrella: 41
- Cloudflare Gateway: 28
- Quad9: 10
- Cloudflare One: 7
- Control D: 6

## DNS filtering

**Small business**: 80 of 84 answers did not name OpenDNS.

- DNSFilter: first choice in 39 of those 80
- Cloudflare Gateway: first choice in 14 of those 80
- Control D: first choice in 5 of those 80
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 3 of those 80
- NextDNS: first choice in 3 of those 80
- Quad9: first choice in 3 of those 80
- Cisco Umbrella: first choice in 2 of those 80
- Cloudflare: first choice in 2 of those 80

**Mid-market**: 80 of 84 answers did not name OpenDNS (OpenDNS is #9 of 9 at 0%).

- DNSFilter: first choice in 33 of those 80
- Cloudflare Gateway: first choice in 11 of those 80
- Quad9: first choice in 7 of those 80
- Cisco Umbrella: first choice in 4 of those 80
- Cloudflare: first choice in 2 of those 80
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 2 of those 80
- Cisco Secure Access – DNS Defense: first choice in 1 of those 80
- Control D: first choice in 1 of those 80

**Enterprise**: 83 of 84 answers did not name OpenDNS (OpenDNS is #7 of 7 at 0%).

- Cisco Umbrella: first choice in 35 of those 83
- DNSFilter: first choice in 14 of those 83
- Cisco Secure Access: first choice in 4 of those 83
- Cisco Secure Access – DNS Defense: first choice in 4 of those 83
- Cloudflare Gateway: first choice in 3 of those 83
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 2 of those 83
- Zscaler Internet Access: first choice in 2 of those 83
- Cloudflare: first choice in 1 of those 83

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