DNSFilter
AI-powered DNS filtering and threat blocking that stops attacks up to 10 days earlier.
By DNSFilter · HQ Washington, DC, US · 4.5/5 Value-Position score (estimate)
Positioning guardrails
Best for
- SMBs and MSPs that want protective DNS live in under an hour with no hardware
- Enterprises needing roaming-client protection for users on and off the network
- Education institutions needing per-student filtered access across mobile devices
- Security teams wanting a cheap first-line DNS defense alongside EDR and firewalls
Ideal size: 25–5,000 employees people · Any org with an IT or security owner; SMB through enterprise
Not for
- Teams needing full inline web proxy, SSL inspection or CASB-level content control
- Organizations that require an on-premises appliance-based filtering deployment
- Buyers wanting one console for endpoint, email and network security
Value metrics scorecard
Time-to-Value
Under 1 hour
~1 days to first production value
Total Cost of Ownership
$2,700/yr
Starts at $240 · Per license per month or annual; Core from $1.00/license, Plus $2.25/license; education and MSP partner pricing available
Implementation Friction
1/5
Engineering + admin effort required
Value-Position score
out of 5 · model estimate
Full cost breakdown
Mandatory implementation fee
None
Seat tiers
Core annual minimum $240; Plus annual minimum $750; MSP partner plans start at $150/month
Add-on costs
- SecureTransit endpoint privacy: $2.00/license/month
- Data Export to SIEM: $0.25/license/month
- Premium Support add-ons: case prioritization, enhanced SLA, two monthly Zoom consultations
Company & support
Who is behind DNSFilter, and how your team gets help once it is live.
Company
- Founded
- 2015 · 11 yrs in business
- Headquarters
- Washington, DC, US
How you get support
- PhonePlan not stated
- EmailPaid plans
- Live chatPaid plans
- Support portal / ticketsPaid plans
- Community forumNot listed
- Help centre / docsAll plans
- Dedicated account managerNot listed
- In person / on-siteNot listed
- Hours
- Business hours
- Response time
- 30 min email / 15 min phone with Premium Support enhanced SLA
Pricing page lists Email and Chat support on plans; phone support appears via the Premium Support add-on (prioritized cases, enhanced SLA, two monthly Zoom consultations). help.dnsfilter.com is the self-serve help centre.
“Not listed” means the vendor’s public pages don’t mention that channel, not that it is unavailable. Ask about it during evaluation.
Market position
Where DNSFilter sits against its closest alternatives. Pick any two of cost, speed, friction and buyer score, and up to 9 companies to compare.
Quadrant view
Typical annual cost × Time-to-value
The lines cross at the median of the solutions shown, so about half sit on each side of each line.
Companies on the chart 6 / 10
- DNSFilter
- Afi
- NordLayer
- GoGuardian
- Clever
- JumpCloud
Add or change companies
Up to 10 companies including DNSFilter. Listed closest first.
Stack fit signal
Compatibility with standard B2B ecosystems.
No supported MCP path today, so it cannot be driven from an AI client.
AI & MCP readiness
What DNSFilter ships in AI, and what it asks of your ecosystem.
AI features shipped
Vendor describes AI-based threat detection with ML-driven categorization and real-time detection said to catch weaponized domains up to 10 days before third-party feeds, plus CyberSight user behavior analytics and an AI usage report. No copilot, model-provider or AI audit-logging detail is published.
In your ecosystem
- AI connection
- Not supported
- Model key
- Not recorded
- AI usage audit
- Not recorded
Compliance attestations
* IAPP AIGP certifies individuals, not products. It means named staff hold the credential — not that the platform does.
Bottom line
DNSFilter is a cloud-delivered protective DNS service that blocks malware, phishing and unwanted content before a connection is made. It sells per-license plans from $1.00 per license per month with annual minimums, plus dedicated MSP and education programs, and deploys in under an hour with no hardware. Buyers get roaming clients for off-network devices, ML-driven threat detection, CyberSight shadow-IT analytics, API access and SIEM export.
Frequently asked questions
How long does DNSFilter take to deploy?
DNSFilter says most organizations deploy in under an hour: you point your network's DNS at DNSFilter, or install the Roaming Client on devices that leave the office. There is no hardware to rack or maintain, and customers describe being up and running in about a day.
What does DNSFilter cost?
Core is $1.00 per license per month with a $240 annual minimum, and Plus is $2.25 per license per month with a $750 annual minimum; Enterprise is quote-based. MSP partner pricing starts at $150 per month and qualified education institutions get per-student pricing. Add-ons such as SecureTransit ($2.00/license/month) and Data Export ($0.25/license/month) cost extra.
Does DNSFilter replace our firewall or secure web gateway?
No. DNSFilter blocks at the DNS layer, before a connection is made, so it complements endpoint, firewall and EDR tools rather than replacing them. It does not perform full inline content inspection or SSL decryption, so buyers who need those should keep a proxy or secure web gateway.
What support and SLA does DNSFilter offer?
Plans include email and chat support plus a self-serve help centre, and tickets route to on-call engineers. The Premium Support add-on adds prioritized case handling, two monthly Zoom consultations and an enhanced SLA target of 30 minutes for email and 15 minutes for phone support.
Does DNSFilter have an MCP connector or AI features?
Yes. The DNSFilter MCP Connector uses the Model Context Protocol so an MCP-compatible AI assistant, signed in with your own DNSFilter credentials and permissions, can investigate DNS activity and manage the account in plain language. DNSFilter also markets AI-based threat detection and CyberSight user behavior analytics with an AI usage report. Model-provider and AI audit-log details are not published.