# SafeDNS Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Is SafeDNS the right Managed Service Providers (MSP) solution for you? Explore 35 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/160425/Safe-Office/reviews

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SafeDNS

4.7 (35)

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Reviews of SafeDNS

Ease of use

4.7

Customer Service

4.6

## Pros and Cons in Reviews

MB

Mary B

Director of LibraryLibraries, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months.

“This software is easy to install and keeps our younger patrons safe from going to any unwanted sites. “

September 22, 2021

RP

Ruth P

Tech SupportEducation Management, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years.

“School and Parents are grateful for the safety this software brings to us. When I check our stats and can see the protection that is being provided.“

February 3, 2021

RH

Ryan H

Technology Ministry LeaderReligious Institutions, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“This product gives multiple options to safeguard our network.“

August 24, 2020

RH

Ryan H

Technology Ministry LeaderReligious Institutions, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“It is also affordable for small organizations with small budgets as well.“

August 24, 2020

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 1-25 of 35 Reviews

Sort by:

Most Helpful

Rating

Company Size

Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

Edward K.  
President  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "SafeDNS is a better alternative to Cisco Umbrella"

July 21, 2021

5.0

We can easily have end users maintain the content filtering if needed due to the simpler interface.

Pros

Very easy to install and integrate. The service allowed for more flexible options - such as a longer whitelist of websites - as well as less complicated than Cisco Umbrella.

Cons

The ability to disable the content filtering for maintenance or troubleshooting had been an issue, but an update corrected it.

Alternatives considered

[Cisco Umbrella](https://www.capterra.com/p/230907/Cisco-Umbrella/)

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

SafeDNS offered less complicated management with features that the more expensive Cusco product did not offer.

Switched from

[Cisco Umbrella](https://www.capterra.com/p/230907/Cisco-Umbrella/)

Cost was better and Umbrella had certain feature limitations and was unreasonably complex.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

March 28, 2022

Hi Edward! Thanks for such a positive review. We are happy to be making content filtering simple for you! Cheers, SafeDNS

TF

Troy F.  
CIO  
Retail  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "There are lots of DNS based security products out there"

October 14, 2020

5.0

Pros

Safedns does a great job of making DNS based administration quick and easy. Safedns also does a great job of allowing administrators to define a list of allowed sites and deny everything else. Some of the big players in this space surprisingly don't have this functionality.

Cons

I didn't care for the SafeDNS agent software. We tried it on a few systems and decided to apply at the network level for filtered vlans.

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

Umbrella didn't offer (at the time) the ability to block all sites except whitelisted sites. This may have changed as we've been with SafeDNS for several years now.

Switched from

[DNSFilter](https://www.capterra.com/p/156036/DNSFilter/)

DNS Filter was much more expensive and didn't offer the level of features that we get with SafeDNS.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

April 14, 2022

Good day Troy! Thank you for leaving such a detailed and positive review. Sure, it's up to you to choose between router or agent installation, but we always recommend the router option. Cheers, SafeDNS

jE

james E.  
director of i.t.  
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Constant issues"

February 4, 2021

1.0

Pros

product worked perfectly for a year, now constant issues every week we have 2-3 outages and support has not stated anything other than to let them know if it happens again, am under huge pressure from division managers to fix once and for all, unfortunately, safedns still cannot find the issue so I am now shopping for other providers :(

Cons

product no longer works , support seems to not care about fixing at all

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

April 14, 2022

Hi James! Thanks for honestly sharing your thoughts. It's been some time, and we have taken this period to improve and learn from our mistakes. Our tech support is 24/7, always online, and the average response of our team in tech support chat in March was 67 seconds. Reviews like yours help us become better, so thank you again. Cheers, SafeDNS

FV

Frank V.  
Technical Services Manager  
Hospital & Health Care  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Quality DNS software at a Reasonable Price"

November 29, 2020

5.0

Very satisfying - set and forget - until a user says why is this site blocked?

Pros

Great support during set up and use by our company. Very helpful when fixing those settings which I didn't read up on in the guide - had a "man" look.

Cons

Not a "known" elite brand but I feel this to be a good thing. Not expert in all things IT but expert in this field.

Alternatives considered

[Cisco AnyConnect](https://www.capterra.com/p/169495/VPN-and-Endpoint-Security-Clients/)

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

Quality reviews about a company that specialise in this field.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

April 14, 2022

Hi Frank! Thanks for your kind words. We do try to stay focused on our main product improving the quality and keeping it affordable at the same time. Reviews like yours help us feel even more motivated to work harder! Cheers, SafeDNS

AV

Anthony V.  
Parent  
Individual & Family Services  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Great way to improve the internet safety at home."

February 17, 2021

4.0

I have been very happy with SafeDNS. It has significantly improved the network safety and it requires relatively little maintenance. I don't need to require access to every device. In addition it is very easy to manage when needed.

Pros

I needed a simple and affective way to manage our home network and filter out the trash from all the good that is on the internet. I work in the IT industry and so I explored a number of options including locally installed software like Qustodio, NetNanny and many others. The issue with all of the locally installed software was the constant maintenance and performance issues. They were also too intrusive. I knew about DNS options and tried OpenDNS. This worked but it had poor management options and no ability to schedule. The ability to schedule was a huge issue for me. With SafeDNS I can schedule between School/Work vs Free time automatically. I setup SafeDNS on the router so the entire house is covered automatically. All mobile and physically connected devices. They have an app you can install but I don't use that. I use SafeDNS on a router with DD-WRT installed. You need to ensure that you have the router block or redirect port 53 requests to ensure that network clients don't bypass the SafeDNS server entries. SafeDNS is not a perfect solution but it has made our network much safer without compromising or slowing down the workstations. I initially used their web categories which were pretty good. SafeDNS staff were very responsive whenever I asked for corrections to the categories. At the moment I am exploring the use of a WhiteList only. This has been very affective in really focusing our internet usage.

Cons

DNS blocking is not fool proof. At the same time it is relatively easy and economical to implement and the problem cases can be dealt with on an individual basis. Some users have figured out that they can use TOR to get around DNS blocking, I am currently exploring router updates to prevent that. Use of a VPN will also bypass overly permissive DNS blocking. That is one reason why I switched to using a whitelist. A thought for SafeDNS. Consider allowing categories to be used as a whitelist instead of a blacklist. e.g. Rather then allowing everything except that which is blocked... Instead, block everything (including the unknown/uncategorized) except those categories that are known to be good.

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

Pricing, No local install, Has Scheduling.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

March 28, 2022

Hi Anthony! Such a nice review, thanks so much - we really appreciate it! We do have "allow-list only" option! You are correct, for some cases it works much better. Cheers, SafeDNS

Jason T.  
CTO  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Web filtering made simple"

August 17, 2021

5.0

SafeDNS is a really great product, we have been using it for over 5 years now and it's really robust. We deploy for all our customers internal networks and this includes our Azure infrastructure and it just works.

Pros

The ease at which you can get started with SafeDNS is amazing. So simple to implement to the edge routers and just like that your internal network is covered.

Cons

Deployment of the client version was tricky but a quick call to support sorted it no problem

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

March 11, 2022

Hi Jason! I'm glad you felt good about our tech support. Very pleased to hear our efforts resonated with you. Thanks for leaving such a positive review! Cheers, SafeDNS

Paul S.  
MD  
Computer Networking  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great features and good pricing!"

February 9, 2021

5.0

Excellent - moved to SafeDNS when our previous internet filtering solution was dropped by the vendor.

Pros

Great central management of multiple accounts, with plenty of customisations for the block page etc. We use SafeDNS on customers’ firewalls, including campsites, hostels and garden centre Café’s!

Cons

It would nice to be alerted if the service has received no dns hits for xx hours - this can happen if a dns record is changed, but I forget to update SafeDNS

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

March 28, 2022

Good day Paul! We really appreciate the kind words. As to the alerts you mentioned, noted! Will be sure to tell our tech team and see if that's possible to implement. Cheers, SafeDNS

SL

SHERMAN L.  
Director of Technology  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Secure, Safe DNS for everyone"

February 1, 2021

5.0

Pros

Easy console to use, the service does work.

Cons

At times, searches are slow or look ups are slow across the network SafeDNS is securing, some frames don't return properly, if at all, on a web page. End user does not know what is wrong or if something is being blocked; and yes, there is a blocked page warning configured. Doesen't show up.

Review Source

LC

Leonides C.  
IT Manager  
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Exactly what you need for the most inexpensive price."

October 20, 2020

5.0

We have several scanners that need to work with our network, and they must have access to the Internet. Even the scanners have limited access to the wan, our personnel found a way to navigate to not work-related webpages. SafeDNS it's a great tool to have restrictive control on this matter. At the same time, it is a great way to get control of the webpages the administrative personnel has access to, all this, without using an expensive proxy. And the most important thing for us. SafeDNS allow us to accomplish specific requirements from the CTPAT program (U.S. Customs and Border Protection rules).

Pros

SafeDNS has an easy way to administrate all the rules on our network. I like the way that has the filters for a safe google search. The pre-rules are extensive but flexible at the same time if you want a restrictive network without sacrifice speed and functionality. All these advantages for a great value price.

Cons

I would like to have more number of domain registers on the white/black option lists. I think 40 entries it's not enough.

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

All the options they have are great. Costs. Easy to use and administrate.

Review Source

BP

Brett P.  
Technology Director  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "SafeDNS- Low Maintenance Web Filter"

February 1, 2021

5.0

We've been using SafeDns for several years. We are a school and we do not have personnel that can dedicate to Web Filtering management, hardware & software installation and maintenance. We also cannot afford to spend much. But, of course, we need the webfilter protection with hundreds of students. With SafeDns, you set it and forget it. Check once and a while to make sure it is securing your network. Very easy to use. Easy Web Based product with easy to use management. No heavy lifting from the user perspective, but delivers a solid protection.

Pros

Very easy to setup. No additional servers, software. Short learning curve. Effective delivery of Web Filter Security. Very easy to Maintain.

Cons

A few years ago, products like this were free. Now the annual fee goes up every year.

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

Ease of Use, No onsite hardware required, Cost Effective.

Review Source

GA

Greg A.  
Pastor of Member Care  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Affordable and Effective"

January 26, 2021

5.0

Overall, it does what we want it to do for an affordable price.

Pros

This was easy to integrate with the wifi network at our church, where we have a free wifi network connection. We wanted the ability to filter internet access through all of our subnets, and SafeDNS made that easy and affordable.

Cons

We'd like to be able to set different filtering options for different subnets, and have not found that to be a simple process.

Review Source

MJP

Mary Jo P.  
Library Director  
Libraries  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Review for SafeDNS at the library"

February 8, 2021

5.0

The library needed a product to protect our users of the library who are children. This was a requirement for accepting CARES grant funds and SafeDNS fit the bill.

Pros

The product is easy to use. It is installed on public computers and is very successful in keeping the children at the library safe while using a computer.

Cons

I did have a few problems installing the trial, but had great help from SafeDNS staff.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

March 28, 2022

Hi Mary! Thanks for the nicest review! Pleasure and honor to be serving libraries to protect kids from harm online. Cheers, SafeDNS

JB

John B.  
IT Admin  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Affordable, Cloud-Based Web Filtering"

February 4, 2021

5.0

Pros

I've been using SafeDNS on the school network I manage for a number of years. Here's the pros: 1. The cost, especially for educational institutions, is very affordable. 2. Implementation is simple if you're well versed in router configuration. 3. The interface is simple. Preset categories seem to be fairly effective. 4. Forced Safe Search for search engines and Forced Restricted Mode for YouTube is a great feature for implementing in a school. 5. Changes in configuration can be made from any web browser at any time, so management is remote.

Cons

1\. At the present time, the SafeDNS agent, which automatically sends your IP information to SafeDNS, is available for Windows only. macOS users are out of luck. For my application, this isn't a huge deal because I have the network set up on a static IP, but for those with a dynamic IP address, the only way to keep the filtering working 100% is to use the agent app.

Review Source

JA

Jorge A.  
Executive Director  
Computer & Network Security  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Web Security affordable"

January 26, 2021

4.0

Im happy with it, the more I know how it works the better use I can get from it.

Pros

The use of classes or type of web content and the use of white/black lists. Also the possibility to create profiles and schedules.

Cons

There are various factors that affect that the software works well, so is not that simple for a non technical person to determine where the problem could be if the software is not working properly, however, the support from SafeDNS is really good and they will help you solve any issue. Also to get most out of the profiles it is necesary to install the client on a PC and also the vpn client on the phones, along with the dynamic dns client in case the router doesnt support it, so all this can complicate the installation and reduce the customer experience and satisfaction.

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

for the promise of ease of use, non having to install anything, the posibility to define profiles, the use of schedules.

Review Source

DS

David S.  
Owner / President  
Computer & Network Security  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "SafeDNS offers good protection, at a reasonable price."

February 1, 2021

4.0

Generally, we use this to prevent accidents. An accident might be someone opening a site that is inappropriate for the workplace, and expose the client to workplace harassment claims. It might also be one that prevents someone from going to a malware site, and infecting the network. Overall, our experience has been good.

Pros

Once the software is set up, it's simple. The end-users don't have to really \*do\* anything. It just starts taking affect, and preventing them from accessing the sites we don't want them to access. This is true even where the users are distributed, and not on the same network.

Cons

This product is not, at its heart, designed for the MSP model. It's designed for, "I'm using this to manage my network." And so, licensing is not as clear as I'd like to see it. Managing licenses, or license groups is also not as clear as I'd like. There also doesn't seem to be a very clear guide as to what command-line options are needed for a push-out deployment.

Alternatives considered

[OpenText Core DNS Protection](https://www.capterra.com/p/143127/SecureAnywhere-Web-Security/)

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

Mostly price, and licensing issues.

Review Source

TM

Thomas M.  
Information Services  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Content filtering simplified"

September 7, 2021

5.0

Cedars of Lebanon Academy is a K - 12 non-profit Christian school. SafeDNS has provided consistent good content filtering.

Pros

SafeDNS is a solid DNS based content filtering solution. The reliability and consistency is great.

Cons

While there are Windows and Android applications there is no Chromebook extension. This limits our content filtering effectiveness to on the school network.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

September 8, 2021

Hi Thomas! Thank you for your review!

AR

Antonoi R.  
CTO  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Easy while powerful and always updated filter"

February 5, 2021

5.0

SafeDNS is an excellent solution for Education.

Pros

Our clients are schools. We differentiate profiles of teachers and students with easy using simple NAT rules in the gateway. Also, we can fine-tune the filter by adding white & black lists for all the customers, and even for a single customer, by individual profiles.

Cons

No special negative thoughts, actually.

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

The most easy to use and cheap enough to be competitive in the School market.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

March 28, 2022

Hello Antonio! Thanks for such an awesome review - we love working with schools, and happy to hear the feeling is mutual! Cheers, SafeDNS

WBH

William Bruce H.  
Director  
Construction  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Review of Safedns as a filter"

February 4, 2021

4.0

Pretty good.

Pros

When coming across a domain that is not categorized by Safedns, they promptly categorize or recategorize when requested. It is easy to download.

Cons

The shopping websites Gumtree and Ebay dont show pictures when Safedns is active. I have asked what to do to make it happen but in trying to follow what was instructed I couldnt make it work. I would like more help on it whch I will need to chat in writing about to try and fix.

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

For the reason given above and that I could trust Safedns to answer and categorize domains accordingly when requested.

Review Source

SM

Scott M.  
Administrator  
Internet  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Highly recommend"

February 10, 2022

5.0

Safe DNS is a company that accomplishes what they commit to offering. They have great customer service and competitive pricing.

Pros

We are an internet provider that puts a good faith effort towards blocking content committed to pornography and explicit content. Safe DNS enables us to do that effectively.

Cons

At times it blocks content that isn't pornographic but Safe DNS is responsive if you need them to whitelist a website.

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

I don't exactly remember.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

March 11, 2022

Hi Scott! Happy to hear SafeDNS has been working great for you! We appreciate you helping to spread the word about us. Cheers, SafeDNS

WH

William H.  
Systems Administrator  
Libraries  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "SafeDNS - a great product for client filtering"

February 1, 2021

5.0

The company is a pleasure to do business with. I would never want to go back to my old filtering software.

Pros

You set up up and you are done. Have not had to do anything special or make any changes since I installed it several years ago.

Cons

I can't think of a thing that i don't like about it.

Reason for choosing SafeDNS

Easier to use and a much better price.

Review Source

MJ

Matt J.  
IT Coordinator  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "BEST FIT FOR US"

February 10, 2021

5.0

I would highly recommend cost vs value use of this product to anyone! They balance features and costs for their customers.

Pros

We reviewed multiple platforms for our needs and found that the ease of implementation across our network was the major reason for choosing this product. They worked with us to ensure we captured all of our traffic.

Cons

The features and reporting are basic but it meets our needs.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

March 28, 2022

Hello Matt! Thank you so much for the nice review. We do try to keep our services affordable and the quality high. Glad to hear we are managing that! Cheers, SafeDNS

AL

Albert L.  
ICT  
E-Learning  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "General"

February 5, 2021

5.0

Good

Pros

Easy to implementation, good performance

Cons

In China, we always get wrong DNS result for local web page. More function need for client.

Alternatives considered

[DNSFilter](https://www.capterra.com/p/156036/DNSFilter/)

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

March 28, 2022

Hey Albert! Thank you for the kind words. Have taken your notes on operation in China, will check in with our tech team. Appreciate the feedback! Cheers, SafeDNS

RP

Ruth P.  
Tech Support  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "SafeDNS"

February 3, 2021

5.0

Pros

We have been using this software for years and are very happy with the results. School and Parents are grateful for the safety this software brings to us. When I check our stats and can see the protection that is being provided. Makes us very happy.

Cons

The one frustrating time was that none of the students could access Teams. One we realized that SafeDNS was blocking Teams it was a quick fix. Overall very happy with the program.

Review Source

RM

Roberto M.  
C-level  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Safe DNS save broadband significantly"

February 4, 2021

4.0

This software came to make a real difference with teh people using Internet during working hours. We were with almost 100% of use of the Internet service and requiered a second service contrated. After SafeDNS we recover on Internet service just for visitors and the original is enough for the regular operation.

Pros

This software requires just an agent and the end user is not affected in their perfomance during the deployment.

Cons

The technical support is not as easy to contact abroad.

Review Source

MB

Mary B.  
Director of Library  
Libraries  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "A Super Product"

September 22, 2021

5.0

SafeDNS is a wonderful product with friendly and helpful staff.

Pros

This software is easy to install and keeps our younger patrons safe from going to any unwanted sites.

Cons

I am having occasional trouble updating the software. On some of the computers it is an easy process' on others I still haven't been able to update. I am not sure if it is a software issue or an internet issue at our library that is making this a difficult task.

Review Source

Response from SafeDNS

October 5, 2021

Thank you for your review! We have 24/7 support, so don't hesitate to write us if you have any isssues

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