We take a deep dive into Control D and Zorus, analyzing both against the following criteria:
- Plans
- Pricing
- General Features
- Clients, Applications, and Integrations
- Analytics & Reporting
- Support
Plans
Unfortunately, little information is known about the plans offered by Zorus since this information is not disclosed publicly. However, we know that Zorus is an MSP-only service, and you can qualify for a 14-day free trial after scheduling a demo with their sales team.
In contrast, Control D offers a 30-day free trial (no credit card needed) and does not gatekeep features. Instead, it delivers the same service and functionality to all its users – the only distinction made is between organization type since this affects pricing.
This means you gain access to the entire feature set from the beginning, as well as all new feature releases and updates.
Pricing
Again, little is known about Zorus’s pricing structure. However, users on Reddit claim there is a minimum requirement of 100 seats, which costs a little less than $3/user/month.
Control D is more cost-effective – regardless of organization type – since its pricing structure is as follows:
- Enterprise – $2/endpoint/month
- MSP – $1/endpoint/month
- School/Non-Profit – qualify for a further discounted rate
General Features
Advanced Malware Protection
Zorus offers basic malware and phishing protection but cannot match Control D’s advanced threat detection capabilities.
Control D utilizes AI-powered malware protection to not only block known malware sites but accurately detect and block threats in real time. An independent study found Control D’s malware filter to be the most effective across all competitors, achieving a 99.97% block rate.
Blockable Services
Zorus offers categories and subcategories to help you narrow down the type of content that’s resolved on your network – something that Control D also provides in the form of Filters. However, one thing Zorus lacks is the ability to block Services.
Services are specific websites, groups of websites, tools, vendors, applications, platforms, etc., that you can block individually. For instance, you may want to allow all social media platforms except Instagram and Discord.
Instead of having to set a custom block rule for both, Control D allows you to block both Instagram and Discord with a single click of a button. To do so, simply navigate to the Services tab and toggle on the block feature for your chosen platform.
Control D offers 1,000+ individual Services across 16 categories to allow for complete customization of your filtering policies – without the hassle of creating Custom Rules and blocklists.
Traffic Redirection
A feature unique to Control D is Traffic Redirection.
Traffic Redirection allows you to spoof your IP address to a proxy server without the use of a VPN. Currently, you can choose a server in one of 100+ exit locations in over 60 countries.
You can set this feature to redirect all your DNS traffic or redirect specific Services. For example, you can set a default location for the majority of your traffic but have Spotify and YouTube routed through a server in Japan.
This feature is not available with Zorus.
Advanced Geo-Custom Rules
Control D offers Geo-Custom Rules, which allow you to block, redirect, and bypass DNS queries that are made from (or resolve to) IP addresses (not) in a specific ASN or country.
Although Zorus provides geo-based IP blocking capabilities, it does not include ASNs or countries, and you cannot redirect queries to a proxy location.
👉 Read our documentation for more information on Geo-Custom Rules and its benefits
New Feature Releases & Product Upgrades
An often neglected aspect when comparing services is their product development cycle, which involves improving existing features and introducing new functionality.
One example of this is Zorus’s MacOS client. A review from 2021 states that Zorus is working on adding cross-platform support for all device types. This has yet to materialize – more on this later – suggesting the rate at which the product is improved is slow.
Conversely, Control D is well-known for its active development cycle, constantly pushing out new features and upgrades.
Clients, Applications, and Integrations
Cross-Platform Support
Control D is compatible with all major device types, including Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
On the other hand, Zorus’s MacOS client is still in beta, and they do not support Linux, iOS, or Android devices at all.
Single Sign-On
Control D has Single Sign-On capabilities using OIDC with Okta. Zorus does not offer this feature.
Analytics and Reporting
Data Export & Query Log Retention
While both services allow you to export your data, Control D stores query log data for 7 days, whereas Zorus stores query log data for 90 days.
However, it should be noted that Control D does serve reports of up to 30 days with hourly time-series granularity and up to 1 year with daily time-series granularity.
SIEM Log Streaming
Control D can integrate with your SIEM tool of choice, allowing you to stream query log data for real-time threat alerts and data analysis.
This feature is not available with Zorus.
Custom Data Storage Regions
Alongside the three data storage regions available by default (North America, Europe, and Australia), Control D gives you the option to choose a custom storage region for an additional cost.
Zorus does not offer this.
Support
Community Support
Control D has an active community on Discord and Reddit, where users can ask questions and engage with fellow users. There’s also the ability to request features and upvote existing suggestions to help the team focus their efforts on the most requested features.
Zorus does not have such a feature.
Chat Support
Both platforms offer chat support but differ greatly in how they function. Zorus’s chat support is effectively an email ticketing system, where you enter your email address alongside your query and wait to hear a response back.
Control D’s chat support is in the form of Barry, an advanced chatbot designed to answer 99% of queries instantly. Barry is powered by machine learning technology built on the extensive documentation and collective knowledge of Control D’s engineers and employees.
This means Barry is capable of resolving technical issues, providing expertise on configuration best practices, and much more within a matter of seconds.
Of course, should your question require the eyes of a human agent, you can easily escalate your query to a member of the Control D support team.
👉 Learn more about Barry and his capabilities
Final Thoughts
Zorus can be a solid choice for those seeking a basic and reliable DNS service. However, as we’ve explored in this article, it lags behind Control D in terms of advanced functionality, cross-platform support, and analytics features.