Alternatives to Securly

[Nexarius]

We're a education-focused MSP with around 20 schools on the Securly Filter platform and the support is just getting worse and worse - time to resolution is now measured in weeks and often takes over a month to get things fixed. The school's won't tolerate this any more and it's become embarrassing recommending them, so looking for alternatives.

 

Senso looks like it might be fairly similar and have better support? I've spoken to them and it sounds like their support team is much easier to communicate wiht (Securly have removed telephone support and it's tickets only, no way to get immediate help any more...)

 

Our requirements are fairly simple - need to be able to filter ChromeOS and Windows devices with transparent auth (whether by user-injected PAC like Securly or deploying an agent) and basic DNS filtering for guest users.

 

Needs to sync to Google for users and needs to be KCSIE-compliant.... oh and needs to not be significantly more expensive than Securly.

 

 

Open to any suggestions! Thanks!

[Noxid_w]

In the exact same situation as you. I've just become so unhappy with Securly. We've had demos from a lot of different filtering providers, Lightspeed is the one that excites me the most and I imagine we'll go with. It ticks all the boxes. I suggest getting a demo from them.

[rogerdnixon]

I've looked at potential alternatives as we are coming up to our renewal and Lightspeed is really the only similar offering. However, a recent thread on Edugeek about their support kind of put me off taking it any further. But to be fair across 29 schools, Securly gives us few issues. The last significant one was an issue with the extension deployment last summer - other than that it just works and its easy to onboard new schools.

[Rob_D]

Might be worth looking at Smooothwall. They do everything you want, but you might wind up needing an on-site appliance. I can't speak to how it compares on price, I think it will depend on how big the school is.

[gszech]

We're a education-focused MSP with around 20 schools on the Securly Filter platform and the support is just getting worse and worse - time to resolution is now measured in weeks and often takes over a month to get things fixed. The school's won't tolerate this any more and it's become embarrassing recommending them, so looking for alternatives.

 

What's the issue with Securly. Is it just slow support times or anything specific ?

[speakercon]

I've been using Securly for almost a year and hardly ever have to contact support as it just works, but when I have someone has always emailed or phoned me swiftly and resolved the issue.

 

Could it be its not been setup correctly as per their best practices? From looking at a couple of other schools implementation of it, most issues seem to be down to this, which is something Securly could improve on (the onboarding process), how well it's setup is down to the customer and how well they read the guides and follow best practice.

[TronXP]

Generally, no issues with securly. But last week I contacted support (via helpdesk) and seem to be in contact with American support. So only got replies at 4pm as I was leaving. Took 3/4 days to resolve as I didn't reply until next morning.

[douglasghanley]

We’ve been hearing similar frustrations from a number of schools and MSPs lately—support is crucial when dealing with safeguarding technology, and long resolution times just aren’t sustainable.

 

There are definitely alternatives out there that provide strong filtering across ChromeOS and Windows with seamless authentication and Google sync. The KCSIE compliance piece is also something worth keeping a close eye on, as not all solutions interpret the guidance in the same way.

 

Would be interested to hear what other MSPs are using and how they’re finding the support experience!

[rogerdnixon]

Across out 29 schools I don't often have to use support and when I do they do seem to be on it. We deal with lots of third parties and I'd say they are generally one of the ones that responds the fastest as opposed to some that takes daya/weeks or even moths to sort things (things on one that starts with a B and another that starts with a C.....). I have onboarded schools who have had poor setups and really have not set things up correctly and therefore were having issues - but I suspect that's true of most systems.

[tom_newton]

Might be worth looking at Smooothwall. They do everything you want, but you might wind up needing an on-site appliance. I can't speak to how it compares on price, I think it will depend on how big the school is.

 

Thank you Rob! There are some big trusts now with no appliances (or heading that way, sometimes there are a few schools left to migrate - one of the benefits of being able to run hybrid).

 

In terms of support, I think the Smoothwall team take a lot of beating, even tho we have not been without our problems. Every company goes through ups and downs, Securly are no different. I know a number of their support staff (a few are ex-colleagues) and I won't say a bad word about em, they're good people. At Smoothwall, however, we have the largest UK support team of any safeguarding vendor by some considerable distance. Of course we also support more customers. However this does give us a little more flex in staffing, so at the moment, I have to say I am proud of our support service. We're also happy to help MSPs train up their staff in order to make the customer experience even better.

 

If @Nexarius wants to get in touch I would be happy top connect them to our dedicated partner team.

[Nexarius]

Hi Tom, I've just filled out the partner application form, would be great if we could get some options as we have a number of imminent Securly renewals that I would like to switch for something more fit for purpose!

[Nexarius]

Thanks all for your input.

 

We looked at Smoothwall but were massively put off by their requirement for us to share details on leads and register deals with them before they would give us even indicative pricing. The convoluted sales process seemed a real step backwards compared to others. Senso was clearer on the sales/pricing side but technical details of the filtering product seemed sparse and I don't think it would have done what we needed it to do - it felt like a bolt-on for their classroom management product rather than a main focus.

 

We've ended up sticking with Securly - to be fair they stepped up the support and escalated the long-running issues which are now getting sorted on their end.  95% of the schools we use Securly with 'just work' and we don't need to get support, it's the 5% where things are complicated (multiple schools sharing a Google tenancy etc) that we've had issues but the main issues are now fixed. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Adam_Exa]

Hi All,

 

I represent Exa Networks, We specialise in DFE and KCSIE-compliant broadband, filtering, monitoring and cybersecurity solutions within the Education sector.

 

Our in-house filtering solution Surfprotect Quantum offers transparent filtering across several devices, adhering to the DFE and KCSIE standards, which has been successfully adopted by schools and multi-academy trusts nationally. It would be great to have a chat upon your renewals where we can set you up with a demo and trial to see if our solutions could be a good fit for your schools.

 

At Exa, we pride ourselves on our exceptional support, which is regularly praised by our customers. 

 

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you wish to find out more.

 

Kind regards 

 

Adam Bogue 
Business Development Manager
Exa Networks 

 

E- [email protected]
T - 01274026424
M - 07445317049
W - www.exa-networks.co.uk  

 

Edited March 27, 2025 by Adam_Exa