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Cisco DNA Center vs ExtremeCloud IQ comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.4
Cisco DNA Center offers ROI through time savings despite its cost with a user rating of 4/5 to 7/10.
Sentiment score
6.8
ExtremeCloud IQ enhances productivity by simplifying management, stabilizing Wi-Fi, reducing costs, and offering quick deployment for business growth.
Although Cisco DNA Center is expensive, we have seen a return on investment in terms of time savings.
I managed to support and deploy ExtremeCloud IQ and handle network management without requiring external staffing, thus saving on external hiring costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
Cisco DNA Center support is generally well-received, though some users encounter delays and desire better documentation and consistency.
Sentiment score
7.8
ExtremeCloud IQ offers efficient, responsive customer service with knowledgeable support, though some find documentation and resources lacking compared to competitors.
Overall, Cisco DNA Center rates eight out of ten as a complete solution.
The support for Cisco DNA Center is good.
GTAC receives a score of ten out of ten.
I experienced effective help mainly remotely, though for some issues, a technical person had to assist on-site.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco DNA Center offers scalable network management with effective expansion, despite limited IPv6 support and high licensing costs.
Sentiment score
8.0
ExtremeCloud IQ offers scalable, seamless network expansion with cloud-based architecture, supporting high-density and smaller-scale applications efficiently.
From my experience, we can easily manage numerous devices.
The solution is designed for large enterprise companies.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco DNA Center is generally stable, with users praising its reliability despite minor bugs and stability challenges.
Sentiment score
7.6
ExtremeCloud IQ is stable, with minor firmware issues; updates improve reliability, with newer bands performing well and occasional reboots needed.
When we communicate problems, they solve them effectively.
It requires some time to update, which affects real-time management.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco DNA Center needs better integration, pricing, UI, stability, deployment, reporting, training, and troubleshooting for improved usability.
ExtremeCloud IQ needs improvements in UI, stability, performance, security, support, and pricing to meet user and market expectations.
The AI-driven insights have contributed significantly to faster troubleshooting and predictive analytics.
The client history in Cisco DNA Center can be longer than 10 days, perhaps extending to 15 or 20 days.
Improving documentation with more detailed videos and resources would be beneficial.
This integration aids in resolving problems and issues found in the network and enhances support with the GTAC team of Extreme Networks.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco DNA Center's high costs and licensing requirements can deter smaller businesses, appealing mainly to large enterprises.
ExtremeCloud IQ is competitively priced, offering flexible licensing and reasonable support costs, especially advantageous for educational institutions.
The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco DNA Center provides analytics, centralized management, and enhanced security with automation, real-time monitoring, and AI-driven network insights.
ExtremeCloud IQ excels with centralized management, AI analytics, seamless scalability, and integration with planning tools for efficient networking.
If there is a problem, I can inspect the situation and see what is happening, which is beneficial.
The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier.
For networking and access points, it acts as a controller in a cloud environment, eliminating the need for an appliance controller or wireless LAN controller, thus saving on investment and reducing TCO costs.
The automation and information provided by ExtremeCloud IQ, such as connection status and logs, were very beneficial.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco DNA Center
Ranking in Network Management Applications
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (11th), Network Automation (2nd)
ExtremeCloud IQ
Ranking in Network Management Applications
13th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (11th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (21st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 21.8%, down from 28.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeCloud IQ is 2.7%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco DNA Center21.8%
ExtremeCloud IQ2.7%
Other75.5%
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Mahir Öztürk - PeerSpot reviewer
Client history has helped resolve past network issues more efficiently
I mostly use the client history feature of Cisco DNA Center. I didn't use the real-time monitoring capability of Cisco DNA Center because I primarily used it for client history regarding issues and problems. I don't use it for real-time monitoring. If there is a problem, I can inspect the situation and see what is happening, which is beneficial.
KristianLarsen - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps resolve network-related issues quickly and is reasonably priced
The tool has both advantages and weaknesses because it has several pieces of software on which it has been working because of buyouts. The tool has several branches of software versions, and you can consolidate it into ExtremeCloud, but it also has the disadvantage that sometimes people can get issues because the software on the hardware is different than they expected, especially if it is not converted to the tool used. The tool has simplified things, but it also adds a complexity that sometimes stumps some users. In the future, I think the tool’s onboarding setup of a new tenant could be smoother or faster. I also think that they could provide a simpler setup for first-level support so that it can be easier for them to have a support dashboard that would help them. I am talking about customer support organizations, so you usually have a high turnaround, but you need to have something that is easier to use and where you don't need so much training.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco DNA Center?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it gives some kind of ease in operations, especially since our company is moving from CLI to GUI-based configuration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco DNA Center?
After evaluating other solutions, we will provide feedback.
What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
We have utilized the software-defined access (SDA) feature of Cisco DNA Center. The AI-driven needs enhancements and Integration and unification of visibility and monitoring to include other areas ...
What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?
Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ExtremeCloud IQ?
The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period. The documentation and training courses were also costly, impacting how easily I c...
What advice do you have for others considering ExtremeCloud IQ?
I rate the overall solution nine out of ten only due to the poor documentation. Despite this, I was very happy with ExtremeCloud IQ as it greatly eased my workload, allowing me to manage the networ...
 

Also Known As

DNA Center
Aerohive Networks, Aerohive HiveManager, HiveManager, ExtremeCloud , ExtremeSecurity
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Henry Ford Health System, Baltimore Ravens, Brandili, Federal University of Alagoas, CEDAE, Caxias do Sul, UNISC Concurrency, CenturyLink Field, Louisiana College, Cricket Tasmania Stadium, Moscow Internet Exchange
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. ExtremeCloud IQ and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,883 professionals have used our research since 2012.