Cisco DNA Center vs NetScaler comparison

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Cisco DNA Center

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

NetScaler and Cisco DNA Center compete in the networking and application optimization space. NetScaler takes the upper hand in deployment flexibility, while Cisco DNA Center excels in network automation and analytics.

Features: NetScaler boasts a flexible deployment model supported by its TriScale architecture, offering excellent load balancing and user access control capabilities. It also provides robust traffic management and single sign-on functionality. Cisco DNA Center is recognized for its integrated network automation, providing real-time insights through its robust analytics and centralized network management solutions. It also offers extensive monitoring features and enhanced automation processes.

Room for Improvement: NetScaler needs better integration and intuitive configuration tools, alongside improvements in template and scripting flexibility to match competitors like F5. Stability issues requiring frequent patches are also noted. Cisco DNA Center should enhance its integration with third-party vendors and improve ease of use, as well as addressing challenges with complex deployments and high costs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetScaler is versatile, supporting deployments across on-premises, public, private, and hybrid clouds, with satisfactory technical support, although support quality varies. Cisco DNA Center offers robust customer support and consistent technical service, primarily for on-premises deployment, but experiences occasional response delays, and its deployment options trail behind NetScaler.

Pricing and ROI: NetScaler is considered expensive, with additional costs for licenses, but customers achieve ROI through its stability and rich features enhancing network performance. Cisco DNA Center, being costlier, often limits accessibility for smaller businesses, yet offers value in centralized network control and is justified by its comprehensive management capabilities and integrations, marking it a worthy investment for larger enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. NetScaler Report (Updated: April 2025).

Cisco DNA Center vs. NetScaler

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Cisco DNA Center

Ranking in Network Management Applications

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (12th), Network Automation (2nd)

NetScaler

Ranking in Network Management Applications

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (1st), Web Application Firewall (WAF) (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 26.9%, down from 29.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 1.5%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Management Applications

Featured Reviews

AvrahamSonenthal

Senior Network Engineer at Inside Global

Efficiently manages our wireless network and provides valuable monitoring features

The platform's biggest benefit has been in managing our wireless network. Having a single pane of glass to control all wireless controllers and access points and to monitor activity has been a significant advantage. We're a small federal agency with around 300 network devices, so automation is a minor focus. It's more relevant for larger networks. The main benefits we've seen are in inventory management and the potential for configuration automation. However, I recommend using the DNA Centre only for larger networks with over a thousand devices; otherwise, it may not be cost-effective. Before proceeding, ensure that your devices are compatible with DNA Center, as not all Cisco devices are supported. Also, investing in proper training is different from plug-and-play. I rate it an eight.

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DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU

Cloud Consultant at Migros Ticaret A.Ş.

A tool for centralized management including inventory and sales tracking

Citrix ADM has the ability to implement policies to tighten security. For instance, you can restrict access to your network from outsiders or lack necessary security measures such as antivirus programs. Additionally, there's the Delivery Controller, which allows for comprehensive monitoring and management tasks such as remote restarts, maintenance, and registration. Another essential component is the Director, which provides detailed insights into sessions, including identifying session failures, connection issues, user lockouts, etc. It presents a list of problems to address, enabling you to click on them and resolve them efficiently.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What's most valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the ability to manage any Cisco infrastructure and device through it. Setup was straightforward."

"We can monitor all devices and get the required information using the product."

"Cisco VXLAN is a protocol that has been around for some time, but the practical implementation and operational capability of Cisco DNA Center bring it to life."

"It does a lot of things automatically, and that's the big thing with it. They're making the software so that you don't need to be as knowledgeable as me on the switching and routing side to get your work done. If you want, you can have DNA troubleshoot your problem for you and give you solutions or fix it itself, if it was something that's just a configuration issue."

"The monitoring features are very useful for network engineers."

"The solution has the capability to scale."

"It gives us automation capabilities for pushing out the configuration to branch networks. It also provides visibility into the health of user network devices."

"The product gives a consolidated view."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"High availability, performance, and security are the main pillars. It enhances the security for accessing the applications."

"The web application firewall is one feature I found valuable in the solution."

"The load balancing feature of this solution is very good."

"The load balancing feature and the fact that you can do context switching in the WAF are the most valuable. We majorly use it for load balancing, but we also use it for context switching in the WAF. It is also robust and very easy to work with and manage."

"Its customer support service is good."

"We appreciate that this solution facilitates our access to Citrix internet."

"I found that the GUI was very easy to to navigate. If you were looking for something, it was fairly easy to find. There's a lot of third-party documentation and information available online as well."

"The solution was very easy to deploy."

More NetScaler pros

Cons

"They should include UTM features in the product."

"An area for improvement in Cisco DNA Center is the latency in data correlation. For example, sometimes, when an issue happens, and I check the logs, I can't find the corresponding log. There's a delay in log replication, so this is what needs improvement in Cisco DNA Center. Reporting in Cisco DNA Center could also be improved because it only has a few templates, and you can't customize it based on your requirements. There aren't many options available in Cisco DNA Center regarding reporting, versus Cisco Prime, which has excellent features for different levels of detailed reports. I'd like to see real-time data replication in the next release of Cisco DNA Center, similar to what's done in Meraki. Data in Meraki is real-time with no delay, so data is immediately replicated in the cloud. Currently, there's a lag in Cisco DNA Center, and addressing that lag is the enhancement I'd like to see in Cisco DNA Center. The solution also needs to be more user-friendly."

"Requires more focus on the digital side of things."

"The solution's setup process needs enhancement."

"What I want to see in Cisco DNA Center in the future is more support for other platforms so that you can manage third-party products, such as Fortinet."

"The tool's IoT integration should be better."

"Technical support could be better. The price could be better, and it could be more stable."

"The task failure reporting or provisioning failure reporting could be a little bit better in the UI, with more information given to the user."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"The interface needs to be improved because the competition is coming up with ones that are more eye-catching, straightforward, and sophisticated."

"The technical support has room for improvement."

"The tool needs to add a feature where we can access the network policy access manager."

"The setup was not simple."

"Mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity."

"The solution should be able to scale more effectively than it does."

"Reducing the overhead required for AppFlow data collection, specifically for HDX Insight, would be a huge improvement."

"They need to make the solution a little more familiar with easy study guides, learning videos, etc."

More NetScaler cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive."

"The solution is a little bit expensive but depends a lot on the customer's usage. If you use it in the right place, you can easily pay for it."

"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."

"The partnership price is notably high, but it ultimately depends on the chosen business model."

"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."

"Cisco DNA Center is expensive."

"The tool is medium-priced."

"The price of the solution is expensive. The hardware is licensed on the device, but the hardware on the server is expensive."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"Regarding pricing, while it's expensive, I can't comment on the exact ROI without a budget analysis. However, in terms of service quality, it's worth the price."

"It is true that it is a bit pricey compared to newer technologies coming to the market. For example, A10 is a load balancer that does everything that Citrix can and it does a lot more than what NetScaler does when it comes to the security space, and their prices are so cheap. Every box comes with its own license and support built into it. When you compare that with NetScaler, you have to buy licenses separately, you have to buy a support agreement that is going to be separate. A small NetScaler, even if it is a VPX which is a virtual server, could cost you close to $150,000 to $200,000 dollars. So the pricing is really high."

"Price-wise, I feel that the solution is a little bit expensive."

"F5 BIG-IP is much more expensive than Citrix ADC. For example, If we choose two platforms, Citrix ADC, 3000 version, and we choose F5, F4200 version. F5 BIG-IP has connections, timers, and throughput similar to Citrix ADC, but the price is very expensive."

"I rate the pricing an eight out of ten since it is expensive."

"The pricing could be lower."

"There isn't much of a difference between the cost of Citrix and that of other similar solutions."

"Citrix ADM costs us approximately $5000 per month."

More NetScaler pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Educational Organization

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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?

The cost is very high.

What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?

The system is working fine for me currently.

What do you like most about Citrix ADC?

The most valuable feature for us is the application firewalling in Citrix NetScaler, ensuring only valid traffic enters our environment.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix ADC?

After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more expensive.

What needs improvement with Citrix ADC?

Citrix NetScaler is a robust product, but mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity. While it could be easier to manage, it is like transitioning from driving a ...

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Fortinet FortiADC vs NetScaler

Compared 9% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs NetScaler

Compared 8% of the time

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Product Reports

Cisco DNA Center

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

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Also Known As

DNA Center

Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall

Overview

Cisco DNA Center offers a comprehensive platform for network automation and management, providing detailed analytics, enhanced security, and streamlined operations for both wired and wireless networks.

Cisco DNA Center integrates with Cisco infrastructure to deliver efficient network automation and management, helping organizations improve network visibility, security, and control. It supports AI-driven analytics and automated workflows to enhance operational efficiency and reduce errors. Challenges include compatibility with third-party systems, steep learning curve, and complex deployment. Its interface facilitates centralized control, vital for troubleshooting, policy management, and configuration management, with support for zero-touch provisioning and SD-Access.

What are the key features of Cisco DNA Center?

Robust Analytics: Provides detailed insights into network health with AI-driven analytics.
Centralized Security: Integrates with ISE for comprehensive security management.
Automated Device Management: Simplifies device provisioning and configuration transfers.
Wi-Fi Analytics: Offers deep insights into wireless network performance.
Zero-Touch Provisioning: Streamlines new device deployments with minimal human intervention.
Scalable Segmentation: Efficiently segments network traffic ensuring security and performance.

What benefits should users consider?

Operational Efficiency: Automation reduces potential errors and streamlines workflow.
Enhanced Security: Integration with Cisco ISE bolsters security capabilities.
Network Visibility: Comprehensive dashboards and analysis tools enhance monitoring.
Troubleshooting: Real-time monitoring aids in identifying and resolving issues swiftly.

In sectors such as healthcare, finance, and retail, Cisco DNA Center is utilized for its ability to enhance security and compliance, manage large-scale networks, and provide detailed analytics for better operational decision-making. Its support for location tracking and policy automation ensures efficient network management across diverse environments.

Cisco

One platform for a consistent application delivery and security experience because nobody has time to learn multiple systems to manage ADC deployments. NetScaler is built with a single code base using a software-based architecture, so no matter which ADC form factor you choose — hardware, virtual machine, bare metal, or container — the behavior will be the same.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk

Cisco DNA Center vs. NetScaler