Cisco DNA Center vs PRTG Network Monitor comparison

Cisco and Paessler GmbH are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.0, while Paessler GmbH is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.6. Cisco holds a 1.5% mindshare in NMS, compared to Paessler GmbH’s 4.2% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Paessler GmbH users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews

1,518 Views
914 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

PRTG Network Monitor

Read 101 PRTG Network Monitor reviews

8,114 Views
5,456 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

PRTG Network Monitor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 24, 2024

PRTG Network Monitor and Cisco DNA Center compete in the network management category. PRTG Network Monitor holds the upper hand for small to mid-sized enterprises due to its affordability and ease of use, while Cisco DNA Center provides advanced features for large organizations with more significant budgets.

Features: PRTG Network Monitor stands out for its rapid deployment, scalability, and a vast array of pre-configured sensors, making it easy to tailor to infrastructure needs. It is known for its proactive alert system and integration flexibility. Cisco DNA Center is distinguished by its advanced analytics, automation capabilities, and robust management of Cisco-specific devices, making it ideal for sophisticated network operations and security integrations.

Room for Improvement: PRTG Network Monitor users would like enhanced template and application monitoring, improved dashboards, and better cloud service integration. Cisco DNA Center users suggest enhanced third-party integrations, more competitive pricing for mid-sized markets, and GUI simplifications for easier deployment.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PRTG Network Monitor is praised for its straightforward deployment and extensive online resources, but relies on email-based support, which may not suffice for urgent needs. Conversely, Cisco DNA Center is suited for complex environments, requiring technical expertise, but offers comprehensive and sometimes costly support suitable for large enterprises.

Pricing and ROI: PRTG Network Monitor offers flexible and budget-friendly pricing with perpetual licensing, appealing to small businesses seeking quick returns and cost-effective management. On the other hand, Cisco DNA Center is viewed as a premium option, with its price and advanced features aligning with larger enterprises aiming for enhanced network control and efficiency.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. PRTG Network Monitor Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. PRTG Network Monitor

January 2025

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Helped 831,071 peers since 2012

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 Monitoring Software

16th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (1st), Network Automation (2nd)

PRTG Network Monitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

101

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (6th), Cloud Monitoring Software (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PRTG Network Monitor is 4.2%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

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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Tochukwu Uzomba

Solutions Architect at Boch Systems Company Limited

Efficiently monitor networks across regions with seamless setup and robust feature set

PRTG Network Monitor is easy to set up. Within a few minutes, it is operational. It is an all-in-one monitoring solution without extra costs. For example, we set it up for an insurance company with branches across Africa. We are able to monitor from Lagos without installing anything in the branches, using the agentless feature. We just put in the IP address and the parameter, and we monitor from those ends. Additionally, all the sensors are very useful. Most people are interested in the bandwidth monitoring sensor to see what bandwidth the users are consuming. The pricing is affordable compared to SolarWinds.

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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

"People like to use the dashboards to get an overview of their network."

"The monitoring is very valuable to me."

"Automation helps configure devices without manual intervention, enabling zero-touch provisioning."

"Application Assurance works very well."

"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 offers automation, security enforcement, analytics, and integration with other Cisco technologies, making it a key driver for efficient network operations and compliance with security protocols."

"It is a stable solution."

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

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"I really love the activity library. It gives the flexibility to discover data and metrics about my interface and data server."

"Every monitoring session features similar capabilities."

"From a network point of view, we can see the state of the network, as well as bandwidth usage and downtime."

"The feature I like is that it can easily do a lot of mapping."

"I can create my own program sensor. This means I can add extra monitoring capabilities into the already fundamentally strong foundation."

"PRTG Network Monitor is easy to set up. Within a few minutes, it is operational."

"The remote probes are very useful. They allow us to provide a reference across different areas in the network. In trying to localize issues, that's very useful."

"It has made our infrastructure more reliable."

More PRTG Network Monitor pros

Cons

"What could be improved is the licensing cost of Cisco DNA Center. It's a little bit expensive."

"DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it."

"The product doesn’t have good monitoring capabilities."

"The weaknesses primarily involve pricing and the ongoing need for increased bandwidth and data throughput."

"Cisco could improve the security side of their solutions."

"The solution's integration feature can be better."

"Integration with analytic tools and API integrations would be ideal."

"From the recent DNA point of view, there are some stability challenges with Cisco, but very minor."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"The clustering aspect needs improvement, as there is a bit of confusion about you do when hit that 5000 probe mark."

"The thing that we do struggle with a bit is in the historic data. If I want look over 30 days, because it averages out onto one graph, you can't zoom in and drill down information."

"PRTG Network Monitor is okay to use, but you'll need some time to analyze the data. If it can automatically locate or identify the problem area, it would be more helpful to users."

"Other monitoring tools that I have used are easier to use."

"There seems to be a big jump from the basic scan to the really thorough scan. There is a big jump in the quantity of sensors it uses for certain things. One minute you might get ten and then the next you get 200. There seems to be a big jump between the two at times."

"In terms of sensors and probes, it would be really cool if PRTG had a purely Azure-based solution. We had to install a probe on one of our cloud servers and then let that probe out from there. It would be really cool if it just monitored Azure without having to install something on the device."

"The scalability of this solution could improve as well as the automated provisioning of the infrastructure."

"This product can be improved by updating the net flow interface. The one that is in place works – I can get all the information I need from it – but it is a little bit clunky."

More PRTG Network Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be better. It's a very expensive tool."

"The licensing cost for Cisco DNA Center is not more than that of other solutions."

"Affordability is a problem because it's created for large enterprises only. So, some customers, even if their engineers want the solution, might have problems with budget limitations."

"The product is very costly."

"Cisco DNA Center is expensive."

"We get a yearly license at the time we buy the product."

"Cisco DNA Center is too expensive."

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

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"We used a product called SolarWinds in the past, and its cost was high. Whereas, PRTG came in at a third of SolarWind's cost."

"Pricing for PRTG Network Monitor is a nine out of ten. It meets my company's budget and monitoring requirements. My company is on a perpetual license."

"We have an unlimited license for this solution."

"In my company now, we are using the free version."

"The price was pretty good, very competitive."

"When you buy PRTG, everything comes in one bundle. Licensing is very easy."

"It is about £4,500 for the first year, then about another 15 to 20 percent annually after that. So, we are looking at about £1000 running costs a year. When you think about how much an outage costs per minute, it's negligible."

"The scalability is there, but smaller companies might need CAM software to be able afford the product."

More PRTG Network Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user174738

IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

May 31, 2015

Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor

I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

54%

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco DNA Center?

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

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?

One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process. The time required for downloading and installing packages during upgrades is too long, often taking around ten hours. This is a significant i...

See all answers

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

PRTG network monitor is one of the best tool i have ever used for the monitoring. It have auto discovery option. it avoid the configuring the device in PRTG. It automatically discover the device an...

See all answers

What do you like most about PRTG Network Monitor?

The tool is integrated with our email for the alerts.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PRTG Network Monitor?

PRTG comes in different bands: there are options with 500, 1500, 2500, and so on. Pricing is by the number of devices, not by sensor.

See all answers

Comparisons

Juniper Mist Wired Assurance vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 9% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 8% of the time

Meraki Dashboard vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiManager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

Huawei eSight vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco DNA Center Competitors

Zabbix vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 8% of the time

LibreNMS vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 7% of the time

Centreon vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 6% of the time

Nagios XI vs PRTG Network Monitor

Compared 5% of the time

More PRTG Network Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

January 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

PRTG Network Monitor

January 2025

Download PRTG Network Monitor product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

No data available

Learn More

Cisco

Paessler GmbH

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.

PRTG Network Monitor runs on a Windows machine within your network, collecting various statistics from the machines, software, and devices which you designate. PRTG comes with an easy-to-use web interface with point-and-click configuration. You can easily share data from it with non-technical colleagues and customers, including via live graphs and custom reports. This will let you plan for network expansion, see what applications are using most of your connection, and make sure that no one is hogging the entire network just to torrent videos.

To monitor a large IT environment, it's important to be able to scale PRTG up. Paessler PRTG Enterprise Monitor includes all the proven capabilities of PRTG Network Monitor, which are enhanced by exclusive ITOps Board for a service-oriented, central overview of multiple PRTG servers.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Jameson Bank, Sidnix, RungeICT, MedicalAnimal, Truck-lite, GamingGrids, The Covell Group, Forsythn County Schools, NetMass, Musgrove Park Hospital, Lanes Health, Columbia Southern University, Vodafone, Intrust Bank

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. PRTG Network Monitor

January 2025

Free Report: Cisco DNA Center vs. PRTG Network Monitor

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