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Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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 Secure IPS (NGIPS)
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) is 4.4%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 3.6%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Yosevan Sinaga Sinaga - PeerSpot reviewer
Effectively identifies malicious behavior while future automation and AI advancements hold potential
Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) ( /products/cisco-secure-ips-ngips-reviews ) is quite powerful for threat detection and includes botnet detection. It effectively blocks unwanted software, hashes, and suspicious behaviors. The tool is easy to integrate with other IT security solutions due to similar protocols. The system offers effective threat detection features, although automation capabilities are not yet fully utilized.
Jack Poon - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers ease of setup and good documentation
When it comes to the product's deployment phase, we have a lot of vendor support. We have a lot of skills here in Hong Kong. Our company doesn't find any problem deploying Cisco solutions. The solution is deployed on an on-premises version. Speaking about the time required to deploy the solution, I would say that we have quite a lot of previous experience with deploying Cisco products. We have our company's standard design document, which we need to follow. We have a standard testing procedure for all those features. We just take out some appropriate parts and then compile them into one document for an individual project. It is actually quite easy for us to do the documentation, so it just takes one or two hours, and we can do the implementation because all the materials and testing procedures are already in our company standard documents, so it is not that difficult for us.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We are satisfied with the technical support."
"The initial setup wasn't complex or complicated."
"I like the way the tool pushes the packets from the node level."
"The cost is the most valuable feature."
"The solution gives us a lot of visibility into our security."
"This is a stable solution."
"The solution very effectively provides malware protection and signature-based anomaly detection."
"We have found the product to be quite stable."
"Solid intrusion detection and prevention that scales easily in very large environments."
"The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to automatically learn the traffic in our environment, and change the merit recommendations based on that."
"I like most of Cisco's features, like malware detection and URL filtering."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT are the dashboard for monitoring events."
"It is quite an intelligent product."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the filtering."
"Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is easy to configure and the reporting is great. It's also very user-friendly."
 

Cons

"Should include additional security features."
"The GUI could be improved. The pain point is really only focused toward the security engineer who configures it and the operation engineer who manages it."
"I think the part of IPS and everything else needs to be better equated to the real needs or current needs of the business compared to the other manufacturer, because it is not straightforward, a way to configure it compared to the other competitors."
"I would like to see a more user-friendly interface."
"I would like to see integration with monitoring tools such as Nagios or BMC."
"The SSL decrypt could be improved, but it's normal. All the devices in our platform need a lot of memory or CPU to do the SSL decrypt. This is an issue to improve in all platforms, not only in Cisco."
"I would like to see better integration with SIEMs."
"There is room for improvement in the policy documentation."
"I want to see a better dashboard for the product. The dashboard can be a bit modified or enhanced."
"I would like to have analytics included in the suite."
"Integration with other components — even Cisco's own products — can be enhanced to improve administrative experience."
"The solution's approach to managing traffic blocking is confusing and impractical."
"The cloud can be improved."
"The customization of the rules can be simplified."
"I don't think this solution is a time-based control system, because one cannot filter traffic based on time."
"Performance needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I usually work with Fortinet and FortiGate which is a lower cost in comparison with Cisco NGIPS."
"I would rate the pricing 4 out of 5."
"When it comes to pricing you pay for a permanent licensing structure. One, three, and five-year options. There are no extra costs."
"We pay for the IPS license to use this solution."
"Cisco products are not cheap and this solution is no different."
"The price for additional throughput is the highest in the industry."
"There is a license required to use Cisco NGIPS and it can be a one or three-year license."
"There are licensing fees depending on the features that you are using."
"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."
"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."
"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
13%
University
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco NGIPS?
The product's initial setup phase was easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco NGIPS?
Cisco is one of the top brands known for cost-effectiveness, making it worth the money. It's cheaper to integrate with existing IT security solutions compared to other expensive brands with subscri...
What needs improvement with Cisco NGIPS?
In the future, I hope to see automation features like automatic blocking and rule creation. Additionally, incorporating AI capabilities would enhance its functionality.
What do you like most about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five. There are some other tools in the market that are more expensive than Cisco. There are no additional c...
What needs improvement with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
Cisco offers the Cisco DNA Center, which is a source that provides crucial information for us to monitor performance, and see whether there is any trouble. We are using Cisco DNA center, but again,...
 

Also Known As

Sourcefire NGIPS, Firepower NGIPS
Sourcefire SNORT
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Electric Power, Huntington Bank, Keycorp, Nationwide, Transunion, Marriott, Inova Health, Ford, Thomson Reuters, Dow Chemical, Equifax, Chevron, Walmart, Coca Cola
CareCore, City of Biel, Dimension Data, LightEdge, Lone Star College System, National Rugby League, Port Aventura, Smart City Networks, Telecom Italia, The Department of Education in Western Australia
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs. Cisco Sourcefire SNORT and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.