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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)
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
66
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 March 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) is 4.2%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 3.1%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

YoussefBoukari - PeerSpot reviewer
Very effective for malware and signature-based anomalies but stability needs improvement
Our company uses the solution for data functions in banking. It is a backend solution in the server center.  We analyze traffic and adapt configurations or customize policies to the environment of the IPS itself.  The solution very effectively provides malware protection and signature-based…
Syed Shahnawaz Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
An IPS solution for security and protection but lacks stability
We assess the client's environment, including the size of the workforce responsible for firewall management. Sourcefire can be effective despite its complexity if you have a capable team. Sourcefire might not be more appropriate if you lack a strong IT team. When it comes to real-time traffic analysis, the requirements can vary significantly. Discussing an organization's or individual user's security posture adds another layer of complexity. It's important to note that there isn't a single device that can fully meet the demands of real-time traffic analysis for security purposes. Multiple appliances and solutions are often necessary to achieve comprehensive real-time visibility. We've successfully integrated Sourcefire into various environments, making the process relatively straightforward. We've incorporated it with certain NMS, so I foresee no significant challenges in integrating the Sourcefire. Cisco Sourcefire SNORT offers visibility and robust support. Its resource management documentation is notably extensive, enhancing usability. However, its complexity may pose challenges, especially as the market trends toward simpler solutions for intricate issues. While concerns regarding maturity and stability exist, the development team has actively addressed these issues, requiring ongoing scrutiny to ensure complete resolution. Overall, I rate the solution a 7 out of 10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Cisco NGIPS is the centralized user interface. You have the ability to quickly push out configurations across your environment using the Cisco UI. It's a powerful capability of that solution."
"NGIPS lets you map web requests to a specific user to determine who is downloading files and what they are accessing. You can use it to identify users downloading malware or track time wasters using Facebook or something like that. It gives you visibility into what your users are doing on the Internet."
"This is a stable solution."
"The solution is stable. This is one of the good things in Firepower. Especially if we use ESE with it."
"It has good intelligence. It does a great job at stopping threats."
"Good IPS and VirtualBox features."
"The technical support is impressive."
"The features that I find most valuable are the DDoS protection, IPS/IDS, and Firepower for web application filtering."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT are the dashboard for monitoring events."
"I like most of Cisco's features, like malware detection and URL filtering."
"It is quite an intelligent product."
"The tool's most valuable feature is threat detection, which is important because we have multiple layers not only in Cisco."
"The URL filtering is very good and you can create a group for customized URLs."
"The solution is rather easy to use."
"In general, the features are all great. However, if I need to take hardware for ASA, because they need to upgrade to Firepower, we want to create rules. For that, most of the time we go to the command line. Right now Firepower is working really hard on the grid. You can apply all those rules to the grid. Even if you want to monitor the logs, for example, the activity will tell you which particular user has been blocked because of that rule. Firepower's monitoring interface is very good, because you can see each and every piece. ASA also had it, but there you needed to type the command and be under the server to see all that stuff. In Firepower you have the possibility to go directly to the firewall. The way the monitoring is displayed is also very nice. The feature I appreciate most in Firepower is actually the grid. The grid has worked very well."
"It simplifies the configuration process by offering pre-defined base configurations, including security and connectivity settings."
 

Cons

"The price is a little high. It's hard to find solutions that are easy on the budget and strike a balance between affordability and features."
"The GUI user interface could be improved and the login is not very user friendly."
"We would like to see some improvement in the configuration process for this solution, as it is currently quite complex."
"There are some features not found in Firepower, like data loss prevention, and SSO, to have a connection between Cisco and Active Directory which was introduced on other products."
"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."
"We would like an option to search through the logs to be added to this solution."
"They could provide one solution to fit all the use cases."
"The feedback from some of our customers is that they weren't interested in Cisco because it was too complicated to deploy, especially in cloud-related areas."
"Performance needs improvement."
"The pricing needs to be improved. We have lots of low-budget clients around us. Budget constraints are always a deterrent in our market."
"The implementation could be a bit easier."
"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."
"There are problems setting up VPNs for some regions."
"With the next release, I would like to see some PBR, so that you can do the configuration with the features."
"While the alerts they offer are good, it could improve it in the sense that they should be more detailed to make the alerts more useful to us in general. Sometimes the solution will offer up false positives. Due to the fact that the alerts aren't detailed, we have to go dig around to see why is it being blocked. The solution would be infinitely better if there was just a bit more detail in the alert information and logging we receive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is highly priced but competitive regarding features and support services."
"The price for additional throughput is the highest in the industry."
"Cisco products are always expensive, but if you can afford the price then it's a great solution."
"Cisco products are not cheap and this solution is no different."
"When it comes to pricing you pay for a permanent licensing structure. One, three, and five-year options. There are no extra costs."
"It is expensive. It has separate licensing for all the features, and every feature set seems to require another license. Licensing is on a yearly basis. There are no additional costs besides the standard licensing fee."
"The solution is pricey, but worth it."
"The price of Cisco NGIPS could be reduced. It is more expensive than other solutions."
"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
University
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
9%
Government
8%
 

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 needs improvement with Cisco NGIPS?
The dashboard is quite old compared to today's technology. We would like to see improvements in the dashboard features.
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: March 2025.
841,004 professionals have used our research since 2012.