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Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs ExtremeCloud IQ 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 Sourcefire SNORT
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ExtremeCloud IQ
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
18th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (13th), Network Access Control (NAC) (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 3.1%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeCloud IQ is 0.9%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT3.1%
ExtremeCloud IQ0.9%
Other96.0%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2772102 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Logging and customizable rules have helped improve threat monitoring and detection
The logging is mainly what I consider one of the best features with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT. Being able to log and store it in a file allows you to push it to a centralized repository. The logging and reporting help improve incident response. You should always be logging threats, any sort of misconfiguration, and anything that could be an issue. It's important to at least log and monitor it. The basic rules provide a good baseline in assessing Cisco Sourcefire SNORT's ability in providing real-time analytics for threat detection, but as a professional, you should look to constantly modify that baseline. They provide extensive customizability so you can define your own rules. The customizability allows it to be adaptable in protecting against diverse network threats to the constant change.
UK
Technical Coordinator at Yildiz Technical University
Cloud-based deployment eases IT workload and supports network management
I struggled with the documentation. I expected comprehensive documentation and videos but found them to be too simple. I needed deep details and more thorough resources. Although there were costly courses available, the lack of budget was a hindrance. Improving documentation with more detailed videos and resources would be beneficial.

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 features of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT are the dashboard for monitoring events."
"Solid intrusion detection and prevention that scales easily in very large environments."
"The tool's most valuable feature is threat detection, which is important because we have multiple layers not only in Cisco."
"The most valuable feature is the visibility that we have across the virtual environment."
"It has a huge rate of protection. It's has a low level of positives and a huge rate of threat protection. It's easy to deploy and easy to implement. It has an incredible price rate compared to similar solutions."
"The solution is stable."
"The URL filtering is very good and you can create a group for customized URLs."
"The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet."
"It's extremely easy to deploy. Even our access points are behind the net, not using real, public IP. We can easily add to the cloud. For deployment, we just need to let the access point take the DSCP from IP and then, even if it's not a requirement, we can see the serial number from the access points and add the serial number to the cloud directly."
"The deployment made my life very easy."
"Our transaction polling is now way more secure."
"The cloud-based management interface allows us to fully manage all our wireless radios, ensuring consistency and ease of access."
"The HiveManager integration with the VPN Gateway is awesome."
"Whenever I have a concern, question, or just need a refresher the helpful staff at AeroHive is there to help me. By far, the ]best relationship I have ever had with a vendor."
"What's most valuable for me in ExtremeCloud IQ is easy management. It also has centralized administration, so you don't have to go to the customer site to program it. It can be programmed remotely."
"The few times we have needed help, Aerohive has been there for us and I am confident that If I need them they will be there again."
 

Cons

"I don't think this solution is a time-based control system, because one cannot filter traffic based on time."
"The initial setup is a little difficult compared to other products in the market. It depends on the environment. If we are doing any migration, it might take months in a brown-field environment."
"The main dashboard of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT could improve."
"To be frank, the product is not really stable, although they're working on that. Whenever I go to the technical community with an issue, they will usually say that it is not there yet, but the technical team are working on it. The issues are not insolvable. I think they should just keep working on the product to make sure that the product can become very stable. The technical support is great. I appreciate that. We have a lot of communities supporting Firepower now, so you can find help for whatever issue you have."
"The cloud can be improved."
"The solution's approach to managing traffic blocking is confusing and impractical."
"Cisco Sourcefire SNORT can scale, but if you have too much, you could fill up your log files, which I consider when discussing scalability."
"If the price is brought down then everybody will be happy."
"I would like to see a remote phone application for monitoring APs when on the road."
"There can be an improvement by incorporating two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication for security. Advanced network access control features and application control features should be added to manage applications. Many customers are interested in managing data, such as setting data quotas for individual users."
"Browser load time for the cloud is long and needs improvement."
"Pricing is a bit expensive."
"I struggled with the documentation."
"ExtremeCloud IQ’s user interface needs to be improved, and its current bugs need to be fixed."
"We'd like to have a cloud dashboard from which we can see all devices."
"The Virtual Appliance crashed once while doing an upgrade. The good thing here is, even if the management system fails, all our networks and features still remain 100% stable and working."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"Extreme is twice as cheap compared to Cisco due to the currency exchange. Normally, I think Cisco would be a little bit more expensive, but there wouldn't be that much of a difference."
"I am not involved in the price, but I am sure that it is not cheap."
"It is not the cheapest product but I think that the price is reasonable because you get a lot of support of it's needed."
"I would advise that you be sure to compare apples with apples. Many customers just look at the price per AP and licences, and compare that against other solutions. But, they do not look at the complete picture such as: TCO - how much the equipment will cost you over, say, seven years? Will the customer need to change complete infrastructure when they want to buy the newest hardware? Does support include a lifetime warranty and RMA?"
"Bring the cost down."
"ExtremeCloud IQ's pricing is medium, but its support contract costs more."
"It is easy for customers to use this product because they are able to interchange the license depending on their usage rather than having to buy individual licenses for each asset."
"The product pricing is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

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?
I have not had much experience with the community-driven rule set while utilizing Cisco Sourcefire SNORT. I don't have experience with recognizing zero-day vulnerabilities, but based on my knowledg...
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 use ExtremeCloud IQ's real-time analytics. In the cloud solution, I get reports, and it works together with machine learning and artificial intelligence for those reports. This tool permits the c...
 

Also Known As

Sourcefire SNORT
Aerohive Networks, Aerohive HiveManager, HiveManager, ExtremeCloud , ExtremeSecurity
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
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 Sourcefire SNORT vs. ExtremeCloud IQ and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,036 professionals have used our research since 2012.