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Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass vs Cisco DNA Center comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

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

Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass
Ranking in Network Management Applications
18th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco DNA Center
Ranking in Network Management Applications
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (13th), Network Automation (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 23.5%, down from 29.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco DNA Center23.5%
Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass1.0%
Other75.5%
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Karthikeyan Ravi - PeerSpot reviewer
Has an automated feature for user onboarding and supports heterogeneous devices
We use the product for the automated onboarding of corporate users with secure network access. It helps secure IoT endpoints for specific networks. It allows us to control the devices, including posture, endpoint verification, validation, latest patching, and signatures The product’s most…
Ahmed  Helmy - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience unified visibility and monitoring for enterprise campus and significant time savings and enhanced troubleshooting with reliable support
We have been working with Cisco DNA Center for ten years. Our clients use Cisco DNA Center for unified visibility/monitoring across Enterprise Campus both LAN & WLAN along with Access and fast technical issues troubleshooting The solution provides fast troubleshooting capabilities and fast…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Good user profiling and BYOD facilities."
"It helps secure IoT endpoints for specific networks."
"The product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health."
"Cisco DNA Center is a user-friendly solution."
"The solution has the capability to scale."
"What's most valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the ability to manage any Cisco infrastructure and device through it. Setup was straightforward."
"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."
"Application Assurance works very well."
"What I found valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the Software-Defined Access Network, so the entire LAN network can be centralized and managed from a single dashboard. Cisco DNA Center is suitable for centralized management and lets you deploy switches in a centralized fashion. You can also do multiple switch port configurations simultaneously and segregate your traffic into multiple fabrics. Another valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is enhanced security through Scalable Group Tags. Cisco DNA Center can be integrated with your Cisco ISE to enhance the port securities, and this paves the way for Software-Defined Networking in the LAN segment, which is the main advantage of Cisco DNA Center. I also like that you can use Cisco DNA Center for data assurance or correlation. The solution shows your network and client health parameters, which I find convenient for troubleshooting."
"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."
 

Cons

"There could be in-built end-to-end map integration features for IoT devices instead of using third-party tools."
"Lacks application level visibility on the dashboard."
"The solution's setup process needs enhancement."
"The weaknesses primarily involve pricing and the ongoing need for increased bandwidth and data throughput."
"They should include UTM features in the product."
"One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process."
"The task failure reporting or provisioning failure reporting could be a little bit better in the UI, with more information given to the user."
"The network, data center, and SD-WAN are all being treated as different services, but I would like to have only one solution to manage all of them."
"Technical support could be better. The price could be better, and it could be more stable."
"The pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Cisco DNA Center are expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass is an expensive product compared to other vendors."
"Cisco DNA Center is a licensed product with multiple levels of licensing available such as basic, advanced, and essential. I don't have the exact figure, but Cisco DNA Center is costly. For example, the box has information about the essential license and costs a considerable amount of money. You need to pay extra to use advanced features in Cisco DNA Center. My company sees Cisco DNA Center as a solution that's worth the money, which is why it invested in the solution. If you want centralized management for your network, especially when upgrading it, Cisco DNA Center is perfect, but it's more suitable for a large-scale rather than a small-scale network."
"The licensing cost for Cisco DNA Center is not more than that of other solutions."
"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Our licensing agreement is for three years."
"The solution is 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."
"We have a three-year license with them."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass?
It helps secure IoT endpoints for specific networks.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass?
Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass is an expensive product compared to other vendors. We have to buy different licenses for specific use cases and support services. I rate its pricing a six to seven.
What needs improvement with Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass?
There could be in-built end-to-end map integration features for IoT devices instead of using third-party tools. They should add a location-tracking feature to the product as well.
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?
After evaluating other solutions, we will provide feedback.
What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
We have utilized the software-defined access (SDA) feature of Cisco DNA Center. The AI-driven needs enhancements and Integration and unification of visibility and monitoring to include other areas ...
 

Also Known As

Alcatel Lucent ClearPass, ClearPass Policy Management System, ClearPass
DNA Center
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blickle and Scherer, Loughborough University, CSF Inox, Caritas Speyer
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass vs. Cisco DNA Center and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
866,218 professionals have used our research since 2012.