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Apstra Operating System vs Cisco DNA Center comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Apstra Operating System
Ranking in Network Automation
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco DNA Center
Ranking in Network Automation
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (1st), Network Monitoring Software (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Automation category, the mindshare of Apstra Operating System is 1.9%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 13.6%, down from 17.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Automation
 

Featured Reviews

HF
Highly secure, useful AB test, and stable
I am using Apstra Operating System for some classes and for my personal use Apstra Operating System's most important features are the security and AB test to define what approach we need to take in my company. Additionally, the solution does not take a lot of maintenance. The report data could…
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

"Apstra Operating System's most important features are the security and AB test to define what approach we need to take in my company. Additionally, the solution does not take a lot of maintenance."
"It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard."
"Cisco is a leading network company."
"The most valuable features of the solution are all of its security features...It is a highly scalable solution."
"It is very versatile in terms of analytics."
"The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier."
"DNA Center is scalable."
"I like the visibility, instant build, network, policies, and the ability to control access. I also like that you can visualize your whole network."
"I think that their LAN automation is a very good feature."
 

Cons

"The report data could improve in Apstra Operating System."
"When it comes to deploying wireless fields, integrating defaults into the DNS interface can be challenging."
"Cisco DNA Center should improve its configuration management. It is better to have a dev version before pushing it."
"The solution needs to improve the dashboard."
"I would like is to have a small information pointer available. It could be a plus feature that I want to implement. When I hover my mouse over the user interface, it should provide a brief explanation. It would be helpful to have it incorporated into the UI."
"From the recent DNA point of view, there are some stability challenges with Cisco, but very minor."
"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."
"There is a limitation with the number of VRFs that you can have in your network, and this has caused us problems with some customers."
"As a user, it would be good if I could plug in controllers, suites, and devices from other vendors to Cisco DNA Center."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is competitive."
"Our licensing agreement is for three years."
"We get a yearly license at the time we buy the product."
"We have a three-year license with them."
"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."
"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"The price could be better. It's a very expensive tool."
"The price of the solution is expensive. The hardware is licensed on the device, but the hardware on the server is expensive."
"The product is very costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
University
12%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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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 needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
The system is working fine for me currently.
 

Also Known As

Apstra OS, AOS
DNA Center
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bloomberg Television, Energy Corporation, A mid-sized financial services company
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