BlueCat Gateway vs Cisco DNA Center comparison

Why PeerSpot?

BlueCat and Cisco are both solutions in the Network Automation category. BlueCat is ranked #20, while Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3. BlueCat holds a 2.4% mindshare in NA, compared to Cisco’s 9.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of BlueCat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

BlueCat Gateway

Read 2 BlueCat Gateway reviews

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833 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

Read 44 Cisco DNA Center reviews

11,629 Views
3,372 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

BlueCat Gateway

Cisco DNA Center

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 6, 2025

Cisco DNA Center and BlueCat Gateway compete in network management, offering different capabilities. BlueCat Gateway often stands out for its broader appeal and network automation approach, while Cisco DNA Center is praised for integration with Cisco environments.

Features: Cisco DNA Center focuses on network automation, security management, and assurance services, making it ideal for Cisco product users due to seamless integrations. BlueCat Gateway specializes in DNS management and provides custom automation solutions, adaptable to various networks, highlighting a more holistic approach.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco DNA Center has a detailed deployment process beneficial for existing Cisco users, supported by an extensive customer service network. BlueCat Gateway offers flexible deployment suited for diverse infrastructures, with customer service known for being accessible and responsive. The difference lies in Cisco's cohesive integration versus BlueCat's flexible approach.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco DNA Center entails higher initial costs due to its comprehensive functionality and deep integration in Cisco ecosystems, promising long-term ROI. BlueCat Gateway presents a cost-effective setup, offering quicker ROI through flexibility in DNS and network automation. The contrast is Cisco's higher investment for deeper integration compared to BlueCat's quicker ROI with versatile solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed BlueCat Gateway vs. Cisco DNA Center Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

BlueCat Gateway vs. Cisco DNA Center

September 2026

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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

BlueCat Gateway

Ranking in Network Automation

20th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco DNA Center

Ranking in Network Automation

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (2nd), Network Monitoring Software (34th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Network Automation category, the mindshare of BlueCat Gateway is 2.4%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 9.8%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Automation Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco DNA Center	9.8%
BlueCat Gateway	2.4%
Other	87.8%

Network Automation

Featured Reviews

Frederic Girard

Developer for DDI Team at Cgi Deutschland KG

Simple to use, straightforward to deploy, and provides good support and documentation

One area for improvement in BlueCat Gateway is the time it takes to fill in the dropdown in the UI of the solution because the speed with which the data loads isn't that fast. It would be better if you didn't have to wait for old items to load before seeing the first data. Another area for improvement in BlueCat Gateway is the discovery probe, as it doesn't allow you to see all the setup parameters after you've set it up. This may not be a big issue, but it's something my team noticed that may not be good in the solution.

Read full review

Mahir Öztürk

Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri

Client history has helped resolve past network issues more efficiently

I mostly use the client history feature of Cisco DNA Center. I didn't use the real-time monitoring capability of Cisco DNA Center because I primarily used it for client history regarding issues and problems. I don't use it for real-time monitoring. If there is a problem, I can inspect the situation and see what is happening, which is beneficial.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We found IP and Network Discovery the most valuable features of BlueCat Gateway. Our team found it very easy to build, verify, and validate APIs in BlueCat Gateway, mainly if the users have a background in development and APIs. Our team found that BlueCat Gateway answers our needs well."

"The ability to develop a kiosk-like solution for in-person assistance is crucial."

"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."

"The solution helps with the management and orchestration of campaigns. It helps with visibility and analytics. I also like its SDA configuration."

"The automation features are significant, reducing configuration time. This means outstanding functionality. By deploying the controller automatically, the rest becomes automated"

"My advice to others is if you are a large enough company to have the Cisco DNA Center technology, you must try it because for a large enterprise or multi-site organization it's impressive and it saves a lot of money and time."

"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."

"In day-to-day operations, especially post-pandemic, the majority of our customers have to work from anywhere, and having that single integrated dashboard for each and every activity while being able to correlate those activities in line with a business objective has been very well addressed by Cisco DNA."

"It gives us automation capabilities for pushing out a configuration to branch networks, and it also provides visibility into the health of user network devices."

"The most valuable features of Cisco DNA Center are wireless assurance and visibility."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

Cons

"My most significant concern is that the documentation has problems."

"One area for improvement in BlueCat Gateway is the time it takes to fill in the dropdown in the UI of the solution because the speed with which the data loads isn't that fast. It would be better if you didn't have to wait for old items to load before seeing the first data."

"There should be an option for automation of template deployment by using the stored data. It is not easy to save configuration information for lots of devices without using other tools. There should be a tighter, better repository of information that can be merged with the templates."

"One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process."

"DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it."

"We have had a lot of problems with the Cisco switches and have needed to upgrade the operating systems, which means that we have to upgrade the DNA."

"Technical support could be better. The price could be better, and it could be more stable."

"We encountered issues with their response times, which had a big impact on our workflow."

"The solution’s security side could be improved."

"In terms of the clustering part, there are some concerns."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is actually quite favorable based on our negotiations."

"I rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive."

"The product is very costly."

"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."

"Cisco DNA Center is too expensive."

"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."

"Affordability is a problem because it's created for large enterprises only. So, some customers, even if their engineers want the solution, might have problems with budget limitations."

"The solution is expensive."

"Our licensing agreement is for three years."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	24

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco DNA Center?

After evaluating other solutions, we will provide feedback.

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What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?

The deployment of Cisco DNA Center was complex due to the fact that on the data center side, we have a Juniper infrastructure, which created some complexity, though not significant. The deployment ...

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What is your primary use case for Cisco DNA Center?

In my organization, we currently have some Cisco devices such as access switches, and we also have infrastructure, but that is not part of our responsibility. We do not manage that infrastructure. ...

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Comparisons

NetBrain vs BlueCat Gateway

Compared 25% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs BlueCat Gateway

Compared 21% of the time

VMware NSX vs BlueCat Gateway

Compared 8% of the time

Nuage Networks vs BlueCat Gateway

Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs BlueCat Gateway

Compared 7% of the time

More BlueCat Gateway Competitors

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Networking Platform vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 4% of the time

Juniper Mist Wired Assurance vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco DNA Center Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Automation

September 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

September 2026

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Also Known As

BlueCat Network Automation

DNA Center

Overview

BlueCat Gateway is a dynamic tool designed to enhance network automation by simplifying workflows and increasing efficiency in managing DNS, DHCP, and IPAM solutions.

BlueCat Gateway provides robust automation capabilities that improve the management and integration of network services. By streamlining tasks, it empowers users to reduce manual configuration and minimize downtime. Its flexibility and scalability cater to diverse enterprise needs. Centralized control and enhanced capabilities ensure BlueCat can integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructures, promoting a more standardized approach to DNS management.

What are the key features offered?

Custom Workflow Automation: Easily create and manage custom workflows to streamline network operations.
Self-Service: Empowers teams through a user-friendly interface, reducing dependency on IT for routine tasks.
Integration: Connects with existing systems to enable seamless service delivery.
API Support: Extensive API capabilities for easy integration and customization.

What benefits or ROI should users expect?

Efficiency: Reduces operational overhead by automating routine tasks.
Cost Savings: Minimizes errors and downtime, leading to significant cost reductions.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs without compromising performance.
Flexibility: Tailors to specific industry requirements, enhancing operational precision.

Industries like healthcare, finance, and retail use BlueCat Gateway to automate and secure DNS management. In healthcare, it ensures compliance and reduces errors in patient data management. Finance sectors benefit from enhanced security and improved transaction processing times. Retail leverages its scalability to handle peaks in consumer demand effectively.

BlueCat

Cisco DNA Center delivers powerful centralized security, automation, and comprehensive analytics for enhanced network management. With an intuitive dashboard and integration with Cisco devices, it reduces errors, boosts efficiency, and ensures seamless wired and wireless network operations.

Organizations leverage Cisco DNA Center for network management and automation, offering increased visibility into traffic flows and efficient device provisioning. It supports real-time data transmission, network segmentation, and integrates with ISE. Features like wireless assurance, centralized management, and AI-driven insights into network health promote an efficient network environment while addressing compliance issues. However, improvements are necessary for better third-party integration, affordability, and more user-friendly documentation.

What are the solution's most important features?

Comprehensive Analytics: Provides in-depth network insights through real-time data.
Centralized Security: Unifies security management, offering enhanced protection.
Network Management: Simplifies device configuration and policy compliance.
Automation Capabilities: Reduces human error and facilitates efficient network operations.
AI-Driven Assurance: Delivers insights into network health for proactive management.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Increased Efficiency: Streamlines operations by reducing manual tasks.
Improved Security: Enhances protection through centralized policies.
Cost Effective: Simplifies management, potentially lowering operating costs.
Enhanced Visibility: Offers comprehensive data for better decision-making.

In industries like healthcare, finance, and education, Cisco DNA Center's advanced features facilitate the management of complex network infrastructures and aid in achieving compliance efficiently. Its ability to manage LANs and WLANs supports diverse networking environments including greenfield projects and SPN setups.

Cisco

Sample Customers

US Department of Energy, Swisslos, DXC, Edeka SouthWest

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

BlueCat Gateway vs. Cisco DNA Center

September 2026

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