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Cisco DNA Center vs Cisco Prime [EOL] comparison

Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime [EOL] are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Additionally, 89% of Cisco DNA Center users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Cisco Prime [EOL] users who would recommend it.
Cisco DNA Center
Read 42 Cisco DNA Center reviews
  • 8,684 Views
  • 4,776 Comparison Views
89% willing to recommend
Cisco Prime [EOL]
Read 35 Cisco Prime [EOL] reviews
    91% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

    Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime are both network management solutions. Cisco DNA Center has the upper hand in terms of automation and user-friendly management, while Cisco Prime offers more detailed reporting capabilities.

    Features: Cisco DNA Center offers comprehensive visibility, advanced security features, and integrates seamlessly with Cisco's infrastructure. Its AI capabilities enhance troubleshooting and decision-making, and it provides a centralized management dashboard. Cisco Prime focuses on reliable monitoring, wireless management, and heat maps. It is known for its compatibility with older Cisco products and offers detailed reporting tools.

    Room for Improvement: Cisco DNA Center is criticized for its high cost and complex configuration. It has a steep learning curve for new users and the user interface lacks detailed task failure explanations. Cisco Prime also faces cost issues and requires better integration with third-party solutions. Transition processes for newer Cisco products and site-survey tools are challenging, hindering its integration with emerging technologies.

    Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco DNA Center offers flexible deployment across on-premises and cloud environments, while Cisco Prime is primarily on-premises. Technical support for DNA Center can be inconsistent, whereas Prime users report more consistent support experiences, though documentation needs improvement for both solutions.

    Pricing and ROI: Cisco DNA Center is often viewed as expensive for smaller businesses, with additional licensing costs for advanced features. However, it justifies its price for larger enterprises by providing significant ROI through time savings and automation. Cisco Prime, although costly, is cheaper than DNA Center, offering reasonable ROI with bundled Cisco solutions. However, its higher price compared to competitors may limit its appeal for smaller-scale deployments.

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    Network Management Applications
    July 2025
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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

    Cisco DNA Center
    Average Rating
    8.0
    Reviews Sentiment
    6.3
    Number of Reviews
    42
    Ranking in other categories
    Network Management Applications (1st), Network Monitoring Software (13th), Network Automation (2nd)
    Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Average Rating
    7.8
    Reviews Sentiment
    6.5
    Number of Reviews
    35
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
     

    Featured Reviews

    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…
    Read full review
    ZeeshanAli1 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Robust, cost-effective, and provides good visibility, but the scalability could improve
    We are extremely satisfied with the reliability and robustness of Cisco Prime Infrastructure, which we have been using for many years. Compared to newer products such as DNS centers or others, it has proven to be much more stable, which is important for large-scale operations. Stability is a primary concern for us, and we are glad that Cisco Prime Infrastructure meets our expectations in that regard. Furthermore, in regards to Legacy Plus new hardware, Cisco Prime has proven to be a reliable and adaptable solution thus far. Not only can it support older hardware, but it also has the capability to handle new features with the latest updates. If we consider new solutions such as DNS Center, we may have to sacrifice some legacy features that we still rely on. We may need to continue using these legacy features for a few more years due to various reasons such as budget constraints or the site not being a high priority. However, if we switch to a new product at this stage, we may lose a lot of the monitoring and other capabilities that we have with Cisco Prime. We have a close relationship with Cisco and understand that they are not prioritizing investments in Cisco Prime as they are encouraging customers to adopt the Cisco DNA Center. This means that we don't anticipate many new features to be added to the product in the future. While we know that we will eventually have to transition to a new solution, in the meantime, we plan to do a quick refresh of our legacy products.
    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

    "I think that their LAN automation is a very good feature."
    "Has a good processing feature with a high level of accuracy."
    "Automation helps configure devices without manual intervention, enabling zero-touch provisioning."
    "Cisco is a leading network company."
    "The solution helps with the management and orchestration of campaigns. It helps with visibility and analytics. I also like its SDA configuration."
    "It is very versatile in terms of analytics."
    "It enables monitoring of various components such as access points, switch cards, and other elements within the company's solutions."
    "The automation features are significant, reducing configuration time. This means outstanding functionality. By deploying the controller automatically, the rest becomes automated"
    More Cisco DNA Center pros
    "The dashboard is a valuable feature. It's very clear, and the metrics make it easy to see the current network situation."
    "The most valuable is the assistance for network support."
    "It helps us manage and monitor analytics and fix issues."
    "Cisco Prime is a good tool for inventory monitoring and wireless management."
    "We use Cisco Prime for network mapping and surveys."
    "The product's most valuable features are monitoring and configuration."
    "Cisco Prime is helpful as it provides us with real-time monitoring. This allows us to be proactive in our environment."
    "Cisco Prime, from a management perspective, has good reporting."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pros
     

    Cons

    "We encountered issues with their response times, which had a big impact on our workflow."
    "Cisco could improve the security side of their solutions."
    "An area that needs improvement is the integration with other vendors."
    "As a user, it would be good if I could plug in controllers, suites, and devices from other vendors to Cisco DNA Center."
    "The solution's setup process needs enhancement."
    "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."
    "DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it."
    "Cisco DNA Center was a new technology for us, at the beginning, it was not easy to do, but Cisco did a lot of training with us to a level we could handle everything. The team is managing itself now without the assistance of Cisco."
    More Cisco DNA Center cons
    "Cisco Prime's initial setup is complex."
    "It should be able to monitor Palo Alto, Juniper, and Check Point products - not just Cisco solutions."
    "Cisco needs to improve Prime's monitoring tab. If any device goes down, there is a 15-second lapse before we know. It would be much better if we were alerted two or three minutes before a device is about to fail, so we can dispatch a field engineer and avoid network downtime. I would like to see a feature that allows you to access the devices directly from Prime's monitoring tab. That would make work easier for us."
    "Cisco can only be used for Cisco environments and is not compatible with other vendors."
    "Maybe it could be a little cheaper."
    "The reporting could be simplified and the information made clearer to the user."
    "I want the tool to improve data visibility."
    "Cisco Prime could improve the notifications in the system. Having more details about what is happening would be useful, such as traffic numbers or who is connected. We can see them through the firewall controller, but it would be better if you can see them from one place."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] cons
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "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."
    "Cisco DNA Center is too expensive."
    "Licensing for Cisco DNA Center is a little bit expensive, just like any Cisco solution. Its cost could still be improved."
    "The tool is medium-priced."
    "The product is very costly."
    "We have a three-year license with them."
    "The partnership price is notably high, but it ultimately depends on the chosen business model."
    "Our licensing agreement is for three years."
    More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice
    "We update the license every five years."
    "I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
    "I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
    "The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
    "I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
    "The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
    "If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
    "The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pricing and cost advice
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    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    Computer Software Company
    14%
    Manufacturing Company
    11%
    Government
    9%
    Financial Services Firm
    6%
    Computer Software Company
    16%
    Government
    14%
    Manufacturing Company
    7%
    Healthcare Company
    6%
     

    Company Size

    By reviewers
    Large Enterprise
    Midsize Enterprise
    Small Business
     

    Questions from the Community

    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.
    See all answers
    What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco DNA Center?
    After evaluating other solutions, we will provide feedback.
    See all answers
    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 ...
    See all answers
    What do you like most about Cisco Prime?
    The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management.
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco Prime?
    The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive.
    See all answers
    What is your primary use case for Cisco Prime?
    We use Cisco Prime for centralized configuration management backups and monitoring.
    See all answers
     

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    Compared 5% of the time
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    Compared 52% of the time
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    Compared 48% of the time
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    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco DNA Center
    August 2025
    Cisco DNA Center reportDownload Cisco DNA Center product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Prime [EOL]
    August 2025
    Cisco Prime [EOL] reportDownload Cisco Prime [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    DNA Center
    Cisco Prime Infrastructure
     

    Overview

    Cisco DNA Center offers a comprehensive platform for network automation and management, providing detailed analytics, enhanced security, and streamlined operations for both wired and wireless networks.

    Cisco DNA Center integrates with Cisco infrastructure to deliver efficient network automation and management, helping organizations improve network visibility, security, and control. It supports AI-driven analytics and automated workflows to enhance operational efficiency and reduce errors. Challenges include compatibility with third-party systems, steep learning curve, and complex deployment. Its interface facilitates centralized control, vital for troubleshooting, policy management, and configuration management, with support for zero-touch provisioning and SD-Access.

    What are the key features of Cisco DNA Center?
    • Robust Analytics: Provides detailed insights into network health with AI-driven analytics.
    • Centralized Security: Integrates with ISE for comprehensive security management.
    • Automated Device Management: Simplifies device provisioning and configuration transfers.
    • Wi-Fi Analytics: Offers deep insights into wireless network performance.
    • Zero-Touch Provisioning: Streamlines new device deployments with minimal human intervention.
    • Scalable Segmentation: Efficiently segments network traffic ensuring security and performance.
    What benefits should users consider?
    • Operational Efficiency: Automation reduces potential errors and streamlines workflow.
    • Enhanced Security: Integration with Cisco ISE bolsters security capabilities.
    • Network Visibility: Comprehensive dashboards and analysis tools enhance monitoring.
    • Troubleshooting: Real-time monitoring aids in identifying and resolving issues swiftly.

    In sectors such as healthcare, finance, and retail, Cisco DNA Center is utilized for its ability to enhance security and compliance, manage large-scale networks, and provide detailed analytics for better operational decision-making. Its support for location tracking and policy automation ensures efficient network management across diverse environments.

    Cisco

    Cisco Prime products deliver next-generation management by supporting an intuitive workflow-oriented user experience and integrated lifecycle operations across Cisco architectures, technologies, and networks.

    Cisco
     

    Sample Customers

    Information Not Available
    Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
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    July 2025
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