No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco DNA Center vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 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 DNA Center
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (1st), Network Automation (2nd)
ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT O...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
71st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Network Diagnostics (10th), IT Operations Analytics (13th), Network Packet Capture (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 0.7%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco DNA Center0.7%
ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations0.7%
Other98.6%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Mahir Öztürk - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Out West - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager and IT Management Consultant at a integrator with 1,001-5,000 employees
Great for identifying application interdependencies with helpful support but needs better visualizations
We're just trying to identify the application interdependencies, which normally reside on different servers, including web servers, database servers, enterprise service bus, et cetera, up to your presentation layer before we start moving stuff around. Normally, the reason why we use these tools is to understand what assets we have, where they're deployed, and how they enter and operate before we decide to go move something from point A to point B. The solution is going to allow me to establish a wave or migration plan where you have different waves of migration and then you actually have move groups to try and get your application moved from A to B seamlessly. A to B could be on-premise to on-premise. It could be on-premise to cloud. Et cetera. The solution can tell me what components can I deploy, for example, into a cloud space, without having to refactor my applications since that can be quite time-consuming and costly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard."
"It is a stable solution."
"The monitoring is very valuable to me."
"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."
"DNA Center is scalable."
"The product gives a consolidated view."
"The solution helps with the management and orchestration of campaigns. It helps with visibility and analytics. I also like its SDA configuration."
"The solution has the capability to scale."
"There are many valuable features in this product, but probably the biggest is the customization capability it has."
"ExtraHop came out with the best price, and I think that it gives us a broader view of our network."
"It's a must-have solution for large IT Operations, providing the ability to analyze infrastructure and application-related performance and data from the wire perspective."
"The most valuable features are security detections, perimeter detection, dashboards, and alerts."
"This is a must-try product."
"It gives you full 360-degree visibility into your entire infrastructure."
"We have been able to improve the mean time to resolution by several hours in some cases."
"You cannot hide from the wire; all truth lives in the packets, and ExtraHop gets them to talk!"
 

Cons

"It would be helpful if it could be integrated with a variety of solutions, such as Meraki."
"One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process."
"The solution's integration feature can be better."
"The product doesn’t have good monitoring capabilities."
"DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it."
"We encountered issues with their response times, which had a big impact on our workflow."
"As a user, it would be good if I could plug in controllers, suites, and devices from other vendors to Cisco DNA Center."
"The cost is very high."
"We'd like to see a local presence within the region in order to have seamless service whether it's the support, the implementation, or professional services."
"This solution would be improved if it had the ability to retain data longer."
"I would improve the Rule-Based Access Control (RBAC) by providing granular access control to the data."
"The solution could get more aggressive in the discounting of the overall cost."
"We've had some struggles getting it to see everything that we want to see. Network visibility is something that needs to be improved."
"The improvement that would make the most impact would be expanding on the new EXA big data back end."
"Additional out-of-the-box solutions and use cases would be nice."
"There is room for improvement in the security part. They have a new solution, ExtraHop Reveal(x), and I think it needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is very costly."
"Licensing for Cisco DNA Center is a little bit expensive, just like any Cisco solution. Its cost could still be improved."
"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 rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive."
"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."
"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."
"The price of this solution for our environment is about £650,000 ($855,000 USD) for three years."
"The pricing is fair considering the value provided."
"The pricing is higher than other solutions, but with such good features, I think it's worth it."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Construction Company
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

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?
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 ...
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. ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

DNA Center
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Alaska Airlines, bet365, Concur, McKesson, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Practice Fusion, Seattle Children's Hospital, Steward Health Care System
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. ExtraHop Reveal(x) for IT Operations and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.