Cisco DNA Center vs Zabbix comparison

Read 105 Zabbix reviews

17,122 Views
13,019 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Zabbix and Cisco DNA Center are leaders in the network monitoring and management category. Based on the analysis, Cisco DNA Center stands out with superior integration and comprehensive network insights, appealing to large-scale deployments.

Features: Zabbix offers open-source monitoring with customizable options, sophisticated network discovery, and low-level discovery without extra costs. Meanwhile, Cisco DNA Center provides strong network automation, centralized analytics, and seamless Cisco device integration, offering valuable network health insights from a single dashboard.

Room for Improvement: Zabbix requires improvements in its user interface, reporting, and documentation; users find setup and dashboard refinement challenging. Cisco DNA Center is noted for its high cost and complexity, requiring better vendor integration and cost-effective reporting enhancements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zabbix supports diverse deployment options including on-premises, hybrid, and public clouds, but often needs technical expertise and community-driven support. Cisco DNA Center is primarily on-premises, with robust technical support despite a complex deployment and steep learning curve.

Pricing and ROI: Zabbix, as an open-source platform, incurs no licensing fees, attractively lowering costs with significant ROI from savings on licensing and support fees. Cisco DNA Center involves high licensing and operational costs, deemed worthy for extensive features in large deployments.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. Zabbix Report (Updated: March 2025).

Cisco DNA Center vs. Zabbix

Download the complete report

Helped 845,040 peers since 2012

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

12th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (1st), Network Automation (2nd)

Zabbix

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

105

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (8th), Server Monitoring (1st), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (1st), Cloud Monitoring Software (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.4%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zabbix is 13.0%, up from 11.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

AvrahamSonenthal

Senior Network Engineer at Inside Global

Efficiently manages our wireless network and provides valuable monitoring features

The platform's biggest benefit has been in managing our wireless network. Having a single pane of glass to control all wireless controllers and access points and to monitor activity has been a significant advantage. We're a small federal agency with around 300 network devices, so automation is a minor focus. It's more relevant for larger networks. The main benefits we've seen are in inventory management and the potential for configuration automation. However, I recommend using the DNA Centre only for larger networks with over a thousand devices; otherwise, it may not be cost-effective. Before proceeding, ensure that your devices are compatible with DNA Center, as not all Cisco devices are supported. Also, investing in proper training is different from plug-and-play. I rate it an eight.

Read full review

ASM Naushad Alam

Network Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Allows any number of customizations but lacks functionality for finding root causes

We have not yet purchased the commercial version so have a lack of technical ability. We do not yet fully know the key points or key features of the solution. We just use what we use along with WhatsUp Gold. Based on our use only, stability is rated a seven out of ten.

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."

"Cisco VXLAN is a protocol that has been around for some time, but the practical implementation and operational capability of Cisco DNA Center bring it to life."

"Cisco is a leading network company."

"The solution helps in user microsegmentation."

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

"Cisco DNA Center provides operational support, compliance support, security vulnerability detection, and automatic scheduling."

"The solution has the capability to scale."

"Automation is another key highlight. With automation, you can automate everything through a single port."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"Zabbix has a roadmap and they are continuously and frequently adding new features."

"The features I found most valuable are the user interface and a wide range of network devices that are easy to configure."

"It's a flexible solution."

"Our customers also like that they don't have to use multiple modules. Micro Focus and major vendors typically require you to buy several modules and plugins. Our customers do not like that. We offer them a single product for all their monitoring needs."

"It has good graphs of what is going on within the operating system."

"It's one of the best products available."

"The product is very stable."

"We like the user-interface for this solution, which makes it an easy to use tool."

More Zabbix pros

Cons

"The product doesn’t have good monitoring capabilities."

"What could be improved is the licensing cost of Cisco DNA Center. It's a little bit expensive."

"The weaknesses primarily involve pricing and the ongoing need for increased bandwidth and data throughput."

"The solution's integration feature can be better."

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

"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."

"What I want to see in Cisco DNA Center in the future is more support for other platforms so that you can manage third-party products, such as Fortinet."

"An area that needs improvement is the integration with other vendors."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"The reports are not great and should be improved."

"The GUI could be more intuitive. Also, we'd like streaming telemetry. Zabbix might have this feature, but I haven't seen it yet. It took us a long time to get started because the documentation isn't very descriptive. We had to go through various sources like YouTube and forums to get this solution working."

"Its UI needs to be improved a little bit more so that an end-user is also able to handle it. I can handle it, but others should also be able to handle it in a better way. It becomes complex when we are growing and need to add proxies. We need more scalability features and documentation for different use cases. A lot of articles are available, but they need to be in proper documentation. For example, when you have thousands of servers that have to be monitored in different regions of the world, there should be some kind of documentation to describe how you can create proxies and add them. Sometimes, when you are using the database, it can get overloaded. When the network is growing, the number of transactions becomes very high, and the database gets overloaded. There should be information about how to reduce the load on the MySQL database, which is what Zabbix is using. The market is growing a lot, and it should be enhanced for a lot more things. We are currently bringing enhancements at our end for different use cases. For example, when dockerization is going on, how can we check the logs inside the Dockers. We should also be able to monitor and check the number of logins and add features such as SSO login and two-factor authentication as a protocol. These are the security features and concerns that we have to deal with. Currently, we are developing modules to add features to Zabbix, but they should also work on these features."

"The event correlation could be better."

"Even though it’s such a powerful monitoring system, it would be more helpful if it had a flexible UI."

"In terms of user-friendliness, large maps could be more interactive. We should be able to click on some areas and move some objects. It would make it simpler to see things while analyzing some dedicated parameters."

"It would be helpful if they translated the documentation to Cyrillic languages."

"In the next release, I'm hoping for features targeted towards larger users with more customizable options. Despite this, I think pre-canned reports that can be used straight out of the box would be beneficial rather than having to configure each report individually. Additionally, a deeper dive into software configurations on the machines would be useful, although I understand there may be challenges in implementing this due to scripting requirements. More documentation would also be appreciated."

More Zabbix cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

"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."

"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 price of the solution is expensive. The hardware is licensed on the device, but the hardware on the server is expensive."

"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."

"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."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"It is freeware. We still use the free version of Zabbix."

"The solution is free. However, many open-sourced tools start out free but eventually start charging."

"It is worth every cent to pay or even study to do your own installation."

"The solution is open source so is free."

"For pricing, it's free. We don't pay anything for it. They open-source the code, and people pay for support."

"If you have 20,000 hosts, the support costs around €95,000 for a year."

"It's an open-source solution that can be used free of charge."

"It is free, which allows us to reduce costs."

More Zabbix pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user174738

IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

May 31, 2015

Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor

I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

37%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

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.

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

The cost is very high.

What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?

The system is working fine for me currently.

What do you like most about Zabbix?

The template system in Zabbix is very beneficial as it saves time in configuration.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zabbix?

The cost is minimal. It is literally free.

What needs improvement with Zabbix?

For me, Zabbix is very straightforward. I cannot think of any improvements needed. It's a very mature product. The only issue I can note is that it's Linux-based, and Linux documentation is not the...

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center

Comparisons

Compared 10% of the time

Juniper Mist Wired Assurance vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiManager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

Meraki Dashboard vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco DNA Center Competitors

LibreNMS vs Zabbix

Compared 10% of the time

Checkmk vs Zabbix

Compared 10% of the time

Icinga vs Zabbix

Compared 8% of the time

NetXMS vs Zabbix

Compared 4% of the time

Centreon vs Zabbix

Compared 4% of the time

More Zabbix Competitors

Product Reports

Cisco DNA Center

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Download Zabbix product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

No data available

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

Zabbix is an open-source monitoring software that provides real-time monitoring and alerting for servers, networks, applications, and services.

It offers a wide range of features including data collection, visualization, and reporting.

With its user-friendly interface and customizable dashboards, Zabbix helps organizations ensure the availability and performance of their IT infrastructure.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

1. IBM 2. Dell 3. Cisco 4. HP 5. Oracle 6. Microsoft 7. Amazon 8. Google 9. Facebook 10. Twitter 11. LinkedIn 12. Netflix 13. Adobe 14. VMware 15. Salesforce 16. SAP 17. Intel 18. AT&T 19. Verizon 20. T-Mobile 21. Vodafone 22. Ericsson 23. Nokia 24. Siemens 25. General Electric 26. Honeywell 27. Philips 28. Sony 29. Samsung 30. LG 31. Panasonic 32. Toshiba

Cisco DNA Center vs. Zabbix