Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs NetMon comparison

Cisco and Exabeam are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #33 with an average rating of 8.5, while Exabeam is ranked #50 with an average rating of 8.0. Cisco holds a 0.9% mindshare in NMS, compared to Exabeam’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Exabeam users who would recommend it.

Cisco Secure Network Analytics

Read 62 Cisco Secure Network Analytics reviews

9,783 Views
4,011 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

NetMon

Read 12 NetMon reviews

3,492 Views
2,794 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Secure Network Analytics

NetMon

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 1, 2026

Cisco Secure Network Analytics and NetMon are both network monitoring solutions, competing in the IT security and analytics category. Cisco Secure Network Analytics is perceived to have an edge due to its comprehensive features and user satisfaction

Features: Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers comprehensive network visibility, advanced threat detection, and the ability to integrate with Cisco's security suite. It stands out with features like network maps, server response times, and NetFlow data, enhancing threat analysis and packet inspection. NetMon excels in traffic analysis, offering a bundled solution with detailed summary reports and real-time traffic insights, but it lacks the application-level insights provided by Cisco.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Secure Network Analytics could improve integration in non-internet-connected environments and refine its reporting interface. Enhancements in device discovery and AI capabilities would also be beneficial. NetMon could benefit from more seamless third-party integrations, better setup documentation, and streamlined initial deployment processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both solutions provide on-premises deployment. Cisco Secure Network Analytics is predominantly on-premise and is praised for its support structure, though there's room for improvement in the Asia-Pacific region. NetMon has good technical support, but users report challenges with integration and expanded network capabilities.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Secure Network Analytics is considered expensive, with a pricing model based on network flows, but offers a positive ROI due to enhanced security and incident response. NetMon offers moderate pricing, but some users feel its cost isn't matched by performance benefits, indicating a need for more competitive pricing.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. NetMon Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. NetMon

August 2026

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Helped 908,834 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 Secure Network Analytics

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

33rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (5th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (6th), Cisco Security Portfolio (8th)

NetMon

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

50th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (15th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is 0.9%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetMon is 0.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Network Analytics	0.9%
NetMon	0.7%
Other	98.4%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Harun-Owr-Roshid

CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED

Have streamlined network visibility and troubleshooting while seeing benefits from AI integration

In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in use, some other features need to be upgraded considering AI solutions. Proper management of the database is also important; it should be centralized for easier data collection from a single database. When precise manual analysis is needed, it's sometimes difficult, so having a centralized database will allow network admins to find actual scenarios more effectively, especially since some information may not be visible on the GUI. Cisco should upgrade their hardware part to run the database, because sometimes it cannot handle the load while all features are running in the network. The database management should indeed be centralized because while AI runs behind the systems, central management is essential. For example, in a network with 100 Cisco switches, a few routers, firewalls, and access points, all data generated should be preserved in a central database. This approach simplifies management and analysis for troubleshooting, as GUI interfaces may not always provide visible information. Centralizing the database will allow for better understanding of which information is preserved for each specific device.

Read full review

SumitRangari

Pan India IT Infrastructure Management / End-user Services at Tata Group

Has supported real-time event detection and reporting accuracy while database integration has required extra effort

Sometimes it may be difficult to incorporate new additional databases in NetMon, and we faced some challenges at that time. However, currently, it is not giving many challenges.It is difficult to integrate NetMon with other databases. We can customize NetMon's monitoring views, but it is done by the team who handles it, as it is outsourced.

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

"Provides easily identifiable anomalies that you can't see with signature detections."

"The most valuable feature is NetFlow. The beginning of any security investigation starts with NetFlow data."

"Cisco Stealthwatch has improved our organization because it has brought visibility that we didn't have previously before implementing it."

"It has improved my organization's network visibility from zero because before we had installed this solution, we weren't doing anything to protect us from threats."

"Stealthwatch has definitely reduced the incident response time, making troubleshooting now only minutes instead of a couple of hours and increasing our threat detection rate by around 25-30%."

"Cisco Stealthwatch has improved our organization's analytics and threat protection capabilities by catching threats early on and it saved us a net fortune when we caught an employee constantly pulling three or four GBs of data from an FTP server."

"This solution enables us to find them and shut them down, and it has reduced our incident response time because we can now narrow down where incidents are happening, so it is very helpful for our organization."

"The solution has reduced our incident response times by at least 50% and also reduced the amount of time it takes to detect and remediate threats by around 50%."

More Cisco Secure Network Analytics pros

"LogRhythm NetMon's most impressive feature is that it's a bundled package, so you're not just relying on monthly data; you get a six-month view for more comprehensive indicators of compromise. This dual approach is precious. We implement LogRhythm NetMon in our cybersecurity strategy mainly for compliance and correlation of network, user, and decision activities, particularly for network firewalls and access control."

"Visibility is a valuable feature, the ability to see even if the traffic is not going into the firewall"

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."

"The protocols with which you see the traffic for a particular website that a client has in their environment, for example, are valuable. We can monitor whether the traffic is up to the mark or whether they need to add more bandwidth. Also, we can see if we're able to get real-time environment data as well. The customization dashboard is really good. LogRhythm NetMon has its own in-built dashboards which are helpful in guiding customization."

"It has a very strong artificial intelligence engine."

"In general, this is a good product."

"The initial setup is straightforward because we can deploy an open server."

"The analytics feature is the most valuable feature."

More NetMon pros

Cons

"One update I would like to see is an agent-based client. Currently StealthWatch is network based."

"One of the things which bugs me about Lancope is the licensing."

"Stealthwatch is still maturing in AI. It uses artificial intelligence for predictions, but AI still needs to mature. It is in a phase where you get 95% correct detection. As its AI engine learns more, it will become more accurate. This is applicable to all the devices that are using AI because they support both supervised and unsupervised machine learning. The accuracy in the case of supervised machine learning is dependent on the data you feed into the box. The accuracy in the case of unsupervised machine learning is dependent on the algorithm. The algorithm matures depending on retrospective learning, and this is how it is able to detect zero-day attacks."

"The usability of this solution needs to be improved."

"Cisco could improve the administration for the customers."

"Stealthwatch is still maturing in AI. It uses artificial intelligence for predictions, but AI still needs to mature."

"We've run into some issues with the configuration."

"The initial setup of this solution is complex."

More Cisco Secure Network Analytics cons

"There is an issue with tunneling in relation to how the connectivity is established between the end devices and where NetMon is installed. On the console, I often observe that there's a difference of a few seconds or maybe a minute, and this lag time should not be there."

"One thing that surprised me was the current version of LogRhythm does not natively support Windows 2016."

"Previously, it was typically every Monday that I was coming in - it would die over the weekend - and I would spend a day cleaning up databases."

"Our customers would always like to see additional features."

"Their technical support isn't so great."

"Some of the automated tasks we can perform on QRadar cannot be performed on LogRhythm because the solution has limitations."

"LogRhythm's support team isn't responsive enough - it's common to wait a day or two for someone to deal with a case."

"The main concern is that LogRhythm has not improved NetMon but instead introduced a separate product, which many customers, including us, would prefer to be integrated into a single platform for easier management."

More NetMon cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay for support costs on a yearly basis."

"It has a subscription model. There is yearly support, and there is also three-year support. It depends on what the customers want."

"Licensing is on a yearly basis."

"Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside>in traffic."

"Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside (in traffic)."

"The licensing costs are outrageous."

"Pricing is much higher compared to other solutions."

"The yearly licensing cost is about $50,000."

More Cisco Secure Network Analytics pricing and cost advice

"The product is expensive for smaller companies."

"I don't have visibility into the pricing of LogRhythm NetMon as it's handled through our commercial partnerships."

"Pricing is okay. There were some competitors that were extremely expensive and there were some which were really inexpensive but LogRhythm stayed in the middle of them."

"The price of this solution is too high, so it should be made more practical and more valuable for the customer."

"LogRhythm's licensing part is something that depends on the license you want since they offer it on a perpetual and subscription basis."

"NetMon's licensing costs about $85k per year, with some extra costs for support."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

Government

Construction Company

13%

Transportation Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	52

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Stealthwatch?

Regarding cost, for the Bangladesh context, Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a little bit high-priced because we are a developing country, making it tough to manage affordable solutions. However, ...

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What needs improvement with Cisco Stealthwatch?

Several features often look very promising during evaluation or implementation but end up being used only lightly in day-to-day operations. Advanced reporting and scheduled compliance reports look ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Stealthwatch?

My main use case for Cisco Secure Network Analytics has been network visibility and anomaly-based threat detection within the enterprise environment. In security operations and VAPT-related activit...

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What needs improvement with LogRhythm NetMon?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for LogRhythm NetMon?

We have outsourced our SIEM solutions at the moment, and we are using it.We have been using LogRhythm in our organization as a SaaS offering. We have outsourced it as part of the actual scope where...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering LogRhythm NetMon?

We use AWS as our cloud provider in a private cloud environment.It completely depends upon when incidents happen. To find the root cause analysis, we need to first gather the logs from the team. It...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 7% of the time

Vectra AI vs Cisco Secure Network Analytics

Compared 4% of the time

ThousandEyes vs Cisco Secure Network Analytics

Compared 3% of the time

Nmap vs Cisco Secure Network Analytics

Compared 3% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Cisco Secure Network Analytics

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Secure Network Analytics Competitors

SolarWinds NPM vs NetMon

Compared 6% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs NetMon

Compared 5% of the time

Vectra AI vs NetMon

Compared 5% of the time

Ixia CloudLens vs NetMon

Compared 5% of the time

SCOM vs NetMon

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Network Analytics

August 2026

Download Cisco Secure Network Analytics product report

Buyer's Guide

NetMon

July 2026

Download NetMon product report

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch

LogRhythm Network Monitor

Overview

Cisco Secure Network Analytics enhances network security through integrated threat detection and detailed traffic visibility, optimizing performance with AI analytics and strong platform integrations.

Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers deep visibility into network traffic, with tools like network maps and server response times. Its AI-driven analytics help detect threats, focusing on east-west traffic. Integration with platforms such as pxGrid and ISE complements its capabilities. Reporting and telemetry help in identifying bandwidth issues, yet improvements are desired in AI for better data organization. Installation complexity and false positives present challenges, and managing network loads effectively is a recognized need.

What are the key features of Cisco Secure Network Analytics?

Deep Visibility: Provides comprehensive insights into network traffic and server behavior.
Network Maps: Enhances understanding of traffic flow and infrastructure layout.
AI Analytics: Uses AI for superior threat detection and anomaly recognition.
Integration: Compatible with platforms like pxGrid and ISE for enhanced security management.
Telemetry: Delivers detailed bandwidth usage and traffic analysis reports.

How does Cisco Secure Network Analytics provide value?

Enhanced Security: Elevates threat detection and response capabilities.
Traffic Insights: Identifies encrypted and anomalous network behaviors.
Compliance Support: Assists in meeting industry standards for data protection.
Endpoint Protection: Guards network endpoints against potential threats.

Industries such as banking, defense, and police rely on Cisco Secure Network Analytics for securing networks against threats. Its capability to provide insights into encrypted traffic and facilitate device auditing makes it a sought-after choice for those requiring extensive network visibility. Users appreciate its application for threat prevention and response in demanding sectors.

Cisco

NetMon offers significant capabilities in log aggregation, traffic analysis, and real-time network insights. Its ease of use accommodates both entry-level and advanced functionalities, enhancing network visibility and threat detection.

NetMon provides seamless analytics with its real-time dashboards and advanced AI integration. The platform is designed for comprehensive monitoring and detailed analysis, making it indispensable for identifying network traffic, origins, destinations, and facilitating threat detection through lateral traffic visibility. Despite its powerful analytics and customization features, improvements in product integration, customer support, and pricing could increase its competitive edge. Connectivity, topology visualization, and server performance are areas noted for enhancement. Integration with protocols like Gflow and Netflow might alleviate agent-based restriction challenges. NetMon sends correlated data to LogRhythm SIEM for enhanced threat analysis and is used for tasks like traffic analysis and DPA.

What are NetMon's key features?

Log Aggregation: Seamless collection of diverse network logs for analysis.
Traffic Analysis: Detailed inspection of network traffic for identifying irregular patterns.
AI Integration: Advanced analytics powered by robust AI capabilities.
Customizable Dashboards: Real-time insights tailored to user requirements.
Correlation Engine: In-depth correlation of network activity for comprehensive reports.
Deep Packet Analytics: Thorough examination of data packets for granular insights.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Enhanced Threat Detection: Significant improvements in identifying lateral threats.
Comprehensive Insights: Complete visibility into network and user activities.
Efficient Monitoring: Real-time analytics streamline network monitoring processes.
Compliance Support: Strong integration supports adherence to compliance standards.

NetMon is widely adopted in industries requiring detailed traffic monitoring and security, such as finance and healthcare. Its capabilities in traffic type identification and correlated analysis make it essential for environments where detecting irregular patterns is critical. It's utilized for network security through comprehensive analysis and integration with SIEM systems.

Exabeam

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF

Sera-Brynn

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. NetMon

August 2026

Free Report: Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. NetMon

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