Meraki Dashboard vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE comparison

Cisco and NETSCOUT are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #19 with an average rating of 8.4, while NETSCOUT is ranked #31 with an average rating of 8.5. Cisco holds a 1.2% mindshare in NMS, compared to NETSCOUT’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of NETSCOUT users who would recommend it.

Meraki Dashboard

Read 56 Meraki Dashboard reviews

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1,044 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Read 50 NETSCOUT nGeniusONE reviews

2,369 Views
1,193 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Meraki Dashboard

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE and Meraki Dashboard compete in the network management category. Meraki Dashboard appears to have the upper hand due to its cloud-oriented simplicity and user-friendly deployment.

Features:NETSCOUT nGeniusONE provides detailed traffic analysis and packet inspection, application-specific monitoring, and troubleshooting, offering deep insights for identifying network issues. It also supports real-time communication monitoring and dependency mapping. Meraki Dashboard offers cloud management with easy multi-site visibility, integration capabilities, and a user-friendly interface, simplifying business deployment and management efforts.

Room for Improvement:NETSCOUT nGeniusONE could become more user-friendly and reduce tool complexity, with users calling for a more intuitive interface and less reliance on hardware. Meraki Dashboard could improve VPN client features, enable broader integration with non-Cisco products, and simplify user settings.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:NETSCOUT nGeniusONE requires on-premises deployment or hybrid cloud solutions and often needs dedicated support due to complexity. Although technical support is responsive, it may require on-site engineers, impacting immediacy. Meraki Dashboard allows cloud-oriented deployment options that simplify setup, with customer service known for being accessible and effective, rated highly for practicality and remote management.

Pricing and ROI:NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is noted for higher pricing, reflecting advanced features and extensive support, offering ROI by reducing troubleshooting time and increasing visibility. Meraki Dashboard, though perceived as expensive due to its subscription model, offers a clear pricing structure with support, delivering ROI through reduced admin time and effective network management.

To learn more, read our detailed Meraki Dashboard vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

June 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

Meraki Dashboard

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

19th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

31st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 1.2%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is 1.5%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Bilal-Ahmed

IT Manager at Fawaz

Seamless connectivity and comprehensive control over network devices

All of the features we are looking for are already in control. I think those features, which we are not currently utilizing, are already there. For example, the control for the cameras and everything else. The cameras are not connected through Meraki, but all other devices are on Meraki networks.

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Ruslan Melnyk

Business Unit Manager at BAKOTECH

Useful for network performance monitoring

My manager can explain the use cases attached to the product. I am a unit leader in my company, and I don't sell the product directly to our partners or customers. In my company, I manage certain processes and a team while building, developing, and providing them with a direction for the market. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is a good solution for network performance monitoring since it is not cloud-based. My company sells NETSCOUT nGeniusONE in eight to ten countries. I think the solution is not good for capacity planning, but it is better to help find problems in applications because not every infrastructure is good at managing working applications. I think it is a solution meant for applications. The tool is useful for solving problems attached to applications. The tool's real-time network monitoring capability was used when the product was more reactive. In our company, if we use real-time monitoring, then we need to deal with raw traffic. In our company, if we don't see any problem in the real-time systems, we have the possibility to rely on the tool since it acts like a time machine for us, which can allow us to get back to the areas of problem and solve them. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. For many users, it can be a good monitoring system that can be scaled up in the future. I think it is a good product to start with when working systems in an environment. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is another tool used to manage raw traffic, and I find it to integrate well into our customers' network. I am not using it actively on the system. I use the tool for network packet brokers. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I love most about the Meraki Dashboard are its user-friendly features."

"We've been spending a lot less time on tickets and deployments, so we have more time to do other things."

"Meraki Dashboard offers an exceptional centralized management solution that allows easy updates and monitoring of various network features, including bandwidth usage and content filtering."

"The most valuable feature is its simplicity in navigating through the dashboard. It's well set out, and the layout is nice and user friendly. A lot of clients enjoy seeing layer 7 visibility. They get a good indication and insight into what is happening in their network and what applications are being used the most. They can then customize and give preference to business-critical applications."

"The product can scale if you need it to."

"It's a scalable solution."

"It has improved my organization in the way that we've got a much better wireless coverage than we had before, and secondly, we have the visibility of all the users."

"You don't have to be a network engineer to use it."

More Meraki Dashboard pros

"The biggest advantage of NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is that when gathering logs, which require substantial bandwidth of more than 50 TB or 100 TB of data, NETSCOUT nGeniusONE can gather as much as possible."

"The ability to be able to do detailed traffic analysis such as top-talkers, application-specific monitoring, and understanding them through patterns, is helpful. We're also able to gain an understanding of voice calls, voice traffic, whether we have packet loss in a certain part of the network or jitter or high latency that might be impacting the network. All of those are nice functionalities."

"Deep packet inspection is a very useful tool as it works in real time and uses serial packet-level analysis."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"It is a scalable solution."

"The visual and graphical interfaces in the display that it provides for us to show our senior leadership. We can show them what is actually happening, instead of a spreadsheet."

"Network faults are easily and quickly identified through dashboards and drill down."

"The packet-based searching capability of NETSCOUT is highly valued as it allows us to better analyze the network."

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE pros

Cons

"I would like to receive decent notification alerts regarding the license's expiry. Or any help on correcting or optimizing licenses, because in certain circumstances you can add a license but it's the wrong licensing. However, the Dashboard adds the license in some way, and you do not utilize it. You can simply extend the license's expiration date."

"We would like to be able to test the health of WAN connections."

"Meraki Dashboard could improve integration with non-Cisco platforms."

"They can improve the landing page in Meraki Dashboard. When I go into an organization, they can include a lot more infographics. They can also simplify it a bit and consolidate it. For example, if I've got five branches and I go into customer A's profile or organization, I'd like to see an infographic on the landing page providing a snippet of the entire network layout, that is, all branches in one snapshot. From there, I would like to go into the network that I want to work on or view."

"The wait time to speak with a Meraki support engineer is always long, but they get the job done."

"The pricing for this solution needs to be improved."

"I think this product could be improved with a CLI for more directives."

"There needs to be more improvement on the device-connected interface."

More Meraki Dashboard cons

"I would like more in-depth convergence between all the applications, especially when I look for information through a data mine."

"We see it overload once in a while. It doesn't have built-in protection. Therefore, once it gets too much data, it tends to crash. Then, we have to recover it."

"The product was lacking for awhile when they did the Arbor acquisition. I was waiting to see more security stuff, which they did eventually add, and is now impressive."

"Some of the filters could be easier to see and to set up. That's the only thing that I've ever had any trouble with."

"There is currently less visibility or GUI to analyse the packet for troubleshooting purposes."

"Our biggest area of concern right now, supporting the applications, is that while NETSCOUT does a good job of monitoring the network and the applications, we need more visibility into system health and performance monitoring."

"One of the products we use is SolarWinds, and it provides a very cool mapping of an agent from end-to-end. If NETSCOUT could somehow implement that into their design... make it quicker and easier to get those net paths, it would be huge."

"The dependency mapping is good, but I am hopeful that they will build some type of partnership and relationship with ServiceNow. I want to see NETSCOUT partner with ServiceNow so they can leverage Service Now Discovery and Service Mapping to automate the build of the service dependency mappings inside of nGeniusONE."

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is said to be expensive."

"Licensing is around under 1000 pounds. The licensing is either one year, three years, five years or ten years and during the licensing, we can choose to renew it per year or per every three years. We've got a license for three years. It's about 160 or about 200 pounds each."

"My view is that it's expensive, but it's the best."

"The licensing fees are $180 USD, per AP, for three years."

"The solution is currently the most expensive on the market."

"Meraki Dashboard's pricing is reasonable. It is sold yearly, typically for one, three, or five years. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"The price of Meraki Dashboard is not expensive because knowing that it is a cloud-based solution has its benefits."

More Meraki Dashboard pricing and cost advice

"The platform is expensive."

"Like any company, we always want better pricing. The pricing is okay, but it's not a cheap solution. When you want to deploy it across an enterprise as large as ours, you go into seven figures. It's not a cheap solution to get out there."

"It is a little overall pricey and expensive, but you get what you pay for."

"The license becomes cost prohibitive very quickly."

"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The product may come across as a cheap tool for some, while it may seem costly for others."

"The product is too expensive compared to other products."

"Make sure you get the low down on your licensing and understand the licensing requirements before making a purchase, especially when it comes to an upgrade. Make sure that it suits your needs before you commit to it. For example, we purchased ATA at version 6.2.1. At that time, the licensing covered everything we need. NETSCOUT comes out with 6.2.2, stating that in order to upgrade, you had to purchase CyberStream licensing. Now that requires some additional funding from both a capital investment and a maintenance cost. That's something that should have been said, "Well, if you want these additional features, you will need to purchase these CyberStreams." Otherwise, we should be allowed to continue on the basic operations as it is now through the newer releases without being stuck."

"Cost is probably the biggest drawback. Compared to some of the newer vendors that have popped up in the space, it's definitely more on the expensive side... [But] it's been able to keep its value, even in the face of the cheaper competition."

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

21%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Meraki Dashboard?

We greatly utilize the network because we can plug it into the DNS, VPN, or equipment. It's very good. Meraki Dashboard enhances wireless network management. We appreciate its flexibility, as it al...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?

The cost of the Meraki solution is high, which may not be affordable for smaller companies, especially in developing countries.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?

The aspect I find challenging about this solution is that it is too extensive and complex. For example, when comparing Meraki Dashboard to Juniper Mist, the latter is quite simple. Mist is a very a...

See all answers

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?

I would say if it’s an ISP that will build a scrubbing center, Netscout/Arbor is a good solution. In all other solutions, Imperva is a great choice.

See all answers

What do you like most about NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

The pricing is a bit high yet not overly expensive. The cost depends on the size of the customer, as sizing controls the pricing.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco DNA Center vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 20% of the time

Zabbix vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 14% of the time

ThousandEyes vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 12% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 6% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 6% of the time

More Meraki Dashboard Competitors

Dynatrace vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 11% of the time

Gigamon Deep Observability Pipeline vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 10% of the time

ThousandEyes vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 10% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 8% of the time

Ixia Network Packet Brokers vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

Compared 6% of the time

More NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard

June 2025

Download Meraki Dashboard product report

Buyer's Guide

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

June 2025

Download NETSCOUT nGeniusONE product report

Also Known As

No data available

NETSCOUT nGenius, nGeniusONE

Overview

Meraki Dashboard is a comprehensive cloud-based platform that offers centralized management and control for all Meraki networking and security products. It provides a user-friendly interface, allowing administrators to easily monitor and configure their network infrastructure from anywhere. With real-time visibility, troubleshooting becomes effortless, ensuring optimal performance and minimizing downtime.

The intuitive dashboard offers a holistic view of the network, enabling quick identification of potential issues and proactive measures. It simplifies network deployment and scaling, with zero-touch provisioning and automatic firmware updates. The robust security features include advanced threat protection, content filtering, and VPN connectivity.

Meraki Dashboard also offers powerful analytics and reporting capabilities, providing valuable insights into network usage, application performance, and user behavior. With its seamless integration and scalability,

Meraki Dashboard is the ideal solution for organizations of all sizes, ensuring efficient network management and enhanced productivity.

Cisco

The nGenius Real-Time Monitor software provides you with tools to monitor and display information about your network both historically and in real time. The nGenius Real-Time Monitor software allows you to understand your current network usage and to plan for future needs. It also allows you to proactively troubleshoot problem areas in your network.

NETSCOUT

Sample Customers

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe

Cerner Corporation

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE

June 2025

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