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C3 AI vs Cisco Secure Firewall comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 30, 2025

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

C3 AI
Average Rating
7.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
AI Data Analysis (18th), AI Customer Experience Personalization (17th), AI Sales & Marketing (36th), AI Content Creation (10th), AI Procurement & Supply Chain (3rd)
Cisco Secure Firewall
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
456
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (5th), Cisco Security Portfolio (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

C3 AI and Cisco Secure Firewall aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. C3 AI is designed for AI Content Creation and holds a mindshare of 1.4%.
Cisco Secure Firewall, on the other hand, focuses on Firewalls, holds 7.5% mindshare, up 5.5% since last year.
AI Content Creation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
C3 AI1.4%
Claude for Enterprise2.3%
Synthesia2.2%
Other94.1%
AI Content Creation
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Firewall7.5%
Fortinet FortiGate18.3%
OPNsense10.3%
Other63.9%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2795349 - PeerSpot reviewer
Group Head of Data Strategy & Enterprise Governance at a consumer goods company with 10,001+ employees
Struggled to justify enterprise adoption but have valued broader developer accessibility
If I could change or add anything to improve C3 AI, I would suggest making it not just an AI platform, but a data and AI combined platform, as bringing in data management elements, governance, and cloud features is critical. The real AI and modeling represent only 20 percent of what is needed; there is over 80 percent in the rest of the world that should be addressed. Given Tom Siebel's deep understanding of corporate work and his network, integrating C3 AI with other ERP solutions such as Oracle, SAP, or Microsoft is essential. If C3 AI can be an enterprise platform, embedding more data elements and ensuring seamless integration with other ERP solutions would significantly enhance its capabilities and attractiveness. If someone told me that they have SAP, and C3 AI can seamlessly integrate the data and perform action calls between SAP, allowing me to operate on C3 AI as I would on SAP, that would be a killer feature for me. I would suggest avoiding traditional licensing sales as it is too expensive; the starting price is too high. Considering a subscription model or a pay-per-use model is the best business structure for AI or data solution vendors. The pay-per-use model benefits usage, as the more you use, the more successful you become with the platform.
Phil Shiflett - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager, Network Engineering at TTi Power Equipment
Unified policies streamline network management but complex licensing requires attention
Cisco Secure Firewall has some growth opportunities in terms of visibility and control capabilities regarding managing encrypted traffic. It has the ability to analyze encrypted traffic, and there is potential for more integration with APIs and AI to enhance these capabilities. Cisco Secure Firewall needs improvement in deployment time and the capability to access the CLI during support calls. I often encounter issues when technical support uses a CLI that is not familiar to me while troubleshooting through the GUI. My ongoing complaint for the last six years has been the lack of CLI functionality, which hinders my ability to work on the firewall, alongside concerns regarding deployment time. For the next release, they should look at the features offered by competitors such as Fortinet, including the ability to perform packet capture directly from the interface. If they enhanced their troubleshooting efficiency related to packet capture for each specific rule, it would simplify the process significantly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have noticed improvements in efficiency, reduced downtime, and time saved for my team, as it is quite integrated through the source ML pipeline to report to general customer UI, functioning as one platform that takes care of everything, thus improving efficiency, optimization, and increasing project deliverables."
"In the first phase alone, there was approximately $90 million in savings, which reduced about 5% of inventory."
"One of the best features C3 AI offers is that you do not need to learn Python or any specific machine learning programming language; you can use C3 AI with JavaScript."
"The command line is the same as it is on the Cisco iOS router."
"They are easy to maintain."
"The advantage of using Cisco is its integration within the Cisco fabric, which allows for effective threat detection and mitigation."
"According to them, it's working perfectly."
"It has improved the security posture and visibility of our traffic."
"Once configured to suit your needs, these firewalls are rock solid appliances."
"Easy to deploy in a working environment between servers and users."
"The versatility of the product has allowed us to solve a number of perimeter requirements without having to seek out different products or companies for solutions."
 

Cons

"The reason I chose eight out of ten is that as a user of C3 AI, I found the operational aspect not easy to understand; it is a bit tricky, and you should have more core knowledge to navigate C3 AI."
"However, I sometimes hear from colleagues that hallucination is an issue."
"We even failed to open any doors for C3 AI; there are no smaller wins, learning opportunities, or process improvements, even if the main goals were not met."
"It needs to provide the next-generation firewall features that other vendors provide, like data analytics, telemetry, and deep packet inspection."
"In the early days of Firepower, we had some issues; however, this has improved significantly over a couple of years."
"One of the major disadvantages with the ASAs is the throughput, while the network evolves, the ASA was usually causing the bottle neck."
"It seems very clunky and slow. I would like to be able to tune it to be a more efficient product."
"The initial setup can be a bit complex for those unfamiliar with the solution."
"An area for improvement is the graphical user interface. That is something that is coming up now. They could make the product more user-friendly. A better GUI is something that would make life much easier."
"The change-deployment time can always be improved. Even at 50 seconds, it's longer than some of its competitors. I would challenge Cisco to continue to improve in that area."
"The virtual firewalls don't work very well with Cisco AnyConnect."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"This product is expensive."
"They seem to be at the top end in terms of pricing, but they are worth the price. They are probably a little bit lower than Palo Alto. If the customers are relying on Cisco products and they are thinking more in terms of scaling to another layer in a year, it is pretty much in a good price range."
"Cisco is known as a premier product and it comes with a premier price point sometimes. Sometimes that makes it challenging for some customers to bite off. They see the value when we get into a proof-of-value scenario."
"Commercial leasing is the best option."
"The Firepower series of appliances is not cheap. I just got a quote recently for six firewalls that was in the range of over half-a-million dollars. That's what could push us to look to other vendors..."
"It's pretty competitive. If they could make it cheaper, it would be great. You always want cheaper, but relative to the performance capabilities of the firewall and relative to what you get, it's fair. It's not the cheapest in the world, but you get an excellent product for that price."
"Cisco is always expensive, but you get what you pay for. It is expensive for a reason. It is a good solution, and good solutions cost money."
"The solution’s pricing is competitive."
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Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at Webernetz.net - Network Security Consulting
Mar 11, 2015
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
44%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business186
Midsize Enterprise129
Large Enterprise231
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for C3 AI?
From my experience, I see the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of C3 AI as quite expensive; even a CTO from a globally leading consumer goods company feels it is too expensive and does not want ...
What needs improvement with C3 AI?
From a features perspective, I cannot identify specific areas for improvement, but for me, the platform feels satisfying. However, I sometimes hear from colleagues that hallucination is an issue. O...
What is your primary use case for C3 AI?
I was involved in testing, and the main use case is more focused on sourcing. The sourcing team is using C3 AI apps for inventory management and saving inventory data. C3 AI is used by the sourcing...
Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage at large. In my opinion, Fortinet would be the best option and l use Fortinet too...
Which is better - Fortinet FortiGate or Cisco ASA Firewall?
One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. Fortinet Fortigate is very stable, reliable, and consistent. We like that we can manage the e...
How does Cisco's ASA firewall compare with the Firepower NGFW?
It is easy to integrate Cisco ASA with other Cisco products and also other NAC solutions. When you understand the Cisco ecosystem, it is very simple to handle. This solution has traffic inspection ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Firewall, Cisco ASA NGFW, Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco Sourcefire Firewalls, Cisco ASAv, Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall, Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Virtual - BYOL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
There are more than one million Adaptive Security Appliances deployed globally. Top customers include First American Financial Corp., Genzyme, Frankfurt Airport, Hansgrohe SE, Rio Olympics, The French Laundry, Rackspace, and City of Tomorrow.
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