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Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.5
The Cisco Catalyst Center offers cost-effective, high-performance network management, valued for easy deployment and stable, tailored solutions.
Sentiment score
5.4
Cisco DNA Center offers ROI through time savings despite its cost with a user rating of 4/5 to 7/10.
They have a long life.
Network Administrator at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
The best feature is its availability, easy deployment, and good support for the solution.
Consultant at TECVA
Although Cisco DNA Center is expensive, we have seen a return on investment in terms of time savings.
Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Catalyst Center provides highly-rated customer service with dedicated support, though some report delays in hardware replacement.
Sentiment score
6.2
Cisco DNA Center support is generally well-received, though some users encounter delays and desire better documentation and consistency.
I had a situation where they were present with us overnight to fix an issue for a customer, demonstrating their dedication.
Cyber Security Architect at Spie Ics
I would rate technical support nine to nine and a half out of ten.
Lead Network Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The software platform is very easy to use.
Consultant at TECVA
Overall, Cisco DNA Center rates eight out of ten as a complete solution.
Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services
The support for Cisco DNA Center is good.
Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Catalyst Center offers scalable, flexible solutions for businesses, excelling in control, automation, and infrastructure robustness despite some limitations.
Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco DNA Center offers scalable network management with effective expansion, despite limited IPv6 support and high licensing costs.
They have a feature that allows stacking switches together.
Network Administrator at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Cisco Catalyst Center is scalable and quite flexible, allowing for specific model choices like the 9,000 or 2,000 series based on the clients' performance requirements and bottlenecks.
Solution Architect at HCLSoftware
It effectively manages all the devices I have, demonstrating its capability to scale.
Lead Network Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
From my experience, we can easily manage numerous devices.
Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri
The solution is designed for large enterprise companies.
Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Cisco Catalyst Center is highly regarded for stability and reliability, despite occasional bugs and security concerns.
Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco DNA Center is generally stable, with users praising its reliability despite minor bugs and stability challenges.
They are very stable, not power cycling, and basically maintaining their stability.
Network Administrator at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
They provide a robust and secure solution for critical workloads.
Product Manager at Uop Ipl
Cisco Catalyst Center is stable, and I would rate it a nine out of ten for stability.
Data Center Admin at Sysnet Global Technologies
When we communicate problems, they solve them effectively.
Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Catalyst Center needs enhancements in management, interface ease, security, support, flexibility, speed, bugs, and documentation clarity.
Cisco DNA Center needs better integration, pricing, UI, stability, deployment, reporting, training, and troubleshooting for improved usability.
Current pricing is too expensive for features that users may not be sure they will use, pricing the company out of the market.
Network Engineer at Edmonton Catholic School Board
My customers often complain about numerous software bugs requiring frequent software patches and updates to resolve these issues.
Cyber Security Architect at Spie Ics
In the current setup, incidents are always reactionary, and it would be beneficial if Cisco Catalyst Center could proactively handle issues such as bandwidth crunches and packet drops.
Product Manager at Uop Ipl
The AI-driven insights have contributed significantly to faster troubleshooting and predictive analytics.
Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services
The client history in Cisco DNA Center can be longer than 10 days, perhaps extending to 15 or 20 days.
Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Catalyst Center is valued for quality but seen as expensive compared to competitors like Juniper and Fortinet.
Cisco DNA Center's high costs and licensing requirements can deter smaller businesses, appealing mainly to large enterprises.
They are also facing competitive pricing challenges from Huawei.
Deputy Director at NITDA
Cost is a major factor when any company is buying, and Cisco's products are pricier even compared to other US-based solutions.
Sr. Executive Design Engineering Team at Wateen Telecom (pvt.)
For a hardware refresh, the site switched to Fortinet switching because the cost difference was approximately six thousand dollars per device compared to other solutions.
Network Engineer at Edmonton Catholic School Board
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Catalyst Center provides robust network management with automation, scalability, secure integrations, and user-friendly interfaces for enterprise environments.
Cisco DNA Center provides analytics, centralized management, and enhanced security with automation, real-time monitoring, and AI-driven network insights.
There is a very wide user base providing support, so I almost never have to contact Cisco support due to the vast accessible knowledge base.
Network Administrator at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Their threat intelligence platform is excellent, including Talos Intelligence, which provides a good database and strong threat insights.
Analyst at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
This dual functionality is crucial for monitoring large enterprises, providing a robust solution for IT teams.
Product Manager at Uop Ipl
The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier.
Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services
If there is a problem, I can inspect the situation and see what is happening, which is beneficial.
Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst Center
Ranking in Network Management Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco DNA Center
Ranking in Network Management Applications
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (16th), Network Automation (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Center is 8.9%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 16.7%, down from 28.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco DNA Center16.7%
Cisco Catalyst Center8.9%
Other74.4%
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

AR
Network Engineer at Edmonton Catholic School Board
Has improved infrastructure management with customizable reporting and automated deployment
Cisco Catalyst Center's reporting is one of the best features, providing graphs and quick hit analysis in one place instead of having to search elsewhere. Historical data can be stored in Cisco Catalyst Center, and dashboards and widgets can be configured to personal preference. Device deployment can be automated to the point where all someone needs to do is plug it in. Zero Touch Provisioning, while requiring some initial work to set up properly, provides significant benefits. Once configured, it reduces the need for travel by specific network personnel, allowing on-site or other staff to handle device deployment by simply plugging in the cable.
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.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Management Applications solutions are best for your needs.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
Government
13%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Center?
During license renewal, the pricing for Catalyst licensing increased significantly. For a hardware refresh, the site switched to Fortinet switching because the cost difference was approximately six...
What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Center?
Cisco Catalyst Center would benefit from different licensing tiers instead of an all-or-nothing model. Some tiers could focus on monitoring and tracking licenses with minimal configuration automati...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Catalyst Center?
The product was used with Catholic schools because that was their primary infrastructure. This is an enterprise-level product rather than an SMB-grade solution.
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?
After evaluating other solutions, we will provide feedback.
What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
In my opinion, the client history in Cisco DNA Center can be longer than 10 days, perhaps extending to 15 or 20 days. I am using it in a huge factory in Turkey, and sometimes I need to see what occ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
DNA Center
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst Center vs. Cisco DNA Center and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.