Cisco DNA Center vs SolarWinds ipMonitor comparison

Cisco and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #76 with an average rating of 6.0. Cisco holds a 1.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.1% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 42 Cisco DNA Center reviews

8,684 Views
1,910 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

SolarWinds ipMonitor

Read 2 SolarWinds ipMonitor reviews

298 Views
194 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

SolarWinds ipMonitor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco DNA Center and SolarWinds ipMonitor based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Network Monitoring Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. SolarWinds ipMonitor Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. SolarWinds ipMonitor

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 865,384 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

13th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

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

SolarWinds ipMonitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

76th

Average Rating

6.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (56th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.4%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds ipMonitor is 0.1%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Ahmed Helmy

Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services

Experience unified visibility and monitoring for enterprise campus and significant time savings and enhanced troubleshooting with reliable support

We have been working with Cisco DNA Center for ten years. Our clients use Cisco DNA Center for unified visibility/monitoring across Enterprise Campus both LAN & WLAN along with Access and fast technical issues troubleshooting The solution provides fast troubleshooting capabilities and fast…

Read full review

Masud Alam

Manager at Optimum Origens Inc.

IP address management improves network efficiency but licensing cost could decrease

We are using SolarWinds for NPM and NCM, and we use IP address management for IP address monitoring. It helps us track which IP address is live and which is not. It also provides DHCP reservation and allows us to declare IP addresses for our integration. We have been using it for IP address…

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

"We can monitor all devices and get the required information using the product."

"The solution helps with the management and orchestration of campaigns. It helps with visibility and analytics. I also like its SDA configuration."

"It gives us automation capabilities for pushing out the configuration to branch networks. It also provides visibility into the health of user network devices."

"The automation features are significant, reducing configuration time. This means outstanding functionality. By deploying the controller automatically, the rest becomes automated"

"The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier."

"DNA Center is scalable."

"It offers automation, security enforcement, analytics, and integration with other Cisco technologies, making it a key driver for efficient network operations and compliance with security protocols."

"I think that their LAN automation is a very good feature."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"The most valuable feature is the availability of end devices."

"IPAM is used for IP address reservation and tracking, helping us easily identify live IP addresses."

Cons

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

"The features of Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime could have more parity."

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

"The solution needs to improve the dashboard."

"The pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Cisco DNA Center are expensive."

"Cisco DNA Center was a new technology for us, at the beginning, it was not easy to do, but Cisco did a lot of training with us to a level we could handle everything. The team is managing itself now without the assistance of Cisco."

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

"It seems to be a little bit more centered toward wireless than wired. You've got more options you can do wirelessly than you can with the wired switches, but it works for what we need it to do. We would like to see a little bit more about the traffic, and we're looking at what's out there to see about that. We are looking at something that might give us a bit more insight into the actual traffic. If they had the full functionality on the wired side, as they do on the wireless side in terms of being able to view traffic and everything, it would be good."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"The licensing cost is high compared to open source tools."

"The solution does not include enough features and has some performance issues."

"The licensing cost is high compared to open source tools."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"We get a yearly license at the time we buy the product."

"The partnership price is notably high, but it ultimately depends on the chosen business model."

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

"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."

"We have a three-year license with them."

"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."

"The price could be better. It's a very expensive tool."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"The solution is a bit expensive because the annual license does not include new features that are priced as add-ons."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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.

See all answers

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

After evaluating other solutions, we will provide feedback.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?

We have utilized the software-defined access (SDA) feature of Cisco DNA Center. The AI-driven needs enhancements and Integration and unification of visibility and monitoring to include other areas ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds ipMonitor?

The licensing cost is high compared to other open-source tools. Being a corporate client, we require corporate licensing, which adds to the cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds ipMonitor?

The licensing cost is high compared to open source tools. The state monitoring tools could be improved with AI integration to track IP usage history. There is no local support; we must contact thei...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds ipMonitor?

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 14% 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 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiManager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco DNA Center Competitors

SolarWinds NPM vs SolarWinds ipMonitor

Compared 100% of the time

More SolarWinds ipMonitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

August 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

August 2025

Download SolarWinds ipMonitor product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

ipMonitor

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

Monitor network devices, servers, VMware hosts and applications from one console
Receive alerts for availability and performance issues
Monitor network status on maps and NOC view
Minimize downtime by automating remediation actions
Enhance monitoring with built-in reports and dashboards

SolarWinds

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. SolarWinds ipMonitor

July 2025

Free Report: Cisco DNA Center vs. SolarWinds ipMonitor

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. SolarWinds ipMonitor and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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