Cisco DNA Center vs WhatsUp Gold comparison

Cisco and Progress Software are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0, while Progress Software is ranked #27 with an average rating of 9.5. Cisco holds a 1.4% mindshare in NMS, compared to Progress Software’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Progress Software users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews

1,943 Views
929 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

WhatsUp Gold

Read 24 WhatsUp Gold reviews

1,740 Views
910 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

WhatsUp Gold

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

WhatsUp Gold and Cisco DNA Center are network management solutions with distinct advantages. WhatsUp Gold is preferred for budget-sensitive businesses due to its competitive pricing and efficient customer support, while Cisco DNA Center is more appealing to enterprises seeking advanced network control features.

Features: WhatsUp Gold provides intuitive network monitoring, easy configuration management, and real-time alerts. Cisco DNA Center offers automation, comprehensive analytics, and enhanced security measures, offering a complete network management experience.

Room for Improvement: WhatsUp Gold could enhance its advanced analytics, security features, and scalability options. Cisco DNA Center could improve deployment simplicity, pricing structure, and user interface for ease of access.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WhatsUp Gold is known for straightforward installation and strong customer support for quick setup. Cisco DNA Center may have a longer deployment process due to complexity but provides resources and expertise for successful integration.

Pricing and ROI: WhatsUp Gold offers a lower initial setup cost, providing faster ROI for smaller organizations. Cisco DNA Center, despite a higher cost, delivers value through comprehensive features and long-term benefits, resulting in substantial ROI for large enterprises focusing on detailed network management.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. WhatsUp Gold Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. WhatsUp Gold

June 2025

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Helped 857,028 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)

WhatsUp Gold

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

27th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (25th), Server Monitoring (15th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (29th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.4%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WhatsUp Gold is 1.2%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

AvrahamSonenthal

Senior Network Engineer at Inside Global

Efficiently manages our wireless network and provides valuable monitoring features

The platform's biggest benefit has been in managing our wireless network. Having a single pane of glass to control all wireless controllers and access points and to monitor activity has been a significant advantage. We're a small federal agency with around 300 network devices, so automation is a minor focus. It's more relevant for larger networks. The main benefits we've seen are in inventory management and the potential for configuration automation. However, I recommend using the DNA Centre only for larger networks with over a thousand devices; otherwise, it may not be cost-effective. Before proceeding, ensure that your devices are compatible with DNA Center, as not all Cisco devices are supported. Also, investing in proper training is different from plug-and-play. I rate it an eight.

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Tom Condo

Supervisor Information Services Operations at Seminole County Public Schools

If CPU, memory, or disk space is over-utilized, it alerts us immediately via text or email if there is an issue

When it comes to the intuitiveness of the topology mapping feature, our network architect created a vision diagram of our entire network and then created the links tied into the WhatsUp active monitoring to different spots on our topology map. It's one of the more critical functions we do here. We have the map displayed in different places in our room and help desk. We get alerted via emails but we can also see it visually. It does what it says it's going to do. We find this feature very helpful. The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one link. You can go into a particular part of the topology map, scroll in, and see exactly which module it is. All the information is provided. This feature really helps. You can see the correlation between that link and what failed. This feature is very helpful. The interface is fairly intuitive. Some of our users used SolarWinds and Nagios, and WhatsUp is easy in comparison. Once you get set up, the look, feel, and configuration are good. Our network architect had never used it before but he was able to create the Visio and map. It was very simple. He has no problems with it.

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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

"The monitoring features are very useful for network engineers."

"It enables monitoring of various components such as access points, switch cards, and other elements within the company's solutions."

"We have many people from the team who manage a lot of devices. By using Cisco DNA Center, it has taken some of that burden away, we are impressed with it. We did the investment in CAPEX, but in the OPEX was very low."

"Cisco DNA Center is a user-friendly solution."

"It is very versatile in terms of analytics."

"Automation helps configure devices without manual intervention, enabling zero-touch provisioning."

"The monitoring is very valuable to me."

"The product gives a consolidated view."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"WhatsUp Gold is very easy to deploy."

"The most valuable features are network bandwidth monitoring and monitoring device health."

"NetFlow monitoring, real-time monitoring, and surveys have been the most valuable features for our business."

"The user interface is good enough."

"This is a good, stable network monitoring solution for devices."

"We no longer have to manually search for problems because we are alerted when something in the network goes down."

"It is easy to access and discover devices, as well as monitor them automatically. The topology discover is also a useful feature."

"The documentation is very good."

More WhatsUp Gold pros

Cons

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

"The weaknesses primarily involve pricing and the ongoing need for increased bandwidth and data throughput."

"There are some software problems from version to version. It takes a long time for DNA Center to recognize the video and control access devices."

"Cisco DNA Center should improve its configuration management. It is better to have a dev version before pushing it."

"I would like is to have a small information pointer available. It could be a plus feature that I want to implement. When I hover my mouse over the user interface, it should provide a brief explanation. It would be helpful to have it incorporated into the UI."

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

"The network, data center, and SD-WAN are all being treated as different services, but I would like to have only one solution to manage all of them."

"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."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"Regional product team support is not very good."

"Users want SMS available via Whatsapp Gold. They don't want to go through third party SMS servers. The solution should work to make this possible."

"I would like to see them do an enhancement to the application monitoring. A lot of other products do better application monitoring so they should do some improvements to the application monitoring."

"The pricing for this solution has gone up quite recently, which has led some of our customers to buy an alternative product."

"I think there are a few bugs now. Although they give some resolution for this, we cannot share the network remotely because of our company policy."

"Importing the maps and being able to customize them could be easier."

"WhatsUp Gold should work on real-time monitoring and configuration management. If they succeed in doing this, the solution will cover all the network troubleshooting aspects and will be a benefit."

"Improvements are needed in integration, especially for WhatsApp call and messages. Our region heavily uses WhatsApp Messenger for communication, and integration with this platform would be beneficial."

More WhatsUp Gold cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is a little bit expensive but depends a lot on the customer's usage. If you use it in the right place, you can easily pay for it."

"The solution is expensive."

"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."

"It is an expensive solution."

"Cisco DNA Center is too expensive."

"Licensing for Cisco DNA Center is a little bit expensive, just like any Cisco solution. Its cost could still be improved."

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

"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."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"There are some subscription charges that are quite heavy. I need to pay for support every year and these charges can be quite expensive. Aside from the initial cost for the tool, you need to pay additionally for support."

"There is a license needed to use WhatsUp Gold."

"The tool's price is reasonable. WhatsUp Gold is cheaper than SolarWinds."

"This is a well priced solution."

"Pricing is reasonable compared to other products."

"It is per device, per year. The pricing is very clear. If you have a service agreement, you get all of your major upgrades and minor upgrades. It was under $10,000 to go all-in with all of the different add-ons for it."

"The price of WhatsUp Gold is good."

"The pricing can be on the expensive side when considering competing products."

More WhatsUp Gold pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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?

The cost is very high.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?

The system is working fine for me currently.

See all answers

What do you like most about WhatsUp Gold?

The interactive mapping interface for scrolling, zooming, and drilling down on an element to learn about a network issue is good. When we see a network there will sometimes be a spot that has one l...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WhatsUp Gold?

Clients find the licensing calculator confusing, but we simplify this for them by collecting relevant information first. The licensing is based on devices, providing better cost-effectiveness than ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with WhatsUp Gold?

Improvements are needed in integration, especially for WhatsApp call and messages. Our region heavily uses WhatsApp Messenger for communication, and integration with this platform would be benefici...

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 12% 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

NetBrain vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco DNA Center Competitors

Grafana vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 13% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 10% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 9% of the time

Zabbix vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 8% of the time

ManageEngine OpManager vs WhatsUp Gold

Compared 6% of the time

More WhatsUp Gold Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

June 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

WhatsUp Gold

May 2025

Download WhatsUp Gold product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

No data available

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

Explore and manage your entire network infrastructure effortlessly with WhatsUp Gold's robust layer 2/3 discovery, creating a detailed interactive map from the edge to the cloud. Monitor devices, wireless controllers, servers, virtual machines, applications, and traffic flows across various environments. Real-time alerts ensure optimal performance, allowing you to meet or exceed SLAs. The platform offers customizable maps, dashboards, and alerts for easy network management. Quickly resolve issues with intuitive workflows, reducing Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR). WhatsUp Gold's integrated log management provides easy visibility and control of device log data, allowing monitoring, filtering, searching, and alerting on syslogs or Windows logs. Archive logs to comply with regulatory requirements and preserve historical data, all through a user-friendly interface. Streamline network monitoring and issue resolution with WhatsUp Gold, making network management efficient and hassle-free.

Progress Software

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Artoni Trasporti, Austin Independent School District, Banca Marche, Burke County North Carolina, Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine, Clayco, Community Integrated Care, Desca, Deutsche Bergbau, Flexi-Van, Gropper, Hamleys, Hammonds Furniture, Knowledge IT, Idras S.P.A., Sibeg, Swann Engineering, Trivium Lindenhof

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. WhatsUp Gold

June 2025

Free Report: Cisco DNA Center vs. WhatsUp Gold

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