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Cisco DNA Center vs Zabbix comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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
5.4
Cisco DNA Center offers ROI through time savings despite its cost with a user rating of 4/5 to 7/10.
Sentiment score
6.9
Zabbix is praised for being cost-effective and scalable, minimizing downtime, and eliminating high licensing fees for enterprises.
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
6.2
Cisco DNA Center support is generally well-received, though some users encounter delays and desire better documentation and consistency.
Sentiment score
6.8
Zabbix support is well-regarded, with strong community forums, responsive staff, and effective local partners aiding various user needs.
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
It is so straightforward that I have never had to use the support.
CTO at Oic
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco DNA Center offers scalable network management with effective expansion, despite limited IPv6 support and high licensing costs.
Sentiment score
6.9
Zabbix offers scalable, flexible monitoring with cost efficiency, though complex scaling and database management may require improvements for large deployments.
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
Zabbix has high scalability.
CTO at Four Nine Agency
Zabbix is very scalable and lightweight.
CTO at Oic
I would rate its scalability ten out of ten.
Manager, Information Technology Zara & Inditex at Cenomi
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco DNA Center is generally stable, with users praising its reliability despite minor bugs and stability challenges.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zabbix is generally stable and reliable, requiring minimal resources, though occasional issues may arise from external factors.
When we communicate problems, they solve them effectively.
Network Engineer at NGN Bilgi ve İletişim Hizmetleri
Zabbix is very scalable and lightweight.
CTO at Oic
Zabbix is quite stable, and we haven't had any problems with Zabbix itself.
CTO at Four Nine Agency
I think the stability of Zabbix is around five to six on a scale of ten, where ten is the best and one is the worst.
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco DNA Center needs better integration, pricing, UI, stability, deployment, reporting, training, and troubleshooting for improved usability.
Zabbix needs user interface, reporting, and dashboard improvements, plus better configuration, automation, documentation, scalability, and advanced monitoring features.
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
The only issue I can note is that it's Linux-based, and Linux documentation is not the best.
CTO at Oic
The potential and customization is a little difficult because you have to learn scripts.
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cisco DNA Center's high costs and licensing requirements can deter smaller businesses, appealing mainly to large enterprises.
Zabbix is praised for being a free, open-source solution with optional low-cost support, attracting enterprise users.
Zabbix is providing everything free of cost.
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
It is literally free.
CTO at Oic
 

Valuable Features

Cisco DNA Center provides analytics, centralized management, and enhanced security with automation, real-time monitoring, and AI-driven network insights.
Zabbix offers open-source flexibility, scalability, automated monitoring, diverse integrations, and adaptability for complex infrastructures with strong community support.
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
The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier.
Sr. Director, Business Development & Sales Operations at connect professional services
If disk usage surpasses a threshold, say 70%, I receive alerts and can take proactive action.
CTO at Oic
The alerting systems are very good in Zabbix, and it has helped us to reduce time for reaction.
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
People want to save costs, which is why they install Zabbix, but the reporting functionality is not properly developed.
Network Engineer at Ogma Consulting
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco DNA Center
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (1st), Network Automation (2nd)
Zabbix
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (9th), Server Monitoring (1st), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (1st), Cloud Monitoring Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.2%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zabbix is 8.6%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Zabbix8.6%
Cisco DNA Center1.2%
Other90.2%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

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.
KamranBhatti - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Helps reduce response time but has room to improve customization complexity
We are not working on simple standalone solutions like Kaspersky DDoS Protection or Hybrid Cloud Security. Once you understand Zabbix, then it is easy to customize those web pages and graphs for our customer use. It is fully automated to your requirements. Zabbix is working fine with no issues, and I am satisfied with it. We have combined Zabbix and SolarWinds. The integration works fine, and it is easy to integrate Zabbix with the IT environment. We were trying to purchase MDR (Managed Detection and Response), but we are not working on that. I don't have real experience with MDR. We are using Falcon software for that. We are working with Falcon Complete, not with Sandbox. We are not using Kaspersky for business or cloud protection. For that, we are using Zabbix CrowdStrike Falcon Complete solution. I have given this review an overall rating of 8.
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise34
 

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.
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...
What do you like most about Zabbix?
The template system in Zabbix is very beneficial as it saves time in configuration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zabbix?
I think Zabbix is economical, whereas SolarWinds is expensive. SolarWinds has a lot of secure features, but Zabbix is providing everything free of cost. Zabbix is economical, and you can install it...
What needs improvement with Zabbix?
The potential and customization is a little difficult because you have to learn scripts. I think Zabbix needs to improve the customization better. At present, I am satisfied with the functionality ...
 

Also Known As

DNA Center
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
1. IBM 2. Dell 3. Cisco 4. HP 5. Oracle 6. Microsoft 7. Amazon 8. Google 9. Facebook 10. Twitter 11. LinkedIn 12. Netflix 13. Adobe 14. VMware 15. Salesforce 16. SAP 17. Intel 18. AT&T 19. Verizon 20. T-Mobile 21. Vodafone 22. Ericsson 23. Nokia 24. Siemens 25. General Electric 26. Honeywell 27. Philips 28. Sony 29. Samsung 30. LG 31. Panasonic 32. Toshiba
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. Zabbix and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.