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Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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 Secure IPS (NGIPS)
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) is 4.4%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 3.6%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Yosevan Sinaga Sinaga - PeerSpot reviewer
Effectively identifies malicious behavior while future automation and AI advancements hold potential
Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) ( /products/cisco-secure-ips-ngips-reviews ) is quite powerful for threat detection and includes botnet detection. It effectively blocks unwanted software, hashes, and suspicious behaviors. The tool is easy to integrate with other IT security solutions due to similar protocols. The system offers effective threat detection features, although automation capabilities are not yet fully utilized.
Jack Poon - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers ease of setup and good documentation
When it comes to the product's deployment phase, we have a lot of vendor support. We have a lot of skills here in Hong Kong. Our company doesn't find any problem deploying Cisco solutions. The solution is deployed on an on-premises version. Speaking about the time required to deploy the solution, I would say that we have quite a lot of previous experience with deploying Cisco products. We have our company's standard design document, which we need to follow. We have a standard testing procedure for all those features. We just take out some appropriate parts and then compile them into one document for an individual project. It is actually quite easy for us to do the documentation, so it just takes one or two hours, and we can do the implementation because all the materials and testing procedures are already in our company standard documents, so it is not that difficult for us.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very stable."
"The features that I find most valuable are the DDoS protection, IPS/IDS, and Firepower for web application filtering."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"I've found the performance and stability to be the most valuable features of Cisco NGIPS. It is scalable as well."
"I like the security solutions from Cisco."
"The solution very effectively provides malware protection and signature-based anomaly detection."
"Ir's signature-based. We are also using the anomaly baseline formation, where it links the network, then anything that goes away from the norm is also flagged. Those are the two most valuable features."
"Cisco NGIPS is a stable tool...The technical support provided by Cisco NGIPS is okay."
"The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet."
"Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is easy to configure and the reporting is great. It's also very user-friendly."
"The solution is rather easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the filtering."
"Cisco technical support is unbeatable. It offers a premium service every time."
"It has a huge rate of protection. It's has a low level of positives and a huge rate of threat protection. It's easy to deploy and easy to implement. It has an incredible price rate compared to similar solutions."
"Solid intrusion detection and prevention that scales easily in very large environments."
"The whole solution is very good, and stable."
 

Cons

"More flexibility with the dashboards is needed because some of them are not fully developed."
"The price of Cisco NGIPS could improve."
"The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The only thing I think they may need to improve on a little bit is identifying software more correctly when you do network discovery."
"If there was a software-based solution for scaling up then it would be much better."
"The aspect of private party integration solutions could be improved."
"Cisco NGIPS' performance could be better."
"The CLI, the console line interface, of the FTD could be improved. It's very complex, so without a GUI, it doesn't work well. I would like it to be more simple."
"The cloud can be improved."
"The main dashboard of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT could improve."
"I want to see a better dashboard for the product. The dashboard can be a bit modified or enhanced."
"While the alerts they offer are good, it could improve it in the sense that they should be more detailed to make the alerts more useful to us in general. Sometimes the solution will offer up false positives. Due to the fact that the alerts aren't detailed, we have to go dig around to see why is it being blocked. The solution would be infinitely better if there was just a bit more detail in the alert information and logging we receive."
"There are problems setting up VPNs for some regions."
"I don't think this solution is a time-based control system, because one cannot filter traffic based on time."
"The customization of the rules can be simplified."
"The solution's approach to managing traffic blocking is confusing and impractical."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is highly priced but competitive regarding features and support services."
"The cost of the license depends on the level of support that you have with Cisco."
"The licensing can be billed annually or in multi-year contracts such as three, four, or five years."
"The solution is pricey, but worth it."
"The price for additional throughput is the highest in the industry."
"We buy the licensing on a yearly basis, when we renew our contract. It is around $14,000."
"We get cut in price since we use other Cisco products. We have the whole bundle of Cisco solutions."
"Cisco products are always expensive, but if you can afford the price then it's a great solution."
"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."
"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco NGIPS?
The product's initial setup phase was easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco NGIPS?
Cisco is one of the top brands known for cost-effectiveness, making it worth the money. It's cheaper to integrate with existing IT security solutions compared to other expensive brands with subscri...
What needs improvement with Cisco NGIPS?
In the future, I hope to see automation features like automatic blocking and rule creation. Additionally, incorporating AI capabilities would enhance its functionality.
What do you like most about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five. There are some other tools in the market that are more expensive than Cisco. There are no additional c...
What needs improvement with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
Cisco offers the Cisco DNA Center, which is a source that provides crucial information for us to monitor performance, and see whether there is any trouble. We are using Cisco DNA center, but again,...
 

Also Known As

Sourcefire NGIPS, Firepower NGIPS
Sourcefire SNORT
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Electric Power, Huntington Bank, Keycorp, Nationwide, Transunion, Marriott, Inova Health, Ford, Thomson Reuters, Dow Chemical, Equifax, Chevron, Walmart, Coca Cola
CareCore, City of Biel, Dimension Data, LightEdge, Lone Star College System, National Rugby League, Port Aventura, Smart City Networks, Telecom Italia, The Department of Education in Western Australia
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs. Cisco Sourcefire SNORT and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
863,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.