Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Icinga comparison

Cisco Secure Network Analytics

Read 17 Icinga reviews

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85% willing to recommend

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Icinga and Cisco Secure Network Analytics are competing in the network monitoring and security domain. Cisco Secure Network Analytics may have the upper hand due to its advanced threat management features.

Features: Icinga provides robust network monitoring, flexible alerting systems, and integration with third-party tools. Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers comprehensive threat detection, real-time insights, and advanced analytics capabilities focusing on security.

Room for Improvement: Icinga can improve its security analytics, enhance real-time threat responses, and expand its detection capabilities. Cisco Secure Network Analytics could benefit from simpler deployment processes, improved flexibility, and cost-effective pricing structures.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Icinga offers a straightforward setup with open-source flexibility, supported by a strong community and commercial support. Cisco Secure Network Analytics involves a more complex deployment due to its extensive security features, supported by enterprise-grade resources.

Pricing and ROI: Icinga is cost-effective with low setup costs, offering ROI through its open-source model. Cisco Secure Network Analytics has higher initial costs, leading to greater ROI for businesses requiring advanced security solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. Icinga Report (Updated: April 2026).

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. Icinga

April 2026

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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 Network Analytics

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

36th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (5th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (8th), Cisco Security Portfolio (9th)

Icinga

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

27th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (12th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (31st), Cloud Monitoring Software (26th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is 0.9%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Icinga is 1.3%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Icinga	1.3%
Cisco Secure Network Analytics	0.9%
Other	97.8%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Harun-Owr-Roshid

CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED

Have streamlined network visibility and troubleshooting while seeing benefits from AI integration

In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in use, some other features need to be upgraded considering AI solutions. Proper management of the database is also important; it should be centralized for easier data collection from a single database. When precise manual analysis is needed, it's sometimes difficult, so having a centralized database will allow network admins to find actual scenarios more effectively, especially since some information may not be visible on the GUI. Cisco should upgrade their hardware part to run the database, because sometimes it cannot handle the load while all features are running in the network. The database management should indeed be centralized because while AI runs behind the systems, central management is essential. For example, in a network with 100 Cisco switches, a few routers, firewalls, and access points, all data generated should be preserved in a central database. This approach simplifies management and analysis for troubleshooting, as GUI interfaces may not always provide visible information. Centralizing the database will allow for better understanding of which information is preserved for each specific device.

Read full review

Harrison Bulley

Senior Infrastructure Engineer at Net Consulting

A stable, scalable and cost-effective solution that helps with inbuilt scripts for easy modification

I think the software is quite good, but we have had problems with getting it to recognize certain areas and amend certain checks, where we needed so we would have to create backend scripts for those checks. Though, being open source, it has the support to create backend scripts, it would be better to have these scripts in-built.

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

"It has improved our internal knowledge of what's going on with the network, and that's helpful."

"This solution enables us to find them and shut them down, and it has reduced our incident response time because we can now narrow down where incidents are happening, so it is very helpful for our organization."

"Being able to graph and show data to management has improved our organization."

"Using this solution has helped us to detect and identify viruses or malicious activity in the network early on."

"This solution has improved my organization because when I have users who are having issues with patching slowness it gives me the ability to be able to proactively troubleshoot and determine what the issue is."

"Overall, It seemed like a good product."

"Cisco Stealthwatch has predefined alerts for different types of security issues that might happen in the network. Whether it's PCs or servers that are used for botnets or Bitcoin mining we receive the alerts automatically. This functionality is what we receive from the solution out of the box."

"Maps is a unique feature which provides logical grouping of different segments of the network with complete visibility and alerting based on a total or protocol base as per defined threshold."

More Cisco Secure Network Analytics pros

"The best thing about the solution is how it highlights errors, the issues, and what needs my attention. The solution directs me to areas that I should look for first."

"We monitor all, starting from UPS to international mail chains."

"The most valuable feature is one that not many are even aware of, as Icinga has a self-healing event handler where if the service is down, it is automatically restarted, and you can configure the handler to take action after the critical alarm without human interaction."

"The ability to customize scripts and build your own queries to request information from the infrastructure elements you want to monitor. This level of personalization and customization is highly appreciated."

"It is really easy in Icinga to create your own plugin and integrate it without any fuss. And it works just perfectly fine."

"If you have a small infrastructure or a small number of devices that you want to monitor, then I think it's a good solution."

"People should know that it is simple and advanced."

"The drafts are easy but what I like about Icinga is that there are many add-ons that you can download."

More Icinga pros

Cons

"Cisco could improve the administration for the customers."

"We are continuing down the road of ACI and ISE with Cisco, so we would like to see the continuation of Stealthwatch integrating into ISE for exchange of information, and also, more into the ACI environment too."

"I would like to see more and cleaner reporting. For example, if I pull up Steven and I want to look and maybe compare him to what you've done in the past week, and compare that to the past six months, the point would be to see what the difference in activity looks like over this time. I don't see that capability in reporting to date. You see that trend but you don't really see a straightforward comparison. That right there is key to what we want to see about the normal activity."

"They should include Citrix VDIs in the next release."

"Stealthwatch is still maturing in AI. It uses artificial intelligence for predictions, but AI still needs to mature."

"We would like the solution to make more advances in the way that Extreme Networks has been doing."

"One update I would like to see is an agent-based client."

More Cisco Secure Network Analytics cons

"We have found some problems with Nagios, and support isn't very responsive."

"One thing that Icinga lacks is the capability to create advanced and customized dashboards within the tool itself."

"Icinga’s automation could be improved."

"I think the software is quite good, but we have had problems with getting it to recognize certain areas and amend certain checks, where we needed so we would have to create backend scripts for those checks. Though, being open source, it has the support to create backend scripts, it would be better to have these scripts in-built."

"At this time, the layout of the website is a bit difficult. It should be more user-friendly for changing the background and logos."

"There is room for improvement in multi-tenancy. It's not perfect, not even really good. It's average, but it should be improved."

"One of the areas that are frustrating is remote monitoring for more than one machine."

"It is not really adequate for our current needs. It causes additional issues which we have to work around and takes us time that a better solution would not."

More Icinga cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"One of the things which bugs me about Lancope is the licensing. We understand how licensing works. Our problem is when we bought and purchased most of these Lancope devices, we did so with our sister company. Somewhere within the purchase and distribution, licensing got mixed up. That is all on Cisco, and it is their responsibility. They allotted some of our sister company's equipment to us, and some of our equipment to them. To date, they have never been able to fix it."

"On a yearly basis, licensing is somewhere around $30,000."

"The licensing costs are outrageous."

"Licensing is on a yearly basis."

"Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside (in traffic)."

"It has a subscription model. There is yearly support, and there is also three-year support. It depends on what the customers want."

"We pay for support costs on a yearly basis."

"Pricing is much higher compared to other solutions."

More Cisco Secure Network Analytics pricing and cost advice

"We're using the free version of Icinga."

"This is an open-source solution with paid support."

"The product is inexpensive compared to other DBM products."

"It is cost-effective, and the return on investment can be very interesting because the price is low."

"Even though Icinga's financial cost is low, it is an expensive product regarding the resources required to maintain and operate it."

"The solution is free to use."

"It's an open-source solution."

"The solution is cheap."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

14%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	52

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	8

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Stealthwatch?

Regarding cost, for the Bangladesh context, Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a little bit high-priced because we are a developing country, making it tough to manage affordable solutions. However, ...

What needs improvement with Cisco Stealthwatch?

What is your primary use case for Cisco Stealthwatch?

Our customers mainly use Cisco Secure Network Analytics to get whole network visibility and easy troubleshooting to find actual problems and also to mitigate loopholes or findings immediately to pr...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Icinga?

It is cost-effective, and the return on investment can be very interesting because the price is low. If you want to include this product in the services you offer to your customers, the return on i...

What needs improvement with Icinga?

There is room for improvement in multi-tenancy. It's not perfect, not even really good. It's average, but it should be improved. For instance, multi-tenancy for monitoring the virtual infrastructur...

What is your primary use case for Icinga?

We use Icinga as a monitoring solution to monitor customers' infrastructures. We work as a managed service provider, so we offer monitoring and many other services to our customers. So we use it in...

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Product Reports

Cisco Secure Network Analytics

May 2026

Download Cisco Secure Network Analytics product report

Download Icinga product report

May 2026

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch

Icinga Cloud Monitoring

Overview

Cisco Secure Network Analytics enhances network security through integrated threat detection and detailed traffic visibility, optimizing performance with AI analytics and strong platform integrations.

Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers deep visibility into network traffic, with tools like network maps and server response times. Its AI-driven analytics help detect threats, focusing on east-west traffic. Integration with platforms such as pxGrid and ISE complements its capabilities. Reporting and telemetry help in identifying bandwidth issues, yet improvements are desired in AI for better data organization. Installation complexity and false positives present challenges, and managing network loads effectively is a recognized need.

What are the key features of Cisco Secure Network Analytics?

Deep Visibility: Provides comprehensive insights into network traffic and server behavior.
Network Maps: Enhances understanding of traffic flow and infrastructure layout.
AI Analytics: Uses AI for superior threat detection and anomaly recognition.
Integration: Compatible with platforms like pxGrid and ISE for enhanced security management.
Telemetry: Delivers detailed bandwidth usage and traffic analysis reports.

How does Cisco Secure Network Analytics provide value?

Enhanced Security: Elevates threat detection and response capabilities.
Traffic Insights: Identifies encrypted and anomalous network behaviors.
Compliance Support: Assists in meeting industry standards for data protection.
Endpoint Protection: Guards network endpoints against potential threats.

Industries such as banking, defense, and police rely on Cisco Secure Network Analytics for securing networks against threats. Its capability to provide insights into encrypted traffic and facilitate device auditing makes it a sought-after choice for those requiring extensive network visibility. Users appreciate its application for threat prevention and response in demanding sectors.

Cisco

Icinga is a robust tool for monitoring IT infrastructure, known for its distributed monitoring capabilities and seamless integration with multiple platforms. It efficiently observes servers, network devices, and environments like Linux and Windows, enabling proactive issue identification and resource management.

With a focus on task delegation and clustering, Icinga offers an intuitive interface through its GUI and Icinga Director, simplifying configuration. The extensive plugin library supports diverse technologies, while the API allows automation with tools like Terraform and Ansible. Despite its strengths, users report challenges with data display in the GUI, a need for improved dashboards, and complex configuration processes. Users benefit from its SNMP alerts, email notifications, and automated incident handling, making it essential for managed service environments and enterprises.

What are the key features of Icinga?

Task Delegation: Streamlines monitoring tasks across distributed systems.
Event Handler: Enables automatic service recovery with minimal intervention.
Plugin Library: Offers extensive support for integrating diverse technologies.
API Accessibility: Facilitates automation with popular tools like Terraform.
Custom Plugins: Allows easy creation and personalization for monitoring needs.

What benefits should you consider in Icinga reviews?

Flexibility: Tailors monitoring to specific requirements with community support.
Scalability: Successfully manages growing infrastructure demands.
Proactivity: Enhances issue identification and resource allocation.
Integration: Seamlessly works with existing IT operations platforms.

Icinga is widely adopted in IT environments for monitoring servers, networks, and applications across industries such as finance, healthcare, and technology. Its ability to integrate with various operating systems and automation platforms makes it a versatile choice for industries prioritizing comprehensive surveillance and proactive management of their infrastructure.

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF

Puppet Labs, Audi, Spacex, Debian, Snapdeal, McGill, RIPE Network Coordination Centre