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Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Nagios Core 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
6.7
Cisco Secure Network Analytics improves visibility and detection, aiding IT collaboration; value varies by environment and enhances security posture.
Sentiment score
8.9
Nagios Core boosted operational efficiency, reduced costs, minimized downtime, and significantly improved productivity and disaster recovery times.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
Cisco Secure Network Analytics receives praise for its knowledgeable international support, despite occasional challenges with local expertise.
Sentiment score
5.5
Nagios Core relies on community and documentation for support, offering valuable resources but facing scalability and consistency challenges.
There is a lack of adequate local support from the Indian side.
Group Head at Stpi
For technical support of Cisco, the support they provide depends on how the client procures it, and so far, it's understandable.
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.3
Cisco Secure Network Analytics scales well for enterprises, though high costs and outdated hardware can limit effectiveness.
Sentiment score
7.6
Nagios Core is highly scalable, supporting diverse infrastructures with open-source flexibility, despite some horizontal scaling concerns.
The scope of the load balancing work was a team effort where we used three tools for load balancing.
Senior Developer at Atlas Laboratory
The solution is scalable.
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Cisco Secure Network Analytics is praised for stability, minimal downtime, and reliability despite initial setup challenges and infrastructure complexity.
Sentiment score
8.6
Nagios Core is highly stable and reliable, offering exceptional performance on Linux with minimal plugin-related issues.
Cisco products are incredibly stable, boasting a 200% stability.
Group Head at Stpi
Once resolved, the system works well, and overall I think it's good.
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
I tried many other solutions at work, however, in terms of Nagios, I haven't seen any disruption or downtime.
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Secure Network Analytics needs better integration, user interface, AI features, and simplified setup with improved training and database management.
Nagios Core needs a modernized interface, simplified configuration, scalability, and integration with tools like Grafana for improved usability.
The solution should have the ability to analyze security events not only at the network layer but also at the application and OS layers.
Group Head at Stpi
Proper management of the database is also important; it should be centralized for easier data collection from a single database.
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
Initially, teams expect to depend on this heavily, but later SOC teams often prefer their own threat intelligence feeds or correlate intelligence inside SIEM instead.
Cyber Security Trainee at DataSpace Academy
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Network Analytics is costly with complex licensing, though valued for features; pricing strategy adjustments are suggested.
Nagios Core provides cost-effective, open-source monitoring with engineering setup and maintenance, requiring customization expertise for full benefits.
Cisco solutions are considered to be very expensive.
Group Head at Stpi
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.
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers comprehensive visibility and enhanced threat detection, improving security and reducing investigation times effectively.
Nagios Core offers extensible plugins, alerting, customizable dashboards, proactive monitoring, and integration, enhancing system reliability and minimizing downtime.
The most valuable features include encrypted traffic analytics and the ability to fulfill requirements at the network level.
Group Head at Stpi
Lateral movement detection tends to be a high-value feature in enterprise environments.
Cyber Security Trainee at DataSpace Academy
The best feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is its reliability, which I find to be the one that gets used the most.
Senior Developer at Atlas Laboratory
It has a very handy dashboard, providing live alerts and visibility for everything.
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Network Analytics
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
32nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (4th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (6th), Cisco Security Portfolio (6th)
Nagios Core
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is 0.9%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nagios Core is 1.5%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Nagios Core1.5%
Cisco Secure Network Analytics0.9%
Other97.6%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Akash Das Barman - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Trainee at DataSpace Academy
Network analytics has reduced investigation time and provides deeper visibility into lateral movement
Several features often look very promising during evaluation or implementation but end up being used only lightly in day-to-day operations. Advanced reporting and scheduled compliance reports look very attractive for audit and compliance teams at implementation time and can generate structured reports for visibility, risk posture, and traffic summaries. In practice, many teams do not rely on it heavily because SIEM tools or GRC platforms already handle reporting better. Built-in threat intelligence feeds represent another area where expectations do not always match usage. The platform includes threat intelligence-based detection and classifications. Initially, teams expect to depend on this heavily, but later SOC teams often prefer their own threat intelligence feeds or correlate intelligence inside SIEM instead. The built-in feeds are used but not as a primary detection source. Automated incident summaries and guided investigation views are designed to simplify triage by automatically grouping related activity into incidents. However, teams often move away from them due to various factors affecting adoption.
HY
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
Monitoring solution provides comprehensive visibility across IT infrastructure
The good thing about Nagios Core is it covers everything. Everything in the IT domain, you can monitor anything. You can even monitor printers, the ports of printers, Core workstations, and storage. You can monitor the workflow Core and the utilization of computes. If you want to grasp everything of your IT equipment on a single interface, you can use Nagios. It's the best one. It provides dashboards, and you can also configure your emails and alerts with it. If something is critical, you can configure it to notify via emails. It has a very handy dashboard, providing live alerts and visibility for everything.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise24
 

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?
Several features often look very promising during evaluation or implementation but end up being used only lightly in day-to-day operations. Advanced reporting and scheduled compliance reports look ...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Stealthwatch?
My main use case for Cisco Secure Network Analytics has been network visibility and anomaly-based threat detection within the enterprise environment. In security operations and VAPT-related activit...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nagios Core?
Nagios Core is a free and open-source product. We don't charge for the product itself, but we charge for the man-hour costs related to installation, configuration, ongoing operation, and maintenance.
What needs improvement with Nagios Core?
The dashboard should be improved. It's very simple. I don't have a very clear or specific suggestion. You can change the skin of the dashboard, however, it's good for me.
What is your primary use case for Nagios Core?
I was a senior system administrator. I've been using Nagios Core for more than ten years now. It can be used to monitor hosts, such as machines, and monitor services of any kind. I'm using it to mo...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
Airbnb, Cisco, PayPal, FanDuel
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. Nagios Core and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.