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Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Network Analytics
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
36th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (5th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (8th), Cisco Security Portfolio (9th)
NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
75th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Network Analytics0.9%
NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG0.5%
Other98.6%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Harun-Owr-Roshid - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Michael Gideon Genita - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate System Engineer at SMS Global Technologies, Inc.
Easy to set up with good documentation and helpful support
I'm using it for a customer The packet flow switch is the most valuable aspect of the solution.  It's an easy product to set up. We can scale the solution if we need to. It's stable.  The documentation is well-written and quite useful. It's compatible with other products.  Under the pocket flow…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Most valuable features are the network maps and server and network response time."
"It's easy to set up. The deployment takes one or two days. You need to collect the data from a device and then direct it to the portal."
"There are already many functionalities, so I don't think there is anything to improve."
"There is nothing like it."
"Cisco Stealthwatch has improved our organization's analytics and threat protection capabilities by catching threats early on and it saved us a net fortune when we caught an employee constantly pulling three or four GBs of data from an FTP server."
"The most valuable feature about this solution is that it gives me insight into my network, with great analytics and threat protection capabilities to detect faults and find viruses and trojans, and I can definitely say that this solution saves us time, money, and administrative work."
"The most valuable features of this solution are its reporting and mitigation capabilities."
"The analytics and threat detection capabilities of Cisco Stealthwatch are pretty good, it gives us good visibility of the information, and it is easy to use and to the point."
"When we have mobile operators who are signal partners, where one is the roaming host and another is the roamer, we are able to see their traffic. Their packets are able to detect if any faults to develop, and at what point they fail."
"The most valuable feature is utilization."
"It is very rock solid, and we hardly have any hardware issues."
"Go with NETSCOUT."
"It has cut our troubleshooting down by days. Once we have a product in place, we show people examples of how it can streamline their troubleshooting process."
"From a troubleshooting perspective, it allows us to quickly search all data TAP points in the network and helps our network engineers get to root cause quickly."
"The product is stable. I have never had any issue where we have lost an InfiniStream, or visibility from that particular InfiniStream, throughout the bank."
"Because we are doing proactive monitoring instead of reactive, the end users don't even see that there is something wrong."
 

Cons

"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."
"There could be better integration on the programming side, which uses Python."
"I would like to see a hybrid solution that can work without being connected directly to the internet for those destinations."
"Initially, I felt Cisco Secure Network Analytics lacked integration with Splunk."
"We haven't seen ROI."
"Cisco Stealthwatch has increased the administrative time required just to get everything up and running smoothly."
"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 overall visibility into the actual device itself would be helpful. I don't just want support-specific data, but also to be able to see information such as CPU and other internal components or usage of the devices."
"The technology goes end-of-life on us every year, which is why I am looking forward to vSTREAM. I don't like when devices go end-of-life on us so quickly. If we can get more of an advanced notice of when an end-of-life is brought up, because our certification process within the organization takes a while."
"The monitoring and reporting tool needs improvement."
"I'd like them to make the product more user-friendly."
"The stability depends on who is using the tool, because you only can get as much out of the tool as you put into it."
"The single pane of glass feed still needs work."
"There is a timeout feature that we have been asking for awhile."
"It's not able to communicate with our probes."
"The technology goes end-of-life on us every year, which is why I am looking forward to vSTREAM."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing is on a yearly basis."
"Our fees are approximately $3,000 USD."
"Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside>in traffic."
"Pricing is much higher compared to other solutions."
"The solution is expensive. It costs several hundred thousand dollars per year (depending on how many flows you are collecting)."
"​Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside (in traffic)."
"The pricing for this solution is good."
"There are additional licenses needed for the number of so-called network flows. It's hard to plan the number of flows you need in the network, this is a problem. The price of the Cisco Stealthwatch is relatively inexpensive"
"I would like it to be more scalable with less spend."
"It can be scalable. It just costs too much. With a company as big as ours, it gets too expensive to accommodate every single site."
"The scalability is good, but it comes at a cost. E.g., if you need 100 InfiniStream because you are sending gigs or terabytes of data to one InfiniStream, then you will have to purchase another InfiniStream, which are not cheap."
"This product could be cheaper."
"The price is a little high."
"To capture more with the solution that we bought, you have to buy another InfiniStreamNG, and there are only four ports in the back."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Construction Company
10%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
 

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?
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 m...
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...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
InfiniStreamNG, NETSCOUT ISNG, Infinistream
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
U.S. Department of Defense
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
892,487 professionals have used our research since 2012.