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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

"Stealthwatch has greatly improved our network visibility, in terms of bandwidth, malware, and PCI violations."
"The amount of information that this product gives us for detecting threats is very valuable, and we don't have another product like this in our environment."
"I believe this solution has saved our organization a lot of time, money, and administrative work."
"The most valuable features are encrypted threat analysis and the ability to run jobs on entire flows."
"The ROI was immediate for us, in regard to how we implemented it."
"The most valuable feature is its alerts and dashboard."
"Cisco Stealthwatch has improved our organization because it has brought visibility that we didn't have previously before implementing it."
"Being able to graph and show data to management has improved our organization."
"We have seen a lot of return on investment: We have been able to recover radios in the field, we know exactly what is going on, we cut down fines from the service commission, and we have seen a measurable decrease in mean time to know, cutting troubleshooting down by days as we can now see the issues."
"If you are looking for a good application monitoring and packet analysis tool, you can strategically use NETSCOUT to get it done."
"The solution has helped to increase application and network uptime, reduced our mean time to repair significantly for application and network issues, and cut our overall troubleshooting time from an hour down to five minutes."
"An issue that used to take days is now fixed within minutes to an hour."
"It's an easy product to set up."
"It allows us to get quicker resolutions. We can see exactly what is using up the bandwidth, so we can assist end users."
"Go with NETSCOUT."
"The technical support is really good. They will go above and beyond, if you are running into a problem. You can go to a sales engineer, who will engage technical support to help you out."
 

Cons

"Cisco Stealthwatch needs more integration with device discovery. We have to do a lot of hard work to figure out what things are. Better service integration is required."
"I would like the search page available with Cisco Stealthwatch to be more intuitive. The previous release was better than the current one for the UI."
"One update I would like to see is an agent-based client."
"I would like to see some improvement when it comes to reporting."
"The ability to be natively integrated into Port Aggregator would be beneficial because it would reduce just one more component that's needed in order to have that type of view."
"One update that I would like to see is an agent-based client. Currently, Stealthwatch is network-based. A local agent could help manage endpoints."
"I think the interface is a little lacking. The interface seems like it just needs to be modernized. It's been the same interface now, ever since I've seen it probably four years ago."
"The initial setup of this solution is complex."
"The monitoring and reporting tool needs improvement. Users want more information, such as the level of detail when doing a packet analysis. They want more detail to be able to isolate down to a specific point."
"I'd like them to make the product more user-friendly."
"We don't use the single pane of glass view, even though we own it."
"Only problems that we have had are fiber issues going into the TAPs or vSTREAMs, which are usually local site issues."
"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 technology goes end-of-life on us every year, which is why I am looking forward to vSTREAM."
"The monitoring and reporting tool needs improvement."
"The scalability has some limitations and quirks to it. I would like to be able to upgrade rather than replace the whole thing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has a subscription model. There is yearly support, and there is also three-year support. It depends on what the customers want."
"Pricing is much higher compared to other solutions."
"Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside>in traffic."
"The solution is expensive. It costs several hundred thousand dollars per year (depending on how many flows you are collecting)."
"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."
"​Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside (in traffic)."
"This is an expensive product. We have quit paying for support because we don't want to have to upgrade it and keep paying for it."
"I would like it to be more scalable with less spend."
"This product could be cheaper."
"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 price is a little high."
"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."
"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
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
10%
Government
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...
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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.
895,272 professionals have used our research since 2012.