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Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Vectra AI comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 6, 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
7.3
Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers quick implementation, enhanced security, and rapid ROI, especially for businesses with minimal prior security measures.
Sentiment score
6.7
Vectra AI improved security efficiency, reducing response times and costs, and increasing productivity with enhanced threat detection and risk mitigation.
With Cisco Secure Network Analytics implemented, we have achieved collaboration as an IT support team where we reached out to network-related members to understand how they work on Cisco Secure Network Analytics-related issues.
Intune Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
The payback period is roughly six months.
Strategic RAN Lead | Network Transformation & Optimization | Philippines & South Africa at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers strong global support, but some Southeast Asian users find local assistance needs improvement.
Sentiment score
8.1
Vectra AI's customer service is highly rated for competence, responsiveness, and effective, personalized communication, despite occasional complex query delays.
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
I would rate their technical support a 10, as we have local support in South Africa and the ability to reach out to the teams quickly and effectively when they are in similar time zones, leading to great support globally.
CTO at Cyber Retaliator Solutions
The support is quite reliable depending on the service engineer assigned.
Cyber Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
When I create tickets, the response is fast, and issues are solved promptly.
Planning& Performance Analyst at National Information Center, Ministry of Interior, Saudi Arabia
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.3
Users praise Cisco Secure Network Analytics' scalability but note high costs and hardware limitations, recommending gradual deployment to manage data.
Sentiment score
7.2
Vectra AI excels in scalability, offering flexible deployment and integration for diverse environments, supporting small to large enterprises.
Vectra AI is scalable because it can work through different kinds of solutions and is compatible with all kinds of cloud solutions.
Strategic RAN Lead | Network Transformation & Optimization | Philippines & South Africa at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Cisco Secure Network Analytics is reliable, with minimal downtime, smooth upgrades, and user satisfaction in Cisco-centric environments.
Sentiment score
8.0
Vectra AI is stable and reliable, with efficient maintenance, automatic updates, minor issues, and occasional throughput challenges.
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
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Secure Network Analytics improves filtering, UI, setup, integration, speed, intelligence, behavior detection, licensing, visualization, and administration.
Vectra AI faces challenges in integration, detection accuracy, and usability, with calls for better threat coverage and improved documentation.
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
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.
Cyber Security Trainee at DataSpace Academy
ExtraHop's ability to decrypt encrypted data is a feature that Vectra AI lacks.
Planning& Performance Analyst at National Information Center, Ministry of Interior, Saudi Arabia
You need to have a Linux server, and from the Linux server, you must perform AI tasks, and there is a lot to be handled in the back end.
Owner at Fortibits
All threats, including hacking attempts, should be comprehensively addressed.
Consultant at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers valuable features but faces criticism for high costs and complex licensing structures.
Enterprise users find Vectra AI pricing competitive yet complex, with noted value despite high costs and varying affordability opinions.
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
Vectra is cheaper in terms of pricing and features compared to Darktrace.
Cyber Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I find the pricing of Vectra AI to be one of the best we have seen as feedback from customers and partners indicates it is very competitive for an EDR solution.
CTO at Cyber Retaliator Solutions
It is very acceptable when you compare it with Darktrace, for example.
Owner at Fortibits
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Network Analytics enhances security with comprehensive visibility, threat detection, seamless integration, and user-friendly interfaces, improving operational efficiency.
Vectra AI offers threat intelligence, anomaly detection, and integration capabilities with user-friendly UI, enhancing threat prioritization and investigation.
Cisco Secure Network Analytics filled the gap between the monitoring and management side, allowing us to check end user activity clearly from the Cisco Secure Network Analytics console.
Intune Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
The most valuable features include encrypted traffic analytics and the ability to fulfill requirements at the network level.
Group Head at Stpi
Every solution is gradually integrated with AI, and Cisco has already implemented AI building features in their solution.
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
Our company used Vectra AI to detect the malicious threats and viruses before they could cause more damage, and we successfully stopped the threats.
Consultant at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees
Alert noise was dramatically reduced by nearly 80%, allowing SOC analysts to focus more on true threats, which made them more productive and resulted in higher operational efficiency.
Strategic RAN Lead | Network Transformation & Optimization | Philippines & South Africa at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
There are extensive out-of-box detection capabilities.
Owner at Fortibits
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Network Analytics
Ranking in Network Detection and Response (NDR)
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (36th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (5th), Cisco Security Portfolio (9th)
Vectra AI
Ranking in Network Detection and Response (NDR)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (4th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (16th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (11th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Network Detection and Response (NDR) category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is 6.0%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Vectra AI is 11.2%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Detection and Response (NDR) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Vectra AI11.2%
Cisco Secure Network Analytics6.0%
Other82.8%
Network Detection and Response (NDR)
 

Q&A Highlights

CW
Founder & CEO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Feb 11, 2020
 

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.
RR
Consultant at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees
Threat detection has improved and malicious emails are now identified quickly
Vectra AI offers artificial intelligence capabilities with visibility that can be integrated into our day-to-day operations and other tools, including malware detection tools and cyber threat tools. Vectra AI has positively impacted my organization. Last year while using it, we received many malicious email threats and virus incidents, including a trojan virus that had reportedly been deployed by someone. Our company used Vectra AI to detect the malicious threats and viruses before they could cause more damage, and we successfully stopped the threats. Using Vectra AI, I notice that server downtime has decreased significantly. We now experience only two to three hours of downtime, whereas without Vectra AI and other tools, our downtime would exceed 48 to 72 hours.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Detection and Response (NDR) solutions are best for your needs.
896,387 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Answers from the Community

CW
Founder & CEO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Feb 11, 2020
Feb 11, 2020
I that feel there are two old problems still there in the market: 1-Vendors don't talk to each other. 2-Whoever is focusing on endpoint is missing the network and human side and the opposite is also true. I love, for example, what Darktrace is doing in the network side and the playback option to know what happened in my network during a long holiday, for example, things will never be caught by...
2 out of 9 answers
reviewer973458 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO & Founder at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Aug 26, 2019
Raffael Marty, Vice President, Forcepoint Research and Intelligence, said: "There is no artificial intelligence in the field of information security, and it is unlikely to be developed in 2019." Most of unsupervised machine learning-based network anomaly detection solution does not provide why the anomaly has been aroused and whether the anomaly is malicious or not. Most of such solution's pricing model is based on number of endpoints but I prefer to have flat fee subscription-based.
IT
Group CIO with 10,001+ employees
Aug 26, 2019
I that feel there are two old problems still there in the market: 1-Vendors don't talk to each other. 2-Whoever is focusing on endpoint is missing the network and human side and the opposite is also true. I love, for example, what Darktrace is doing in the network side and the playback option to know what happened in my network during a long holiday, for example, things will never be caught by a second-generation AV but I need to have a solid 2nd gen. AV besides the total high cost of Darktrace which by the way is worth it for IT pros but not for business owners. We need to have something like virus total but for risks and threats beyond viruses where all vendors work on this and all endpoint customers with different vendors connect to it to be secured.
 

Top Industries

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

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise29
 

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Vectra AI?
I find the pricing of Vectra AI to be one of the best we have seen as feedback from customers and partners indicates it is very competitive for an EDR solution.
What needs improvement with Vectra AI?
I think one area that could be improved about Vectra AI is their marketing. One of the aspects that Darktrace excels at is their marketing, and I do not feel Vectra AI is on that level yet, leading...
What is your primary use case for Vectra AI?
I primarily use Vectra AI for customers, and I only provide Vectra AI.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
Vectra Networks, Vectra AI NDR
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
Tribune Media Group, Barry University, Aruba Networks, Good Technology, Riverbed, Santa Clara University, Securities Exchange, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. Vectra AI and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,387 professionals have used our research since 2012.