ExtremeCloud IQ vs NetScaler comparison

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ExtremeCloud IQ

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

NetScaler and ExtremeCloud IQ both compete in the realm of network solutions, providing diverse functionalities for business needs. ExtremeCloud IQ holds the upper hand with its intuitive interface and cloud-managed approach, appealing to businesses seeking simplified management and robust scalability.

Features: NetScaler provides flexible deployment options with its TriScale architecture, allowing a pay-as-you-grow model. It is strong in load balancing, SSL offloading, and traffic management, supported by Citrix integration. ExtremeCloud IQ stands out with its cloud-managed centralized management and controller-less architecture, preventing single points of failure. Features like Client 360 and Network 360 offer detailed network visibility, enhancing user insights.

Room for Improvement: NetScaler users mention issues with feature updates, configuration complexity, and licensing clarity. Users also see a need for more streamlined integration and better training resources. ExtremeCloud IQ needs improvements in roaming capabilities, dashboard integration with third-party devices, and fixing existing bugs, along with enhanced security features and support improvements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetScaler offers versatile deployment options on-premises and in the cloud, with generally competent support that could enhance responsiveness and technical depth. ExtremeCloud IQ is recognized for its easy cloud deployment, benefiting from its controller-less setup, and praised for technical support but needs consistency and efficiency improvements.

Pricing and ROI: NetScaler is seen as a premium option, which can deter smaller businesses, but offers good ROI regarding reliability. Despite high initial costs, it is seen as valuable. ExtremeCloud IQ positions itself as cost-effective with a straightforward subscription model, although some perceive it as expensive. Users report positive ROI due to its scalable nature and robust features.

To learn more, read our detailed ExtremeCloud IQ vs. NetScaler Report (Updated: July 2025).

ExtremeCloud IQ vs. NetScaler

July 2025

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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

ExtremeCloud IQ

Ranking in Network Management Applications

11th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Access Control (NAC) (12th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (21st)

NetScaler

Ranking in Network Management Applications

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (1st), Web Application Firewall (WAF) (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of ExtremeCloud IQ is 2.9%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetScaler is 1.7%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Management Applications

Featured Reviews

KristianLarsen

Senior Consultant at Mikla IT

Helps resolve network-related issues quickly and is reasonably priced

The tool has both advantages and weaknesses because it has several pieces of software on which it has been working because of buyouts. The tool has several branches of software versions, and you can consolidate it into ExtremeCloud, but it also has the disadvantage that sometimes people can get issues because the software on the hardware is different than they expected, especially if it is not converted to the tool used. The tool has simplified things, but it also adds a complexity that sometimes stumps some users. In the future, I think the tool’s onboarding setup of a new tenant could be smoother or faster. I also think that they could provide a simpler setup for first-level support so that it can be easier for them to have a support dashboard that would help them. I am talking about customer support organizations, so you usually have a high turnaround, but you need to have something that is easier to use and where you don't need so much training.

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DEMİRHAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU

Cloud Consultant at Migros Ticaret A.Ş.

A tool for centralized management including inventory and sales tracking

Citrix ADM has the ability to implement policies to tighten security. For instance, you can restrict access to your network from outsiders or lack necessary security measures such as antivirus programs. Additionally, there's the Delivery Controller, which allows for comprehensive monitoring and management tasks such as remote restarts, maintenance, and registration. Another essential component is the Director, which provides detailed insights into sessions, including identifying session failures, connection issues, user lockouts, etc. It presents a list of problems to address, enabling you to click on them and resolve them efficiently.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Whenever I have a concern, question, or just need a refresher the helpful staff at AeroHive is there to help me. By far, the ]best relationship I have ever had with a vendor."

"The feature that I like to most is unified management in a multitenant environment, where we can manage all our customers with thousands of devices (routers, switches, VPNs, and APs)."

"App and firewall security at the AP."

"I like ExtremeCloud IQ's unified single-pane-of-glass dashboard. It offers a lot of visibility of performance, and it's great for troubleshooting. You don't have to go to 55 different places. You can get the information you need with just a few clicks."

"The HiveManager integration with the VPN Gateway is awesome."

"It is more cost effective and gives more flexibility."

"What our customers like the most is that this device is so rugged. It has very good performance and throughput. Its console is very easy to use and has many features, which makes it different from its competitors. Cloud IQ has all the features built into the console, whereas other solutions require you to integrate multiple solutions with their consoles. You don't need to add anything extra with Cloud IQ. With this single solution, you can do almost everything."

"HiveManager is extremely easy to use for anyone with little network experience."

More ExtremeCloud IQ pros

"I would say the rewriting and redirection functions are must-have's for us."

"The program is easy to install and to set up."

"Citrix Director has been great. It gives us one pane of glass to be able to monitor what's going on with the user sessions as well as to keep on top of the virtual desktops, any servers that may be offline or behaving suspiciously, or any troublesome spots like disconnections. We also use Citrix Studio for maintaining the actual servers that are hosting these applications. We use it for delivery groups in case we need to modify delivery groups in regards to which groups have access to which applications. It has been very helpful."

"It is the best product out there."

"Load balancing, cache redirection, content switching, all connected with traffic management."

"The most valuable features of Citrix ADC are load balancing and application firewall."

"The web application firewalling component is a powerful feature."

"For NetScaler, our major use cases are database load balancing, PowerVPN VPN access gateway, WAF (Web Application Firewall), and content switching."

More NetScaler pros

Cons

"Pricing is a bit expensive."

"ExtremeCloud IQ’s user interface needs to be improved, and its current bugs need to be fixed."

"There can be an improvement by incorporating two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication for security. Advanced network access control features and application control features should be added to manage applications. Many customers are interested in managing data, such as setting data quotas for individual users."

"A room for improvement in ExtremeCloud IQ is roaming. My team is facing roaming issues with the solution, particularly when using VoIP over WiFi. For example, VoIP sometimes breaks when you walk around the customer site. In terms of what I'd like to see in the next release of the solution, right now, the inventory for ExtremeCloud IQ is awful. There's no stock, and you must wait a year and a half for new stocks. It's awful."

"The managing of switches within this solution could be improved."

"Integrating the network access control solution can be complex, as it essentially combines two separate products."

"Pricing could be improved. It could be lower."

"I know a school district, a big school district of mine, ripped out Extreme due to inefficiencies. It was the guest network that can be a struggle. They tried to differentiate between their primary network, and then offer a secondary."

More ExtremeCloud IQ cons

"When a new version comes out, sometimes, my existing configuration gets wiped out. They should work on this so that my existing configuration doesn't get impacted with an upgrade to a newer version. There could also reduce frequent firmware upgrade activities and have a stable version so that once we upgrade it, we don't have to upgrade it for two to three years."

"Citrix should offer a demo or free-trial version of NetScaler. Several other vendors do, but Citrix does not. Pricing should also be more readily available."

"We face challenges with the solution's firmware upgrades frequently."

"ADC from Citrix has added functionalities from other products and the usability is very difficult for someone who is used to a simpler user interface, it's a little bit of a mess to use."

"Some features of Citrix ADM are available on the cloud, which could really be helpful if they were available on an on-premise version."

"Deployment is complicated."

"There is room for improvement regarding the pricing policy for Citrix offices."

"Citrix NetScaler has been recently acquired by another company and the support has been negatively impacted, the solution is at its end of life. The support for the solution could improve. The sales team needs to be improved."

More NetScaler cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Although the pricing is a bit high, I consider Aerohive to be well worth the money."

"Previously, ExtremeCloudIQ provided free licensing for all the basic requirements of their customers. An advanced cloud user had to purchase advanced licenses for automation and advanced country features at the enterprise level. They have restricted the licensing, allowing only up to ten units for testing, which is challenging. This limitation becomes problematic, especially in countries like Sri Lanka or other Asian countries, where customers face economic challenges and have limited budgets. The previous free option was beneficial, but it has become tougher to manage with these new changes. They should revise their pricing structure, offering the basic features free of charge for up to 50 AP. Larger entities with more than 50 APs have the budget to support them. Still, it becomes more difficult for small and medium-sized businesses with less than 50 APs to allocate a significant budget for control and management features."

"The price was okay."

"The pricing is so cost-effective that it leaves no room for competition with other vendors."

"It is not the cheapest product but I think that the price is reasonable because you get a lot of support of it's needed."

"It is costly as compared to Meraki, Aruba, Juniper, and Cisco. Cloud IQ is an enterprise solution, whereas Meraki is specifically a single solution."

"It is easy for customers to use this product because they are able to interchange the license depending on their usage rather than having to buy individual licenses for each asset."

"I would advise that you be sure to compare apples with apples. Many customers just look at the price per AP and licences, and compare that against other solutions. But, they do not look at the complete picture such as: TCO - how much the equipment will cost you over, say, seven years? Will the customer need to change complete infrastructure when they want to buy the newest hardware? Does support include a lifetime warranty and RMA?"

More ExtremeCloud IQ pricing and cost advice

"The pricing for Citrix Web App and API Protection is unreasonable. I don't know the exact price, but I heard it's tens of thousands and it's a bit too much for the small country I live in."

"The licensing costs for this solution vary depending on which model is being used."

"Costly product and complicated licensing."

"Our licensing fees including technical support are approximately $3,500 USD."

"Citrix NetScaler VPX is not the cheapest solution out there, but you get what you pay for."

"It is an enterprise solution. Thus, its costs are reasonable."

"Ninety day free trial makes it easy to try out this solution."

"The solution's pricing is very high compared to its competitors."

More NetScaler pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?

Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ExtremeCloud IQ?

The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period. The documentation and training courses were also costly, impacting how easily I c...

What advice do you have for others considering ExtremeCloud IQ?

I rate the overall solution nine out of ten only due to the poor documentation. Despite this, I was very happy with ExtremeCloud IQ as it greatly eased my workload, allowing me to manage the networ...

What do you like most about Citrix ADC?

The most valuable feature for us is the application firewalling in Citrix NetScaler, ensuring only valid traffic enters our environment.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix ADC?

After deployment, Citrix Netscaler shifted to a subscription-based license scheme for support, which is slightly more expensive.

What needs improvement with Citrix ADC?

Citrix NetScaler is a robust product, but mastering it requires significant learning and training due to its complexity. While it could be easier to manage, it is like transitioning from driving a ...

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Product Reports

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ExtremeCloud IQ

August 2025

Download NetScaler product report

August 2025

Also Known As

Aerohive Networks, Aerohive HiveManager, HiveManager, ExtremeCloud , ExtremeSecurity

Citrix ADC, Citrix NetScaler VPX, NetScaler Console, NetScaler Web Application Firewall

Overview

ExtremeCloud is a resilient and scalable cloud-based network management solution offered by Extreme Networks as a subscription service.

The network is your platform of engagement for clients and staff. We have designed ExtremeCloud to provide superior user experience by empowering you and the applications that drive your business. The combination of Extreme Networks’ smart wired and wireless edges and the elasticity, resilience and scalability provided via state-of-the-art datacenters distributed strategically for worldwide availability allows you to respond to the changing needs of your business, at the speed of cloud, through a simple, multi-site aware user interface.

Extreme Networks

One platform for a consistent application delivery and security experience because nobody has time to learn multiple systems to manage ADC deployments. NetScaler is built with a single code base using a software-based architecture, so no matter which ADC form factor you choose — hardware, virtual machine, bare metal, or container — the behavior will be the same.

Sample Customers

Henry Ford Health System, Baltimore Ravens, Brandili, Federal University of Alagoas, CEDAE, Caxias do Sul, UNISC Concurrency, CenturyLink Field, Louisiana College, Cricket Tasmania Stadium, Moscow Internet Exchange

ABB Schweiz, Aer Lingus, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Amnet Technology Solutions, Aramex International, Ascenty, Atos, Autodesk