Cisco Catalyst Center vs DacatDHCP
Cisco Catalyst Center
cisco.com
DacatDHCP
dacat.ccSide by side
| Figure | Cisco Catalyst Center | DacatDHCP |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · DHCP Management Software | 7.8 (#9) | 7.8 (#10) |
| Deployment | Cisco describes hardware and virtual appliance deployments, including current guides for VMware ESXi and Ubuntu KVM. | It is delivered as a lightweight single-file application with its service and management interface bundled together. |
| Purpose | Cisco Catalyst Center is a centralized network controller and management dashboard for enterprise network operations. | DacatDHCP combines a DHCP service with a web management interface for configuring address pools, viewing leases, and monitoring service status. |
| Security | Catalyst Center supports FIPS 140-2-compliant cryptography modules, and Cisco recommends deploying it behind a firewall on a private internal network. | The management interface listens only on 127.0.0.1, and write endpoints use CSRF and origin checks. |
Plans
Cisco Catalyst Center
- Cisco DNA AdvantagePriced on request
- Cisco DNA EssentialsPriced on request
In their own words
Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Catalyst Center has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
DacatDHCP
DacatDHCP combines an IPv4 DHCP service with a web interface for configuring address pools, viewing leases, and monitoring status. The lightweight single-file application bundles the service and management interface. Settings include network-interface selection, address ranges, gateway, DNS, and lease duration. The interface shows assigned addresses and client information, while version 1.0.0 adds fixed MAC-to-IP mappings with matching logs. The main release supports Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server 2016 or later on Windows amd64. Management works in Edge, Chrome, and other modern Chromium-based browsers; Internet Explorer 11 is not supported. The interface listens on 127.0.0.1, and write endpoints use CSRF and origin checks. Administrator privileges are required. DacatDHCP is permanently free and open source under Apache License 2.0. It is intended for labs, test environments, temporary LANs, small networks, troubleshooting, and isolated networks. Address pools must share the selected interface’s subnet. Leases remain in memory after startup and are not restored after restart; active IP-conflict detection is not provided.