Cisco Catalyst Center vs NetCrunch
Cisco Catalyst Center
cisco.com
NetCrunch
netcrunch.comSide by side
| Figure | Cisco Catalyst Center | NetCrunch |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $158.33/mo |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 3 |
| Spec score · Network Topology Mapping Software | 7.9 (#12) | 8.0 (#11) |
| API | The platform exposes northbound REST APIs for discovery, inventory, topology, provisioning, assurance, and other network operations. | NetCrunch provides a REST API and an MCP server for programmatic access to nodes, views, monitoring packs, and credentials. |
| Deployment | Cisco describes hardware and virtual appliance deployments, including current guides for VMware ESXi and Ubuntu KVM. | The evaluation download requires Windows 10 x64 or later, or Windows Server 2016 or later, and specifies a maximum of 10,000 nodes or interfaces for the trial. |
| Integrations | Cisco documents integrations with ISE, ThousandEyes, Webex, Microsoft Teams, ServiceNow, Infoblox, and BlueCat, plus generic APIs for other ITSM and IPAM systems. | The integrations page lists notification connections including Microsoft Teams, Slack, PagerDuty, Jira, Freshservice, and Amazon SNS, plus two-way integrations with selected systems. |
| Purpose | Cisco Catalyst Center is a centralized network controller and management dashboard for enterprise network operations. | NetCrunch is an agentless network monitoring platform for networks, servers, virtualization, cloud, and IoT. |
| Security | Catalyst Center supports FIPS 140-2-compliant cryptography modules, and Cisco recommends deploying it behind a firewall on a private internal network. | NetCrunch supports optional multi-factor authentication using a time-based authenticator-app code in both its Web and Desktop Consoles. |
| Support | Cisco says Catalyst and Cisco DNA software subscriptions include embedded software support and downloads; opening a support case requires a Cisco Service Contract. | The homepage says free initial setup assistance is included with the platform offer. |
Plans
Cisco Catalyst Center
- Cisco DNA AdvantagePriced on request
- Cisco DNA EssentialsPriced on request
NetCrunch
- NetCrunch Platform subscription$1,900 a year
- Professional subscription (worked example)$3,200 a year
- NetCrunch perpetual license$3,450, paid once
In their own words
Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Catalyst Center has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.