Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] vs Juniper Session Smart Router comparison

Citrix and Juniper are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Additionally, 90% of Citrix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Juniper users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 12, 2025

Citrix SD-WAN and Juniper Session Smart Router compete in networking solutions designed to enhance enterprise connectivity and performance. Juniper Session Smart Router is more appealing due to its advanced feature set despite a higher cost, while Citrix SD-WAN is advantageous in pricing and support.

Features: Citrix SD-WAN offers quality of service controls, secure connectivity, and effective application delivery. Juniper Session Smart Router provides cutting-edge session-aware routing, superior performance metrics, and dynamic path selection.

Room for Improvement: Citrix SD-WAN could enhance its scalability and stability and is limited after its EOL status. Juniper Session Smart Router faces complexity in deployment, needs more streamlined user interfaces, and has a higher initial cost that might deter budget-conscious businesses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Citrix SD-WAN offers straightforward deployment and excellent customer service, though its end of life is a concern for sustained use. Juniper Session Smart Router requires more complex deployment but provides comprehensive documentation and continuous support for better long-term service.

Pricing and ROI: Citrix SD-WAN is more cost-effective initially and offers a quicker ROI, appealing to budget-constrained customers. Juniper Session Smart Router demands higher initial costs, which are justified by its feature-rich offering and potential for greater long-term returns, suitable for businesses focused on advanced capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Report (Updated: October 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

October 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

Fortinet FortiGate

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Sammy Mukuna

Network Admin at Naivas Ltd

Seamlessly combines Internet and MPLS

Citrix has made my work easier and more cost-effective. It lowered our Internet costs and gave me the flexibility to choose providers based on each location's connectivity. Unlike before, I'm not tied to a specific provider. The central deployment feature allows easy configuration updates for all boxes from the head office, streamlining network management. This simplification has been a big plus for our operations.

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SRI GANESH PHANIYAPPA

Sub Divisional Engineer NOC Bangalore at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

Delivered tailored features and meets requirements effectively

We are using it as a DNG. This means all subscriber PPPoE sessions or ILS Smart VPN connections are terminated through the access network to this BNG, Uniphore BNG. From there, they are managed Everything has been fine. Although we did not explore much about the solution, they provided us with a…

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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

"FortiGate also makes GRE tunneling possible."

"Its performance in fulfilling our requirements has been satisfactory."

"The VPN is the most valuable feature."

"It's a user-friendly firewall. Most of the tasks are very simple. It's simple to configure and troubleshoot this firewall."

"Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable."

"The solution is easy to use."

"It has upscaled our security posture, especially regarding external connectivity, because any access or connection from the company has to go through the Fortinet FortiGate firewall."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate include everything about networking, such as routing and VPNs."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The zero-touch deployment is most valuable for us."

"The most valuable feature of Citrix SD-WAN is customization. You are able to customize the solution to your needs."

"The stability is the main feature of Citrix SD-WAN. You can also upgrade the data packages or have less transmission."

"The best feature is the backup capability, where all of the users' computers are tied into a central data repository."

"The scalability and stability are quite good in general."

"The reliability of connectivity is most valuable."

"The solution's most valuable feature is load balancing."

"The most valuable feature is security, as it gives me the port bindings that cannot be accomplished using other solutions."

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] pros

"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."

"As compared to the other major vendors in the SD-WAN market, such as VeloCloud, Cisco, and others, the tunnel-free and secure vector routing technology is its major USP, which gives plenty of room to discuss with the customer why IPSec from 1998 is a bit outdated."

"They provided us with a customized product according to our requirements."

"The solution is especially Session's smart, application-aware, AI-based."

"Customer service is very prompt."

Cons

"We would like to see an improvement in the consistency of the product's performance levels."

"They could do more work on FortiAnalyzer in terms of the data and the information coming from it."

"The issue lies with features available in GUI versus CLI during configuration. When using GUI, I want to accomplish everything there, but sometimes it requires using CLI to ensure proper configuration."

"Stability and technical support are the two major issues I have found with Fortinet."

"Lacks training for new features."

"If they could extend their fabric towards other vendor environments for integration, that would be great."

"MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA."

"I would like some automated custom reporting."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Enhancements are needed to improve the stability."

"Even though the monitoring is pretty good, there is some room for improvement there."

"Citrix should continue to offer a perpetual licensing model because it is very important to us."

"The reports need to be improved. We need to have them customized but they don't have that right now. I would like for them to have better system predictions. We don't have that right now. My system may be working fine right now but after making some changes, that can change."

"I would like to see support for additional reporting."

"The only improvement for Citrix SD-WAN would be to lower its cost."

"I would like to see more customization to adjust for the WAN lock-out due to our unexpected power outages."

"I would like to either see the price reduced or have it packaged with other products to give better value for the money."

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] cons

"Juniper Session Smart Router can improve the integration for Wi-Fi devices and add additional Sassy deployments."

"Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in terms of software performance."

"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks. What we are missing there are wizards. For example, I have two applications, and I want one application to be prioritized against the other. In such a case, a wizard for assigning policies to a service without configuring each step by hand would be very helpful. There should be an overhaul of the GUI of the conductor. The functionality they have got in the Mist portal should be baked into the conductor itself. It would be really great, but as we all know, that won't happen."

"Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to other firewall products, it's a little cheaper in terms of pricing."

"Fortinet's pricing is more straightforward than other solutions. If Fortinet doesn't stick out when you're searching for a solution, you are a glutton for punishment. You only need to know two things when purchasing a Fortinet solution: your total bandwidth and bandwidth at the site. You need to estimate the future bandwidth with other solutions if your customer plans to upgrade."

"The product pricing is reasonable."

"The beauty is the price performance ratio is great with FortiGate. It provides all the features we needed and the price is comparable with others' firewalls. The price is quite competitive with the firewalls with similar features."

"For the price, I'd rate it a ten because it's very cost-effective."

"We pay $500 per year for the license."

"Each feature costs money, so it is important to study your needs."

"The value is the capability of having multiple services with one unique license, not having the limitation per user licensing schema, like other vendors."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"It is a bit expensive. A cheaper product would be good, but everybody likes things to be cheaper. We bought the devices up front, and then we pay for the annual support."

"I'm not quite sure of the price ranges. Roughly, the hidden devices can scale up to $20K for one appliance. However, the branch CPs are USD $1,000 to $2,500."

"As NetScaler is now, I find it quite pricey."

"It would be helpful to have a demo license available for customers who want to prove the concept and conduct a proof of concept (POC) before committing to the solution. This is particularly important for customers in Egypt who often require a demonstration of the solution's features and compatibility with their needs before making any investment or incurring costs. Providing a demo license would allow customers to assess whether the solution would meet their needs or not."

"It depends on the scale. In our case, it would have been better if we had known about the life cycling steps, but otherwise, it is worth the money."

"I believe that Citrix SD-WAN is a good investment, but I do not have the information to be more specific."

"The price is relatively expensive."

"The price of the subscription should be cheaper."

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] pricing and cost advice

"We are currently renegotiating the offer for the licenses and the license bundle model. The license for an ISP has to be different from the license for an end customer. This is something we are currently renegotiating with Juniper, but, of course, the pricing for the licensing is always an issue when you want to get more customers."

"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

30%

Government

Retailer

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

17%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	130
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	10

No data available

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

See all answers

What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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What do you like most about Citrix SD-WAN?

It lowered our Internet costs and gave me the flexibility to choose providers based on each location's connectivity.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix SD-WAN?

It is on the expensive side. I would give it an eight out of ten in terms of costliness. In my region, the approximat...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Citrix SD-WAN?

The solution's licensing model could be improved. Citrix SD-WAN is a good product from a technical point of view. How...

See all answers

What do you like most about Juniper Session Smart Router?

The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?

Juniper Session Smart Router is not significantly cheaper than, for example, Cisco.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?

I did not find any problem with Juniper. Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 8% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]

Compared 34% of the time

FatPipe WAN Optimization vs Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]

Compared 34% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]

Compared 32% of the time

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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 22% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 15% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 10% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 8% of the time

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 7% of the time

More Juniper Session Smart Router Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

October 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]

October 2025

Download Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

Routers

October 2025

Download Juniper Session Smart Router product report

Also Known As

No data available

Citrix CloudBridge, WOC, NetScaler SD-WAN

128T Networking Platform, 128 Technology SD-WAN, Juniper SSR Series

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

Fortinet

Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] enhances connectivity and performance by optimizing bandwidth utilization, ensuring reliable communication across branch offices and headquarter data centers. It offers centralized management, efficient deployment options, and improved network reliability.

Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] is designed for businesses seeking enhanced connectivity solutions that boost application performance while reducing costs. With HDX WAN Optimization and reliable Active-Active connectivity, it assures improved bandwidth management. Tailored for both cloud and on-premise deployments, it supports fast communication and seamless integration, making it user-friendly even for those with limited technical expertise. Security features and zero-touch deployments further enhance its appeal. However, users highlight areas needing improvement, such as configuration intuitiveness, pricing alignment for specific markets, and stability. Enhanced reporting, networking features, and technical support are desired. Integration with Windows, security elements like firewalls, and licensing clarity require attention to meet user expectations.

What are the key features of Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]?

HDX WAN Optimization: Enhances application performance and traffic.
Load Balancing: Ensures efficient traffic distribution across networks.
Reliable Connectivity: Provides seamless failover and reduced costs through MPLS replacement.
Cloud Management: Simplifies deployment and management via the cloud.
Zero-Touch Deployment: Facilitates easy setup and provisioning.
Active-Active Lines: Optimizes bandwidth utilization and performance.
Backup Capabilities: Centralizes data management for security.

What benefits should users look for in Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]?

Enhanced Connectivity: Improves stability and reduces downtime.
Cost Reduction: Efficiently decreases expenses by replacing MPLS.
Network Optimization: Offers better bandwidth for diverse communication types.
Secure Interconnectivity: Ensures secure and reliable network connections.
Management Flexibility: Supports cloud or on-premise deployment options.

Industries benefit from Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] by leveraging its features to ensure stable, redundant connectivity between branches and data centers. Organizations experiencing frequent line failures or high reliance on bandwidth-heavy applications find it particularly useful. It caters to sectors needing reliable data management and enhanced networking.

Citrix

The 128T Networking Platform (128T) natively provides network-based security, control, and insight across data centers, wide-area networks (WAN), and edge locations for enterprises, service providers, and cloud companies alike. 128T is reshaping the way organizations design, deploy, and operate real-world networks by making them dramatically simpler, smarter, and more secure — it’s going to fix the router — and ultimately the network — as we know it.

Juniper

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Cornerstone Home Lending Inc., Dallara, ecVision, Essar, Eurofred, Groupe Promutuel, HMSHost Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Ltd, Royal Caribbean International

Revation Systems

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October 2025

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