No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Cisco Catalyst Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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

Arista Campus LAN Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
187
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (3rd), Data Center Networking (1st), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Arista Campus LAN Switches is 5.5%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 18.2%, down from 27.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches18.2%
Arista Campus LAN Switches5.5%
Other76.3%
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

DM
Chief Technology Officer at ictbit
Unified monitoring has transformed campus deployments and provides rapid EVPN-VXLAN rollouts
Regarding improvements to Arista Campus LAN Switches, nothing comes to mind about the switches themselves; they are really fast and have all the technologies and protocols that exist in the market. However, on the management system, I would improve it because as a network engineer, I want a chatbot that can communicate in a native language with the monitoring system to get answers regarding my network faults. There are no problems particularly with the product, but there is room for improvement regarding licensing and the chatbot for all Arista products.
MS
Electrical control system engineer at Dangote petroleum refinery and petrol chemicals
Reliable switching has delivered long‑term uptime, strong PoE support, and predictable performance
Cisco Systems Catalyst Switches are highly regarded for their performance, reliability, and enterprise-grade capabilities. My main reservation, however, is the pricing. The cost of Cisco Catalyst Switches—and Cisco products in general—is relatively high, especially in many African markets where organizations often need to balance budget constraints with required functionality. There are alternative vendors that offer comparable features at a lower price point. While they may not always match Cisco’s ecosystem, stability, or full feature depth, many businesses still choose them because of the significant cost savings. Another consideration is licensing, which can add to the overall total cost of ownership depending on the deployment model and required features. Overall, Cisco Catalyst Switches remain premium enterprise solutions, but when compared with other OEMs, their higher acquisition and licensing costs can be a major deciding factor for cost-conscious organizations.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's most valuable feature is its stability because Arista falls in an industry that is very similar to Cisco."
"The CloudVision Portal allows us to centrally manage all of our Arista products."
"Clients are very satisfied with the implementation process."
"The feature sets are pretty cool. They've got almost everything that the competition offers."
"The technology is scalable as much as you want."
"The Software Defined switch architecture, runs optimized 2-tier network instead of traditional 3-tier network (Core, Distribution and Access) gives you efficiency and savings."
"QoS is the most valuable feature because our clients work with VOIP and Critical applications."
"The template functionality saves a lot of time and man-hours, which results in cost and time savings."
"Customer support answers on time and resolve any issues I have."
"I like the management of streaming both audio and video."
"Overall, it's a very robust switch and it's very nice."
"We have dealt with Cisco's technical support in the past. They were especially helpful and very polite. They are always there if we need them and their insights are always excellent. I would say that we have been satisfied with the level of support we've gotten so far."
"I would recommend this solution; it is a good product and there are a lot of users of Cisco solutions in Pakistan."
"Cisco Catalyst Switches scale very well with the growing needs of my organization, again going back to the stacking capabilities at the access layer with both power and data stacks on the back."
"The quality of a Cisco switch is very high. They are extremely stable."
"I have not opened up a ticket for Cisco Catalyst Switches. However, I have used the support from Cisco and they are very good and responsive."
 

Cons

"I think there's still room for improvement. Arista Campus LAN Switches are not highly scalable as they are hardware-based. If hardware requirements exceed capacity, the product needs to be changed, which can impact service."
"It would be ideal if the solution was less expensive."
"The licensing cost is pretty heavy. That is something that they need to definitely work upon."
"One of the issues that we have been faced with here in Brazil is that we don't have any list times for delivery."
"We have to renew the license every three years, which can be a challenge for customers. Arista, like other vendors, now follows a license-based system."
"I do think they could improve their licensing model. Today, I need to pay for a license, for a switch, for support, and it costs money; it is not cheap."
"The complex setup phase is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"I would like to see a version available with eight or sixteen ports."
"My experiences with pricing, setup cost, and licensing with Cisco Catalyst Switches show that licensing is a major pain."
"Prices could always be lower."
"The cost of this product is very high and not all companies can afford it."
"The technical response could be faster in the future."
"They need to implement sFlow."
"I would like for Cisco to come up with an affordable dynamic VLAN solution."
"The only thing that has been an issue with not just Cisco Catalyst Switches, but Cisco devices in general, is the price point and the cost."
"Out of the competition, Cisco switches are easily the most expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is not that good, but our clients value the solution despite the price."
"The only licensing costs are for CloudVision, although the upfront price of the device is not cheap."
"Cisco Catalyst Switches is an affordable solution."
"There needs to be some improvement with the Cisco DNA licensing activation process, it is difficult at the moment."
"The licensing, and maintenance fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"There are no licensing fees required."
"This is an expensive product."
"The price can definitely be lower."
"The pricing is on the high end."
"The price is on the higher side."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which LAN Switching solutions are best for your needs.
909,099 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business83
Midsize Enterprise29
Large Enterprise85
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arista Campus LAN Switches?
Regarding pricing, it is not cheap. While it is an enterprise solution, comparing it to low-level switches like Fortinet and Netgear, it is much more expensive. However, comparing it to Cisco and J...
What needs improvement with Arista Campus LAN Switches?
Regarding improvements to Arista Campus LAN Switches, nothing comes to mind about the switches themselves; they are really fast and have all the technologies and protocols that exist in the market....
What is your primary use case for Arista Campus LAN Switches?
I work as a consultant and integrator, using Arista Networks platform in my customers' networks. I deal with switches by Arista, which is mostly what we use Arista for. I am familiar with Arista Ca...
Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?
Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was not all good. Licensing is quite a nightmare in the Cisco world, and I wish we had simplified licensing.
What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Switches?
Regarding the impression of end-to-end visibility offered by Cisco, I would love to have more visibility. What I want to see in the future regarding Cisco Catalyst Switches is more integrations bet...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

University of Winchester, AWE, picturemaxx, Medical Mutual, Leonix, CloudEra, National Physical Laboratory, Tri-State G&T, AIS, Morph, SingTel, SDSC, BBC
Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena
Find out what your peers are saying about Arista Campus LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,099 professionals have used our research since 2012.