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Arista Networks Platform vs Meraki MS Switches comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.0
Arista Networks offers substantial cost benefits and efficiency, despite higher procurement costs, making it a valuable investment.
Sentiment score
3.0
Meraki MS Switches offer easier management and stability, though high initial costs and incomplete use may affect ROI.
I saved between five to six hours using Arista Networks Platform, as it takes less time to actually add your APs to the dashboard and deployment is quite fast and easy.
Network Engineer at Castlenet Consulting Limited
I have seen a return on investment from using Arista Networks Platform in terms of fewer employees needed during installation and deployment.
Network Engineer at Castlenet Consulting Limited
In the data center, there is no comparison in terms of technicality or return of investment.
A VP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.
Having an updated system has allowed us to continue growth and expansion.
Head of WoodShop at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
A good return on investment is achievable with Meraki MS Switches, but when a competitor offers a much lower price, customers might choose that alternative, which might yield a better ROI situation.
Chairman and Owner at Studio Armoni & Associati
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
Arista Networks Platform is praised for responsive, effective support with quick response times and direct access to experienced engineers.
Sentiment score
6.6
Meraki MS Switches support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though some note delays and suggest purchasing additional support.
They provide instant support and maintain commitments regarding replacement products.
CEO/Consultant at CIL
We would rate the customer support as a nine to 9.5 out of ten.
Technical project manager at Castlenet Consulting Limited
All network engineers from the organization were present in the program, and the Arista engineer provided a solution in less than five minutes.
Network Engineer at Castlenet Consulting Limited
This is because their engineers have experience with and strong knowledge of Cisco products.
The support is excellent and rated ten out of ten.
Sales Engineer at Phoenyx Commtech Pvt. Ltd.
If customers pay for additional support, the service is good.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Arista Networks offers scalable, cost-effective solutions with low latency, supporting diverse needs and integrating advanced technologies.
Sentiment score
7.1
Meraki MS Switches offer scalability and ease of integration, perfect for small to medium businesses with cloud management.
Arista Networks Platform's focus on GPU-based and high-speed switches is a smart move for next-generation AI-based data center solutions.
Network Architect at neev limited
Scalability is a key feature of Arista, owing to the possibilities to manage the entire data center network from a single console.
A VP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.
Scalability is excellent as it has handled our growing network requirements effectively without adding significant operational complexity.
Product Manager at Frontier Business systems
If a customer scales from one region to another, they can easily add locations into the same dashboard while classifying multiple regions, sites, and countries.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The cloud dashboard and cloud experience scales with it and is really easy to read and use, no matter the size of the business or the network.
IT Consultant at Nestcore IT
For large clients such as Stellantis, a fully Meraki solution might be inadequate since they operate around 200 plants and have 1,000 commercial divisions, which often leads to hybrid solutions incorporating both Cisco and Meraki.
Chairman and Owner at Studio Armoni & Associati
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Arista Networks Platform is praised for high stability, reliability, minimal downtime, and strong customer satisfaction due to its durability.
Sentiment score
7.9
Meraki MS Switches offer reliable performance with minimal issues, providing stability despite occasional minor update-related glitches.
Arista is the only IT product that has the minimum vulnerabilities, so it is a very stable product.
A VP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.
The amount of failure is low because we have tested a Huawei platform of the same grade beside Arista Networks Platform, and Arista Networks Platform always won.
Director at a tech company with 11-50 employees
I have not had any downtime using Arista Networks Platform.
Network Engineer at Castlenet Consulting Limited
There is zero downtime; Meraki MS Switches are reliable and stable.
Wireless Network Engineer at MSSL
For infrastructure such as factories, small factories, or warehouses that have temperatures higher than normal in-house office temperatures, I have some doubt about how well the switches would sustain those conditions.
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The firmware is being changed too often, and they are adding too many features too quickly, which could affect the stability.
Network Engineer at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Arista Networks Platform is costly and complex, needing better GUI, integration, stability, documentation, security, AI, and Cisco compatibility.
Meraki MS Switches offer benefits but face challenges with pricing, features, integration, scalability, security, support, and licensing.
Using AI, I can understand how my entire organization operates and what kind of applications are being used, what the peak times are, where there is a bottleneck if any exists.
A VP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.
Scalability at every single step has a huge upgrade cost which is required for port mapping, connectivity, and transceivers certified by Arista Networks Platform, then the fabric upgrades from a software firmware level.
Director at a tech company with 11-50 employees
Feature-wise, it addresses most customer requirements.
A VP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.
When a switch disconnects from the internet, you can't make any changes to that switch.
Ag. Systems & Networks Head at UNBS
Meraki utilizes a cloud-based dashboard that necessitates a constant internet connection for configuration.
Lead IT Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Otherwise, the product is easy to use and it is a mature product.
Technical Manager at Ledorbis Solutions
 

Setup Cost

Arista Networks is costly for some, yet offers a reliable solution considered affordable compared to Cisco in certain cases.
Meraki MS Switches offer mixed pricing; some find value in features, but licensing costs can challenge smaller businesses.
Compared to Cisco, Arista routers are significantly cheaper.
CEO/Consultant at CIL
You get a 48 gigs, a 25 Gbps or a 40 Gbps switching fabric at a price of $30-40,000 from Netgear super-fast clusters, whereas Arista Networks Platform is going to cost you three times that.
Director at a tech company with 11-50 employees
Arista products are perceived as costly, especially compared to competitors like Cisco.
A VP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.
Meraki MS Switches, including their licensing, are somewhat expensive, particularly when compared with competitor solutions like HP.
IT System Administrator at Bouri
The cost of the support and maintenance bundle is quite costly for Cisco.
Network &Security Engineer at Natioanal Drug Authority Uganda
Meraki MS Switches are somewhat expensive.
Wireless Network Engineer at MSSL
 

Valuable Features

Arista Networks Platform is praised for its low latency, scalability, integration ease, automation, and eco-friendly, cost-efficient design.
Meraki MS Switches offer centralized cloud management, easy setup, and advanced features for efficient, scalable, and secure network management.
Features include plug-and-play auto-discovery, allowing centralized configuration and management.
CEO/Consultant at CIL
The best features Arista Networks Platform offers are the dashboards where you can see all your APs that have been deployed and installed across all locations, making it quite unique to access, manage, and monitor performance from that dashboard.
Technical project manager at Castlenet Consulting Limited
Arista Networks Platform is known for ultra-low latency, having the fastest backplane ever built.
Director at a tech company with 11-50 employees
Zero-Touch Provisioning helps streamline my deployments by ensuring that every system does not trust anybody or anything, requiring identification and authentication while implementing MFA.
Lead IT Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Unlike the other switches which are on the infrastructure where you have to first go through VPN to access whatever switches you want, you can easily access these from wherever you are, as long as you have internet.
Network &Security Engineer at Natioanal Drug Authority Uganda
The ease of deployment and management stands out, along with the fact that customers do not need to purchase additional network management solutions.
 

Categories and Ranking

Arista Networks Platform
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Networking (2nd)
Meraki MS Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Arista Networks Platform is 4.0%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Meraki MS Switches is 2.3%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Arista Networks Platform4.0%
Meraki MS Switches2.3%
Other93.7%
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Dibyendu Das - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a tech company with 11-50 employees
Ultra-low latency networking has delivered reliable video workflows and critical operations
The support of Arista Networks Platform is quite complex; it is not very easy to configure. It needs a lot of network expertise for token sheddings and different kinds of configurations. It is very difficult to configure because Arista Networks Platform does not have a flexible GUI like Huawei or Netgear; everything is a very CLI kind of mainframe architecture. Scalability at every single step has a huge upgrade cost which is required for port mapping, connectivity, and transceivers certified by Arista Networks Platform, then the fabric upgrades from a software firmware level. Arista Networks Platform should improve commercial aspects to be affordable. There is no path for growth with a perfect score because the focus is more on reducing costs globally.
Jayaraman C - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Cloud management has simplified branch deployments but pricing and support still need improvement
In terms of improvements for Meraki MS Switches, pricing is one area that could be enhanced. On the support front, the limited lifetime warranty is a concern. Aruba offers limited lifetime warranty, whereas Cisco requires a minimum license to function for hardware support or technical support. I think Cisco could improve by bundling technical support and hardware support together with the license. This approach is currently only applicable for EA customers. Standard license customers have to take additional hardware support as a separate SKU. I believe that bundling technical and hardware support with the cloud subscription itself would help customers choose a Meraki option. To make Meraki MS Switches closer to a rating of ten, Cisco could take additional features on the AI front. I am uncertain whether they will offer AI features at no cost. Self-healing networks is a new term that enterprises are looking forward to. All OEM management platforms now feature auto-remediation and auto-fixing capabilities. The issue is that even if AI is offered without cost, customers cannot get the benefits if they cannot afford the pricing. Enterprise customers are looking to optimize operational effort and operational capabilities. They use multiple tools apart from the OEM native dashboard, including the Cisco Meraki dashboard and Catalyst dashboard. However, they still want to have end-to-end visibility. For end-to-end visibility, they can go for Digital Twin capabilities through platforms such as IP Fabric, ManageEngine, SolarWinds, and Forward Networks. There are many NMS platforms that can be integrated, allowing them to manage complete operations. Cisco could add some additional capabilities into the same OEM dashboard so that customers can benefit from improved operational management.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arista Networks Platform?
The initial setup cost is high compared to others, and I find the initial setup cost to be very high.
What needs improvement with Arista Networks Platform?
Arista Networks Platform could improve its command line management. Coming from a Cisco background, the adjustment period was challenging. While similar in some areas, the AOS concept, especially a...
What is your primary use case for Arista Networks Platform?
I have worked with deploying Arista Networks Platform in data center environments, particularly for spine and leaf architectures. The configurations involved Zero Touch Provisioning, which went ver...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki MS Switches?
Cost is not the issue for us. Meraki MS Switches might be more expensive than other products, but we believe that from all analysis, Meraki MS Switches is able to deliver the kind of quality in ter...
What needs improvement with Meraki MS Switches?
In terms of improvements for Meraki MS Switches, pricing is one area that could be enhanced. On the support front, the limited lifetime warranty is a concern. Aruba offers limited lifetime warranty...
What is your primary use case for Meraki MS Switches?
The primary use cases of Meraki MS Switches focus on the SMB market, starting from boutique size to mid-level enterprise, not very large enterprises. However, with Meraki, which is now part of Cisc...
 

Also Known As

7000 Series
MS220, MS320, MS420
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Internet Services
Cisco Live Milan, Hyatt
Find out what your peers are saying about Arista Networks Platform vs. Meraki MS Switches and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,749 professionals have used our research since 2012.