Aruba Orchestrator vs Cisco Meraki vMX comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Cisco are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.6, while Cisco is ranked #17 with an average rating of 9.0. Additionally, 100% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Aruba Orchestrator and Cisco Meraki vMX based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Orchestrator vs. Cisco Meraki vMX Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Orchestrator vs. Cisco Meraki vMX

March 2026

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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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reviewer2733462

Senior IT Officer at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees

User interface boosts network management efficiency

I use Aruba Orchestrator's advanced analytics tools. Aruba Orchestrator's analytics tools are great tools to use. We were using Cisco, but when comparing it with Cisco, Aruba is far better. The security features of Aruba Orchestrator are really good; I don't think there is any issue with security. It's a good tool in terms of the security aspects. My experience with Aruba Orchestrator is that it's a great tool to use to manage the network. Its user interface is very user-friendly; in fact, the management interface is very user-friendly. It also gives a lot of troubleshooting ideas when we are trying to troubleshoot any issues with the wireless network or the wired network. It's a very useful tool. I can say that 100% the ROI from Aruba Orchestrator is really good because we have reduced the number of people needed. There is no need to have a team of people to manage the huge network, and with a relatively smaller number of resources, we are able to manage.

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Mansukh Bhesania

MD and CEO at Aster Networks

Have worked confidently across large deployments and ensured long-term reliability for critical sectors

I have used Cisco Meraki vMX dashboard's orchestration feature with this product. The Meraki dashboard helps manage our network effectively because it is quite easy; we manage ourselves very well. Performance-wise, there is no problem with Cisco Meraki vMX's integrated analytics for network performance, as my 70 to 80 customers use Cisco only. We do business with semi-enterprise customers, and there is no competition against Cisco except for the wireless solutions from Aruba. We find it easy to promote Cisco Meraki vMX because the centralized dashboard is there for management, and the customers accept it without any problem. From a sales point of view, it is easy to integrate, and nowadays, the 93 is also part of the Meraki desktop.

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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

"We have found it to be very reliable and that's why our teams and various users in our company use it as our main firewall every day."

"I think when you look at this product, you must realize that the box hardware and software are very stable, and the pricing is perfect."

"We use the filtering feature the most. It has filtering and inbuilt securities. We can create customized rules to define which users can access a particular type of site. We can create policies inside the firewall."

"Fortinet solution has received great feedback."

"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate is the IPS or IDS implementation."

"First and foremost, Fortinet FortiGate is a security device that can optimize security on the networks of a company and actually protects the company from attacks from outside."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are its SD-WAN capabilities, such as dynamic routing, and other features, including security options such as antivirus, IPS, and IDS—all integrated into one device."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate include good functionality, though the licensing cost is a bit higher; their response time and throughput are very good advantages."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"If you compare the solution to Cisco, I believe when it comes to security and of course optimization, Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator is much better and recommendable compared to Cisco."

"We had to deal with separate management models for Wi-Fi and switches. With Aruba Orchestrator, it's now a unified solution, making things much easier for us. We log in and manage everything from a single console. It provides complete internal visibility from LAN to Wi-Fi, resulting in higher stability and easier troubleshooting. The management process is much quicker and more streamlined."

"The most valuable feature is optimization."

"The product has reduced OpEx expenditure."

"Aruba Orchestrator has notably reduced enrollment setup times from several hours to within an hour if prepared and planned."

"The technical support services are excellent."

"Silver Peak provided the best support from a vendor that we have experienced."

"The Business Intent Overlay is a great feature."

More Aruba Orchestrator pros

"The most valuable features in Cisco Meraki vMX are easy deployment, an easy-to-read dashboard for information, and automatic load balancing for two circuits in the MX, which are the most important key features for our small business customers."

"Cisco Meraki vMX offers sufficient features for most customers; it is very easy to handle and proves very efficient, with the main advantages being the visibility it provides and the ease of administration."

"The Meraki dashboard helps manage our network effectively because it is quite easy; we manage ourselves very well."

Cons

"The monitor and the visibility, in this proxy, is very weak."

"The only issue that I have is with FortiNAC. The firewall is fine, but the FortiNAC interface is a little bit too jumbled or too complicated, not as straightforward as it is on the Fortinet FortiGate firewall and FortiAnalyzer."

"Being a great product, some changes in the pricing would make it a great choice for even more organizations."

"I think they could improve the monitoring."

"There could be more integration between the logging and analytical platforms to make it more seamless and integrated."

"We have experienced a number of failures when trying to upgrade firmware and the process takes a long time. We only experienced this when doing major upgrades between versions."

"Fortinet Fortigate could benefit by simplifying some of their processes."

"I would suggest that Fortinet add sandboxing to their solution."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The solution can be improved by lowering the cost and making it more user-friendly for first-time users."

"We also had a POC with a Juniper product, and the Juniper Mist is actually outstanding. If you compare it with Juniper, that is the reason I have given it an eight."

"They could provide essential training to understand the product functionality."

"The initial setup is complex, depending on the overall planning for the entire environment."

"The solution lacks sufficient security features."

"Aruba Orchestrator should implement dynamic certificate changes for security."

"The solution lacks sufficient security features."

"The solution can be improved by lowering the cost and making it more user-friendly for first-time users."

More Aruba Orchestrator cons

"In comparison with Aruba, I find Aruba to be far better in terms of deployment, ClearPass, and everything, which is all very easy."

"It is not the strongest security solution, so if you want to have next-generation firewall features, you always need an additional component."

"Cisco Meraki vMX needs to improve its ability to configure complex policy-based routing."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiGate is cheaper than Palo Alto. It is about 20% cheaper."

"I think price-wise, the solution is totally reasonable since it has many products to serve, starting from small homes to massive scale sites."

"The pricing is justified. It's a little pricey, but what you pay for is what you get."

"The price for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."

"Fortinet prices are around $600 for the small 40F model, and for licenses, the simplest option is about $300 for a year. They sell licenses that can last for 1, 2, 3, or 5 years."

"The price is really low. It's cheap in comparison to the cost of Cisco or CheckPoint, for example."

"At the time we bought them, I was satisfied with their pricing; I don't know how the new pricing will be."

"Fortinet is the least expensive solution."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The solution's licensing costs are yearly. It is not expensive, and I rate it around three to four out of ten."

"I think it is quite expensive compared to other vendors in the market because it depends on what kind of features you really want to acquire in the product."

"Aruba Orchestrator is free to use."

"I rate the platform’s pricing a five out of ten."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	360
Midsize Enterprise	135
Large Enterprise	190

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

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...

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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 Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?

The most important feature is WAN optimization.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?

Regarding my experience with the pricing and setup costs, I find it expensive software compared to others.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?

It would be great if they would have a fully multi-tenant solution on their Orchestrator. Aruba SD-WAN solutions are ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Meraki vMX?

Cisco Meraki vMX needs to improve its ability to configure complex policy-based routing. The product can only be set ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Meraki vMX?

I am an architect planning for our customers to plan their enterprise connectivity via Cisco Meraki vMX and SASE. Thi...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Meraki vMX?

I have no idea about additional features that I would like to see in the next release to make it better. My customers...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 19% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

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VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 25% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 17% of the time

Cradlepoint NetCloud vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 11% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 9% of the time

Nuage Networks vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 6% of the time

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Juniper Contrail SD-WAN vs Cisco Meraki vMX

Compared 15% of the time

Cloudflare One vs Cisco Meraki vMX

Compared 14% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Cisco Meraki vMX

Compared 10% of the time

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs Cisco Meraki vMX

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Cisco Meraki vMX

Compared 8% of the time

More Cisco Meraki vMX Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

March 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Orchestrator

March 2026

Download Aruba Orchestrator product report

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

March 2026

Download Cisco Meraki vMX product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator, Unity Orchestrator

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Aruba Orchestrator has an intuitive interface that allows you to centrally define, assign, and enforce policies across the WAN. Network managers experience the highest quality of experience to:

Centrally define, assign and enforce policies based on business intent to secure and control all application traffic across the WAN.

Orchestrator dashboards provide real time visibility into SD-WAN health and performance in a single screen, monitoring traffic throughput along with loss, latency and jitter across overlays and underlays.

Maintain the highest levels of application performance by automatically assigning application and security policies across 100s or 1000s of sites, including automated orchestration with cloud security services.

Central orchestration of network functions including SD-WAN routing, firewall, segmentation, WAN optimization, application visibility and control, and automated orchestration with cloud security services.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Cisco Meraki vMX is a cloud-based virtual appliance designed for network security, VPN, and traffic management. It simplifies scalable network operations, making it ideal for businesses seeking centralized management and deployment across multiple cloud environments and branch locations.

Cisco Meraki vMX facilitates seamless connectivity and security in cloud-native environments, enabling efficient networking between sites. It integrates effortlessly with existing infrastructure, providing robust security, VPN capabilities, and traffic control. As a virtual appliance, it supports rapid deployment, helping companies optimize their cloud networks.

What are the key features of Cisco Meraki vMX?

Scalable VPN Deployment: Offers easy, scalable VPN connectivity across branch locations and cloud services.
Centralized Management: Provides a single interface for managing traffic and security settings.
Cloud Integration: Seamlessly connects with popular cloud platforms for smooth network operations.
Traffic Control: Ensures efficient management of network traffic, enhancing performance.

What benefits and ROI are common in user reviews?

Simplified Network Operations: Users note straightforward deployment and management.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces the need for physical hardware, cutting costs.
Improved Security: Provides enhanced security measures for cloud and branch networks.
Increased Flexibility: Adapts to changing network demands quickly and efficiently.

Cisco Meraki vMX sees implementation across industries requiring secure and scalable network solutions, including retail with multiple branch connections, finance needing strong security, and tech-focused organizations optimizing cloud resource usage. Its adaptability suits dynamic and expansive environments.

Cisco

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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Orchestrator vs. Cisco Meraki vMX

March 2026

Free Report: Aruba Orchestrator vs. Cisco Meraki vMX

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