Aviatrix vs Cisco ACI comparison

Aviatrix and Cisco are both solutions in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category. Aviatrix is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.2, while Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 9.0. Aviatrix holds a 4.6% mindshare in SDN, compared to Cisco’s 13.2% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Aviatrix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Aviatrix

Read 7 Aviatrix reviews

762 Views
381 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Cisco ACI

Read 102 Cisco ACI reviews

4,164 Views
1,332 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Aviatrix

Cisco ACI

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 15, 2025

Cisco ACI and Aviatrix both compete in the network management solutions category. Cisco ACI is considered stronger in features with its comprehensive integration with virtual environments, while Aviatrix stands out in cloud operations with excellent Terraform module support.

Features: Cisco ACI excels in integration, providing seamless connectivity with virtual environments like VMware, Hyper-V, and KVM. It offers centralized management that simplifies network operations and rich automation features that reduce manual workload. Aviatrix, impressive for its cloud-agnostic capabilities, boasts real-time topology and uses uniform Terraform modules across cloud environments, facilitating streamlined cloud deployments.

Room for Improvement: Cisco ACI users often request a simplified fabric setup and enhanced interoperability with third-party products. Users also seek improvements in the command line interface. Aviatrix could enhance its security features, focusing on intrusion detection and expanded IPv6 support, as well as provide more comprehensive documentation and training resources.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco ACI is commonly deployed in private and hybrid clouds, offering robust support but criticized for its complex deployment process that may require professional services. In contrast, Aviatrix receives praise for its straightforward deployment across cloud platforms and fast customer support, though it could improve its local market presence.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco ACI is a high-cost solution with significant licensing and setup expenses, offering a powerful ROI by reducing network downtime and operational costs over time. Aviatrix operates on a consumption-based pricing model, seen as costly but offering valuable cloud resource management and efficient operations. Each product has unique pricing and ROI benefits, aligning with different organizational needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Aviatrix vs. Cisco ACI Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aviatrix vs. Cisco ACI

September 2025

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Helped 867,349 peers since 2012

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

Aviatrix

Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco ACI

Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

Network Virtualization (1st), Cloud and Data Center Security (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category, the mindshare of Aviatrix is 4.6%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco ACI is 13.2%, up from 11.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco ACI	13.2%
Aviatrix	4.6%
Other	82.2%

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Featured Reviews

Bharadhwaj Bathini

System Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Seamless integration features for multi-cloud environments with significant challenges regarding security and support

There is room for improvement regarding enhancing its security features in response to modern cybersecurity challenges. This includes implementing advanced security measures like multi-factor authentication when connecting with various technologies and during login processes. Additionally, the user experience could be improved by offering more practical training courses, helping users understand the purpose and capabilities of Aviatrix, especially in scenarios like archiving systems. Offering temporary subscriptions to external users could boost adoption and usage. Clear communication of policies, terms, and conditions is also recommended to ensure users are well-informed about what can and cannot be done. These enhancements would provide a more user-friendly experience.

Read full review

Rahul Khandelwal

Network Technical Manager at KPMG

Enables streamlined data center management with automation and application-centric design

The main features of Cisco ACI that I really appreciate are the application-centric and network-centric designs, allowing you to create your network according to your application. That's helpful, and it's good for one-time implementation. The automation capabilities are really helpful. We deployed one data center using Terraform, and after deployment, many automation features are available, which can be very helpful. Based on my experience, Cisco ACI provides substantial capability; you can design your network accordingly and it's part of the SDN family, providing many benefits to the organization, especially when moving from traditional network infrastructure. Many organizations are actually using the old traditional Nexus infrastructure or some old data center devices. It gives you significant control and one-time implementation capabilities, and it also provides better performance and security. Functionality-wise, Cisco ACI provides integration using automation. We implemented it through Terraform, which was easy. Those features are available, so I don't think any new features are needed right now; something new could come up, but they have implemented many improvements over the years.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The connections are seamless, and we can access the static clouds on the platform itself. We are also able to trace the issues. The most valuable features of the solution are security, user interface, and performance."

"The most valuable feature of Aviatrix is that it saves us a lot of time."

"Within the Aviatrix ecosystem, you could connect different clouds, and the intricacies of low-level commands and configurations were abstracted away."

"Its exceptional capability to seamlessly integrate with various cloud services makes it the preferred choice for multi-cloud deployments."

"The product has greatly improved our organization by saving costs for multiple direct connections and simpler cloud configurations."

"This tool resolves the overlapping of CIDR’s IP addresses in a multi-cloud environment, which is its best feature. The product also gives packet-level details on the data that has been put from one cloud to another. Currently, no other solution in the market can give this kind of detail. There is also the high VPN connectivity which gives high throughput. Internet service providers have a limitation on large migrations like 10 Gigabytes or 2 to 2.3 GBPS. However, this tool gives you a functionality where you can bundle multiple tunnels into one tunnel. Thereafter, you can transfer the data from one environment to another or from on-prem to the cloud."

"Now, our customers have tiers of management that have meetings with about the simplest tasks because it has to be approved from upper management and senior management and by the time it gets to the engineer that's going to deploy it, it takes way too long. With the solution, they can delegate a person who would be in charge of running the ACI as a whole, and it will be much faster because it doesn't have to go through the whole chain of command for the simple task of deploying one little machine on one port in the data center."

"Centralized management and control of the entire data center environment and its architecture."

"The most valuable feature of Cisco ACI is that it is eay to manage. We can automate and it can be scripted. Virtual ACI is very good."

"ACI's most valuable feature is sizing - you can easily find the sizing of the data, which means the data speed, CPU, and virtualization can be determined."

"It improves security and automation."

"The flexibility of adding new components with minimal impact on existing services running in the data center is a key benefit of this ACI-based solution."

"The product works very well with our virtual environment."

"One area where it has an advantage... is that you're able to reuse a specific integration. If you add another server, you can use a specific integration and assign it to another port."

More Cisco ACI pros

Cons

"The tool has a very limited local presence in the GCC market. I am based in Dubai, UAE and it would be very difficult for me to reach out to US staff for technical discussion during the tool’s implementation. The tool needs to focus on the GCC market which includes UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc. There is nobody to help you out in this region."

"There could be an easy availability of multiple features in the profile."

"There can be a steep learning curve for users who are not familiar with it or multi-cloud networking concepts"

"There is room for improvement regarding enhancing its security features in response to modern cybersecurity challenges."

"The solution needs to improve the onboarding architecture."

"Aviatrix should include more integrated security features like intrusion detection and lateral movement detection."

"I can recommend that Cisco improve its execution."

"I think that technical support tickets should be escalated sooner."

"I would like to see the data center unification of Cisco ACI with Cisco DNA into a single platform to deliver the data center and campus sides."

"I would like for ACI to manage all of the devices."

"Figuring out how to implement the product for clients is the area we struggle with the most every day. Perhaps an enhancement would be artificially intelligent solutions, but that would be further down the road."

"I would like them to simplify the way you configure the Fabric. The process is quite complex. This can be a barrier to entry. For anything, where it should take two or three steps, you have ten steps"

"Cisco SDN will only work with its own devices, so that's a downside."

"We had issues in the first deployment when we tried to finish the migration from traditional networking to Cisco ACI."

More Cisco ACI cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is quite expensive."

"Aviatrix is a pretty expensive solution."

"During the initial phase, it operates as an open-source and it's a free tool."

"It operates on a consumption-based model and the expenses depend on factors such as the number of virtual machines you use and the resources consumed."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"Yearly, we pay around one point two million for the solution."

"Cisco ACI is more expensive than Juniper, however, ACI is not the most expensive option."

"The price could be improved. It is expensive, but then again, it is Cisco. The price is worth what you pay for."

"The thing that I like the most from Cisco is the support and all the documentation that they have. We do have to pay for it though."

"Pricing for Cisco ACI could be expensive if you're not a gold partner. If you're a gold partner, you'll get reasonable pricing, but to become a gold partner, you must cross several layers. For example, at least twenty engineers within your organization have to be certified, with each certification priced at £2,000 minimum, so this would make some companies think twice about the product. If you're going for Aruba and Juniper products, on the other hand, you can quickly get the partner status, and you can start selling the product. As a gold partner, you can get up to seventy percent discount on Cisco ACI, for example, while an ordinary partner gets ten percent off. Cisco ACI is expensive for both customers and partners, but I'm rating pricing for the product as four out of five because even if the price is costly, you get a lot of benefits from the product. Cisco ACI isn't the best, price-wise, but it's still a good solution. If you're in a small organization, you may be unable to afford it. Cisco ACI is best for enterprises but not SMBs because Cisco ACI and its required resources are expensive."

"Once you sign for the start kit implementation, you have to go all the way through to the implementation, even if you are experiences issues."

"The good thing about Cisco is that you can trade in your old products to replace them with ACI."

More Cisco ACI pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	87

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aviatrix?

The most valuable feature of Aviatrix is that it saves us a lot of time.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aviatrix?

The cost should be compared to the pricing of native services, which often include a data processing component.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Aviatrix?

One area that could use improvement is IPv6 support.

See all answers

What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?

There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...

See all answers

What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?

Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco ACI?

The flexibility of adding new components with minimal impact on existing services running in the data center is a key benefit of this ACI-based solution.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Aviatrix

Compared 38% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Aviatrix

Compared 27% of the time

VMware NSX vs Aviatrix

Compared 20% of the time

More Aviatrix Competitors

Cisco Secure Workload vs Cisco ACI

Compared 23% of the time

VMware NSX vs Cisco ACI

Compared 20% of the time

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs Cisco ACI

Compared 13% of the time

HPE SDN vs Cisco ACI

Compared 12% of the time

Omada Cloud SDN vs Cisco ACI

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco ACI Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

August 2025

Download Aviatrix product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco ACI

September 2025

Download Cisco ACI product report

Also Known As

Aviatrix Enterprise Contract

No data available

Overview

Aviatrix specializes in solving CIDR IP overlap issues in multi-cloud environments while providing superior packet-level data insights and high VPN connectivity capabilities.

Aviatrix delivers seamless integration with AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, ensuring efficient connectivity across major platforms. Its robust security, intuitive usage, and cloud-agnostic nature help manage network constraints while automating processes and adopting zero trust principles. With real-time topology views, consistent Terraform modules, and efficient troubleshooting tools, it simplifies cloud network management. Desired improvements include strengthened presence in the GCC market, enhanced security features, better user training, and improved onboarding processes. Advances in integrated security measures and effective training could reduce the learning curve.

What are Aviatrix's most important features?

CIDR IP Overlap Resolution: Address overlapping IP issues in multi-cloud setups.
High VPN Connectivity: Ensures robust connectivity for migrations.
Cloud Service Integration: Seamless integration across AWS, Azure, and GCP.
Real-Time Topology: Offers a dynamic view of network architecture.
Security: Implements robust security protocols for data safety.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from Aviatrix?

Time-Saving: Streamlines processes to save valuable time.
Enhanced Security: Strengthens network protection across platforms.
Ease of Use: Simplifies cloud network management with a user-friendly interface.
Connectivity: Ensures high connectivity between cloud providers.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and technology, Aviatrix is employed to manage cloud environments with enhanced security and connectivity. Organizations automate networking processes, applying zero trust principles while maximizing management efficiencies. Effective implementation allows for streamlined operations and valuable insights.

Aviatrix

Cisco ACI provides advanced capabilities with features like seamless integration with VMware and APIs for programmability. It offers centralized management for streamlined operations, efficient micro-segmentation, and robust security, addressing modern data center needs.

Cisco ACI brings automation to data center infrastructure, enabling transitions from legacy to modern environments with centralized management. Organizations benefit from optimized server farms, seamless integration with VMware, and support for Kubernetes, making it suitable for large-scale environments. Offering support for healthcare, finance, and public sectors, Cisco ACI facilitates tasks such as virtual networking and multi-site connectivity with application-centric and network-centric designs.

What are the key features of Cisco ACI?

Seamless Integration with VMware: Ensures smooth operation with existing virtualized environments.
Programmability via APIs: Offers flexibility in network configuration and management through APIs.
Centralized Management: Provides a unified view of the network, simplifying oversight.
Automation: Reduces manual configuration workload, speeding up deployment.
Scalability: Adapts to growing network demands with ease.
Robust Security: Enhances protection against threats with comprehensive security measures.
Efficient Micro-Segmentation: Improves network segmentation for security and efficiency.

What benefits or ROI should users look for when evaluating Cisco ACI?

Streamlined Operation: Reduced complexity in network management.
Enhanced Performance: Improved network and application efficiency.
Cost Efficiency: Better resource allocation reduces operational costs.
Improved Security: Advanced features for increased protection.
Scalability: Allows growth without significant redesigns.

In the healthcare industry, Cisco ACI supports secure and efficient data management, accommodating regulatory needs and enhancing patient data handling. Financial institutions benefit from robust security and seamless integration with existing infrastructures, facilitating smooth transaction processing. In the public sector, it's utilized for reliable network management and servicing a diverse range of applications.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Hyatt, Robert Half, GREE

Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University

Buyer's Guide

Aviatrix vs. Cisco ACI

September 2025

Free Report: Aviatrix vs. Cisco ACI

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