Aviatrix vs Meraki SD-WAN comparison

Aviatrix and Cisco are both solutions in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category. Aviatrix is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.8, while Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8. Aviatrix holds a 5.2% mindshare in SDN, compared to Cisco’s 23.2% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Aviatrix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Aviatrix

Read 6 Aviatrix reviews

336 Views
172 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Meraki SD-WAN

Read 77 Meraki SD-WAN reviews

1,592 Views
1,029 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Aviatrix

Meraki SD-WAN

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Meraki SD-WAN and Aviatrix are competitors in the SD-WAN sector, each offering unique advantages. Although Meraki SD-WAN is appreciated for its cost-effectiveness and exceptional customer support, Aviatrix stands out with its advanced features, making it preferable for businesses requiring sophisticated functionalities despite a higher price point.

Features: Meraki SD-WAN provides centralized management, seamless cloud integration, and robust security protocols. Aviatrix offers extensive multi-cloud networking capabilities, advanced traffic engineering, and comprehensive analytics.

Room for Improvement: Meraki SD-WAN could enhance its capabilities in handling complex multi-cloud environments and improve its analytics offerings. Aviatrix might benefit from streamlining its deployment process to reduce the learning curve and enhancing cost-efficiency for smaller enterprises.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Meraki SD-WAN offers a simple deployment process coupled with strong customer service, making ongoing management straightforward. Aviatrix provides a flexible, highly customizable deployment model suited for complex environments, supported by customer service that aligns with its architectural flexibility.

Pricing and ROI: Meraki SD-WAN is attractive for its lower initial expenses, offering significant ROI through efficient resource utilization. Aviatrix requires a larger investment, justified by enhanced network performance and agility, delivering a solid ROI despite its higher setup costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Aviatrix vs. Meraki SD-WAN Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aviatrix vs. Meraki SD-WAN

April 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

Aviatrix

Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)

3rd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Meraki SD-WAN

Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category, the mindshare of Aviatrix is 5.2%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Meraki SD-WAN is 23.2%, down from 25.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Featured Reviews

Govinda Mengji

Specialist Master | Manager at Deloitte

Has multiple capabilities which are not present in other products in the market

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.

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Martyn Walker

Business development manager at Virgin Media

Enables productivity in terms of users and has ease of management

Scalability could be improved. Yes, you can add more than 300 or 400 sites onto it, but because it's not a true SD-WAN and, effectively, it's just a Multi-VRF, it's all hub and spoke at that point. That's the nature of the design, but that's what keeps it simple to administer. So, it's a trade off.

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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

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"The product does have a variety of features we can work with."

"The centralized console manageable from the cloud is one of the advantages."

"The solution's technical support is good."

"Zero touch configuration onsite based on the manager system's pre-configuration and the VPN automation set."

"The redundancy feature of Meraki SD-WAN has most significantly enhanced network performance."

"Meraki SD-WAN is a very stable and scalable solution with good technical support."

"It's made managing our client's networks extremely easy, regardless of my location. Being able to hop on my cell phone to see what's happening on a client's network makes everything much more manageable."

"The most valuable feature is application performance monitoring and being able to browse packets dynamically based on priorities."

More Meraki SD-WAN pros

Cons

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

"The solution needs to improve the onboarding architecture."

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

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

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

"Meraki offers the client basic security, it is not the same as what FortiGate is offering."

"I would like improved stability in Meraki SD-WAN."

"Meraki SD-WAN could improve by adding wireless access time-scheduled and overall capabilities."

"Meraki could make better use of virtual connect."

"The configuration from the firewall side could be improved a little bit more."

"We'd like features that provide more transparency when there are issues. Right now, it's hard to get clarity on problems. We need more visibility."

"The deployment time of Meraki SD-WAN can vary. For someone new to the process, it could take a couple of hours. However, for someone with hands-on experience, such as myself, it only takes approximately two to three hours to set up the entire configuration."

"There should be a few more options for security parameters. It is currently not very customizable. It should be a little bit more customizable."

More Meraki SD-WAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Aviatrix is a pretty expensive solution."

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

"The tool is quite expensive."

"The licenses cost a fortune."

"Regarding pricing, Meraki SD-WAN is quite competitive, especially compared to solutions like Fortinet. However, it's essential to consider that Meraki requires cloud orchestration, which adds to the overall cost. Overall, it's one of the most competitive solutions from Cisco for SD-WAN."

"like everything else, it's negotiable."

"The pricing is reasonable and we can choose the software or the feature."

"The price of Meraki SD-WAN could improve, it is expensive when compared to other solutions on the market, such as Aruba."

"One of the most valuable aspects of Meraki SD-WAN is the price. It is highly cost-effective."

"The product's price falls under the mid-range category, especially if we consider the new licensing model. The tool is not cheap anymore."

"The solution is a bit expensive when compared to other products."

More Meraki SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

23%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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?

Aviatrix is a pretty expensive solution. Users have to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution and the support. You can't buy the product without support.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Aviatrix?

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

See all answers

What do you like most about Meraki SD-WAN?

The auto VPN feature is important because it automates many tasks, making things simpler and faster. It helps with setting up devices and changing configurations without manual effort.

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

The price is a little bit higher than local vendors, for example, Huawei ZTE or H3C. However, some customers require the best quality and performance, thus needing solutions and products from Cisco.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Meraki SD-WAN?

They have to ask us many questions about configurations. It could be improved with some automation to trigger, for example, telemetry data, so we can determine the state of the deployment as of day...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

April 2025

Download Aviatrix product report

Buyer's Guide

Meraki SD-WAN

April 2025

Download Meraki SD-WAN product report

Overview

The Aviatrix solution consists of two components: the Aviatrix Gateway, which is deployed on-premises or in the cloud; and the Aviatrix Cloud Controller, which orchestrates and manages one or more Gateways.

Aviatrix

Software-defined WAN is a new approach to network connectivity that lowers operational costs and improves resource usage for multi-site deployments, allowing network administrators to use bandwidth more efficiently and ensure the highest possible level of performance for critical applications without sacrificing security or data privacy. For more information on deploying and configuring SD-WAN on the Meraki MX Security Appliance, see the Meraki SD-WAN Deployment Guide.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Hyatt, Robert Half, GREE

École Jeannine Manuel

Buyer's Guide

Aviatrix vs. Meraki SD-WAN

April 2025

Free Report: Aviatrix vs. Meraki SD-WAN

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