Cisco APIC-EM [EOL] vs VMware NSX comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Cisco and Broadcom are both solutions in the Network Virtualization category. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Cisco APIC-EM [EOL]

Read 1 Cisco APIC-EM [EOL] review

100% willing to recommend

VMware NSX

Read 107 VMware NSX reviews

14,984 Views
899 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Cisco APIC-EM [EOL]

VMware NSX

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco APIC-EM [EOL] and VMware NSX based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Broadcom, ZeroTier, Inc. and others in Network Virtualization.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Virtualization Report (Updated: October 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Network Virtualization

October 2026

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Helped 920,223 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

Cisco APIC-EM [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware NSX

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Network Virtualization (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (5th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (7th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (8th), Network Automation (5th), Microsegmentation Software (3rd)

Featured Reviews

it_user817026

Sr. IT & Business Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Enabling business agility and accelerated time to market with the automated service delivery

Infrastructure as a Service for managed services and other customers, including computing, storage, and networking Business agility and accelerated service delivery Automated processes/workflow automation Better manageability Eliminating the IT administration silos for our datacenter and…

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Mahesh Bhadoriya

Technical Manager at Allianz Cloud Private Limited

Micro segmentation has strengthened zero trust security and isolates production from test environments

The advantages of VMware NSX include its micro-segmentation for internal security at the firewall and VM levels, which is very powerful and helps us comply with complete Zero Trust security models. We are able to achieve this and configure network level virtualization with no dependency on VLANs. Micro-segmentation helps improve our security significantly. We are not totally dependent upon our physical upfront firewall, and it makes sense to configure everything using VMware NSX, leading to multiple improvements in our organization. We moved from traditional networking such as VLANs from the firewall and switches to VMware NSX segmentation. We achieve one firewall per VLAN and can stop lateral movement such as ransomware control. The Zero Trust model is the main functionality and architecture it offers, allowing application isolation, such as having a separate production and test environment. Consistent networking and security policies across different environments have a major and very positive impact on our business operations, allowing us to achieve the security posture we want with compliance and regulations.

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 environment enables a DevOps culture, continuous delivery, and automated processes."

"Enabling business agility and accelerated time to market with the automated service delivery."

"Eliminating the IT administration silos for our datacenter and infrastructure by providing a single managed and converged infrastructure which provides unified compute, storage, and networking environment with a single point of management."

"NSX is one of the simplest network solutions that I've ever worked with."

"VMware NSX has the ability to create networks in software."

"The ability to scale from different clouds. At the moment, the scalability of the product is the number one thing that I saw."

"The initial setup was straightforward. It follows a certain structure and you won't miss a step. It's all on the same level, step by step."

"This feature gives us flexibility and allows us to manage everything under one pane; we can see everything on one console, including network operations and behavior."

"The most valuable feature is to control application behavior, and it provides us with features that other products have not."

"VMware NSX has improved our organization in the way that we can now deploy many VMs faster than before and so we are scaling up much faster."

"The microsegmentation is great, and the security team thinks it is great."

More VMware NSX pros

Cons

"Need a better workflow definition tool with tracking on existing provisioned services, and to improve multitasking in the workflow automation."

"Sometimes, it can be difficult to get to a higher level engineer if you need to, but it takes some work to make that case."

"The price is rather high."

"The price is expensive and it could attract more purchasers in smaller organisations if it was reduced."

"The engineering team has room for improvement. They should have have more of a Knowledge Base about different case studies and should develop more advanced features. These kinds of improvements will change the way things get done."

"In the future, the solution should be compliant with internet NIC."

"The solution is only sold as part of a bundle and not as an individual product."

"The NSX setup is complex. That's one area where they could improve."

"The product need to be improved. It is too complex."

More VMware NSX cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"VMware has always been geared towards enterprise and their pricing options are a bit high. Their price is higher than other options in the market."

"The licensing is renewed every three years. The cost for implementation and renovation are a huge portion of that price."

"The product pricing ranges from medium to expensive. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."

"This solution requires a licence."

"Pricing and licensing could be improved as we are a government entity. Lower pricing could always help."

"We can't go without NSX, so it's invaluable from this perspective."

"Our customers have definitely complained about its cost. It's expensive. I'd rate it a nine out of ten in terms of pricing where ten represents a high price. There are other products out there that are equally expensive."

"VMware has a subscription and perpetual license. In the New Year, they're changing many things about the licensing model. Previously, NSX was licensed according to the number of sockets inside the appliance, so we bought VMware licenses based on that. However, that may have changed this year. We are still contacting the vendors to understand the new licensing strategy."

More VMware NSX pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Outsourcing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	34
Midsize Enterprise	23
Large Enterprise	70

Questions from the Community

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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...

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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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware NSX?

When measuring complexity and costs for our organization, we consider some parameters for effectiveness. In terms of effectiveness in reducing operational complexity, I measure it to be high on the...

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Comparisons

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Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Secure Workload vs VMware NSX

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Virtualization

October 2026

Download Cisco APIC-EM [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware NSX

October 2026

Download VMware NSX product report

Also Known As

Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Enterprise Module

VMware Nicira, Lastline Defender

Overview

APIC-EM is a central part of Cisco Digital Network Architecture. It delivers software-defined networking to the enterprise branch, campus, and WAN. Its simple user interface lets you automate policy-based application profiles. With this module, IT can respond rapidly to new business opportunities.

Cisco

VMware NSX is a comprehensive tool for network virtualization and security, offering advanced features like micro-segmentation and multi-cloud networking to enhance scalability and management efficiency within enterprises.

VMware NSX revolutionizes enterprise networking by integrating security and scalability into one streamlined platform. With capabilities like dynamic policy updates and automation, it simplifies complex configurations and provides robust API integration. Its support for Layer 4 and 7 load balancing, along with its seamless integration in multi-cloud environments, makes it a preferred choice among companies. Although deployment speed and management console features require refinement, NSX is an effective solution for private cloud and hybrid environments, enabling centralized orchestration and management of complex networks.

What are the key features of VMware NSX?

Micro-segmentation: Provides secure, granular network segmentation for enhanced security.
Distributed Firewall: Offers policy-driven firewall capabilities across all network endpoints.
Automation: Enables dynamic policy updates and simplifies network configurations.
API Integration: Facilitates seamless third-party integrations and improves configuration processes.
Multi-Cloud Networking: Supports seamless integration across various cloud environments.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Offers significant improvements in network scalability and management efficiency.
Security: Ensures enhanced security through advanced features like micro-segmentation.
Cost-Effectiveness: Potential to reduce costs through network automation and efficiency improvements.
Flexibility: Supports various enterprise requirements with its comprehensive feature set.

In the tech industry, VMware NSX is instrumental in managing private and hybrid cloud environments, allowing companies to replace traditional networking with software-defined networks. In finance, it helps secure transactional data through micro-segmentation. Healthcare organizations leverage its flexibility for managing sensitive patient information securely and integrating cloud services.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

City of Avondale, Lumeta, Kroll Ontrack, Heartland Payment Systems, Baystate Heallth, Exostar, Tribune Media, iGATE, NTT Communications, Synergent, California Natural Resources Agency, Bloomington Public Schools, Columbia Sportswear, Join Experience S.A, Schuberg Philis

Buyer's Guide

Network Virtualization

October 2026

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