Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs SonicWall SMA comparison

The compared Cisco and SonicWall solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #6 in NMA , with an average rating of 8.2. SonicWall is ranked #2 in UAG , with an average rating of 10.0, and holds a 50.0% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Read 95 Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN reviews

210 Views
96 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

SonicWall SMA

Read 14 SonicWall SMA reviews

70 Views
36 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

SonicWall SMA

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and SonicWall SMA based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Management Applications.

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Network Management Applications

May 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

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Management Applications (6th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (2nd)

SonicWall SMA

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (7th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (18th)

Featured Reviews

Igor Van Den Ouden

Engineer at Routz

Enables secure and flexible branch connectivity with application-aware routing

The valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN include its security policies and zone-based firewall that are applied to every site, as well as application-aware routing. Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations. Application-aware routing offers flexibility in using different lines for traffic, depending on the policy implemented.

Read full review

Maheshbabu T

Project Manager at CGG

It allows us to provide CML-based access to any user, but the reporting could be better

I rate SonicWall SMA seven out of 10. If you're planning to implement this solution, I suggest checking the version to ensure it's compatible with your other technology. I say go for it if it's suitable for your use case. Multifactor authentication technologies are built into the product, whereas some products lack multifactor authentication. We need only one or two. They provide authentication, gateway integration, OTP integration, etc.

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 solution sufficiently provides ISPs."

"The centralized management is the most important feature. We can monitor what is going on at every location in our network with just one center."

"The best feature of this technology that is available to us is the ability to do better load-balancing."

"From my observations, Cisco has been rolling out new features every other day, so I would say their speed of innovation is one of the most valuable aspects for me."

"The most valuable features are manageability, scalability, and simplicity."

"It has a very good GUI."

"It is very simple and easy to manage, compared to other methods."

"If I have to give a neutral view of all the SD-WAN platforms that I have known so far, Cisco is good in routing."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pros

"I think they ask for a fair price."

"I like the load balancing capability."

"The management and the dashboard are the solution's most valuable features."

"It is faster than other security options when using remote connections."

"The performance is good."

"SonicWall SMA has the most valuable feature of proprietary security technologies like Capture ATP."

"I am very satisfied with the technical support."

"What I like best about SonicWall SMA is the relationship between its features and its price, because the solution is both affordable and functional."

More SonicWall SMA pros

Cons

"It is expensive."

"I would recommend better-integrated management."

"The client portal needs to be improved in order to make the solution much better."

"This solution should include a fully functional firewall at no extra charge."

"The solution should not be so bound to ISPs."

"I would like to see revision cycles to be more stable."

"Cisco SD-WAN could improve on the ease of integration, the configuration should be easier. At the moment the process is more command line based and it would be better if it was able to be done through an interface."

"I would like to see features related to security compliance, including a view of compliance with standards. With this, I should be able to do an audit of my network with SDWAN."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN cons

"The solution could integrate better with other platforms."

"The overall menu is not very user-friendly and it could be easier."

"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."

"I'd like to see the product maybe polish keyboards in Bookmark."

"The product's technical support services could be improved."

"The timed synchronization between the network appliance needs improvement."

"This is an expensive solution and I think that the price could be improved."

"The product itself is very good, but Dell needs to work on product visibility in their advertising."

More SonicWall SMA cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of Cisco SD-WAN is high and has room for improvement compared to competitors such as Fortinet which has similar functionality."

"It's expensive. If you compare Cisco with Fortinet and Juniper, you'll find that Cisco is more expensive than other vendors."

"It is much cheaper than other solutions. Most of our clients are the top 500 companies, and they all have a corporate contract."

"It is expensive. The license limitation is there in terms of bandwidth. Basically, Cisco is always good in terms of performance and related things. However, if you want to have a license, for example, for 100 Mbps, they charge you because of their 100 Mbps. If you want to go without the license of 300 Mbps, it is a bandwidth license as well. This is not happening with other vendors. That is the reason why we moved away from Cisco. The bill gets a little bit high. I do remember that one time we were trying to increase the bandwidth for at least five devices, and the license got as high as 20-grand for five devices, only for the license. It was expensive for us at the time. Our company is not a big company, but it is a solid company. The price was very high, and we moved away from Cisco because of the price."

"The price of Cisco SD-WAN could improve, it is expensive. The cost of the solution is approximately 30 percent higher than competitors."

"The initial cost is quite significant, but the investment is worthwhile."

"The costs are a bit on the high side."

"SD-WAN as a service is probably something in the neighborhood of $100 to $200 a month per location."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."

"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."

"All the costs are included in a bundled license."

"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."

"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."

"The platform has medium pricing."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

36%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

18%

Construction Company

Retailer

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco SD-WAN?

When considering the most valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN, the decoupling of self-monitoring stands out significantly.

See all answers

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

The pricing of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is rated between eight and nine out of ten, where ten is the most expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?

There's nothing I could put my finger on right away for improvements in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. There is definitely nothing that Juniper does that Cisco doesn't do. Cisco will do everything Juniper ...

See all answers

What do you like most about SonicWall SMA?

Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall SMA?

The platform has medium pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?

Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiGate vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 16% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 11% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 10% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 10% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Competitors

Peplink SpeedFusion vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 21% of the time

SonicWall Netextender vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 17% of the time

Ivanti Connect Secure vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 15% of the time

Citrix Gateway vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 14% of the time

More SonicWall SMA Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

June 2025

Download Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall SMA

May 2025

Download SonicWall SMA product report

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN

SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access

Overview

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN serves to connect remote offices, reduce MPLS costs, and facilitate cloud and internet access while providing secure connectivity and centralized management for hybrid networks.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is leveraged for secure connectivity, load balancing, VPN, centralized network management, and migrating from traditional networks to SD-WAN. It supports hybrid networks, enabling centralized management across branches and data centers, improving security, and optimizing bandwidth usage. Industries such as banking and retail benefit from its capabilities for secure and efficient network management.

What are the main features of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN?

Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations and administration.
Application-Level Routing: Enhances performance for critical applications.
Segmentation: Provides robust network segmentation for security.
Policy Configuration: Customizable policies for traffic management.
Real-Time Traffic Visibility: Enables monitoring for better insights.
Load Balancing: Distributes network traffic efficiently.
Hybrid Cloud Connectivity: Seamless integration with cloud services.
Deep Packet Inspection: Detailed traffic analysis for security.
High Security: Offers strong security protocols to protect the network.
Ease of Deployment: Features like zero-touch provisioning simplify setup.

What benefits should be considered in reviews?

Cost Savings: Reduces operational expenses through efficient network management.
Reliability: Proven performance and uptime for critical operations.
Scalability: Grows with the organization's needs.
Integrated Health Monitoring: Proactively identifies and resolves issues.
Industry Trust: Cisco's reputation for quality and support.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN's implementation in banking enhances secure transaction communication between branches and data centers. Retailers utilize it to ensure steady connectivity for point-of-sale systems and inventory management. Organizations benefit from centralized management, making it easier to handle networks across multiple locations.

Cisco

SonicWall SMA is a unified secure access gateway that enables organizations to provide anytime, anywhere and any device access to mission critical corporate resources. SMA's granular access control policy engine, context aware device authorization, application level VPN and advanced authentication with single sign-on empowers organizations to embrace BYOD and mobility in a hybrid IT environment.

SonicWall

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates

UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort

Buyer's Guide

Network Management Applications

May 2025

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