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Cisco Cloud Services Router vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

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 Cloud Services Router
Ranking in Routers
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch
Ranking in Routers
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Cloud Services Router is 4.4%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is 7.7%, up from 7.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Routers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch7.7%
Cisco Cloud Services Router4.4%
Other87.9%
Routers
 

Featured Reviews

VENKATESHREDDY - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate IT Director at Diligent Global
Manageable, provides excellent support, and easily integrates with other products
One central area for improvement in Cisco is its product line offering. Cisco has ISE and other products, such as DNS Center and other components. Instead of small to medium-sized customers purchasing devices and maintaining the devices, it would be great if customers could have subscriptions. A CAPEX/OPEX model instead of that Cisco code, where the pricing model is subscription-based, would give much better flexibility for the customers. The pricing and model for Cisco Cloud Services Router and other Cisco products could be improved. One good example of what I want to be added to the Cisco Cloud Services Router in its next version is for it to be more of a plug-and-play product. For example, Juniper has developed QR codes, so if you need to plug in a device, you scan from your phone and connect to the internet. That's it. You can provision the device remotely through the cloud orchestrator, so I want to see a similar function or feature in Cisco Cloud Services Router.
Andriejus Artamonovas - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
Has supported deeper configuration through traffic mirroring and advanced VLAN setup
The main reason why MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is usually chosen is its raw performance to price ratio. In comparison to UniFi switches, MikroTik Cloud Router Switch can mirror all ports for traffic inspection for further traffic analysis, which UniFi cannot do. VLANs in MikroTik Cloud Router Switch are always useful. The way MikroTik implements VLAN-aware switching at the bridge level is hidden in the configuration. Making CRS work as a simple VLAN-aware switch requires deeper configuration, which is not intuitive. VLANs support individual interfaces not part of the bridge, allowing for double VLANing. You can create a VLAN interface in the interfaces context and also create a bridge interface, add physical ports, create VLANs for that bridge interface, and assign tagged and untagged ports and VLANs. Load balancing is one of the key components. The feature itself is quite efficient and works reliably on MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. The very basic setup is one of my favorites because they have their protocol where I can connect through the MAC address right on Layer 2, and I don't lose connectivity to the switch if I mess up with bridging or IP addressing.

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 is the artificial intelligence assessment models."
"The most valuable feature is the SNMP traps that I use to monitor the router and the availability of the network."
"It provides us with highly secure, reliable, and easy-to-manage 3G/4G LTE WAN cellular and wireless LAN connectivity for mobile environments."
"When the customer buys Cisco, they receive security and the capabilities to do many thing with networking, like routing and installation of networks."
"The most valuable features of the Cisco Cloud Services Router are the integration with Amazon and Oracle cloud."
"We have been very happy with its capabilities over the many years we have used the product."
"It connects all the accounts with the weaknesses, and this is what we were looking for, and it also connects with the on-premise side."
"Cisco has helped improve my organization in the was that it actually helped us to get the communication between on-prem and cloud to become smoother since we got it."
"The simplicity of how one can set it up is the most valuable aspect."
"The performance has been good."
"Regarding security and visibility in monitoring, it is very good, the GUI is very intuitive, and it has many more features than those from major vendors."
"The tool has impacted our company's network costs and productivity in a perfect manner and percentage-wise, I can say it is 120 percent."
"The technical support for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is superb."
"The interface management and the user access management is pretty good."
"It is user-friendly, reliable, and cheap."
"A valuable aspect is its user-friendly configuration, making it accessible even for individuals with basic technical knowledge."
 

Cons

"Over the past couple of years, I've noticed that the Cisco CLIs and web-based interfaces have changed. As such, there is a bit of a learning curve for people."
"It does the job, but it's not cloud native. It could be even better, like having a single pane of glass and being less expensive."
"There should be a system in place to help existing users make an easier transition to the newer interfaces."
"I would like some deployment examples and guides specific to AWS VPCs and how to separate your subnets. Then, how they tie-in with the Internet gateway and any NAT services that we are running on our VPC. This would be extremely helpful."
"The ease of use within the AWS environment needs to improve. Sometimes, it is very esoteric in how you use it. Therefore, you have to learn to use it, then you are able to."
"The initial setup is easy for one device but is more complex when numerous devices need to be configured."
"Cisco Cloud Services Router could improve by having more features. It is lacking features, such as virtualization and containerization. Additionally, there should be increased security and connectivity between routers."
"Cost is a big factor. We would like to see the price reduced."
"The area for improvement is security. MikroTik is mostly used by medium and small businesses, so the security is not as robust as Cisco."
"This product is not recommended for enterprise-level projects."
"The solution does not yet offer a SaaS version."
"While some customers use MikroTik Cloud Router Switch as a firewall, it's not at an industry-level, though the basic features are adequate for many users who prefer it over purchasing other reputed firewall solutions."
"There has to be more development in the OS. It's complex for this switch as compared to others like Cisco. For NetGear and Cisco, it's easy to adapt the VLAN concept but it should be simplified for MikroTik."
"Aspects such as zero trust, security, and management interface could be improved, which would be useful."
"Improvements are needed with respect to some of the security, especially for VPN links between vendors other than Cisco."
"The initial setup is complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is good for what it offers."
"You do need to pay a licensing fee to use the solution. You can do a yearly or three-year subscription. The product itself is quite expensive. It would be ideal if they offered the product at a cheaper price."
"The licensing model is good with this appliance: Bring Your Own License (BYOL)."
"Cost is a big factor. We would like to see the price reduced."
"The product is too expensive on the AWS Marketplace."
"Purchasing the product on the AWS Marketplace was very simplistic. Our organization was trying to centralize our billing costs, and simplicity was best."
"This solution is kind of expensive."
"The cost needs improvement. It is very expensive through the AWS Marketplace."
"The price is competitive."
"In Pakistan, if you buy this cloud router, it's approximately $700 for the device."
"MikroTik is really cheap compared to the competitors."
"The licensing for MikroTik is great. It's easy to enter, especially for small businesses. Their model is great."
"The price of the solution is fair and there is a one-time license purchase only."
"They came with the licensing when we purchased them."
"I believe the price of the tool is high, but it is okay for the services we get from it."
"I consider it to be a cost-effective solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
11%
Performing Arts
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

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What needs improvement with MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?
It can be difficult to identify key functions for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. I experience functionality limitations, particularly when trying to find specific features. It would be beneficial to...
What is your primary use case for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?
I mostly work with network equipment now, focusing mainly on routers. I work with FortiGates and MikroTik routers. When referring to FortiGate routers, I mean the firewalls, but not the enterprise-...
 

Also Known As

Cisco CSR, Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000v, Cisco CSR 1000v
MikroTik CRS Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Under Armour, HealthSparq, Adobe
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Cloud Services Router vs. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.