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Cisco Cloud Services Router vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch comparison

 

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
7th
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
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Cloud Services Router is 5.3%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is 8.7%, 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 Switch8.7%
Cisco Cloud Services Router5.3%
Other86.0%
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

"We have been very happy with its capabilities over the many years we have used the product."
"It allowed us to create a more secure VPN than we would have been able to do without it."
"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 most valuable features of the Cisco Cloud Services Router are the integration with Amazon and Oracle cloud."
"I now have ease of flexibility, ease of use, and most importantly, convenience."
"The product is fantastic."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco Cloud Services Router is it can make your migrations smooth. For example, if you want to migrate to the cloud, but you don't want to change the IP. You can extend your VLAN from on-premise to the cloud without having to change the IP."
"It provides us with highly secure, reliable, and easy-to-manage 3G/4G LTE WAN cellular and wireless LAN connectivity for mobile environments."
"This solution is very similar to the on-premises version making it easy to use for those who know the architect."
"We value the solution's price, and it can do almost anything you need regarding routing, so it's a well-rounded solution for routing, especially for network routing."
"MikroTik is the most stable device; it’s easy to configure, there are no bugs or glitches, it’s reliable, and the performance is good."
"The router power is the most valuable aspect."
"This solution has improved a great deal over time and in many domains."
"Familiar RouterOS support, port isolation, flexible VLAN handling (tagging, untagging, rewriting, etc.)."
"It is user-friendly, reliable, and cheap."
"They are very well suited for small and medium businesses, and here in Tanzania, in some cases, even some large enterprises are using MikroTik due to the fact that they provide many features at zero cost."
 

Cons

"It is too complex. It is not easy to set up, even with the documentation that they provided. It is a little confusing."
"The initial setup is easy for one device but is more complex when numerous devices need to be configured."
"They have an online registration that happens after they pick up block months. If they could decrease to yearly or something, sometimes the device is not cell phone accessible. That becomes an issue or challenge for us. If that can be improved, that would be really great."
"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."
"The configuration is difficult."
"It is too complex. It is not easy to set up, even with the documentation that they provided."
"You can use this router in a scalable solution but it has its limitations."
"Technical support could be better. I am missing a single pane of glass, where I can see all the connections, etc."
"Simplifying the documentation would be a good idea."
"The user interface could improve and they should allow a license for IBS."
"Proper LACP support, more software support for hardware capabilities, true wirespeed Layer 3 routing."
"The RAM capacity offered by the product needs to be increased, as it is one area where the tool currently has some shortcomings."
"The user interface could improve and they should allow a license for IBS."
"The area for improvement is security. MikroTik is mostly used by medium and small businesses, so the security is not as robust as Cisco."
"MikroTik Cloud Router Switch needs improvement in the area of security, although the recent models are addressing this."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is too expensive on the AWS Marketplace."
"Purchasing through the AWS Marketplace was easy; click a button and you have it."
"Cost is a big factor. We would like to see the price reduced."
"Cisco Cloud Services Router is an expensive product. My company pays for the product yearly, and the price reaches roughly $800,000. Though Cisco Cloud Services Router is expensive and its competitors offer better pricing, when it comes to support, it's unbeatable."
"This solution is kind of expensive."
"The licensing model is good with this appliance: Bring Your Own License (BYOL)."
"We never buy the product on the AWS Marketplace. We only download it. We always use BYOL. We never buy the license in the AWS Marketplace, because it's very expensive."
"The pricing is fine, though it might have been cheaper going through a partner or doing a direct buy."
"In Pakistan, if you buy this cloud router, it's approximately $700 for the device."
"This product has a one-time cost and there is no licensing fee."
"The licensing for MikroTik is great. It's easy to enter, especially for small businesses. Their model is great."
"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."
"MikroTik is really cheap compared to the competitors."
"The price of the solution is fair and there is a one-time license purchase only."
"I consider it to be a cost-effective solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Performing Arts
12%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Marketing Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Educational Organization
12%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing 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

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?
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.
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...
 

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: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.