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Cisco Nexus 9000 Series vs Juniper QFX Series Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 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 Nexus 9000 Series
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
23rd
Ranking in Data Center Networking
9th
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper QFX Series Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
18th
Ranking in Data Center Networking
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Fakhar Mahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Network Administrator at i2c
Has consistently supported high availability with reliable performance and minimal disruption
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series and the routers are good, but the FMC or FTDs still need some improvement. We have Palo Alto firewalls and Next-Generation Firewalls in our environment. In comparison to the main firewall, we moved from Cisco FTDs to Palo Alto. We still have FTDs in our environment, but the majority of the firewalls have been moved to Palo Alto. They are more user-friendly, give more visibility, and are more efficient. The performance is better than Cisco. With the new features, Cisco is having some improvement for the FTD. I am currently evaluating the FTDs. The new version has better features like the encrypted visibility engine and user-based changes in FMCs, and other things are quite useful for us. FTDs do have limitations and other issues. We communicated that limitation and feature support to the Cisco account manager. We do have support for the devices. We currently have a weekly call with Cisco and they are making progress regarding new versions of the FMCs and introducing new features. The performance of deployment has improved quite a bit compared to four or five years ago.
FauzanRahmanto - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at DCI Indonesia
Has streamlined deployment with consistent configuration and reduced long-term hardware replacement needs
The best feature of Juniper QFX Series Switches is the virtual chassis feature because it's very stable in my experience. Juniper QFX Series Switches have positively impacted my organization because it's very helpful for customer connectivity. We've been using it for customer connections, and it's very stable. We can use it for a long time without any broken devices or errors on the system. It has helped me significantly with my network.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"RealPresence works effectively."
"Performance has been great with no abnormal behaviors detected, and the network remains stable even in failover scenarios, supporting vast environments with high availability."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very durable and very reliable, and there has never been any issue with it."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is quite a complex machine, but we are using a very simple configuration with basic Nexus switching, and we don't have many issues with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series at the moment in our present infrastructure."
"I do see a return on investment with Juniper QFX Series Switches because I can use this device for a long time, and it's still very stable until now."
"Juniper QFX Series Switches provide a good platform for all of our hardware and are easy to use."
"Support is good and customer-friendly"
"The most valuable features are the VxLAN and the EVPN."
"It's a stable solution."
"I do see a return on investment with Juniper QFX Series Switches because I can use this device for a long time, and it's still very stable until now."
"The QFX series is a good choice for large data centers, particularly for Spine-Leaf architectures."
"EVPN-VXLAN feature offers the most benefits."
 

Cons

"Cost-wise, Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very expensive."
"We find that Cisco has been left behind by the other vendors. The other vendors have adopted new technology, and we find Cisco lagging behind."
"The SFP modules we are using have had issues. We have Cisco modules, but they frequently heat up or there are packet error issues."
"Integrating QFX switches was the first point of challenge."
"The price could be cheaper."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model. It is too high."
"I don't think there's any improvement needed on Juniper QFX Series Switches, but I would like to see other cheaper plans for the license on the QFX series."
"I don't think there's any improvement needed on Juniper QFX Series Switches, but I would like to see other cheaper plans for the license on the QFX series."
"Sometimes parts are not available in stock, then you have to wait for replacement time."
"It is very costly."
"There have been some issues sometimes. When you upgrade the device, it doesn't come up. It gets stuck."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The cost is expensive."
"The price of Juniper QFX Series Switches is expensive because we are running some enterprise hardware. However, they are less expensive than Cisco or HPE hardware."
"The solution is cheap, especially compared to competitors like Cisco."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
After the initial integration, the focus has been on support rather than further development. Cost-wise, Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very expensive. The pricing could absolutely be improved. So far,...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series serves as a core router and core switch for users, and provides interconnectivity between the core switch and the access switch, as well as remote access switch for smaller ...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
I am a customer of this solution and also a distributor. Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is usually integrated with other Cisco tools or third-party tools, including 3750, 3850, 3650, and 3750 as access sw...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper QFX Series Switches?
The price depends heavily upon the level of relationship you have with the OEM. We are a number one, tier-one partner of Juniper. Therefore, we normally get better discounts than with Cisco because...
What needs improvement with Juniper QFX Series Switches?
I don't think there's any improvement needed on Juniper QFX Series Switches, but I would like to see other cheaper plans for the license on the QFX series.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Linode, VPRO, West Chester University
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus 9000 Series vs. Juniper QFX Series Switches and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.