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Cisco Nexus vs Juniper QFX Series Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Nexus offers strong ROI with cost savings, reliability, and ease of use, balancing initial costs with long-term benefits.
Sentiment score
4.9
Upgrading Juniper QFX Series Switches is costly, with potential miscommunication and missed discounts complicating the long-term financial strategy.
Speeding up our response times and reducing errors and incidents with automation and available APIs.
The normal ROI customers work with is five years unless there is a major change in technology.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Nexus boasts responsive, knowledgeable support with quick resolutions, though service quality sometimes varies between representatives or escalation steps.
Sentiment score
7.3
Juniper QFX Series customer service is professional and effective, but part availability can delay resolution; overall rated 7.5/10.
For us, we have a time advantage because we know the solution, and the technological refresh is easier.
Sometimes parts are not available in stock, then you have to wait for replacement time.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Nexus offers scalable solutions for enterprises, supporting numerous nodes with flexibility despite cost concerns.
Sentiment score
7.8
Juniper QFX Series Switches offer high scalability and performance, supporting varied environments and extensive growth without frequent upgrades.
When building a fabric, you can add multiple leaf switches and multiple spine switches if required.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Cisco Nexus is highly stable, with minor bugs, improved reliability, and long uptime, enhancing user satisfaction significantly.
Sentiment score
7.4
Juniper QFX Switches offer reliable performance and security, with upgrade issues resolved swiftly by responsive support, rated 8/10 stability.
Initially, the stability of Cisco Nexus, particularly with the ACI, was problematic due to unstable codes, requiring replacements.
Juniper has better performance than any other networking product as far as performance is concerned in the router area.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Nexus requires better GUI, programmability, multi-tenancy support, simplified licensing, improved tools, automation, integration, and competitive pricing.
Improving pricing, user interface, and features can enhance the experience and expand Juniper QFX Series Switches' market share.
When I talk about data centers, which are critical infrastructure and centralized application hubs, the Nexus platforms should be highly stable.
The solution is on-premises and stable.
My personal opinion is that if anyone wants to work with a Layer 3 fabric in a data center, they should choose Juniper because working with ACI and APIC is very complex in the Cisco part.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Nexus pricing is high, with complex licensing and significant costs, though discounts are possible through negotiation.
Juniper QFX Switches offer better affordability than Cisco or HPE, yet Fortinet excels in cost-effective security solutions with discounts.
The price of Cisco Nexus is on the higher side due to the premium services Cisco offers.
All solutions are very expensive and not an economy solution.
We are a number one, tier-one partner of Juniper. Therefore, we normally get better discounts than with Cisco because we don't have the level one partnership with Cisco.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Nexus is praised for flexibility, scalability, strong security, and ease of use, making it ideal for data centers.
Juniper QFX Series Switches excel in VxLAN, feature high port density, low power use, and efficient data center scalability.
It has helped streamline network-related operations with its automation and API capabilities.
For us, we have a time advantage because we know the solution, and the technological refresh is easier.
They work with EVPN solutions, providing a Layer 3 fabric, which is a very good capability.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Nexus
Ranking in Data Center Networking
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (3rd)
Juniper QFX Series Switches
Ranking in Data Center Networking
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (18th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Center Networking category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus is 19.3%, up from 16.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper QFX Series Switches is 15.3%, up from 7.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Center Networking
 

Featured Reviews

Vinayak Lokare - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhancing data center network efficiency with reliable security integrations and good switching
Cisco Nexus provides a reliable switching platform for our data centers. It allows us to run dynamic routing protocols and helps improve network efficiency with features like MPLS. Additionally, it supports integration with third-party security tools, which is advantageous for our network architecture. Security-wise, we utilize Cisco's solutions while exploring other vendor options too.
RafaelTorres - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers automation capabilities and good customer support
Juniper QFX Series Switches offer several features that contribute to improved efficiency. One key advantage is the automation capabilities. This allows us to automate network configuration and management tasks using scripting languages. In our case, at the bank, we use a script for automation to confirm the switch's scalability in the local data center. We expanded the environment to utilize the environment feature with AWS, creating connections between both data centers. This setup allowed us to extend our operations to another data center in Latin America, using AWS and Juniper together.
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856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Nexus?
The product's initial setup phase is very easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?
The price of Cisco Nexus is on the higher side due to the premium services Cisco offers. Despite the cost, it offers valuable features and services.
What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?
When I talk about data centers, which are critical infrastructure and centralized application hubs, the Nexus platforms should be highly stable. Initially, the codes I received through ACI were qui...
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?
Juniper, specifically if observed, four routers are much more efficient than their counterparts. Cisco does not have the capabilities that Juniper routers, big routers such as PTX and MX have. In t...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins
Linode, VPRO, West Chester University
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus vs. Juniper QFX Series Switches and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.