Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Meraki SD-WAN comparison

The compared Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and Meraki SD-WAN solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is ranked #6 in NMA , with an average rating of 8.1. Meraki SD-WAN is ranked #1 in SDN , with an average rating of 8.8, and holds a 23.2% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Meraki SD-WAN users who would recommend it.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Read 94 Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN reviews

129 Views
67 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Meraki SD-WAN

Read 77 Meraki SD-WAN reviews

1,592 Views
1,029 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Meraki SD-WAN

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Executive Summary

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

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Network Management Applications

April 2025

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Helped 849,963 peers since 2012

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)

Meraki SD-WAN

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Defined Networking (SDN) (1st)

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

Martyn Walker

Business development manager at Virgin Media

Enables productivity in terms of users and has ease of management

Scalability could be improved. Yes, you can add more than 300 or 400 sites onto it, but because it's not a true SD-WAN and, effectively, it's just a Multi-VRF, it's all hub and spoke at that point. That's the nature of the design, but that's what keeps it simple to administer. So, it's a trade off.

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 reliability is high and we have only had to restart it once or twice over the years."

"The technical support is very responsive."

"The user experience is pretty good."

"There have been no issues with stability."

"The solution is good to use and easy to handle and manage from the centralized location or from the cloud."

"The product's brand recognition is one of the most valuable aspects of the solution."

"The most useful feature is centralized telephony."

"I would rate the overall solution as a ten out of ten."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pros

"The redundancy feature of Meraki SD-WAN has most significantly enhanced network performance."

"The tool is easy to use."

"The solution operates via zero-touch configuration."

"The most valuable feature is the firewall capability. It's also got a very good graphical user interface and is very easy to manage."

"We have found the product to be quite scalable."

"It's made managing our client's networks extremely easy, regardless of my location. Being able to hop on my cell phone to see what's happening on a client's network makes everything much more manageable."

"The seamless end-to-end setup is really what makes it beautiful; that's why Meraki is good."

"The best feature we're using is the packet shaping."

More Meraki SD-WAN pros

Cons

"Cisco SD-WAN's clustering mechanism needs to be improved. If there are more than five milliseconds of latency time between installations of the VM manager, the cluster automatically breaks down."

"The deployment is complex."

"It is the best solution that I ever had, but there might be something better than this in the future."

"Cisco SD-WAN doesn't have automation capabilities, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and isn't IOT-based."

"The product needs to have more understanding staff in their support team. The tool needs to provide support in every stage of deployment. We did not get the expected support from their team. The product is also not easy to use."

"The solution could be a bit cheaper."

"The technical support is a bit slow."

"The solution could be more secure. Security is always a priority for us."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN cons

"The only problem occurs when users are not paying attention and turn on the wrong switches, like power switches, in places they should not."

"The solution lacks controllers."

"The deployment time of Meraki SD-WAN can vary. For someone new to the process, it could take a couple of hours. However, for someone with hands-on experience, such as myself, it only takes approximately two to three hours to set up the entire configuration."

"This solution can only support up to two WAN ports."

"Meraki is more or less intelligent load balancing, although a lot of features are missing that our SD-WAN solutions will have."

"We have had some problems doing the implementation."

"It's a matter of cost and expenses that we may take some issue with."

"The solution is scalable for mid-tier deployments, but not for major ones."

More Meraki SD-WAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The Cisco SD-WAN licensing model needs to be simplified. There are currently three types of licenses: enterprise agreements, individual licenses, and DNA subscriptions. This can confuse customers, requiring a dedicated person to determine which type of license is right for their organization."

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

"There is a monthly subscription to use this solution."

"We pay for the Cisco Customer Care support, which is a couple of hundred dollars."

"It's costly. The cost is high compared to competitors."

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

"The pricing is fair, and it's on par with the market vendors. But based on the competition, Cisco could work on the pricing, go deep on discounts and provide more commercially viable solutions to customers."

"For 600 links, the license for Cisco SD-WAN costs us US$250k a year."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

"The solution's pricing is in line with what we expected."

"The licensing fees are approximately $1,000 USD annually."

"There are no licensing costs for the product subscription."

"The licensing model is a fair one, although having the hardware means nothing without the license. You need to continue to pay licensing fees."

"If you purchase a Meeraki box, you have to purchase a license, and it's already the basic license, you will have you SD-WAN included."

"Regarding pricing, Meraki SD-WAN is quite competitive, especially compared to solutions like Fortinet. However, it's essential to consider that Meraki requires cloud orchestration, which adds to the overall cost. Overall, it's one of the most competitive solutions from Cisco for SD-WAN."

"For a pure SD-WAN solution, the pricing is competitive. However, our clients are on the lower tier in terms of budget, viewing IT more as a necessary expense rather than integral to their business. While Meraki's solution might be pricey for them, there aren't many cheaper, reliable options."

"I don't have information on the exact cost of Meraki SD-WAN, but I'd rate it a three out of five just because the licensing model is very much associated with the Meraki solution."

More Meraki SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

43%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

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?

The durability of the switches could be improved. In the past, Cisco devices had a longer lifespan. Now, they change frequently, making it difficult to obtain long-term support.

See all answers

What do you like most about Meraki SD-WAN?

The auto VPN feature is important because it automates many tasks, making things simpler and faster. It helps with setting up devices and changing configurations without manual effort.

See all answers

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

The price is a little bit higher than local vendors, for example, Huawei ZTE or H3C. However, some customers require the best quality and performance, thus needing solutions and products from Cisco.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Meraki SD-WAN?

They have to ask us many questions about configurations. It could be improved with some automation to trigger, for example, telemetry data, so we can determine the state of the deployment as of day...

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiGate vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 15% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 12% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 10% of the time

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

Compared 8% of the time

Peplink SpeedFusion vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Competitors

Omada Cloud SDN vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 21% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 16% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 14% of the time

Cradlepoint NetCloud vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 7% of the time

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 6% of the time

More Meraki SD-WAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

April 2025

Download Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Meraki SD-WAN

April 2025

Download Meraki SD-WAN product report

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN

No data available

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

Software-defined WAN is a new approach to network connectivity that lowers operational costs and improves resource usage for multi-site deployments, allowing network administrators to use bandwidth more efficiently and ensure the highest possible level of performance for critical applications without sacrificing security or data privacy. For more information on deploying and configuring SD-WAN on the Meraki MX Security Appliance, see the Meraki SD-WAN Deployment Guide.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates

École Jeannine Manuel

Buyer's Guide

Network Management Applications

April 2025

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