Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] vs Juniper Session Smart Router comparison

Citrix and Juniper are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Additionally, 90% of Citrix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Juniper users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 6, 2025

Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] and Juniper Session Smart Router are competing in the network performance and reliability category. Despite Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]'s cost benefits, Juniper Session Smart Router often holds the upper hand due to its advanced features and long-term strategic network improvements.

Features: Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] provides robust path optimization, application acceleration, and seamless network traffic management. Juniper Session Smart Router offers zero-trust security, agile routing, and cutting-edge technology with its unique SDR channel.

Room for Improvement: Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] could enhance its security features, simplify its deployment process, and improve customer support. Juniper Session Smart Router might benefit from increased flexibility in configuration, better insight into specific feature operations, and documentation improvements for ease of use.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Juniper Session Smart Router is known for its straightforward deployment process and strong customer support. In contrast, Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] can be more complex to set up, requiring enhanced guidance for a smoother implementation.

Pricing and ROI: Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] offers competitive pricing, delivering a good ROI for cost-focused organizations. Juniper Session Smart Router, while having a higher initial setup cost, provides significant ROI through its advanced capabilities and long-term network performance enhancements.

To learn more, read our detailed Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

September 2025

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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

Fortinet FortiGate

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Sammy Mukuna

Network Admin at Naivas Ltd

Seamlessly combines Internet and MPLS

Citrix has made my work easier and more cost-effective. It lowered our Internet costs and gave me the flexibility to choose providers based on each location's connectivity. Unlike before, I'm not tied to a specific provider. The central deployment feature allows easy configuration updates for all boxes from the head office, streamlining network management. This simplification has been a big plus for our operations.

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SRI GANESH PHANIYAPPA

Sub Divisional Engineer NOC Bangalore at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

Delivered tailored features and meets requirements effectively

We are using it as a DNG. This means all subscriber PPPoE sessions or ILS Smart VPN connections are terminated through the access network to this BNG, Uniphore BNG. From there, they are managed Everything has been fine. Although we did not explore much about the solution, they provided us with a…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most helpful features of FortiGate include its firewall policy, specifically the user-based policy, which I find to be quite beneficial in managing our network security effectively."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The solution is very user-friendly."

"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a stateless balance proposition"

"The response is very quick and they can visually resolve our problems in a short period."

"My company never had any complaints about the tool in terms of performance or stability."

"I would advise others considering or evaluating the Fortinet FortiGate to buy it."

"We have received a very good ROI; it has provided significant time savings of almost 20-25%."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The most valuable feature is security, as it gives me the port bindings that cannot be accomplished using other solutions."

"We are using it widely for the local record for SaaS-based applications. Another valuable feature is a local breakout."

"The most valuable feature is its reliability."

"It lowered our Internet costs and gave me the flexibility to choose providers based on each location's connectivity."

"They have a zero downtime failover mechanism, where, when there's a link failure or a link weakness, or bad link conditions, they provide the ability to fail back seamlessly."

"Downtime for branch offices is now almost zero. We have 100% real-time visibility into all of our lines. MPLS links have been replaced with lower-cost links, saving a larger percentage of line costs. Overall, I see SD-WAN as a must. And the Citrix SD-WAN product has delivered on expectations and exceeded them. (With later firmware updates we now have good firewall capabilities in the product too)."

"The stability is the main feature of Citrix SD-WAN. You can also upgrade the data packages or have less transmission."

"It allows us to use additional VPNs, offering more options compared to other VPN solutions."

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] pros

"The solution is especially Session's smart, application-aware, AI-based."

"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."

"Customer service is very prompt."

"As compared to the other major vendors in the SD-WAN market, such as VeloCloud, Cisco, and others, the tunnel-free and secure vector routing technology is its major USP, which gives plenty of room to discuss with the customer why IPSec from 1998 is a bit outdated."

"They provided us with a customized product according to our requirements."

Cons

"The performance and speed are aspects of the solution that could always be improved upon."

"There are just some services that aren't available. For example, the Ethernet or point-to-point protocols. They could add these services to their product offering - especially services for ISPs."

"The process of configuring firewall rules appears excessively complex."

"The pricing of the solution is expensive, so it could be cheaper."

"The UTM filtering needs improvement."

"My only complaint about FortiGate is a lack of QinQ VLAN tunneling. I haven't found this feature in any Fortinet product. You can do this on all Cisco routers, including the smaller models. However, QinQ isn't available on the biggest, most expensive Fortinet units. They still don't have that. I think now we're on software version 6.0, and they still haven't found a solution for QinQ. It isn't a dealbreaker, but that's my main complaint."

"It would be ideal if they had some sort of GUI interface for troubleshooting and diagnostics."

"Its performance can be better. We have had performance issues in the past, but we sometimes tend to find that it is more related to what we do in our network than anything else. It is quite a good product, and there isn't much to improve."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The price is the only thing that could be improved. Citrix is not a cheap solution."

"I would like to either see the price reduced or have it packaged with other products to give better value for the money."

"The firewall reporting could be easier to use and filter. (It works well enough, but if I need to give an area for improvement, I think this would be it.). The built-in reporting on the product in this regard is not great."

"The only improvement for Citrix SD-WAN would be to lower its cost."

"Overall, network security and next-generation firewall features are areas that they can improve on."

"Citrix SD-WAN's knowledge base has a few missing things, so you may need to seek help from support."

"The solution's licensing model could be improved."

"I would like to see support for additional reporting."

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] cons

"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks. What we are missing there are wizards. For example, I have two applications, and I want one application to be prioritized against the other. In such a case, a wizard for assigning policies to a service without configuring each step by hand would be very helpful. There should be an overhaul of the GUI of the conductor. The functionality they have got in the Mist portal should be baked into the conductor itself. It would be really great, but as we all know, that won't happen."

"Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in terms of software performance."

"Juniper Session Smart Router can improve the integration for Wi-Fi devices and add additional Sassy deployments."

"Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to other firewall products, it's a little cheaper in terms of pricing."

"The solution's price is average."

"It is a good product from a price perspective versus functionality."

"They need to be competitive with other solutions."

"I pay €1,200 per year for the license along with Fortinet's 81E firewall appliance. I would rate this pricing as 3/5 stars, and I believe the price is reasonably similar to its competitors in the market, being somewhere in the middle."

"While slightly more affordable than competitors, it remains relatively expensive due to its inclusive subscription."

"Go for long term pricing negotiated at the time of purchase."

"Pricing for this product is comparatively lower than other products. It's an affordable solution, but when expanding the number of users, they'll ask you to replace the model, so that's an added cost."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"It is a bit expensive. A cheaper product would be good, but everybody likes things to be cheaper. We bought the devices up front, and then we pay for the annual support."

"The price of the subscription should be cheaper."

"Citrix SD-WAN is quite an affordable product."

"It would be helpful to have a demo license available for customers who want to prove the concept and conduct a proof of concept (POC) before committing to the solution. This is particularly important for customers in Egypt who often require a demonstration of the solution's features and compatibility with their needs before making any investment or incurring costs. Providing a demo license would allow customers to assess whether the solution would meet their needs or not."

"I'm not quite sure of the price ranges. Roughly, the hidden devices can scale up to $20K for one appliance. However, the branch CPs are USD $1,000 to $2,500."

"I believe that Citrix SD-WAN is a good investment, but I do not have the information to be more specific."

"The price is relatively expensive."

"The license was a one-time purchase. It's expensive."

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] pricing and cost advice

"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."

"We are currently renegotiating the offer for the licenses and the license bundle model. The license for an ISP has to be different from the license for an end customer. This is something we are currently renegotiating with Juniper, but, of course, the pricing for the licensing is always an issue when you want to get more customers."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

29%

Government

Educational Organization

Energy/Utilities Company

Manufacturing Company

18%

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	129
Large Enterprise	187

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	10

No data available

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

See all answers

What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Citrix SD-WAN?

It lowered our Internet costs and gave me the flexibility to choose providers based on each location's connectivity.

See all answers

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

It is on the expensive side. I would give it an eight out of ten in terms of costliness. In my region, the approximat...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Citrix SD-WAN?

The solution's licensing model could be improved. Citrix SD-WAN is a good product from a technical point of view. How...

See all answers

What do you like most about Juniper Session Smart Router?

The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?

Juniper Session Smart Router is not significantly cheaper than, for example, Cisco.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?

I did not find any problem with Juniper. Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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FatPipe WAN Optimization vs Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]

Compared 100% of the time

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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 25% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 16% of the time

NFX Series Network Services Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 11% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 10% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 6% of the time

More Juniper Session Smart Router Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

September 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]

September 2025

Download Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

Routers

August 2025

Download Juniper Session Smart Router product report

Also Known As

No data available

Citrix CloudBridge, WOC, NetScaler SD-WAN

128T Networking Platform, 128 Technology SD-WAN, Juniper SSR Series

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

Fortinet

Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] enhances network stability, redundancy, and reliability, supporting connectivity between branches, optimizing internet access, and enabling secure, redundant networks, both on-premises and cloud-based.

Corporations utilize Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] to improve network performance, minimize downtime, and ensure high availability. Combining communication methods and supporting interbranch internet routing, it assists businesses in transitioning from MPLS, centralizing monitoring, and optimizing bandwidth use. Its functionality includes secure connections, cost reductions, and effective management of internet access. The support for multiple communication methods, application reliability, and ease of implementation make it a valuable tool for modern network management.

What key features does Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] offer?

Security: Enhanced protection to safeguard network data
IPv6 layering over IPv4: Ensures compatibility and future-proofing
Active-Active bandwidth use: Maximizes bandwidth utilization
Zero downtime failover: Maintains continuous operation during failures
Zero-touch deployment: Simplifies the installation process
Application reliability: Ensures high performance for critical applications
Cost-effectiveness: Reduces overall networking expenses
Central deployment: Facilitates easy configuration updates and management

What benefits should users look for in Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] reviews?

Enhanced performance: Improved application and connectivity speed
Increased reliability: Minimized network downtime and interruptions
Centralized monitoring: Streamlined network oversight and control
Scalable security: Adaptable protection for evolving network needs
Cost savings: Lower operational costs compared to traditional MPLS
Flexibility: Ability to handle multiple network functions effectively

Industries implement Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] to replace costly MPLS setups with more flexible VPN and NetScaler options, benefiting sectors like finance, healthcare, and retail that require robust, secure, and scalable network solutions. Organizations achieve better device management and efficient connectivity across multiple branches, enhancing their operational effectiveness.

Citrix

The 128T Networking Platform (128T) natively provides network-based security, control, and insight across data centers, wide-area networks (WAN), and edge locations for enterprises, service providers, and cloud companies alike. 128T is reshaping the way organizations design, deploy, and operate real-world networks by making them dramatically simpler, smarter, and more secure — it’s going to fix the router — and ultimately the network — as we know it.

Juniper

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Cornerstone Home Lending Inc., Dallara, ecVision, Essar, Eurofred, Groupe Promutuel, HMSHost Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Ltd, Royal Caribbean International

Revation Systems

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September 2025

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