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Arista Networks Platform vs Meraki MS Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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
6.7
Arista Networks Platform delivers good ROI, justifies higher costs with long-term savings, especially compared to Cisco and Juniper.
Sentiment score
7.6
Meraki MS Switches offer ROI in 2-3 years, improving manageability, scalability, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency for small businesses.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
Arista Networks Platform offers fast, proficient support, praised for direct engineer access and high customer satisfaction globally.
Sentiment score
8.6
Meraki MS Switches are praised for customer service and support, with 24/7 availability and varied response times noted.
They provide instant support and maintain commitments regarding replacement products.
According to my team’s feedback, we receive extended support from the Arista team.
The support is excellent and rated ten out of ten.
If the devices are licensed, the support team will assist you depending on the severity level of the case.
Cisco's tech support is pretty good, and I would rate it an eight out of ten.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Arista Networks Platform offers scalable, reliable networking for data centers, praised for network capacity, low latency, and intuitive management.
Sentiment score
7.7
Meraki MS Switches are ideal for small to medium businesses with easy configuration, but may lack enterprise-level scalability.
Scalability is a key feature of Arista, owing to the possibilities to manage the entire data center network from a single console.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Arista Networks Platform is highly stable with minimal downtime, praised for reliability when following best practice configurations.
Sentiment score
8.6
Meraki MS Switches are stable, reliable, with minor bugs, high ratings, effective performance, and appreciated automatic updates.
If something happens to the device or hardware, Cisco will automatically change the device by the next business day.
We faced issues following firmware updates, which we now handle by performing updates outside of working hours.
 

Room For Improvement

Arista Networks needs better documentation, integration, pricing, security, stability, management, community support, and network feature expansion.
Meraki MS Switches are criticized for high costs, limited features, and reliance on cloud connectivity for management.
Feature-wise, it addresses most customer requirements.
Arista Networks is currently less popular as they were initially more focused on data centers than campus networks.
Meraki should also consider improvements in stacking features, particularly in the lower-end models like NS130, where stacking isn't supported, unlike with Cisco traditional switching.
There are compatibility issues with certain Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices, which we would like to see resolved.
Most people are familiar with the Cisco commands, and it would be beneficial if the switch could be accessed by GUI configuration and by normally accessing the console.
 

Setup Cost

Arista Networks is costly, with high hardware and licensing expenses, especially compared to Huawei and NETGEAR, affecting affordability.
Meraki MS Switches are costly but highly valued for features and support, with savings available through long-term contracts.
Compared to Cisco, Arista routers are significantly cheaper.
Arista products are perceived as costly, especially compared to competitors like Cisco.
Meraki MS Switches, including their licensing, are somewhat expensive, particularly when compared with competitor solutions like HP.
Pricing is affordable, and licenses for the cloud need to be purchased every three to five years.
Meraki pricing is a little premium compared to other vendor products.
 

Valuable Features

Arista Networks Platform is praised for its reliability, scalability, Linux shell, efficient management, automation, and unmatched monitoring capabilities.
Meraki MS Switches offer cloud management, user-friendly setup, security, and integration, praised for stability, scalability, and support.
Features include plug-and-play auto-discovery, allowing centralized configuration and management.
The most valuable features of Arista include low latency, scalability, and sustainability of the products.
The control plane is in the cloud, and the data plane is local, allowing manageability from anywhere.
The most valuable feature is the ability to access devices from anywhere in the world through the cloud.
One of the most valuable features of Meraki MS Switches is its precise traffic analytics capabilities, allowing us to query the system for any place at any time.
 

Categories and Ranking

Arista Networks Platform
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Networking (2nd)
Meraki MS Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Arista Networks Platform is 3.3%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Meraki MS Switches is 4.0%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

MarekSzafrański - PeerSpot reviewer
Affordable for enterprise-sized companies
Speaking about whether the product enhanced our company's data center scalability, I would say that it was a solution that was used in a banking company, where it served as a replacement for Cisco. Though Arista Networks Platform is similar to Cisco IOS CLI, I feel that the former product offers better prices compared to the latter tool. Arista Networks Platform office is more efficient at a lower cost. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. The tool is stable and cheaper than Cisco. I would say that Arista Networks Platform is 100 percent compatible with the existing infrastructure in my company. The impact of the tool's network telemetry on our company's troubleshooting practices was just good for the scope for which I need the product. I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.
MajidKhan - PeerSpot reviewer
Remote access enhances troubleshooting with potential for more intuitive interface
We are working with Citrix and router, but in Cisco for Cisco vendor only. We are taking from them since 2015.  The main use case involves some small business customers needing one router, one switch, and two to three access points. It is easy to handle the devices with just a small knowledge of…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Arista Networks Platform?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arista Networks Platform?
Arista products are perceived as costly, especially compared to competitors like Cisco.
What needs improvement with Arista Networks Platform?
Currently, Arista is too costly for its customers. Feature-wise, it addresses most customer requirements. However, we sometimes face challenges when integrating with proprietary protocols and solut...
What do you like most about Meraki MS Switches?
The most valuable features of Meraki MS Switches are their reliability and simplicity.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki MS Switches?
Meraki MS Switches, including their licensing, are somewhat expensive, particularly when compared with competitor solutions like HP.
What needs improvement with Meraki MS Switches?
The prices are a little higher than other vendors. However, within the Cisco customer segment, customers mostly recommend it because they are existing users, and they are satisfied with their curre...
 

Also Known As

7000 Series
MS220, MS320, MS420
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Internet Services
Cisco Live Milan, Hyatt
Find out what your peers are saying about Arista Networks Platform vs. Meraki MS Switches and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.