Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Aviatrix vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Aviatrix
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Networking (SDN) (4th)
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (5th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Aviatrix is designed for Software Defined Networking (SDN) and holds a mindshare of 5.2%, up 4.6% compared to last year.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, on the other hand, focuses on Network Management Applications, holds 2.4% mindshare, up 0.6% since last year.
Software Defined Networking (SDN) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Aviatrix5.2%
Meraki SD-WAN15.8%
Cisco ACI11.7%
Other67.3%
Software Defined Networking (SDN)
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN2.4%
Cisco DNA Center14.4%
Cisco Catalyst Center7.9%
Other75.3%
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

JH
Technical Consultant at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
A cloud-agnostic solution that simplifies multi-cloud connectivity and enhances security
One of the aspects I found most valuable is its ability to make changes and roll them back quickly. In an AWS context, you could connect a couple of virtual private clouds, even if they weren't originally meant to be linked. What I particularly appreciated was that it was cloud-agnostic, so it didn't matter if you were working with AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud; it seamlessly operated across different cloud providers. Within the Aviatrix ecosystem, you could connect different clouds, and the intricacies of low-level commands and configurations were abstracted away.
Henry Rosenstiehl - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at Sonda S.A.
Comprehensive support and ease of implementation enhance operational efficiency
With Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, I have centralized orchestration and management. The transport independence of MPLS or connectivity and internet connectivity is another excellent feature. End-to-end segmentation is also provided. I use the application-aware routing feature. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN supports dynamic police-based routing decisions based on application type or different performance metrics such as jitter or latency. The benefit of that feature is that it improves user experience. The principal benefit of application-aware routing is that critical applications are prioritized or routed over the best performing paths to reduce outages and service degradation. There is full visibility of applications. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN has integrated security features which include base firewall, URL filtering, IPS, and secure segmentation, and it supports integration with other Cisco products such as Umbrella or Snort. This feature is beneficial for the client because the information is secure. It is important that Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN supports cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments for my organization because it allows for scalability and faster deployment in the cloud. It reduces operational needs because I don't need to manage physical controller hardware, and updates and maintenance can be centralized and automated. The zero-touch provisioning feature is very important for the speed of deploying new branch locations. I can deliver the device to the branch, and it is important because simplified deployment makes the implementation start more easily since devices are auto-configured and authenticate without manual intervention.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its exceptional capability to seamlessly integrate with various cloud services makes it the preferred choice for multi-cloud deployments."
"It has enhanced the way I can deploy and manage VPCs and other connectivity services, provided valuable insights into latency, ports used, and top talkers, and offered effective troubleshooting tools."
"The connections are seamless, and we can access the static clouds on the platform itself. We are also able to trace the issues. The most valuable features of the solution are security, user interface, and performance."
"This tool resolves the overlapping of CIDR’s IP addresses in a multi-cloud environment, which is its best feature. The product also gives packet-level details on the data that has been put from one cloud to another. Currently, no other solution in the market can give this kind of detail. There is also the high VPN connectivity which gives high throughput. Internet service providers have a limitation on large migrations like 10 Gigabytes or 2 to 2.3 GBPS. However, this tool gives you a functionality where you can bundle multiple tunnels into one tunnel. Thereafter, you can transfer the data from one environment to another or from on-prem to the cloud."
"The product has greatly improved our organization by saving costs for multiple direct connections and simpler cloud configurations."
"The most valuable feature of Aviatrix is that it saves us a lot of time."
"Within the Aviatrix ecosystem, you could connect different clouds, and the intricacies of low-level commands and configurations were abstracted away."
"Cisco SD-WAN's best features are the development of network links, application control, and bandwidth monitoring."
"One of the most valuable features is that they have multiple SD-WAN options: you have Meraki for simple management solutions, you have Viptela, and you have the option of having any type of WAN interfaces. Presently, you can also have a single combined solution for both WAN as well as for voice, so you can have a voice bundle as well. These are major unique points of this solution."
"The solution's application control and application traffic steering tool are its most valuable aspects in terms of how we utilize the product."
"The solution can scale. We haven't had any issues doing so."
"Cisco SD-WAN is valued for its operational efficiency and ease of operation."
"The most valuable features are zero-disk provisioning and link load balancing on an application basis."
"Cisco SD-WAN's collaborative features are unique and sustainable. I also like the protocols, which use two SD-WAN."
"SD-WAN provides a range of common benefits, including cost reduction, increased visibility, and scalability"
 

Cons

"Aviatrix should include more integrated security features like intrusion detection and lateral movement detection."
"There is room for improvement regarding enhancing its security features in response to modern cybersecurity challenges."
"The solution needs to improve the onboarding architecture."
"There could be an easy availability of multiple features in the profile."
"The tool has a very limited local presence in the GCC market. I am based in Dubai, UAE and it would be very difficult for me to reach out to US staff for technical discussion during the tool’s implementation. The tool needs to focus on the GCC market which includes UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc. There is nobody to help you out in this region."
"There can be a steep learning curve for users who are not familiar with it or multi-cloud networking concepts"
"Cisco can improve Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN by simplifying licensing and platform integration with other Cisco products such as Catalyst Center or solutions with Meraki. A license needs to be permanent for me. The client feels that it is very expensive."
"The user interface needs to be more friendly."
"All of the configurations are based on templates, and we need to spend a lot of time doing the templates. It's good because that means that all of the configurations will be equal in the network. However, we need to spend a lot of time implementing the templates and doing the customizations."
"The solution should not be so bound to ISPs."
"It's an expensive solution."
"The negative, or the downside of Cisco is the knowledge base; you need to be a little bit more tech-savvy and network-savvy to work with Cisco, while Juniper is a lot more user-friendly from what I can see, especially in terms of configuration and any kind of roll back."
"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 process of onboarding the vSmart, vBond, and vManage should be improved to make it easier to manage in general."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"During the initial phase, it operates as an open-source and it's a free tool."
"It operates on a consumption-based model and the expenses depend on factors such as the number of virtual machines you use and the resources consumed."
"Aviatrix is a pretty expensive solution."
"The tool is quite expensive."
"It's costly. The cost is high compared to competitors."
"The product is not too expensive."
"The pricing of this solution is very expensive."
"You have to pay between 3000 and 10,000 euros, or something in that range. The core switches Nexus cost me between 10,000 and 20,000 euros."
"The price of the solution is the only negative factor, it is much more expensive compared with the Cisco Meraki SD-WAN solution."
"Cloud subscription management must be paid for, although this does not incur a perpetual fee."
"The license model is too complex with too many flavors and options. You might not be able to see it from an end user's point of view, but from a telco point of view, their license model is too complex. They should have a flexible license model. If you want to have good pricing, you need to buy it for a two-year, four-year, or five-year license immediately. Some other vendors have much more flexible license models."
"The price of Cisco SD-WAN could improve, it is expensive. The cost of the solution is approximately 30 percent higher than competitors."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Software Defined Networking (SDN) solutions are best for your needs.
879,672 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Retailer
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise43
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aviatrix?
The cost should be compared to the pricing of native services, which often include a data processing component.
What needs improvement with Aviatrix?
One area that could use improvement is IPv6 support.
What is your primary use case for Aviatrix?
I am leveraging additional connectivity features, applying zero trust within the cloud network, simplifying cloud network management, and gaining more insights into what is happening within the env...
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.
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.
What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?
More or less, it's the same with Cisco in terms of complexity and pricing, so there's not much of a difference. They might want to consider incorporating features seen in Versa or other competitors...
 

Also Known As

Aviatrix Enterprise Contract
Cisco SD-WAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hyatt, Robert Half, GREE
Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, TP-Link, Aviatrix and others in Software Defined Networking (SDN). Updated: January 2026.
879,672 professionals have used our research since 2012.