Aviatrix vs Meraki SD-WAN comparison

Aviatrix and Cisco are both solutions in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category. Aviatrix is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.7, while Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8. Aviatrix holds a 4.6% mindshare in SDN, compared to Cisco’s 24.0% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Aviatrix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Aviatrix

Read 6 Aviatrix reviews

342 Views
179 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Meraki SD-WAN

Read 77 Meraki SD-WAN reviews

1,624 Views
1,063 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Aviatrix

Meraki SD-WAN

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Meraki SD-WAN and Aviatrix are competitors in the SD-WAN sector, each offering unique advantages. Although Meraki SD-WAN is appreciated for its cost-effectiveness and exceptional customer support, Aviatrix stands out with its advanced features, making it preferable for businesses requiring sophisticated functionalities despite a higher price point.

Features: Meraki SD-WAN provides centralized management, seamless cloud integration, and robust security protocols. Aviatrix offers extensive multi-cloud networking capabilities, advanced traffic engineering, and comprehensive analytics.

Room for Improvement: Meraki SD-WAN could enhance its capabilities in handling complex multi-cloud environments and improve its analytics offerings. Aviatrix might benefit from streamlining its deployment process to reduce the learning curve and enhancing cost-efficiency for smaller enterprises.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Meraki SD-WAN offers a simple deployment process coupled with strong customer service, making ongoing management straightforward. Aviatrix provides a flexible, highly customizable deployment model suited for complex environments, supported by customer service that aligns with its architectural flexibility.

Pricing and ROI: Meraki SD-WAN is attractive for its lower initial expenses, offering significant ROI through efficient resource utilization. Aviatrix requires a larger investment, justified by enhanced network performance and agility, delivering a solid ROI despite its higher setup costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Aviatrix vs. Meraki SD-WAN Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aviatrix vs. Meraki SD-WAN

February 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

Aviatrix

Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)

3rd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Meraki SD-WAN

Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category, the mindshare of Aviatrix is 4.6%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Meraki SD-WAN is 24.0%, up from 23.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Featured Reviews

Govinda Mengji

Specialist Master | Manager at Deloitte

Has multiple capabilities which are not present in other products in the market

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.

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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.

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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

"Within the Aviatrix ecosystem, you could connect different clouds, and the intricacies of low-level commands and configurations were abstracted away."

"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."

"The product has greatly improved our organization by saving costs for multiple direct connections and simpler cloud configurations."

"Its exceptional capability to seamlessly integrate with various cloud services makes it the preferred choice for multi-cloud deployments."

"The most valuable feature of Aviatrix is that it saves us a lot of time."

"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 solution's most valuable feature is its ease of maintenance."

"The solution's technical support is good."

"Meraki makes you believe that anything is possible."

"Meraki SD-WAN is a very stable and scalable solution with good technical support."

"The most valuable features of this solution are load balancing and the security possibilities you have."

"The solution's ability to prioritize traffic is its most valuable feature."

"A lot of our customers really enjoy the Meraki Dashboard."

"The features of SD-WAN are very appealing because you have a centralized dashboard and multiple options to terminate. You have an internet leased line, which means that you can connect your broadband and 3G and 4G cellular networks on the same router. This makes it easy for us to manage everything on a single dashboard. That is, you can integrate multiple stacks in such a way that you do not have to maintain any other dashboard. You get single-pane-of-glass accessibility with Meraki."

More Meraki SD-WAN pros

Cons

"There can be a steep learning curve for users who are not familiar with it or multi-cloud networking concepts"

"Aviatrix should include more integrated security features like intrusion detection and lateral movement detection."

"The solution needs to improve the onboarding architecture."

"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 is room for improvement regarding enhancing its security features in response to modern cybersecurity challenges."

"There could be an easy availability of multiple features in the profile."

"The product should be able to support more than three internet lines."

"Meraki could make better use of virtual connect."

"Technical support could be more knowledgeable and responsive."

"A run optimization feature is needed to reduce the bandwidth for any uploaded content."

"The product could be improved by being made more simple to use. We had some issues integrating our MPLS with Meraki SD-WAN."

"Some systems use some applications with the wrong data application. It bypasses the network, and you need to block that application on Meraki. We first try to put in passwords to do it and the network is not really safe. It's not 100%, the network can be bypassed."

"There are literally things you cannot do at this point in a graphical user interface that can be done from a command line."

"There is a point in a very large organization where you hit the VPN limit, or tunnel limit."

More Meraki SD-WAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"During the initial phase, it operates as an open-source and it's a free tool."

"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."

"Meraki solutions come with a choice of several different subscription options including one year, three years, five years, seven years, and ten years."

"I am not aware of the licensing fees."

"The product is not expensive."

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

"This solution is more expensive than competitors."

"The price of this solution is good, it is not expensive."

"The pricing is fair, but if they can make it less it would be even more attractive."

More Meraki SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

26%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aviatrix?

The most valuable feature of Aviatrix is that it saves us a lot of time.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aviatrix?

Aviatrix is a pretty expensive solution. Users have to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution and the support. You can't buy the product without support.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Aviatrix?

Aviatrix should include more integrated security features like intrusion detection and lateral movement detection.

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.

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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

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VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 16% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 13% of the time

Versa Cloud Services Gateway vs Meraki SD-WAN

Compared 2% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

March 2025

Download Aviatrix product report

Buyer's Guide

Meraki SD-WAN

March 2025

Download Meraki SD-WAN product report

Overview

The Aviatrix solution consists of two components: the Aviatrix Gateway, which is deployed on-premises or in the cloud; and the Aviatrix Cloud Controller, which orchestrates and manages one or more Gateways.

Aviatrix

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

Hyatt, Robert Half, GREE

École Jeannine Manuel

Buyer's Guide

Aviatrix vs. Meraki SD-WAN

February 2025

Free Report: Aviatrix vs. Meraki SD-WAN

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