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 7.8, while Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8. Aviatrix holds a 5.2% mindshare in SDN, compared to Cisco’s 23.2% 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

362 Views
177 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

Meraki SD-WAN

Read 77 Meraki SD-WAN reviews

1,484 Views
994 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: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aviatrix vs. Meraki SD-WAN

April 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 May 2025, in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category, the mindshare of Aviatrix is 5.2%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Meraki SD-WAN is 23.2%, down from 25.1% 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

"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 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."

"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."

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

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

"The product's most valuable features include templating, central administration, single-pane remote administration, and integration with other Cisco products."

"I'm not directly involved in SD-WAN monitoring and maintenance, but based on what I've heard from our infrastructure team, it's working well."

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

"As long as the LAN is well structured, installations and setup can be complete within forty-five minutes."

"The integration of security features is important, although there is room for improvement."

"Meraki SD-WAN is scalable."

"We have found the scalability to be good."

"If there are multiple network connectivities in an organization, Meraki creates an AutoVPN. It creates a channel automatically."

More Meraki SD-WAN pros

Cons

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

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

"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."

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

"I'd like to see improvements in the client VPN area. Currently, we use L2TP over IPSec, which, while widely supported, can be buggy on Windows due to Microsoft's implementation, not Meraki's."

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

"The solution must provide more security features."

"The port density should be improved because this solution is limited to two."

"It should be easier to install BGP and it should have a better backup."

"I would not recommend this tool to very large-scale organizations."

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

More Meraki SD-WAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aviatrix is a pretty expensive solution."

"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."

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

"The tool is quite expensive."

"Our clients pay Meraki an annual licensing fee and the pricing is not too bad when compared to other products in the Cisco portfolio."

"The licenses cost a fortune."

"Pricing is a significant concern for me. Amongst all the firewall brands, Cisco is one of the most expensive options. Despite its reputation and security features, many customers opt for other brands, such as SonicWall because of their lower prices. These other brands offer similar features to Cisco but at a lower cost. Cisco's pricing is something that could be improved to attract more customers. The brand has a good reputation, but when it comes to budgeting and pricing, it is not always the first choice."

"One of the most valuable aspects of Meraki SD-WAN is the price. It is highly cost-effective."

"like everything else, it's negotiable."

"The product's price falls under the mid-range category, especially if we consider the new licensing model. The tool is not cheap anymore."

"The solution is a bit expensive when compared to other products."

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

More Meraki SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

22%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

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.

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

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

May 2025

Download Aviatrix product report

Buyer's Guide

Meraki SD-WAN

May 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

April 2025

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