Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs ExtremeCloud SD-WAN comparison

Cisco and Extreme Networks are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.0, while Extreme Networks is ranked #36. Cisco holds a 10.1% mindshare in SDW, compared to Extreme Networks’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Extreme Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and ExtremeCloud SD-WAN based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

March 2026

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 12.3%, down from 20.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is 10.1%, down from 15.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeCloud SD-WAN is 0.4%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	12.3%
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN	10.1%
ExtremeCloud SD-WAN	0.4%
Other	77.2%

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

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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Danish Nazir

Network Manager at HPCL

Faced complex visibility and policy challenges but have improved basic traffic routing control

I have found some other solutions more insightful and user-friendly as compared to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, but the basic SD-WAN functionality is good enough. I am using it only because it was done as a pilot project, specifically for my 60 to 70 sites. For the majority of the sites, I am using Fortinet's Secure SD-WAN solution and I found that more viable and more in alignment with my requirements. For example, there is not any Internet Service Database available in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN intrinsically. If I want to write a policy based on applications, I am not able to write it, at least in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Viptela deployment that we have done, and that is fairly easy to do in Fortinet. The second issue is the logging capability. I think the visibility that Fortinet Secure SD-WAN has is not even comparable. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN does not provide that sort of insight or control as far as traffic steering is concerned. With respect to the SLAs, I barely know which sort of SLAs are violated in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, so I do not have clear visibility on where the traffic is moving from at my spoke or hub locations. I believe Fortinet gives me a very clear picture of where the traffic is going. Overall visibility, whether it is data traffic or logs, is much better in Fortinet compared to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. The complexity of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Viptela is noticeable and quite complicated to configure. If something breaks, you have to involve TAC and others to fix it. On the contrary, you can work with underlays. Even if your IPsec overlay tunnel is down, it does not impact your production. Thus, we find Fortinet's solution significantly better than Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN solution. I have used Application-aware Routing in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. However, I found it to be very complicated, especially regarding policy writing. For my breakout of VC traffic, we had to write a bunch of IP addresses for Zoom, Webex, and others. Presently, it can only identify Webex as an application, and I highly doubt whether there is any application identification for Zoom and other platforms, as we were not able to find it during our implementation. It is done through static whitelisting of the IPs, which is not a scalable solution since IPs can change at any time. Overall, the application-aware routing policies are not as flexible and scalable as the Internet Service Database feature of Fortinet provides. The struggles encompass policy writing, logging capabilities, traffic visibility, and complex configuration. There is also the issue of load balancing. We have faced considerable challenges with traffic load balancing between the links. Although the SLA targets are configurable, understanding how traffic flows is challenging, making troubleshooting exceedingly difficult. Overall, I find it a quite complicated solution with not that much operational usability.

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Wael Awni

Management Board Member and Network Engineer at NewLogics

A useful and scalable solution for customers with multiple retail offices

Our primary use case for the solution is focused on remote branches. The solution is very useful if customers have multiple retail offices and branches, and it's really good on the scale The solution is very scalable, and the business model is good because it provides a solution as a service. For…

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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 valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the different types of profiling. It has been the most effective for me. The WAF and the antivirus profile are the most effective in network protection."

"There are multiple features I have found to be valuable, such as encryption and integrated security features."

"The performance is good."

"LinkGreat firewall capabilities"

"Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a very light product. It's easy to understand."

"It's very similar to a Cisco firewall, yet less expensive."

"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate SWG is inspection."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"So far, the feature that I like best is the policy configuration manager."

"The solution is stable and reliable."

"You can easily scale the product."

"Cisco SD-WAN is a good product."

"Configuration interfaces are quite easy and intuitive. Being a part of the Cisco environment, Cisco SD-WAN is quite straightforward."

"The technical team is very competent."

"Customizing SD-WAN is very easy because you can define two colors. You can define two different operators. You can deploy a partial mesh, a full mesh, or hub-and-spoke totally differently. If you want to do this on a DMVPN solution, that's really hard."

"The availability of services and combining different connections is most valuable."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pros

"The solution is very scalable."

Cons

"Security level could be increased."

"It could use better throughput on some of the smaller boxes for the branch offices."

"More SD-WAN features can be integrated into the FortiGate Next Generation Firewall"

"FortiGate's logging and reporting could be improved. I would also like to see Fortinet add a guest management portal."

"It needs more available central management."

"Some features of Fortinet FortiGate are actually fee enabled that are inconvenient for deploying in production. Other issues relate to isolation with Cisco products and your server."

"I cannot say definitively about the return on investment with Fortinet FortiGate because I have always been in the technical field, but most of our clients are very happy since threats were stopped, generating confidence in the Fortinet brand among our clients."

"The solution needs to improve its support."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"One area for improvement in Cisco SD-WAN is reporting. The report needs to give more visibility to the customer. The security feature in Cisco SD-WAN also needs improvement, particularly if Cisco wants to challenge other brands, such as Fortinet."

"The user interface needs improvement. Users should be able to find various features faster without much tweaking."

"When it comes to adding more security features, you need to add more RAM."

"We have found that their SD-WAN has a lot of scope for improvement."

"Customers require features that are secure for endpoints, on-premises, and for the cloud."

"The product's application delivery feature needs improvement."

"There should be more security features in the hybrid and on-premise deployments of Cisco SD-WAN. The cloud has most of the security features."

"Technical support could be more helpful and responsive."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN cons

"The solution could be more affordable."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Their licensing costs are annual. The UTM feature license along with their support is called FortiCare. We include that as a part of the annual maintenance cost. Palo Alto or Juniper also have an annual subscription charge for UTM. Price, of course, can always be more competitive, but it is not the most expensive product. The price-performance ratio is quite high for FortiGate."

"The licensing costs are very competitive."

"Fortinet FortiGate IPS' licensing is quite simple to understand."

"These boxes are not that expensive compared to what they can do, their functionality, and the reporting you receive. Fortinet licensing is straightforward and less confusing compared to Cisco."

"It cost us around $73,000 for three years."

"It is not expensive as compared to Cisco."

"It is a cost-effective solution that meets the user's needs."

"Other firewalls are more expensive than Fortinet FortiGate, such as the Azure firewall."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The product's license is expensive."

"Cisco is more expensive than some competing products."

"The license consists of an annual fee."

"The pricing of this solution is very expensive."

"There is no license required for this solution."

"Cost-wise, Cisco SD-WAN is comparatively high."

"The cost is reasonable. I would rate the price as seven out of ten."

"The cost of Cisco SD-WAN is high and has room for improvement compared to competitors such as Fortinet which has similar functionality."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	360
Midsize Enterprise	135
Large Enterprise	190

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	44
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	44

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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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 significant...

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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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?

I have found some other solutions more insightful and user-friendly as compared to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, but the bas...

See all answers

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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 14% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Prisma SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 11% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 6% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 5% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 5% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Competitors

Nuage Networks vs ExtremeCloud SD-WAN

Compared 42% of the time

More ExtremeCloud SD-WAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

March 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

March 2026

Download Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

March 2026

Download ExtremeCloud SD-WAN product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Cisco SD-WAN

Ipanema SD-WAN

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN offers centralized management and integrates seamlessly with existing Cisco ecosystems. It simplifies deployment with zero-touch provisioning, delivering robust security and optimized application routing.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN provides essential capabilities for organizations seeking secure remote connectivity and cost reduction, notably through its support of hybrid environments. While pricing and complexity present challenges, its advanced application control and cloud compatibility make it a valuable asset for connecting branches and data centers. Users benefit from enhanced security, network assurance, and simplified management, driving operational efficiency.

What are the key features of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN?

Centralized Management: Streamlines network operations through a single interface.
Zero-Touch Provisioning: Simplifies deployment, reducing manual setup efforts.
Application-Aware Routing: Enhances performance by prioritizing critical applications.
Robust Security: Integrates strong security measures for data protection.
Hybrid Environment Support: Facilitates connectivity across various environments.
Integration with Cisco Products: Ensures seamless operation within existing networks.

What benefits can users expect from Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces networking expenses by optimizing resource usage.
Operational Simplicity: Streamlines processes, reducing resource strain.
Enhanced Security: Strengthens defenses with integrated security features.
Improved Connectivity: Ensures reliable communication for remote sites.
Scalability: Supports varying enterprise sizes with tailored solutions.

In banking, retail, and enterprise sectors, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN facilitates effective network management by enhancing connectivity between branches and data centers. Its security features and zero-touch deployment are particularly valued, providing scalable solutions for locations that demand reliable, application-prioritized networking.

Cisco

Network and security complexity are rapidly increasing. Legacy networks are straining to support today's hybrid IT environments, a mix of on-premises, cloud, and SaaS technologies, as well as real-time, bandwidth-intense collaboration services and applications required by hybrid work. As organizations adapt to an unprecedented rate of change, IT teams are grappling with a lack of automation and integration between technologies, a lack of broad and deep visibility, widening skills shortages, and increasingly complex licensing.

SD-WAN offers connectivity, continuity, and cost benefits. However, as both network edges and the attack surface increase, SD-WAN also creates management, security, and visibility challenges.

ExtremeCloud SD-WAN is a flexible, secure solution that delivers the benefits of SD-WAN, while reducing risk, simplifying operations, and improving productivity with Unified Management, Fabric to the Edge, and best-in-class Application Performance Management packaged as a cost-effective OPEX subscription.

Extreme Networks

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

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

March 2026

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