Juniper Session Smart Router vs Prisma SD-WAN comparison

Juniper and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Juniper is ranked #12 with an average rating of 9.0, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.4. Juniper holds a 2.4% mindshare in SDW, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 5.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Juniper users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Prisma SD-WAN and Juniper Session Smart Router are competing solutions in the SD-WAN market. Prisma SD-WAN has an upper hand in cost-effectiveness and user support, while Juniper Session Smart Router is preferred for its comprehensive feature set.

Features: Prisma SD-WAN includes intuitive management, simplified IT operations, and ease of integration, making network management accessible. Juniper Session Smart Router offers session-based policy control, dynamic routing, and real-time intelligence focusing on advanced security and performance features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Prisma SD-WAN is recognized for its straightforward deployment and responsive support, suitable for teams with limited technical resources. Juniper Session Smart Router, although more complex in setup, provides detailed deployment resources and robust customer service, appealing to organizations needing customizable solutions.

Pricing and ROI: Prisma SD-WAN has an attractive pricing model, offering strong ROI due to lower initial costs and efficient management. Juniper Session Smart Router, with higher initial costs, provides long-term benefits through its advanced performance and scalability, ensuring satisfactory ROI for security-focused businesses.

To learn more, read our detailed Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Prisma SD-WAN Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Prisma SD-WAN

December 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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 13.9%, down from 20.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper Session Smart Router is 2.4%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma SD-WAN is 5.1%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	13.9%
Prisma SD-WAN	5.1%
Juniper Session Smart Router	2.4%
Other	78.6%

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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SRI GANESH PHANIYAPPA

Sub Divisional Engineer NOC Bangalore at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

Delivered tailored features and meets requirements effectively

We are using it as a DNG. This means all subscriber PPPoE sessions or ILS Smart VPN connections are terminated through the access network to this BNG, Uniphore BNG. From there, they are managed Everything has been fine. Although we did not explore much about the solution, they provided us with a…

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Engineerinfosec67

Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor

Centralized management streamlines global network traffic control

Prisma SD-WAN requires a more seamless integration with other Palo Alto solutions, like Prisma Access. Although there has been improvement, further steps can be taken. Additionally, it would be beneficial if the solution integrated the SD-WAN features of Prisma SD-WAN with the security features of Palo Alto's next-generation firewalls, as they currently do not align.

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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

"Stateful packet inspection is valuable. It also does SSL packet inspection. It is able to provide a VPN for remote users with secure connectivity."

"Customers keep on improving their licenses. The solution remains scalable and flexible. On-premises deployments may have some limitations. However, cloud deployments offer a high degree of flexibility."

"The solution effectively controls browsing traffic."

"It is pretty straightforward to manage and has robust capabilities. I appreciate that Fortinet FortiGate can be a central controller for other Fortinet products, such as switches and access points."

"It is easy to install. There is not much complexity involved."

"The reporting and monitoring are very good."

"With Fortinet FortiGate, we improved security significantly."

"FortiGate's SD-WAN capability is the most useful feature for us."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."

"They provided us with a customized product according to our requirements."

"As compared to the other major vendors in the SD-WAN market, such as VeloCloud, Cisco, and others, the tunnel-free and secure vector routing technology is its major USP, which gives plenty of room to discuss with the customer why IPSec from 1998 is a bit outdated."

"Customer service is very prompt."

"The solution is especially Session's smart, application-aware, AI-based."

"The solution allows our network to be self-healing in the event of a loss of connectivity between different locations."

"The product's initial setup phase is straightforward."

"The biggest benefit for us is that we've seen a reduction in incidents."

"From the main controller, we can administer the customer's devices, QoS, network, and traffic. We can monitor it and we can change and create policies as well as upgrade the software. We can totally control a customer's network from one site, the Prisma SD-WAN portal."

"The product provides efficient stability, security, and reliability features."

"The AI ops feature streamlines revisions and automates compliance."

"I like the link monitoring and analytics. These are the features that set Prisma apart from other products. Prisma works well with large, complex networks. One of my clients is a top bank in the United States, and Prisma has performed well for that customer."

"The gateway is available on the cloud which allows you access from anywhere and still connects to your home gateway."

More Prisma SD-WAN pros

Cons

"If I had any criticism that I would give FortiGate, it would be that they need to stop changing their logging format. Every time we do a firmware upgrade, it is a massive issue on the SIM. Parsers have to be rebuilt. Even the FortiGate guys came in and said that they don't play well in the sandbox."

"The things we require are already sorted out, so there isn't any scope for improvement as far as our requirements go. However, its price can be better."

"The solution's stability should be improved because it is extremely unstable."

"Fortinet should improve its software, as we are seeing lots of firmware versions generated for each vulnerability issue. It becomes difficult for us to keep updating the firmware frequently due to bugs."

"There can be more security in hybrid implementations. When a customer has a hybrid environment where some parts are in the cloud, we need a consistent security solution for such scenarios."

"I would like to see improvements made to the dashboard and UI, as well as to the reporting."

"Fortinet FortiGate can improve the integration with Active Directory. Additionally, I would like to have a Cloud Controller, such as they do in the Cisco Meraki solution."

"I would like Fortinet to add more automation to FortiGate."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do."

"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks. What we are missing there are wizards. For example, I have two applications, and I want one application to be prioritized against the other. In such a case, a wizard for assigning policies to a service without configuring each step by hand would be very helpful. There should be an overhaul of the GUI of the conductor. The functionality they have got in the Mist portal should be baked into the conductor itself. It would be really great, but as we all know, that won't happen."

"Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in terms of software performance."

"Juniper Session Smart Router can improve the integration for Wi-Fi devices and add additional Sassy deployments."

"Prisma SD-WAN should provide more flexibility and scalability on the hardware."

"The only con is the pricing because it's more premium."

"If Palo Alto could open the platform to manage other SD-WANs, it would be beneficial."

"Prisma SD-WAN requires a more seamless integration with other Palo Alto solutions, like Prisma Access."

"The product could be a bit cheaper for the services it provides."

"Prisma SD-WAN requires a more seamless integration with other Palo Alto solutions, like Prisma Access."

"Event correlation and analysis capabilities do not help minimize the number of alarms from a single event. That is the problem. We are getting a lot of incidents, and there is some issue with the correlation. That is still a drawback."

"Customer support is our biggest pain point. The quality of support has gone down a little since we initially deployed this product. I don't know if this is due to turnover at Palo Alto or a lack of training. It is now taking one or two days to get an initial response that says, "Hey, we've looked into this, can you pull this data for us?" In the past, we'd immediately get a response."

More Prisma SD-WAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I give the pricing a nine out of ten."

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

"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."

"Its price is good."

"I would say that all things considered, the pricing is pretty good."

"The price is okay, so far so good."

"If you purchase a one-year subscription with the hardware and then you want to renew for the second year, it is very costly."

"Pricing is lower than Cisco."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"We are currently renegotiating the offer for the licenses and the license bundle model. The license for an ISP has to be different from the license for an end customer. This is something we are currently renegotiating with Juniper, but, of course, the pricing for the licensing is always an issue when you want to get more customers."

"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"If you're already invested in a Palo Alto product, it would be logical to use this solution. If not, there might be some other solutions that are more viable in terms of pricing."

"Prisma SD-WAN is a pretty expensive solution."

"This solution stood out because it cost considerably less than the other SD-WAN solutions out there from Cisco."

"It is more expensive than Fortinet."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

19%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Legal Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	188

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	13

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 needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?

I did not find any problem with Juniper. Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Juniper Session Smart Router?

We are using it as a DNG. This means all subscriber PPPoE sessions or ILS Smart VPN connections are terminated throug...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Juniper Session Smart Router?

On a scale of one to ten, I rate the solution nine.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma SD-WAN?

Regarding whether Prisma SD-WAN is an expensive solution, I would say the price is competitively high. Everything dep...

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What needs improvement with Prisma SD-WAN?

I am still working on what should be improved in Prisma SD-WAN to make this product better, and I cannot give any upd...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Prisma SD-WAN?

Our customers' main use cases for Prisma SD-WAN are to connect multiple branches since they have numerous locations t...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 6% 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

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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 17% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 10% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 10% of the time

NFX Series Network Services Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 8% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 6% of the time

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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 17% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 12% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 11% of the time

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Secure Access vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 2% of the time

More Prisma SD-WAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Routers

January 2026

Download Juniper Session Smart Router product report

Buyer's Guide

Prisma SD-WAN

January 2026

Download Prisma SD-WAN product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

128T Networking Platform, 128 Technology SD-WAN, Juniper SSR Series

CloudGenix

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

The 128T Networking Platform (128T) natively provides network-based security, control, and insight across data centers, wide-area networks (WAN), and edge locations for enterprises, service providers, and cloud companies alike. 128T is reshaping the way organizations design, deploy, and operate real-world networks by making them dramatically simpler, smarter, and more secure — it’s going to fix the router — and ultimately the network — as we know it.

Juniper

Simplify management, enable app-defined SD-WAN policies and deliver a secure, cloud-delivered branch today with the Industry’s first next-generation SD-WAN.

Palo Alto 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

Revation Systems

Open Networking User Group, Columbia Sportswear Company, Coca Cola

Buyer's Guide

Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Prisma SD-WAN

December 2025

Free Report: Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Prisma SD-WAN

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