Juniper Session Smart Router vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform comparison

Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

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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 October 2025, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 18.3%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper Session Smart Router is 2.8%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform is 4.4%, down from 5.2% 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	18.3%
Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform	4.4%
Juniper Session Smart Router	2.8%
Other	74.5%

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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PranavGupta

Assistant Manager at Shyam Telecom Group

A cloud-managed, cloud-delivered private access service efficiently connecting distributed users with. distributed applications without compromising on security or user experience.

Certainly, there are areas that require enhancement, and the current focus is on improvements. Presently, I believe that the emphasis should be on enhancing user interface (UI) features, particularly over end devices. The issue arises when attempting to log in to Versa from other devices, as the UI is not device-specific. Consequently, guiding someone to log in to Versa antivirus becomes challenging. Despite the absence of issues on the website, the lack of a login scope impedes graphical representation of user data or databases. Since work databases support only a limited range of features, I recommend augmenting features for end devices to address these limitations.

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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

"I am "headache free" that I don't have to categorize all the websites and that security has been pre categorized by the people, and that the services are getting updated. At least one part of my problem is over."

"It is easy to use and update the software version. It is also useful for integration with other Fortinet products, because my office and company use Fortinet solutions."

"This version is stable. I don't have any issues with this solution, in our environment, it works well."

"Fortinet FortiGate is stable; I am told that Fortinet FortiGate is one of the best solutions available, and I believe it."

"The most valuable features are that it is very simple to configure and to manage."

"Fortinet FortiGate provides superior protection compared to other firewalls, with high processing capabilities."

"The IPS and the application control feature are the most valuable."

"The best feature of Fortinet FortiGate is SD-WAN; it ensures continuous connectivity by taking over during link failures, preventing any downtime for the company."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

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

"Customer service is very prompt."

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

"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."

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

"The necessary enhancement pertains to the controller segment, specifically addressing the issue of frequent flapping when a link is left. In the case of Versa Unified, if a link experiences frequent flapping within an entire branch, it triggers instability. Hence, it is imperative that the overall routing system is not contingent solely upon the active dial branches."

"Overall, it's nice and very user friendly. That's what makes it so successful. They give you complicated features but with a very simple user interface, and that's been a big success for them."

"Versa FlexVNF is a scalable product because it does not have any hardware dependencies. This makes it a versatile solution that can be easily integrated with any firewall."

"The most valuable features are the main steering and the firewall. The security features and SD-WAN features are also quite good."

"Versa is a good centralized solution, where you're setting up your infrastructure in a data center type thing."

"Our organization finds the application routing features extremely useful."

"There are great security and ops features without the need for having a different box for security."

"Our customers are very satisfied with this solution. They have not mentioned any areas for improvement."

More Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform pros

Cons

"The stability could be a bit better."

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

"It is essential to leverage its capabilities more professionally to achieve an even higher level of security."

"In most cases, the IPS engine uses too many resources, which makes Fortinet FortiGate devices unstable."

"There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."

"There could be more integration between the logging and analytical platforms to make it more seamless and integrated."

"The documentation available for Fortinet FortiGate should be improved"

"Reporting is limited to providing an external appliance for improving the reporting capabilities of the FortiAnalyzer. It does not offer a central management and is also sold separably as an appliance."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

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

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

"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."

"Certainly, there are areas that require enhancement, and the current focus is on improvements. Presently, I believe that the emphasis should be on enhancing user interface (UI) features, particularly over end devices. The issue arises when attempting to log in to Versa from other devices, as the UI is not device-specific. Consequently, guiding someone to log in to Versa antivirus becomes challenging. Despite the absence of issues on the website, the lack of a login scope impedes graphical representation of user data or databases. Since work databases support only a limited range of features, I recommend augmenting features for end devices to address these limitations."

"The security should be improved."

"Another thing that should be improved in Versa are their firewall features."

"The interface could be simpler."

"Versa provides analytics, but the reporting features have some shortcomings."

"The cost of Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is higher than other solutions available in the market."

"SASE is the next big thing that is coming up, and it needs to be developed in Versa. This is the only thing that needs to be adapted very quickly by Versa. With the pandemic going on, I would like to see more features for working from home. They have launched Versa Secure Access (VSA), but it is currently immature. They need to tighten it up for work from home and SD-WAN concept."

"We've had the odd occasional stability issue with software upgrades."

More Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You need to pay a license for this solution. Our licensing is now done in our subsidiary."

"We have the full version of Fortinet FortiGate and we are on a three-year contract with a commitment of five years."

"Its price could be better."

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

"The licensing cost is at the intermediate level."

"The product is expensive."

"Fortinet is the least expensive solution."

"The product is a little bit expensive."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

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

"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."

"The price is expensive but it makes sense for the market."

"It is not very expensive because of the white box support. Its hardware is much cheaper than other products. With the support for x86 and white box, it is one of the most cost-effective platforms that are currently available."

"While I cannot provide too much commentary on the price, I feel it to be fair for the moment."

"I find Versa a little more expensive than VMware in terms of remote access and secure web gateway elements."

"It is neither cheap nor expensive. I rate the pricing a five out of ten on a scale where one is cheap and ten is expensive."

"We provide subscriptions for our customers on a yearly, not monthly, basis."

"Price wise, it's more expensive than is the competition. I would give pricing a rating of three out of five."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

16%

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	350
Midsize Enterprise	130
Large Enterprise	187

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	8

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...

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...

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 ...

What do you like most about Juniper Session Smart Router?

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

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?

Juniper Session Smart Router is not significantly cheaper than, for example, Cisco.

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.

What do you like most about Versa Titan?

The necessary enhancement pertains to the controller segment, specifically addressing the issue of frequent flapping ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Versa Titan?

The solution is very expensive, costing above one crore Indian rupees for our setup, which spans around twenty five b...

What needs improvement with Versa Titan?

The cost of Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is higher than other solutions available in the market. A...

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 25% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 15% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 10% of the time

NFX Series Network Services Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 9% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 6% of the time

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Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 13% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 11% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 10% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 4% of the time

More Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Fortinet FortiGate

October 2025

Routers

Download Juniper Session Smart Router product report

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Download Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform product report

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform report

Also Known As

No data available

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

Versa FlexVNF, FlexVNF, Versa Titan

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate excels in providing integrated VPN, firewalling, and Unified Threat Management (UTM) with centralized management and high availability. It supports remote access and comprehensive threat protection, making it a preferred choice for securing networks.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a robust security platform with features such as strong intrusion prevention, application control, and web filtering. Its integration with Active Directory and SD-WAN functionality provides scalable solutions for large networks. Users appreciate its ease of use through centralized management interfaces, ensuring robust security with flexible configurations. However, FortiGate could enhance its graphical interface and technical support responsiveness, address firmware bugs and costly licensing, improve logging, integrate better with third-party tools, and strengthen scalability and memory for log storage. Complexity in configuration and the need for intuitive features are noted challenges, and there's a demand for advanced security, zero-trust capabilities, and AI integration.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN: Secure remote access and connectivity.
Firewalling: Protects networks from unauthorized access and attacks.
UTM: Offers a comprehensive approach to threat management.
SD-WAN: Optimizes traffic routing for efficient network performance.
Web Filtering: Controls and monitors web access and ensures Internet security.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Centralized Management: Simplifies administration and monitoring.
High Availability: Ensures consistent security and network availability.
Scalability: Adapts to the needs of growing networks.
Comprehensive Threat Protection: Provides robust security measures.
Ease of Use: Minimizes the complexity of security management.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries like education, finance, and government. Companies use it for firewall protection, VPN, and SD-WAN capabilities, ensuring secure perimeter and data center security. It facilitates remote access management and traffic routing optimization, offering reliable security and connectivity solutions.

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

The Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform is a comprehensive solution that provides secure access to cloud applications and services. It combines networking and security functions into a single platform, making it easier for organizations to manage their network infrastructure. The platform includes features such as SD-WAN, VPN, firewall, web filtering, and more. It also offers advanced security capabilities such as intrusion prevention, malware protection, and threat intelligence. With the Versa SASE Platform, organizations can ensure secure access to their cloud applications and services from any location, while also reducing costs and simplifying network management.

Versa 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

CenturyLink, RCN Business, Colt Technology Services

Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform