Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Cisco Catalyst Switches comparison

Arista and Cisco are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Arista is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.3, while Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Arista holds a 4.4% mindshare in LS, compared to Cisco’s 22.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Arista users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Arista Campus LAN Switches

Read 8 Arista Campus LAN Switches reviews

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395 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Catalyst Switches

Read 178 Cisco Catalyst Switches reviews

5,802 Views
2,959 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Arista Campus LAN Switches

Cisco Catalyst Switches

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Arista Campus LAN Switches and Cisco Catalyst Switches compete in the networking industry. Cisco has the upper hand for its extensive support and advanced features, while Arista excels in automation and customer service.

Features: Arista offers unmatched automation and programmability, centralized management through CloudVision Portal, and scalability with up to 256x10GbE ports. Cisco Catalyst Switches provide robust security features, PoE for seamless integration of devices, and advanced Layer 3 capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Arista could improve in providing more comprehensive documentation and expanding deployment scenarios. Additionally, enhancements in security features would benefit users aiming for comprehensive protection. Cisco could work on simplifying its interface and reducing initial deployment complexity, and making its support resources more navigable.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Arista is praised for straightforward deployment and highly effective customer support. Cisco, while having a complex deployment procedure, compensates with extensive support tools and documentation, simplifying troubleshooting for many users.

Pricing and ROI: Arista presents a cost-effective solution with competitive pricing and favorable ROI due to lower setup costs. Cisco, with its higher initial costs, justifies its expense with long-term ROI through feature-rich, secure networking solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Arista Campus LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Arista Campus LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches

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

Arista Campus LAN Switches

Ranking in LAN Switching

8th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco Catalyst Switches

Ranking in LAN Switching

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

178

Ranking in other categories

Ethernet Switches (5th), Data Center Networking (2nd), AV Over IP Switching (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Arista Campus LAN Switches is 4.4%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 22.8%, down from 30.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

LAN Switching Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches	22.8%
Arista Campus LAN Switches	4.4%
Other	72.8%

LAN Switching

Featured Reviews

Denis Malinovtsev

Chief Technology Officer at ictbit

Unified monitoring has transformed campus deployments and provides rapid EVPN-VXLAN rollouts

Regarding improvements to Arista Campus LAN Switches, nothing comes to mind about the switches themselves; they are really fast and have all the technologies and protocols that exist in the market. However, on the management system, I would improve it because as a network engineer, I want a chatbot that can communicate in a native language with the monitoring system to get answers regarding my network faults. There are no problems particularly with the product, but there is room for improvement regarding licensing and the chatbot for all Arista products.

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Arun Giri

Unit Nos at Orange

Reliable support boosts confidence while initial setup complexities highlight improvement areas

Challenges I've encountered mostly involve the RMA part for hardware replacement, which doesn't happen regularly, but sometimes I face challenges due to limited parts in India; they offer different model devices as a stopgap arrangement. It's quite difficult to specify features I would want to see in future updates because that varies from model to model. I would definitely recommend Cisco Catalyst Switches to other users. We do maintenance for Cisco Catalyst Switches. For maintenance, we usually need three people from different regions working as a single team; our engineers handle both projects and maintenance, so there isn't a specific engineer just for maintenance. I work with firewalls and next-generation firewalls. Overall, I would rate the solution as an eight out of ten.

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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

"QoS is the most valuable feature because our clients work with VOIP and Critical applications."

"The feature sets are pretty cool. They've got almost everything that the competition offers."

"The CloudVision Portal allows us to centrally manage all of our Arista products."

"The technology is scalable as much as you want."

"I use the solution for connectivity in data centers and LANs, providing Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity based on network needs."

"The solution's most valuable feature is its stability because Arista falls in an industry that is very similar to Cisco."

"The most winning feature of Arista Campus LAN Switches is their management, specifically CloudVision, along with features like comparing changes and diagnosing problems quickly with telemetry and network visualization."

"I like the management of streaming both audio and video."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is communication."

"Perpetual POE is a valuable feature, because when the switch reboots, access points do not."

"The product is reliable."

"Catalyst Switches are reliable. We don't have major problems like lost connections, and we only have a minor issue with something every few months. In the last five years, a switch broke down once, and that was due to human error."

"One good feature is UPOE. Another is having a built-in controller, the customer doesn't have to ask for another controller. For example, you get a built-in controller with the C650. And two-port is one of the premium factors from Cisco."

"Catalyst Switches are easy to install."

"It's got one feature, and that's handling extreme temperatures."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches pros

Cons

"The complex setup phase is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"I would like to see a version available with eight or sixteen ports."

"I do think they could improve their licensing model. Today, I need to pay for a license, for a switch, for support, and it costs money; it is not cheap."

"It would be ideal if the solution was less expensive."

"I think there's still room for improvement. Arista Campus LAN Switches are not highly scalable as they are hardware-based. If hardware requirements exceed capacity, the product needs to be changed, which can impact service."

"We have to renew the license every three years, which can be a challenge for customers. Arista, like other vendors, now follows a license-based system."

"One of the issues that we have been faced with here in Brazil is that we don't have any list times for delivery."

"I would like to see better compatibility between Cisco and other vendors."

"The addition of more security and privilege levels to Cisco Catalyst Switches is required as it is one of the areas with certain shortcomings."

"Cisco Catalyst Switches do not have an open architecture and you have to buy into the Cisco architecture to be able to use them."

"The price can definitely be lower."

"Cisco applies restrictions in relation to renewals on a yearly basis. Many other brands don't have restrictions. If Cisco lifted them, they wouldn't lose so many clients to competitors."

"One feature that I would like to add is for the following: At times, when I add an access-list for a hostname, it doesn't actually add the hostname, it adds the IP address. So in the back-end, if my server changes the IP address I have to go in manually and change the IP address. If the capability was there in Cisco to add a hostname instead of the IP address that would be really good."

"Cisco is weird about their pricing models, so that's one problem. Their operating system is also a little outdated."

"The management of Cisco Catalyst Switches could be improved."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The only licensing costs are for CloudVision, although the upfront price of the device is not cheap."

"The price is not that good, but our clients value the solution despite the price."

"It's expensive."

"Cisco Catalyst Switches is a very expensive solution."

"The price is on the higher side."

"Cisco Catalyst Switches are a bit expensive."

"The price is in an affordable range and everything is included."

"Cisco Catalyst Switches is an expensive solution."

"There is a license required for the use of this solution and we pay annually."

"Pricing of Cisco equipment is high, but I think these switches are worth the price."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	1

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	79
Midsize Enterprise	29
Large Enterprise	79

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arista Campus LAN Switches?

Regarding pricing, it is not cheap. While it is an enterprise solution, comparing it to low-level switches like Fortinet and Netgear, it is much more expensive. However, comparing it to Cisco and J...

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What needs improvement with Arista Campus LAN Switches?

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What is your primary use case for Arista Campus LAN Switches?

I work as a consultant and integrator, using Arista Networks platform in my customers' networks. I deal with switches by Arista, which is mostly what we use Arista for. I am familiar with Arista Ca...

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Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?

Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...

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What do you like most about Cisco Catalyst Switches?

We are a vendor for the healthcare sector, especially hospitals, and normally, we use a full Cisco solution for stability, especially for the stability of the Access Points and the security of swit...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?

For pricing satisfaction, I'd say it will be six to seven because Cisco usually is costly compared to other vendors. Regarding pricing, there is indeed room for improvement.

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

January 2026

Download Arista Campus LAN Switches product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst Switches

January 2026

Download Cisco Catalyst Switches product report

Also Known As

No data available

Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst

Overview

Arista Campus LAN Switches are the perfect network solution for your most demanding workloads.With native support for VMware Virtualization and hundreds of Linux applications integrated into hardware platforms designed to meet the stringent power and cooling requirements of today's most demanding data centers, Arista delivers the most efficient and best performing 10Gb Ethernet platforms.

Arista

Cisco Catalyst Switches are a reliable and scalable network switching and routing solution, focusing on VLANs and VLAN switching. They are used as access switches, distribution switches, and core switches in various environments, deployed on-premises, and used for long connections. The switches are easy to configure, install, and upgrade and offer good pricing.

The most valuable features include warranty and firmware support, stability, security, good performance, flexibility, etc. The Cisco Catalyst Switches have provided a stable solution for the organizations and are widely used, trusted, and well-known in the networking industry.

Cisco

Sample Customers

University of Winchester, AWE, picturemaxx, Medical Mutual, Leonix, CloudEra, National Physical Laboratory, Tri-State G&T, AIS, Morph, SingTel, SDSC, BBC

Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena

Buyer's Guide

Arista Campus LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches

December 2025

Free Report: Arista Campus LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches

Find out what your peers are saying about Arista Campus LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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