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Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Cisco Catalyst Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
181
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (5th), Data Center Networking (2nd), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Arista Campus LAN Switches is 5.6%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 18.5%, down from 28.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches18.5%
Arista Campus LAN Switches5.6%
Other75.9%
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

DM
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.
MS
Electrical control system engineer at Dangote petroleum refinery and petrol chemicals
Reliable switching has delivered long‑term uptime, strong PoE support, and predictable performance
Cisco Systems Catalyst Switches are highly regarded for their performance, reliability, and enterprise-grade capabilities. My main reservation, however, is the pricing. The cost of Cisco Catalyst Switches—and Cisco products in general—is relatively high, especially in many African markets where organizations often need to balance budget constraints with required functionality. There are alternative vendors that offer comparable features at a lower price point. While they may not always match Cisco’s ecosystem, stability, or full feature depth, many businesses still choose them because of the significant cost savings. Another consideration is licensing, which can add to the overall total cost of ownership depending on the deployment model and required features. Overall, Cisco Catalyst Switches remain premium enterprise solutions, but when compared with other OEMs, their higher acquisition and licensing costs can be a major deciding factor for cost-conscious organizations.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I use the solution for connectivity in data centers and LANs, providing Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity based on network needs."
"The CloudVision Portal allows us to centrally manage all of our Arista products."
"QoS is the most valuable feature because our clients work with VOIP and Critical applications."
"The Software Defined switch architecture, runs optimized 2-tier network instead of traditional 3-tier network (Core, Distribution and Access) gives you efficiency and savings."
"The management portal has improved the way our organization functions."
"The feature sets are pretty cool. They've got almost everything that the competition offers."
"The technology is scalable as much as you want."
"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."
"The most beneficial features for our network management are their stability and good customer support."
"Cisco has a really good option, a one-dashboard option for maintaining and surveilling your entire network."
"I am satisfied with the performance of these switches and would recommend them to others."
"The most valuable feature is load balancing."
"With Cisco Catalyst Switches, everything is working perfectly. We have not had issues with this solution."
"The solution is very stable."
"Over the years, I've found that it works very well."
"It's heavy-duty, you only need to configure it once, and it'll keep running for several years."
 

Cons

"The licensing cost is pretty heavy. That is something that they need to definitely work upon."
"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."
"I would like to see a version available with eight or sixteen ports."
"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."
"I would like to see a version available with eight or sixteen ports."
"The complex setup phase is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"One of the issues that we have been faced with here in Brazil is that we don't have any list times for delivery."
"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."
"Cisco forces end-users to accept billing for some capabilities or services that they may not want."
"First of all, there are some features that take a long time to get implemented, and other vendors have them for a long time before them. For example, it took a long time to have a way to commit change with the timer, so it gets undone if the user doesn't accept the change after it's done. Like, having to say the changes be done, and everything works fine. In the end, everything works fine, but it didn't exist. That's just an example of stuff that came late to Catalyst."
"There's a ban on my country and therefore I can't get Cisco support if I need it. It's not allowed."
"It can have more security features to secure the access layer."
"You have to have someone with extensive knowledge to do the implementation of the Cisco Catalyst Switches."
"The general price of the solution could be cheaper."
"Its price can be improved. It is currently expensive."
"The vendor must provide mid-level switches."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is not that good, but our clients value the solution despite the price."
"The only licensing costs are for CloudVision, although the upfront price of the device is not cheap."
"It is very pricey. You have to pay for support."
"It's very pricey. Compared to competitors, it's a lot more expensive."
"The price could always be lower."
"It is expensive."
"The cost of Cisco switches is a little more expensive than the competition. However, as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for." If you want a reliable solution and other benefits, Cisco Catalyst Switches are worth the money."
"The cost could be reduced."
"Try to buy everything you need in bulk purchases and ask Cisco for volume discounts."
"We had to pay for the product’s licenses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business81
Midsize Enterprise29
Large Enterprise79
 

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...
What needs improvement with Arista Campus LAN Switches?
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....
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...
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 ...
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...
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.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Arista Campus LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.