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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
7th
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
6.3
Number of Reviews
187
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (3rd), Data Center Networking (1st), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Arista Campus LAN Switches is 5.5%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 18.2%, down from 27.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches18.2%
Arista Campus LAN Switches5.5%
Other76.3%
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

"The CloudVision Portal allows us to centrally manage all of our Arista products."
"The technology is scalable as much as you want."
"Clients are very satisfied with the implementation process."
"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 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 template functionality saves a lot of time and man-hours, which results in cost and time savings."
"I use the solution for connectivity in data centers and LANs, providing Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity based on network needs."
"QoS is the most valuable feature because our clients work with VOIP and Critical applications."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is reliability."
"They are stable. We haven't had any particular problem with them."
"The product is reliable."
"When it comes to working with Cisco, customers are consistently offered a quality product."
"Overall top of the line solution."
"Technical support is very helpful, even during implementation."
"I would recommend this solution; it is a good product and there are a lot of users of Cisco solutions in Pakistan."
"Technical support is good."
 

Cons

"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."
"One of the issues that we have been faced with here in Brazil is that we don't have any list times for delivery."
"The complex setup phase is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"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."
"It would be ideal if the solution was less expensive."
"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."
"The licensing cost is pretty heavy. That is something that they need to definitely work upon."
"My company would prefer that the price was more cost-effective."
"These switches should have better compatibility with software-defined technology."
"There could be improvements in the repeat configuration with some file integration that is currently missing."
"It can be a little more cheaper."
"For zero-touch deployment, we have to work around a little bit initially because the switches are not exactly zero-touch provision ZTP. Currently, I don't see much AI integration with Cisco Catalyst Switches; though they've started, it still needs improvement."
"Cisco Catalyst Switches can be improved in many areas."
"The customer service and support need a bit more improvement and a faster response. So, there is an area of improvement."
"Cisco Catalyst Switches should have better performance and be easier to use. Additionally, they should add artificial intelligence features."
 

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."
"​The price should go down instead of up. ​"
"These switches are expensive."
"We had to pay for the product’s licenses."
"They are a little bit expensive. We are a public institution, so we go through other traders, and sometimes, they put in their own surplus price because it is a government contract. Cisco products are expensive, especially when you compare them to Huawei."
"The product is quite expensive."
"Highly priced"
"If you compare Cisco to other products, Cisco is more expensive. If you choose a 7000 series switch it will be a very pricy system. The support from Cisco is an additional service."
"The price for Cisco Catalyst Switches is not cheaper than other solutions."
report
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908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

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 Business83
Midsize Enterprise29
Large Enterprise85
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was not all good. Licensing is quite a nightmare in the Cisco world, and I wish we had simplified licensing.
What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Switches?
Regarding the impression of end-to-end visibility offered by Cisco, I would love to have more visibility. What I want to see in the future regarding Cisco Catalyst Switches is more integrations bet...
 

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: August 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.