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Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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 Networks Platform
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Networking (2nd)
Cisco Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
134
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Arista Networks Platform is 3.1%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 14.7%, down from 18.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

MarekSzafrański - PeerSpot reviewer
Affordable for enterprise-sized companies
Speaking about whether the product enhanced our company's data center scalability, I would say that it was a solution that was used in a banking company, where it served as a replacement for Cisco. Though Arista Networks Platform is similar to Cisco IOS CLI, I feel that the former product offers better prices compared to the latter tool. Arista Networks Platform office is more efficient at a lower cost. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. The tool is stable and cheaper than Cisco. I would say that Arista Networks Platform is 100 percent compatible with the existing infrastructure in my company. The impact of the tool's network telemetry on our company's troubleshooting practices was just good for the scope for which I need the product. I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.
Pradeep Adhav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network security enhancement with sturdy switches despite high costs
The Cisco Ethernet switches are primarily used as regular core switches for networking, distribution, and access levels. We also utilize Cisco Wi-Fi, VPN, and Wi-Fi controllers The Cisco Ethernet switches have improved our network's security, ensuring it is 100% secure by not allowing any…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Arista's customer service is excellent."
"The product's implementation phase was easy."
"It is very stable. It has good hardware and very stable code. It provides good value for its price. They are a very lean type of organization, so they are very responsive, and they're able to focus more on their platform versus having multiple products out there."
"Arista Networks offers similar features to Cisco."
"The best part is the single operating system that they have. Regardless of your model, it's the same operating system functioning across the board, which means you don't have to worry about backward compatibilities between your older switches and the new ones that you deploy."
"The most valuable feature is the Linux shell, which is useful for troubleshooting or capturing traffic."
"Arista Networks Platform has a feature that helps with monitoring and management."
"The most valuable features of Arista include low latency, scalability, and sustainability of the products."
"You can tap into all of the features for your virtual workload environment."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are stable."
"The quality, like all Cisco solutions, is very high. The fact that it's Cisco is one of the reasons we chose to use it."
"The features that I have found most valuable are that it is easy to use and it has good technical support."
"Cisco as a whole is flexible."
"Technical support has always been helpful."
"This is a great solution for network switching and security."
"We like the stability and scalability of Cisco Ethernet Switches."
 

Cons

"The CVP management platform needs to be improved."
"From VMware, I think the cost of the tools is very high."
"My company does face issues in terms of interoperability when it comes to the product, making it an area that needs to be fixed."
"The product fails to offer functions related to cloud orchestration, making it in areas where improvements are required."
"Its price can be better."
"In my opinion, the solution for network monitoring is quite expensive."
"Arista Networks is currently less popular as they were initially more focused on data centers than campus networks. They should expand further into campus networks."
"The overall price of the Arista Networks Platform is expensive. It should be reduced."
"Pricing could be lower."
"In terms of what could be improved, there is the bulk issue that is sometimes experienced with Cisco products we've used."
"I would like to see this solution automatically store multiple versions of the configuration file."
"We are less in the Cloud because the Cloud technologies didn't work so well. That happened in all of the companies where I've been engaged."
"The solution's reliability should be improved."
"The high price of the tool is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The local support resources for Cisco in Bangledesh are very poor and should be increased."
"Switches should be made stackable, even if they are not of the same model."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The customer price for an Arista router is approximately $7,000 USD, while Cisco's is around $18,000."
"If one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as seven out of ten."
"Cost wise, Arista Networks Platform is more expensive than other networking solutions."
"Specific tools definitely require a license for the subscription. But we are not using these tools in our environment. In terms of licensing, you need to spend approximately $10,000 per month."
"Arista is very expensive. Not everybody is in a position to spend $70,000 to $80,000 for one switch."
"It is pretty pricey for a networking platform. It is on par with Cisco."
"Network devices are generally expensive. However, during the evaluation, Arista was the most inexpensive vendor."
"There is an annual license required to use the Arista Networks Platform."
"Cisco now has more products that are priced for small businesses, so they do have some cheaper models."
"The price of this solution is good."
"We are happy with the pricing from Cisco."
"When you compare with other products, they are more or less the same price."
"The pricing is reasonable so I rate it a six out of ten."
"Quality comes at a price. I've been around the block a bit, and I know that good quality comes at a price. However, some of the organizations don't have big budgets, so you have to develop different solutions for them. They don't have the budget to get some of the high-end features. Cisco can consider providing entry-level hardware to suit SMBs."
"While Cisco's pricing can be a concern, particularly with support fees, its overall features and support community make it a solid choice."
"The price of this solution is fair."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Ethernet Switches solutions are best for your needs.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user82779 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 29, 2014
Benefits of Juniper vs Cisco
Both are decent products. I prefer Juniper for the following reasons: 1) Cleaner separation of data plane from control plane. Higher end Cisco devices are better at this but most of the lower end products still seem to be more integrated than I like. 2) The Hierarchical config design means I can…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Arista Networks Platform?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arista Networks Platform?
Arista products are perceived as costly, especially compared to competitors like Cisco.
What needs improvement with Arista Networks Platform?
Currently, Arista is too costly for its customers. Feature-wise, it addresses most customer requirements. However, we sometimes face challenges when integrating with proprietary protocols and solut...
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 ...
Which would you choose - Fortinet Fortiswitch secure access or Cisco Ethernet Switches?
We researched Cisco but ultimately chose Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access, mostly because of the price. Fortinet FortiSwitch is an ethernet switch solution that provides security and performance...
In terms of ethernet switches, would you go with Cisco or Juniper?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Cisco or Juniper Ethernet switches were the better fit for us. We decided to go with Juniper. Juniper ethernet switches are a lesser-known...
 

Also Known As

7000 Series
Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Internet Services
Linz AG
Find out what your peers are saying about Arista Networks Platform vs. Cisco Ethernet Switches and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.