Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus comparison

Arista and Cisco are both solutions in the Data Center Networking category. Arista is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.4, while Cisco is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.3. Arista holds a 15.7% mindshare in DCN, compared to Cisco’s 15.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Arista users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Arista Networks Platform

Read 30 Arista Networks Platform reviews

3,713 Views
1,337 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Nexus

Read 108 Cisco Nexus reviews

2,502 Views
1,902 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Arista Networks Platform

Cisco Nexus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Arista Networks Platform and Cisco Nexus compete in the networking solutions category. Arista has the upper hand in simplicity and deployment ease, while Cisco Nexus excels with more extensive features and scalability.

Features: Arista Networks is known for its ease of use, leveraging a single operating system for a streamlined deployment process and offering non-blocking technology, CloudVision, and telemetry. Cisco Nexus shines with advanced features like VRF support, VDCs, and modular designs, appreciated for reliability and management in large environments.

Room for Improvement: Arista could enhance its documentation, integration capabilities, and price competitiveness, with users seeking better scalability and integration with new products. Cisco Nexus might simplify licensing, improve the user interface, and address stability issues, with users desiring better support and simpler configurations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Arista provides a fast, simple deployment experience, bolstered by CloudVision and excellent technical support. Cisco Nexus, while robust, involves a complex deployment process, though it offers reliable support acknowledged for thoroughness and efficiency in resolving issues.

Pricing and ROI: Arista is often seen as more expensive despite offering strong ROI through simplified deployment and operational efficiency. Cisco Nexus, although a higher-cost option, offers significant ROI with its comprehensive feature set. Licensing for both platforms involves annual payments, with Cisco's seen as more complex, making Arista's higher upfront cost more appealing financially.

To learn more, read our detailed Arista Networks Platform vs. Cisco Nexus Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Arista Networks Platform vs. Cisco Nexus

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

6.5

Arista Networks offers excellent ROI with higher costs, being cheaper than Cisco and requiring less deployment time and staff.

Sentiment score

7.1

Cisco Nexus offers stability and efficiency, with long-term cost savings and reliability justifying its initial expense for users.

I saved between five to six hours using Arista Networks Platform, as it takes less time to actually add your APs to the dashboard and deployment is quite fast and easy.

Fagbejule Uduwafemir

Network Engineer at Castlenet Consulting Limited

I have seen a return on investment from using Arista Networks Platform in terms of fewer employees needed during installation and deployment.

Adeagbo Olamide

Network Engineer at Castlenet Consulting Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the Arista Networks Platform report

Speeding up our response times and reducing errors and incidents with automation and available APIs.

reviewer2669133

Global Head, Network Endpoint Connectivity at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Nexus report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.6

Arista Networks Platform offers highly regarded, prompt technical support, though some users note documentation lacks depth and concern over initial costs.

Sentiment score

7.3

Cisco Nexus support is praised for expertise and responsiveness, despite high costs, being favored for reliability and assistance.

They provide instant support and maintain commitments regarding replacement products.

Moshiur Rahman Khan

CEO/Consultant at CIL

We would rate the customer support as a nine to 9.5 out of ten.

Tony Udeze

Technical project manager at Castlenet Consulting Limited

All network engineers from the organization were present in the program, and the Arista engineer provided a solution in less than five minutes.

Adeagbo Olamide

Network Engineer at Castlenet Consulting Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the Arista Networks Platform report

For us, we have a time advantage because we know the solution, and the technological refresh is easier.

Claudio Fedeli

Systems Area References Specialist at Fondazione Poliambulanza

I would rate the support of Cisco an eight out of ten.

Fakhar Mahmood

Sr. Network Administrator at i2c

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Nexus report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

8.0

Arista Networks Platform offers seamless scalability and ease of expansion to support diverse and large-scale data center environments.

Sentiment score

7.6

Cisco Nexus provides robust scalability and versatility for enterprise networks, despite being costly and having some limitations.

Scalability is a key feature of Arista, owing to the possibilities to manage the entire data center network from a single console.

Nimit Puvar

AVP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.

We can easily scale up with Arista Networks Platform, as it is not difficult, and they have a platform that encourages scalability.

Tony Udeze

Technical project manager at Castlenet Consulting Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the Arista Networks Platform report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Nexus report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.1

Arista Networks Platform is stable and reliable, with minimal downtime, supported by strong performance and a robust customer base.

Sentiment score

7.9

Cisco Nexus is reliable and high-performing, with minor issues, praised for data center use and stability with updates.

I have not had any downtime using Arista Networks Platform.

Adeagbo Olamide

Network Engineer at Castlenet Consulting Limited

We have been working with Arista Networks Platform for the past five years, and we can say it is stable.

Tony Udeze

Technical project manager at Castlenet Consulting Limited

For more quotes and insights, download the Arista Networks Platform report

Initially, the stability of Cisco Nexus, particularly with the ACI, was problematic due to unstable codes, requiring replacements.

reviewer2669133

Global Head, Network Endpoint Connectivity at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Nexus report

Room For Improvement

Arista Networks needs improved documentation, integration, pricing, and features like microsegmentation to align better with user expectations.

Users want Cisco Nexus improvements in GUI, integration, scalability, programmability, cost-efficiency, compatibility, management, and training resources.

Feature-wise, it addresses most customer requirements.

Nimit Puvar

AVP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.

Arista Networks is currently less popular as they were initially more focused on data centers than campus networks.

Moshiur Rahman Khan

CEO/Consultant at CIL

For more quotes and insights, download the Arista Networks Platform report

When I talk about data centers, which are critical infrastructure and centralized application hubs, the Nexus platforms should be highly stable.

reviewer2669133

Global Head, Network Endpoint Connectivity at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

The solution is on-premises and stable.

Claudio Fedeli

Systems Area References Specialist at Fondazione Poliambulanza

It might be pretty expensive for other companies.

Mohammed Faisal Ikram

Director at WAJDA GROUP

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Nexus report

Setup Cost

Arista Networks is often seen as expensive, but some find its value and features competitive against Cisco.

Cisco Nexus pricing is high but justified by features, with varied licensing options and favorable long-term ownership costs.

Compared to Cisco, Arista routers are significantly cheaper.

Moshiur Rahman Khan

CEO/Consultant at CIL

Arista products are perceived as costly, especially compared to competitors like Cisco.

Nimit Puvar

AVP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.

For more quotes and insights, download the Arista Networks Platform report

The price of Cisco Nexus is on the higher side due to the premium services Cisco offers.

reviewer2669133

Global Head, Network Endpoint Connectivity at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

All solutions are very expensive and not an economy solution.

Claudio Fedeli

Systems Area References Specialist at Fondazione Poliambulanza

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Nexus report

Valuable Features

Arista Networks Platform excels in cost-efficiency, scalability, and advanced features with reliable management, deployment, and support.

Cisco Nexus is praised for its performance, scalability, advanced routing, integration, low latency, automation, security, and redundancy.

Features include plug-and-play auto-discovery, allowing centralized configuration and management.

Moshiur Rahman Khan

CEO/Consultant at CIL

The best features Arista Networks Platform offers are the dashboards where you can see all your APs that have been deployed and installed across all locations, making it quite unique to access, manage, and monitor performance from that dashboard.

Tony Udeze

Technical project manager at Castlenet Consulting Limited

The most valuable features of Arista include low latency, scalability, and sustainability of the products.

Nimit Puvar

AVP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.

For more quotes and insights, download the Arista Networks Platform report

The VPC feature of Cisco Nexus is great because it provides an active-active way of forwarding the traffic and avoids blocking any of the links.

reviewer2669133

Global Head, Network Endpoint Connectivity at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

For us, we have a time advantage because we know the solution, and the technological refresh is easier.

Claudio Fedeli

Systems Area References Specialist at Fondazione Poliambulanza

I encountered an issue where different models within the same series, the 95308 DC, do not support VPC between the EX series and FX3 series.

Fakhar Mahmood

Sr. Network Administrator at i2c

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Nexus report

Categories and Ranking

Arista Networks Platform

Ranking in Data Center Networking

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Ethernet Switches (11th)

Cisco Nexus

Ranking in Data Center Networking

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

108

Ranking in other categories

LAN Switching (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Center Networking category, the mindshare of Arista Networks Platform is 15.7%, up from 14.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Nexus is 15.3%, down from 18.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Center Networking Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Arista Networks Platform	15.7%
Cisco Nexus	15.3%
Other	69.0%

Data Center Networking

Featured Reviews

Adeagbo Olamide

Network Engineer at Castlenet Consulting Limited

Cloud-managed access points have simplified deployments and saved significant installation time

I have been using Arista Networks Platform for three years now. Arista Networks Platform is easy to use, and after deployment of the access points, the dashboard makes it easy and convenient to use with easy navigation, which is excellent. The access points on Arista Networks Platform operate in the cloud through the GUI where you operate the access points and perform all configurations for the access points on the platform. In terms of performance with Arista Networks Platform, I would give it a perfect score as it has not failed me before. The only time I had an issue with Arista was when the access point went into rest mode, probably after a power outage in an infrastructure. After contacting Arista and attending an Arista program, I was guided through a solution via the Arista GUI, which I implemented, and since then, the performance has been excellent. In terms of security, I have no issues with Arista; it performs really well in terms of security. Arista Networks Platform is very convenient overall. Arista Networks Platform has really boosted our organization to the extent that our organization does not want to think about any other platform except Arista in terms of access points and switches. We are just diving into the switch area. In terms of time saved with Arista Networks Platform, the access points are easy to install and the switches are easy to install. I can install seven or eight access points in less than two hours. It is really easy to install and time-saving. In terms of cost, I think it is cost-efficient compared to others in the same field.

Read full review

Fakhar Mahmood

Sr. Network Administrator at i2c

Migration between data centers has strengthened core connectivity and simplified segmentation

The biggest problems during migration were corporate issues, including dependencies on other devices such as F5, HSMs, and firewalls from Palo Alto. Everything was connected over the core switches, which made this a quite difficult part to manage and to onboard the teams and to understand the impact of the migration. We encountered an issue where we have two data centers, and unknowingly we were configuring the devices with the same VPC number on both devices. By doing that, we were not able to terminate the lease lines over those core switches. According to Cisco, we had to change the VPC number of one of the data center's core switches since they are in a VPC. We are still waiting, and it has been more than five to six years just to change the VPC number and migrate back the lease line. Now we are having cabin switches for the lease line and then the core switch. That VPC number issue was quite surprising for us. However, we have a very frequent issue with Cisco Nexus, particularly with the SFPs. Every time a port or the SFP heats up, it gets faulty. We have almost sixteen Nexus switches per data center. In a year, we experience one or two port issues per annum. We have standard Equinix data centers with standard installations, but somehow the temperature is always maintained and there is no ducting, yet the ports and the SFPs heat up or become faulty. This is a very frequent issue with the SFP-based port.

Read full review

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Center Networking solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

University

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	17
Large Enterprise	83

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Arista Networks Platform?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arista Networks Platform?

I do not handle the pricing for Arista Networks Platform as other departments handle the costing. I am a network engineer in my company.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Arista Networks Platform?

I have not had any issues with Arista Networks Platform in terms of improvements. I would only advise that they should dive deeper into the Nigerian market and make it easily accessible.

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco Nexus?

The product's initial setup phase is very easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?

We are a reseller, and we sell products to our customers.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?

Cisco Nexus may not be very popular because of the requirements that we come across, as it will go into the core data centers, whereas we work with most of the corporate sectors, so Cisco Nexus is ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Arista Networks Platform

Compared 21% of the time

Cisco Ethernet Switches vs Arista Networks Platform

Compared 10% of the time

Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches vs Arista Networks Platform

Compared 9% of the time

Aruba Switches vs Arista Networks Platform

Compared 7% of the time

Meraki MS Switches vs Arista Networks Platform

Compared 5% of the time

More Arista Networks Platform Competitors

Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 28% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 12% of the time

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 7% of the time

Juniper QFabric vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 7% of the time

Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Arista Networks Platform

January 2026

Download Arista Networks Platform product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

January 2026

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Also Known As

7000 Series

No data available

Overview

Arista Networks Platform is a stable and reliable solution for data center features, specifically for non-blocking switches used for spine-leaf connectivity with servers hooked to these switches. It also provides multi-layer switches for client networks, particularly in the banking sector.

Arista products are preferred for their stability, good hardware, ease of adoption and configuration, responsive and helpful support, and high throughput ratings. The solution has helped prevent screen loss and business outages in the media industry and is designed for next-generation data centers.

Arista

The Cisco Nexus family of switches is designed to meet the stringent requirements of the next-generation data center. Not simply bigger or faster, these switches offer the following characteristics: infrastructure that can be scaled cost-effectively and that helps you increase energy, budget, and resource efficiency, transport that can navigate the transition to 10 Gigabit Ethernet and unified fabric and can also handle architectural changes such as virtualization, Web 2.0 applications, and cloud computing and operational continuity to meet your need for an environment where system availability is assumed and maintenance windows are rare if not totally extinct.

Cisco

Sample Customers

American Internet Services

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins

Buyer's Guide

Arista Networks Platform vs. Cisco Nexus

December 2025

Free Report: Arista Networks Platform vs. Cisco Nexus

Find out what your peers are saying about Arista Networks Platform vs. Cisco Nexus and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Arista Networks Platform vs. Cisco Nexus report.

See our list of best Data Center Networking vendors.

We monitor all Data Center Networking reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.