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Aruba Orchestrator vs Juniper Contrail SD-WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

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
6.8
ROI occurs by year four via savings in MPLS, Unity Edge Connect investments, and reduced internet expenses with Aruba Orchestrator.
Sentiment score
4.9
Juniper Contrail SD-WAN offers enhanced performance, faster deployments, cost efficiencies, robust security, and improved visibility, simplifying management and reducing errors.
I have seen a return on investment and financial benefit from using Aruba Orchestrator.
Systems and support engineer at Lan to Wan
We don't see return on investment, but we love the technology, so we purchase because of the technology.
CTO, Co founder at IT-Guru
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Aruba Orchestrator offers highly rated customer service, with efficient support, though expertise can be challenging for complex issues.
Sentiment score
1.0
Juniper Contrail SD-WAN support is rated highly, with responsive service and effective assistance from Juniper and local partners.
The technical support of Aruba is very supportive and excellent.
Systems and support engineer at Lan to Wan
I would rate my experience with technical support from Aruba as eight out of ten.
Senior IT Officer at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Aruba Orchestrator is scalable, managing numerous devices efficiently, suitable for enterprises, but some suggest simpler scaling.
Sentiment score
6.8
Juniper Contrail SD-WAN excels in scalability for large enterprises, despite security challenges and evolving competition from companies like Fortinet.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.7
Users report Aruba Orchestrator's enhanced stability, improved performance, and high satisfaction after switching from Cisco, with no significant issues.
Sentiment score
6.5
Juniper Contrail SD-WAN is praised for stability and reliability, with users favoring it over Cisco and reporting no performance issues.
We had Cisco infrastructure in the past before we replaced it with Aruba, and our experience is much better with Aruba compared to Cisco—far, far better.
Senior IT Officer at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Aruba Orchestrator needs improved security, cost effectiveness, training, and user-friendly features, particularly in deployment and analytics.
Juniper Contrail SD-WAN needs better training, user-friendly demo, improved support, integration, marketing, and optimized cost and UI/UX design.
The price should be improved as it is very high.
Systems and support engineer at Lan to Wan
It would be great if they would have a fully multi-tenant solution on their Orchestrator.
CTO, Co founder at IT-Guru
 

Setup Cost

Aruba Orchestrator's pricing is mid-range and variable, rated between three and eight out of ten by users.
Juniper Contrail SD-WAN offers cost-effective, flexible licensing with competitive pricing, ensuring excellent ROI for large enterprises.
Regarding my experience with the pricing and setup costs, I find it expensive software compared to others.
Systems and support engineer at Lan to Wan
 

Valuable Features

Aruba Orchestrator streamlines network management with advanced features, reducing operational costs and supporting hybrid environments.
Juniper Contrail SD-WAN boosts security, visibility, and performance, excels in cloud integration, and simplifies operations through automation and acquisitions.
Integration capabilities with cloud and on-prem environments help my organization maintain a hybrid approach.
Systems and support engineer at Lan to Wan
It also gives a lot of troubleshooting ideas when we are trying to troubleshoot any issues with the wireless network or the wired network.
Senior IT Officer at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
It's really great that it connects today all the gateways and SD-WAN solution with the SASE and the zero trust network access.
CTO, Co founder at IT-Guru
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Orchestrator
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper Contrail SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
15th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
WAN Edge (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Aruba Orchestrator is 1.5%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper Contrail SD-WAN is 2.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Orchestrator1.5%
Juniper Contrail SD-WAN2.0%
Other96.5%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2733462 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior IT Officer at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
User interface boosts network management efficiency
I use Aruba Orchestrator's advanced analytics tools. Aruba Orchestrator's analytics tools are great tools to use. We were using Cisco, but when comparing it with Cisco, Aruba is far better. The security features of Aruba Orchestrator are really good; I don't think there is any issue with security. It's a good tool in terms of the security aspects. My experience with Aruba Orchestrator is that it's a great tool to use to manage the network. Its user interface is very user-friendly; in fact, the management interface is very user-friendly. It also gives a lot of troubleshooting ideas when we are trying to troubleshoot any issues with the wireless network or the wired network. It's a very useful tool. I can say that 100% the ROI from Aruba Orchestrator is really good because we have reduced the number of people needed. There is no need to have a team of people to manage the huge network, and with a relatively smaller number of resources, we are able to manage.
IS
Solution Architect at Posteo
Has automation features but provisioning new branches or making changes to the existing ones is difficult
I've worked with several SD-WAN solutions over the past few years, and the product felt more like an automated provisioning tool. Unlike solutions from Palo Alto or other SD-WANs orchestrated by a SaaS solution, Juniper Contrail SD-WAN already had the files and built their SaaS to orchestrate the configuration. Initially, you didn't do much, but then it started adding some routing capabilities. The automation features do help with network operations. Manually configuring SD-WAN is complicated, so the automation simplifies that. However, the initial SD-WAN solution had many limitations, particularly regarding its features. At some point, the tool began looking for other solutions and bought the 128T, which led to implementing a different SD-WAN approach. It also acquired another company for its session smart router, and then it began to develop the exact SD-WAN solution on the Mist Cloud.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions solutions are best for your needs.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
17%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Healthcare Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?
Regarding my experience with the pricing and setup costs, I find it expensive software compared to others.
What needs improvement with Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?
It would be great if they would have a fully multi-tenant solution on their Orchestrator. Aruba SD-WAN solutions are always expensive. I don't think that it will change. It's an argument for many y...
What do you like most about Juniper Contrail SD-WAN?
I've worked with several SD-WAN solutions over the past few years, and the product felt more like an automated provisioning tool. Unlike solutions from Palo Alto or other SD-WANs orchestrated by a ...
What needs improvement with Juniper Contrail SD-WAN?
There might be additional features that would be beneficial to have in the Juniper Contrail SD-WAN solution, including potential design improvements and UI/UX issues that have been observed.
What is your primary use case for Juniper Contrail SD-WAN?
Some time back, I conducted research on our website, PeerSpot.com, about IT solutions, specifically about Huawei Wireless and Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points. I am not selling anything or worki...
 

Also Known As

Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator, Unity Orchestrator
Contrail SD-WAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Allied Pinnacle
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Orchestrator vs. Juniper Contrail SD-WAN and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.