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Aviatrix vs Cisco ACI comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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

Aviatrix
Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco ACI
Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (1st), Cloud and Data Center Security (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category, the mindshare of Aviatrix is 6.4%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco ACI is 11.4%, down from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined Networking (SDN) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco ACI11.4%
Aviatrix6.4%
Other82.2%
Software Defined Networking (SDN)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1469877 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network & Security Administrator at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Centralized console has streamlined multi‑cloud management and supports automated operations
Apart from the centralized management console, Aviatrix gives the additional advantage or simplifies the way we manage the cloud environments. When it comes to troubleshooting or more networking-related issues, the native cloud solution has limited options available within the cloud environment. Aviatrix provides those additional benefits to manage effectively when managing troubleshooting or issues. Aviatrix is making our day-to-day job easier and also saving a lot of time because it gives options for cloud-to-cloud peering, as well as a transit hub and spoke architecture. It simplifies how we manage the multi-cloud environment through the single console, and the connectivity options become very easier. Aviatrix supports the automation platform. It supports Infrastructure as Code (IAC), which makes deployment faster with automation. This reduces operational overhead. Aviatrix has positively impacted my organization by making management and administration easier, allowing us to manage all the cloud infrastructure from a single console. There is less overhead on operations due to automation support, and cloud network segmentation has become more advanced.
Rahul Khandelwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Technical Manager at KPMG
Enables streamlined data center management with automation and application-centric design
The main features of Cisco ACI that I really appreciate are the application-centric and network-centric designs, allowing you to create your network according to your application. That's helpful, and it's good for one-time implementation. The automation capabilities are really helpful. We deployed one data center using Terraform, and after deployment, many automation features are available, which can be very helpful. Based on my experience, Cisco ACI provides substantial capability; you can design your network accordingly and it's part of the SDN family, providing many benefits to the organization, especially when moving from traditional network infrastructure. Many organizations are actually using the old traditional Nexus infrastructure or some old data center devices. It gives you significant control and one-time implementation capabilities, and it also provides better performance and security. Functionality-wise, Cisco ACI provides integration using automation. We implemented it through Terraform, which was easy. Those features are available, so I don't think any new features are needed right now; something new could come up, but they have implemented many improvements over the years.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has enhanced the way I can deploy and manage VPCs and other connectivity services, provided valuable insights into latency, ports used, and top talkers, and offered effective troubleshooting tools."
"Aviatrix has positively impacted my organization by making management and administration easier, allowing us to manage all the cloud infrastructure from a single console."
"Within the Aviatrix ecosystem, you could connect different clouds, and the intricacies of low-level commands and configurations were abstracted away."
"The product has greatly improved our organization by saving costs for multiple direct connections and simpler cloud configurations."
"Its exceptional capability to seamlessly integrate with various cloud services makes it the preferred choice for multi-cloud deployments."
"This tool resolves the overlapping of CIDR’s IP addresses in a multi-cloud environment, which is its best feature. The product also gives packet-level details on the data that has been put from one cloud to another. Currently, no other solution in the market can give this kind of detail. There is also the high VPN connectivity which gives high throughput. Internet service providers have a limitation on large migrations like 10 Gigabytes or 2 to 2.3 GBPS. However, this tool gives you a functionality where you can bundle multiple tunnels into one tunnel. Thereafter, you can transfer the data from one environment to another or from on-prem to the cloud."
"The connections are seamless, and we can access the static clouds on the platform itself. We are also able to trace the issues. The most valuable features of the solution are security, user interface, and performance."
"The most valuable feature of Aviatrix is that it saves us a lot of time."
"The most important aspect of Cisco ACI in my opinion is the ease of management. Other solutions, like traditional solutions and pricier solutions—or even fabric and PAT—you have to do many configurations on a box-to-box basis, With Cisco ACI, you go on the AP and do some "next, next finish" installer."
"Centralized management and control of the entire data center environment and its architecture."
"We get a full holistic view of the ecosystem."
"Cisco ACI is scalable and easy to expand."
"The operation and maintenance costs have been reduced. It is also simple to deploy any deployment. Any configuration can be easily done."
"The ability to integrate with other systems is the most valuable feature."
"Cisco ACI's multi-tenancy has been most beneficial for our network management."
"We are doing automation from ACI and we have integration with Azure. With the Azure stack integration we can have total automation. We can configure the EPGs from there, and we can configure load balancing functionalities from there as well. The most useful feature is that you don't need to configure anything on ACI itself. You can configure on Azure and it will provision your application."
 

Cons

"Aviatrix should include more integrated security features like intrusion detection and lateral movement detection."
"I find that the pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Aviatrix are on the higher side."
"There can be a steep learning curve for users who are not familiar with it or multi-cloud networking concepts"
"The solution needs to improve the onboarding architecture."
"The tool has a very limited local presence in the GCC market. I am based in Dubai, UAE and it would be very difficult for me to reach out to US staff for technical discussion during the tool’s implementation. The tool needs to focus on the GCC market which includes UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc. There is nobody to help you out in this region."
"There could be an easy availability of multiple features in the profile."
"There is room for improvement regarding enhancing its security features in response to modern cybersecurity challenges."
"I would like to see more troubleshooting apps."
"The initial setup was fairly complex and it looks terrifying when you first log in. That's one thing about ACI. It takes a bit to wrap your mind around how it works. It's not overly complicated once you understand the concepts, but someone who has never worked with anything like ACI, will initially find it difficult to grasp the complexity of it."
"I wish that if I had to open up an additional tab, I wouldn't have to log in every single time."
"I believe there's room for improvement in terms of ACI's integration with various technologies."
"Because this is new technology, which requires a different way of thinking, it can be hard to understand. Therefore, I would like more documentation or education."
"There were issues when upgrading venues and registering devices."
"The ACI user interface is complex and Cisco should improve it."
"For Multipod we need Layer 3 devices that support multicast. Customers ask: "Why can't ACI do that? Why do we need a dedicated Layer 3 device for this?" If they go for Multi-Site there is no need for that, ACI can do it. So Cisco needs to increase the Multipod features in ACI."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aviatrix is a pretty expensive solution."
"The tool is quite expensive."
"It operates on a consumption-based model and the expenses depend on factors such as the number of virtual machines you use and the resources consumed."
"During the initial phase, it operates as an open-source and it's a free tool."
"The pricing is pretty good for new technology."
"Cisco ACI costs depend on how many sites you have. One simple site with a simple installation, including two leaves, two spines, and some fibers, would cost $200,000 to $300,000 for the licenses. The solution is a bit expensive, but it's a good investment if you want your data centers to work without interruption."
"Price is always an issue."
"It is quite expensive. It is not at all on the cheap or medium side."
"We bought a package for hardware, software, and support. At that time, Cisco was simply selling that package to distributors, then we opted for it directly."
"It saves time and resources."
"We have seen time improvement using the product."
"If you compare the licensing and total cost of ACI, it's cheaper than NSX because of the licensing fees. If you are going for full NSX features it will be too expensive, especially the next-generation firewalling feature."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise87
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aviatrix?
I find that the pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Aviatrix are on the higher side.
What needs improvement with Aviatrix?
I have seen some cosmetic bugs with Aviatrix, particularly with the console. Although the Aviatrix team releases versions to address these concerns, I have personally observed that the console can ...
What is your primary use case for Aviatrix?
My main use case for Aviatrix is for managing our multi-cloud environment. We have our environment on Azure cloud, AWS, or GCP. We are in a hybrid or multi-cloud environment. To have centralized co...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco ACI?
Cost is one thing that could be improved, as it is heavy for an emerging market like ours.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Aviatrix Enterprise Contract
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hyatt, Robert Half, GREE
Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University
Find out what your peers are saying about Aviatrix vs. Cisco ACI and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.