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Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cato SASE Cloud Platform
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
7th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (3rd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (15th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (10th), WAN Edge (8th), ZTNA as a Service (9th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (5th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (3rd)
Juniper Session Smart Router
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Routers (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Cato SASE Cloud Platform is 6.9%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper Session Smart Router is 2.1%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Juniper Session Smart Router2.1%
Cato SASE Cloud Platform6.9%
Other91.0%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2697738 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product & Services Integrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Cloud security has unified global network design and has simplified threat visibility
I think all of the functionalities, such as the secure web gateway feature, are quite good. I also believe Cato SASE Cloud Platform is one of the only solutions that has not only a software firewall solution but also a physical software solution where you can change the company's firewalls and put in sockets from Cato SASE Cloud Platform, which I see as an advantage for them. The single-pass architecture has improved user experience with Cato SASE Cloud Platform as it provides security teams in companies a platform where they can easily obtain information if there are breaches or security issues. I assess the benefit of integrating WAN optimization as good. There is ease in making rules between WAN optimization, especially when it comes to global connections because of all their points of presence that are spread over the world. I think the real-time threat protection of Cato SASE Cloud Platform is also good. Their points of presence are quite efficient, and I do not see any delays in that area.
Esther Sultaana - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Consultant Storage at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Secure healthcare connectivity has protected patient data and supports reliable telemedicine
Everything can be improved. It could improve its security stack with malware detection, particularly in healthcare because of ransomware. Now you have IoT vulnerabilities, so something like advanced malware detection or threat analysis would help. This is something I worked with around 2016 to 2017. Perhaps they have added those features, but I know they didn't have it then. Some security profiles for specific medical devices would be helpful. Sandboxing would be good. Dedicated telemedicine routing profiles would be beneficial because we have a lot of telemedicine going on. Real-time sessions for clinicians may need pre-built templates for EHR and EMR. I think those would be good if they're not already there. I don't know what the latest router has, but I know they didn't have those features then. There can always be improvements because technology is constantly advancing. It is a very solid router, and that is one of many industries that could utilize it. Healthcare is one such industry, and if it works for healthcare, then that is a major plus for that router.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When we went to Cato Networks it was an always-on automatic VPN, it reduced our help desk calls by about 10 percent."
"The main features we use are the firewall and secure web gateway."
"If you really want to have a solution that has an easy deployment and provides SD-WAN and firewall abilities, go with Cato Networks."
"One of the advantages of Cato is that they provide a static IP from their cloud and assign it to us, and this is a service that comes with an additional cost but is cheap compared to getting it from my service provider."
"Technical support was always helpful and responsive."
"Cato SASE Cloud Platform's self-healing model is the most valuable feature."
"I would definitely recommend Cato Networks to other users."
"Cato Networks seems to do everything we wanted it to do."
"Juniper Session Smart Router's real-time analytics and visibility features are easily accessible."
"The solution is especially Session's smart, application-aware, AI-based."
"As compared to the other major vendors in the SD-WAN market, such as VeloCloud, Cisco, and others, the tunnel-free and secure vector routing technology is its major USP, which gives plenty of room to discuss with the customer why IPSec from 1998 is a bit outdated."
"Because we are talking directly to engineers in the US, the support is usually the best you can possibly get."
"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."
"I can share specific numbers; we achieved a 30 to 60% WAN cost reduction by reducing MPLS usage."
"Juniper Session Smart Router has positively impacted my organization by simplifying SD-WAN deployments, allowing us to operate with fewer staff, as its integration with Juniper Mist AI takes on much of the workload, thereby offering reliable performance and stability without software issues."
"Customer service is very prompt."
 

Cons

"The different languages in the user interface should be enhanced to include other languages."
"They should add more sophisticated security features. It should also be integrated into the cloud."
"The platform lacks strong security features on the edge. All security features are on the cloud."
"A little tweaking or improvement of the UI in terms of logging when troubleshooting would be an improvement because it's very detailed."
"I'd rate Cato SASE Cloud Platform's pricing as about five or six out of ten. It's not the cheapest solution, but it is cheaper than Palo Alto and even VeloCloud."
"There should be a Web Application Firewall feature in the product nodes."
"It could expand its reach into other sectors like professional services and finance, requiringmore specialized tools beyond Cato's current offerings. This includes better integration with third-party providers for more sophisticated tools such as intrusion prevention systems, anti-malware, and data loss prevention. Additionally, enhancing network speed and optimizing last-mile connectivity for managed service providers like us would be beneficial."
"The price could be better. Because of the price, we are considering moving to Cisco Meraki."
"My overall rating for Juniper Session Smart Router as a product is that earlier it was good, but currently, the replacement of the devices is very difficult, and the staff is also a challenge."
"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks."
"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks. What we are missing there are wizards. For example, I have two applications, and I want one application to be prioritized against the other. In such a case, a wizard for assigning policies to a service without configuring each step by hand would be very helpful. There should be an overhaul of the GUI of the conductor. The functionality they have got in the Mist portal should be baked into the conductor itself. It would be really great, but as we all know, that won't happen."
"Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in terms of software performance."
"Juniper Session Smart Router could improve its documentation to become more competitive. It has very little documentation, and you have to rely mainly so much on support to do something, which I feel should not be that way."
"I found some weaknesses on their hardware. They are sometimes breaking very often."
"A key area for improvement in Juniper Session Smart Router is its security stack, which is not as robust as Fortinet."
"Juniper Session Smart Router should have a more user-friendly graphical interface because the user interface is complex, and some upgrade operations are sometimes difficult."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Cato Networks is in the middle range compared to other solutions. NetFoundry is a less expensive solution than Cato Networks."
"The price is not an issue for us, as it is priced more competitively than some other vendors."
"The platform is expensive."
"The pricing of the solution depends upon the bandwidth required for different branches"
"The solution is reasonably priced since Cato Networks provides features like SASE and monitoring, which I am very happy with currently."
"I rate the price of Cato Networks a four out of five."
"The pricing is on the higher side, almost an eight out of ten."
"If you compare with VeloCloud, the price is the same or even cheaper."
"We are currently renegotiating the offer for the licenses and the license bundle model. The license for an ISP has to be different from the license for an end customer. This is something we are currently renegotiating with Juniper, but, of course, the pricing for the licensing is always an issue when you want to get more customers."
"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
21%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for Cato Networks?
I can see that I am a consultant at a reseller and I am the architect of Cato SASE Cloud Platform designs. In the baseline, I usually recommend Cato SASE Cloud Platform for international companies ...
What advice do you have for others considering Cato Networks?
It is difficult to find types of companies I would not recommend Cato SASE Cloud Platform to, and I believe you can use Cato SASE Cloud Platform in most environments, although there could be some c...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cato Networks?
I do not find it particularly expensive, but for some companies, they may not have the budget to be at that level of security for their networks.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Juniper Session Smart Router is that pricing is higher compared to other vendors. The main feature we see is WAN performance, which is the ...
What needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?
I think the current Juniper focuses more on switching rather than routing, which is a weak point in the product. Currently, I and my customers have not utilized the Session Awareness feature of Jun...
What is your primary use case for Juniper Session Smart Router?
I have been running my own company and working with Juniper Session Smart Router for almost 10 to 12 years because Larsen & Toubro is my client who will use Juniper devices for switching and fi...
 

Also Known As

Cato Networks
128T Networking Platform, 128 Technology SD-WAN, Juniper SSR Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Paysafe, AdRoll, Pet Lovers Centre, Arlington Orthopedics, Humphreys & Partners Architects
Revation Systems
Find out what your peers are saying about Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs. Juniper Session Smart Router and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.