Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] comparison

Cisco and Citrix are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Citrix users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 30, 2025

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and Citrix SD-WAN compete in the SD-WAN category. Citrix SD-WAN has the upper hand due to its customization, scalability, and cost-effectiveness compared to Cisco's premium pricing and complex licensing.

Features: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is praised for its automation, application-level routing, and load balancing. Citrix SD-WAN is favored for easy customization, policy configuration manager, and hybrid networking capabilities allowing seamless connectivity between branches and reduced MPLS costs.

Room for Improvement: Citrix SD-WAN needs improvements in pricing, reporting customization, and support for additional services. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is challenged by its complexity, high cost, and cumbersome licensing model, needing enhancements in security features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Citrix SD-WAN primarily on-premises deployment receives mixed reviews on customer support quality. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN offers flexible deployment options but both solutions are criticized for requiring complex configurations and skilled resources.

Pricing and ROI: Citrix SD-WAN is more affordable with favorable ROI due to lower subscription costs and MPLS savings, despite high initial setup expenses. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is premium priced, offering good ROI but higher license and hardware costs, prompting a need for more competitive pricing.

To learn more, read our detailed Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

April 2025

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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

Fortinet FortiGate

Q&A Highlights

Omkar Tomar

Assistant Vice President - IT at Au small finance bank

May 08, 2020

What is the biggest difference between Cisco SD-WAN and Citrix SD-WAN?

Cisco is a traditional networking play and has successfully transformed from pure hardware to now software defined products. Many network engineers already use the product and makes a lot of sense for a company with Cisco history to go towards Cisco just like a company which uses citrix desktops will go for the Citrix ADC. Therefore, configuration of Cisco, while not being difficult, is more "formatted" for Engineers who have used the solution and already have deep understanding of the protocols As a relatively new comer, Citrix seems to have put more effort to make the implementation process easier in terms of GUI Now, citrix has one fourth the market share of cisco and this is crucial in terms of competency - as it is 4 times easier to get Cisco competency However, in terms of costs, I like Citrix Netscaler pooled licensing arrangement, It is a flexible licensing framework whereby there is a common pool of license regardless whether the customer performs the deployment as a physical hardware, virtual device or even a containerized solution already use the product. Therefore, Cisco has higher costs As for used cases, I have seen NetScalers used for Load Balancing, for external users to internal services and resources like XenDesktop and XenApp Finally, both Cisco and Citrix have resilient solutions and provide good support - also some dependency where you are located. As for recommendation, it depends on your specific scenario in light of above points.

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Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

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Igor Van Den Ouden

Engineer at Routz

Enables secure and flexible branch connectivity with application-aware routing

The valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN include its security policies and zone-based firewall that are applied to every site, as well as application-aware routing. Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations. Application-aware routing offers flexibility in using different lines for traffic, depending on the policy implemented.

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Rohit Ghorpade

Cloud network engineer at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd.

A scalable solution for MCN controller but lacks technical supports, upgrades

There are a few things that can be improved, are domain-based routing and the slowness of virtual parts, and it may be due to the wrong configuration, which we have been unable to find out. Previously, we faced some issues with the slowness part. Apart from that, feature like end gateway level antivirus. We are currently using a NetFlow proxy to establish a virtual position for the NetFlow. Our current environment has many use cases, but we are not using them on the Citrix SD-WAN. When I navigate the NCL part, it involves configuration. I want to highlight this disadvantage. Sometimes, when we push the configuration, it tries to push it to all branch locations. This process takes a lot of time, nearly 30 minutes, to push a single change from the NCL. Overall, I don't think Citrix meets our use cases what we have. This is based on my feedback after using it for the past year and working on this Citrix SD-WAN. However, from my experience, it is the worst solution I have seen. There's no domain-based routing, which is horrible. That's why we are moving to other products. We have checked our use case requirements with Fortinet, Palo Alto, and they meet them. I will consider the PoC or another OEM. There are many things in the area you need to be prompt, like the automation part. If any link or device goes down, alerting notification, etc. We need to perform and highlight so many things to your management. This should be improved.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is stable."

"One of the valuable features is a standardized OS."

"UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome."

"Its user interface is good, and it is always working fine."

"I think that the UTM features are the most value, as it truly protects my infrastructure."

"The performance is good."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are that it does the job effectively and protects our environment."

"The email protection and VPN features are the most valuable."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The technical team is very competent."

"You get security, all of the service you need, and it's easy to deploy."

"The tool is stable, and its troubleshooting capabilities are good. It helps us identify and fix any issues. It simplifies VPN setup for both side-to-side and multisite connections. This allows for easier data sharing between main and branch offices, creating a local network feel even for distant sites."

"Cisco SD-WAN is a very good product."

"Cisco SD-WAN's best features are the development of network links, application control, and bandwidth monitoring."

"So far, the feature that I like best is the policy configuration manager."

"The solution sufficiently provides ISPs."

"The solution is stable and reliable."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pros

"The VPN and the load balancing are the most valuable features."

"It allows us to use additional VPNs, offering more options compared to other VPN solutions."

"The most valuable feature is security, as it gives me the port bindings that cannot be accomplished using other solutions."

"The solution is brilliant, the way it calculates its paths and trails is great."

"It allows you to combine two asymmetrical connections."

"The zero-touch deployment is most valuable for us."

"The best feature is the backup capability, where all of the users' computers are tied into a central data repository."

"The SD-WAN solution as it is already is quite feature-rich and the upgrade process is very simple."

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] pros

Cons

"Maybe they could make some features more accessible, such as a way to translate directions between two networks that share the same subnets."

"It should provide better visibility over the network and more information in the form of reports for the end users. Its installation should also be easier."

"The logs need to be better. They need to be more visible and easier to access."

"I'm not sure if it's something that they already have or are developing something, however, we need some dedicated features for container security."

"Technical support for this solution can be improved."

"The graphical user interface of Fortinet's FortiGate product does not function well with text-based interfaces."

"Fortinet currently has many products bundled with FortiGate including the basic firewall and load balancer, and I think that that they need to have separate product portfolios for each of these specialized services."

"A couple of things I've seen that need improvement, especially in terms of a hard coding. The driver-level active moment really is out-of-the-box and we have to have contact the customer support and sometimes it is difficult to resolve."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"This solution should include a fully functional firewall at no extra charge."

"It's an expensive solution."

"Compresson deduplication should be added."

"The platform needs to be updated to be more stable and simple."

"The main issue is that not in the technology, but it comes back comparison. When we do a comparison with other SD WAN solutions, they are priced better."

"The installation is not easy. If you have experience and it is not your first time doing the installation, it can be easier."

"Some competitors are much faster in providing out-of-the-box solutions, more innovative solutions. In terms of innovation, in many cases, they're lagging behind."

"This solution is expensive so pricing is a concern."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN cons

"The price could be improved, it's an expensive solution."

"I would like to see more customization to adjust for the WAN lock-out due to our unexpected power outages."

"Even though the monitoring is pretty good, there is some room for improvement there."

"I would like to see support for additional reporting."

"Citrix SD-WAN's knowledge base has a few missing things, so you may need to seek help from support."

"The only improvement for Citrix SD-WAN would be to lower its cost."

"The communication around the life cycle would have been really helpful. The main issue we have had is related to the life cycle because some of the things that we are using were discontinued. They were discontinued within a year after we had purchased it, which is a bit painful. If we had known that, we would've made some other decisions."

"Given that Citrix SD-WAN solved all our problems by providing us with everything we needed to unify communications with our branches and data centers, I cannot suggest anything further in terms of improvements."

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you compare Fortinet FortiGate with Sophos and other firewall products available in the market, this solution is affordable."

"We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW."

"Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced."

"For medium and enterprise organizations, FortiGate is more affordable."

"Fortinet FortiGate is expensive."

"The price of FortiGate is comparable to that of most other firewall solutions and is more affordable than Cisco."

"They are very competitive, but we like to have the factory warranty taken care of."

"We are on an annual license to use Fortinet FortiGate."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"80 percent reduction in WAN costs. There are no MPLS or P2P circuits left in the organization."

"The Cisco SD-WAN licensing model needs to be simplified. There are currently three types of licenses: enterprise agreements, individual licenses, and DNA subscriptions. This can confuse customers, requiring a dedicated person to determine which type of license is right for their organization."

"The price of Cisco SD-WAN is expensive. We pay approximately $50 monthly for the use of the solution."

"When purchasing, there are so many features available that it's quite confusing deciding which to choose. And some of the devices force you to buy licenses you don't want."

"The pricing is fair, and it's on par with the market vendors. But based on the competition, Cisco could work on the pricing, go deep on discounts and provide more commercially viable solutions to customers."

"It is much cheaper than other solutions. Most of our clients are the top 500 companies, and they all have a corporate contract."

"The cost is reasonable. I would rate the price as seven out of ten."

"Cost-wise, Cisco SD-WAN is comparatively high."

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN pricing and cost advice

"I believe that Citrix SD-WAN is a good investment, but I do not have the information to be more specific."

"The price is relatively expensive."

"It is a bit expensive. A cheaper product would be good, but everybody likes things to be cheaper. We bought the devices up front, and then we pay for the annual support."

"It would be helpful to have a demo license available for customers who want to prove the concept and conduct a proof of concept (POC) before committing to the solution. This is particularly important for customers in Egypt who often require a demonstration of the solution's features and compatibility with their needs before making any investment or incurring costs. Providing a demo license would allow customers to assess whether the solution would meet their needs or not."

"Citrix SD-WAN is quite an affordable product."

"It's a little bit on the high side compared to the other products."

"The price of the subscription should be cheaper."

"The license was a one-time purchase. It's expensive."

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

19%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

41%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

27%

Real Estate/Law Firm

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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What do you like most about Cisco SD-WAN?

When considering the most valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN, the decoupling of self-monitoring stands out significant...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco SD-WAN?

The pricing of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is rated between eight and nine out of ten, where ten is the most expensive.

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What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?

The durability of the switches could be improved. In the past, Cisco devices had a longer lifespan. Now, they change ...

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What do you like most about Citrix SD-WAN?

It lowered our Internet costs and gave me the flexibility to choose providers based on each location's connectivity.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix SD-WAN?

It is on the expensive side. I would give it an eight out of ten in terms of costliness. In my region, the approximat...

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What needs improvement with Citrix SD-WAN?

The solution's licensing model could be improved. Citrix SD-WAN is a good product from a technical point of view. How...

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Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 21% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 12% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 10% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 10% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 8% of the time

Peplink SpeedFusion vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Competitors

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]

Compared 32% of the time

More Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

May 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

May 2025

Download Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Citrix SD-WAN [EOL]

May 2025

Download Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

Cisco SD-WAN

Citrix CloudBridge, WOC, NetScaler SD-WAN

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN serves to connect remote offices, reduce MPLS costs, and facilitate cloud and internet access while providing secure connectivity and centralized management for hybrid networks.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is leveraged for secure connectivity, load balancing, VPN, centralized network management, and migrating from traditional networks to SD-WAN. It supports hybrid networks, enabling centralized management across branches and data centers, improving security, and optimizing bandwidth usage. Industries such as banking and retail benefit from its capabilities for secure and efficient network management.

What are the main features of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN?

Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations and administration.
Application-Level Routing: Enhances performance for critical applications.
Segmentation: Provides robust network segmentation for security.
Policy Configuration: Customizable policies for traffic management.
Real-Time Traffic Visibility: Enables monitoring for better insights.
Load Balancing: Distributes network traffic efficiently.
Hybrid Cloud Connectivity: Seamless integration with cloud services.
Deep Packet Inspection: Detailed traffic analysis for security.
High Security: Offers strong security protocols to protect the network.
Ease of Deployment: Features like zero-touch provisioning simplify setup.

What benefits should be considered in reviews?

Cost Savings: Reduces operational expenses through efficient network management.
Reliability: Proven performance and uptime for critical operations.
Scalability: Grows with the organization's needs.
Integrated Health Monitoring: Proactively identifies and resolves issues.
Industry Trust: Cisco's reputation for quality and support.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN's implementation in banking enhances secure transaction communication between branches and data centers. Retailers utilize it to ensure steady connectivity for point-of-sale systems and inventory management. Organizations benefit from centralized management, making it easier to handle networks across multiple locations.

Cisco

Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] enhances network stability, redundancy, and reliability, supporting connectivity between branches, optimizing internet access, and enabling secure, redundant networks, both on-premises and cloud-based.

Corporations utilize Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] to improve network performance, minimize downtime, and ensure high availability. Combining communication methods and supporting interbranch internet routing, it assists businesses in transitioning from MPLS, centralizing monitoring, and optimizing bandwidth use. Its functionality includes secure connections, cost reductions, and effective management of internet access. The support for multiple communication methods, application reliability, and ease of implementation make it a valuable tool for modern network management.

What key features does Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] offer?

Security: Enhanced protection to safeguard network data
IPv6 layering over IPv4: Ensures compatibility and future-proofing
Active-Active bandwidth use: Maximizes bandwidth utilization
Zero downtime failover: Maintains continuous operation during failures
Zero-touch deployment: Simplifies the installation process
Application reliability: Ensures high performance for critical applications
Cost-effectiveness: Reduces overall networking expenses
Central deployment: Facilitates easy configuration updates and management

What benefits should users look for in Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] reviews?

Enhanced performance: Improved application and connectivity speed
Increased reliability: Minimized network downtime and interruptions
Centralized monitoring: Streamlined network oversight and control
Scalable security: Adaptable protection for evolving network needs
Cost savings: Lower operational costs compared to traditional MPLS
Flexibility: Ability to handle multiple network functions effectively

Industries implement Citrix SD-WAN [EOL] to replace costly MPLS setups with more flexible VPN and NetScaler options, benefiting sectors like finance, healthcare, and retail that require robust, secure, and scalable network solutions. Organizations achieve better device management and efficient connectivity across multiple branches, enhancing their operational effectiveness.

Citrix

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Cornerstone Home Lending Inc., Dallara, ecVision, Essar, Eurofred, Groupe Promutuel, HMSHost Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Ltd, Royal Caribbean International

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April 2025

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