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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs ExtremeCloud SD-WAN comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (4th), WAN Edge (2nd)
ExtremeCloud SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
35th
Average Rating
0.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is 11.0%, down from 13.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeCloud SD-WAN is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN11.0%
ExtremeCloud SD-WAN0.7%
Other88.3%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

Ashwani-Tyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Regional Manager at Orange
Centralized control has simplified cloud access and has improved operational visibility
If they can have better firewall features as their competitors have, such as Fortinet and Versa, that would help to place this solution better so that we can address security related things. If they can have all the IPS, IDS, everything built on all the edge devices, whether physical or virtual, that could be one improvement. Actually, if customers are existing Cisco customers, if Cisco can be more flexible to leverage the existing investment, that could be another important aspect to save on cost and be more competitive from a pricing perspective. Overall, the pricing or the segment that Cisco deals with is a bit premium, which they charge a bit premium against the competition on the licensing, hardware, and services. The implementation is not straightforward. You need a specialized partner or specialized people who can implement this. It can be simplified a bit from that perspective as well. Mostly the way we implement the policies for a big environment requires a lot of things that we need to take care of. If that can somehow be improved, because they have different components, like they have vManage, they have vSmart, and vBond and all these components have to work with a certain flow that they need to follow.
Wael Awni - PeerSpot reviewer
Management Board Member And Network Engineer at NewLogics
A useful and scalable solution for customers with multiple retail offices
Our primary use case for the solution is focused on remote branches. The solution is very useful if customers have multiple retail offices and branches, and it's really good on the scale The solution is very scalable, and the business model is good because it provides a solution as a service. For…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco SD-WAN has separate OMP routing."
"When you want to access cloud applications, or you want to have secure connectivity at a branch or hub location, it is quite useful."
"Cisco products are rated to handle the heat and are very rugged, making them a good corporate standard."
"The most valuable feature is the application-level routing."
"The best feature of this technology that is available to us is the ability to do better load-balancing."
"The most useful feature for our organization is the combination of on-prem and cloud-based deployments. We connect securely to our hybrid cloud using transit VPCs and cloud on-ramp for fast deployments."
"I have been working with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN for close to two and a half years now."
"Load balancing is a feature that allows us to take the best of our links and distribute the load intelligently, always with an eye on the end-customer experience."
"The solution is very scalable."
 

Cons

"The platform needs to be updated to be more stable and simple."
"What I also find should be improved is the possibility of really separating the software layer from the hardware layer since today the current offer is not well adopted by the service providers, which is why it does not reach the end customers."
"Cisco should focus more on making products that are convenient for users. Sadly, I think they are more interested in making money rather than making reliable products."
"It would be better if it provided more visibility. At present, we can't troubleshoot in real time."
"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."
"Since Cisco acquired Viptela, the stability of this solution has given problems since it is quite new."
"The initial setup is complex and can be improved."
"The process of onboarding the vSmart, vBond, and vManage should be improved to make it easier to manage in general."
"The solution could be more affordable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco SD-WAN is more expensive than its competitors."
"The cost of Cisco SD-WAN is high and has room for improvement compared to competitors such as Fortinet which has similar functionality."
"The license model is too complex with too many flavors and options. You might not be able to see it from an end user's point of view, but from a telco point of view, their license model is too complex. They should have a flexible license model. If you want to have good pricing, you need to buy it for a two-year, four-year, or five-year license immediately. Some other vendors have much more flexible license models."
"80 percent reduction in WAN costs. There are no MPLS or P2P circuits left in the organization."
"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 price of Cisco SD-WAN could improve, it is expensive. The cost of the solution is approximately 30 percent higher than competitors."
"It's expensive. If you compare Cisco with Fortinet and Juniper, you'll find that Cisco is more expensive than other vendors."
"You can get subscriptions for three or five years."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business48
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise49
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco SD-WAN?
Cisco offers premium enterprise capabilities, but its pricing, setup cost, and licensing models represent the most significant hurdles for IT organizations. Cisco hardware commands a premium price ...
What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN can be improved in minimal ways, because they have updated it now, and the updated version is really good. The only concern is the cost; compared to others, the cost is higher...
What is your primary use case for Cisco SD-WAN?
We are a system integrator and a Cisco Select Partner, deploying all the Cisco portfolios like SD-WAN, switching, firewall, access point, and then Secure Access, our cybersecurity product. We have ...
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Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
Ipanema SD-WAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions. Updated: August 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.