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Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Rackswitch comparison

 

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 Switches
Ranking in Data Center Networking
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
187
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (1st), Ethernet Switches (3rd), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
Rackswitch
Ranking in Data Center Networking
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Data Center Networking category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 15.3%, down from 21.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rackswitch is 2.5%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Center Networking Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches15.3%
Rackswitch2.5%
Other82.2%
Data Center Networking
 

Featured Reviews

MS
Electrical control system engineer at Dangote petroleum refinery and petrol chemicals
Reliable switching has delivered long‑term uptime, strong PoE support, and predictable performance
Cisco Systems Catalyst Switches are highly regarded for their performance, reliability, and enterprise-grade capabilities. My main reservation, however, is the pricing. The cost of Cisco Catalyst Switches—and Cisco products in general—is relatively high, especially in many African markets where organizations often need to balance budget constraints with required functionality. There are alternative vendors that offer comparable features at a lower price point. While they may not always match Cisco’s ecosystem, stability, or full feature depth, many businesses still choose them because of the significant cost savings. Another consideration is licensing, which can add to the overall total cost of ownership depending on the deployment model and required features. Overall, Cisco Catalyst Switches remain premium enterprise solutions, but when compared with other OEMs, their higher acquisition and licensing costs can be a major deciding factor for cost-conscious organizations.
it_user1068 - PeerSpot reviewer
Tech Support Staff at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Rackswitch is very easy to use and perfect for small businesses with small budgets.
Rackswitch consumes less power, eliminates delays, has a low latency, has airflow like the one found in servers for cooling purposes at a low cost and are redundant, is flexible, is reliable, and has a high level of performance. They are also scalable and of very high performance caliber with some already made virtualized.Rackswitch is easy to acquire, deploy and manage. It has an OpenFlow feature that minimizes complexity and allows for easy creation of virtualized networks.They are also fault tolerant, multicast and compatible with switches from other vendors.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The network is secure."
"Scalable, stable, and reliable product that's easy to install. Technical support is dependable and can be contacted in a variety of ways, e.g. through their ticketing system, hotline number, and community forum."
"The product is also flexible."
"One of the main features of this solution is it is easy to manage."
"Overall top of the line solution."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is communication."
"Rather than spending one or two hours configuring a switch, I can easily do that in one minute on the cloud."
"Cisco offers DNS features over other vendors."
"Rackswitch consumes less power, eliminates delays, has a low latency, has airflow like the one found in servers for cooling purposes at a low cost and are redundant, is flexible, is reliable, and has a high level of performance."
 

Cons

"The product is expensive."
"The pricing could be better. Cisco is quite expensive."
"An area for improvement would be the high price."
"The current catalyst is probably outdated so we will most likely move to the newer version of the solution soon."
"The pricing could be cheaper. There is a one-time license, but we pay for the smart net license every three years for support."
"Cisco Catalyst Switches is an expensive solution and its price could be improved."
"The customer service and support need a bit more improvement and a faster response. So, there is an area of improvement."
"While it is scalable, it could be better."
"Rackswitches are very complex and you must be skilled to configure and use them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of this solution could be less expensive, and we are on an annual license."
"The licenses are definitely expensive. There is a need to make annual payments towards the subscription or licensing costs attached to the solution."
"The price is too high for this market."
"Cisco Catalyst Switches are very expensive."
"It is expensive."
"There needs to be some improvement with the Cisco DNA licensing activation process, it is difficult at the moment."
"The price of a Cisco Catalyst Switches license is expensive."
"We have a contract for service with this partner, meaning we don't purchase the license or equipment directly."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business83
Midsize Enterprise29
Large Enterprise85
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?
Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was not all good. Licensing is quite a nightmare in the Cisco world, and I wish we had simplified licensing.
What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Switches?
Regarding the impression of end-to-end visibility offered by Cisco, I would love to have more visibility. What I want to see in the future regarding Cisco Catalyst Switches is more integrations bet...
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Also Known As

Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena
Altus IT, SL-Rasch, COMAS, Balluff GmbH, CANCOM IT Solutions, Kings College London
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Arista, Dell Technologies and others in Data Center Networking. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.