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Cisco Enterprise Routers vs MikroTik Routers and Switches comparison

Cisco and MikroTik are both solutions in the Routers category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3, while MikroTik is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.0. Cisco holds a 20.3% mindshare in R, compared to MikroTik’s 24.9% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of MikroTik users who would recommend it.
Cisco Enterprise Routers
Read 101 Cisco Enterprise Routers reviews
  • 3,565 Views
  • 2,639 Comparison Views
97% willing to recommend
MikroTik Routers and Switches
Read 67 MikroTik Routers and Switches reviews
  • 5,291 Views
  • 3,258 Comparison Views
90% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Cisco Enterprise Routers and MikroTik Routers compete in the enterprise networking hardware category. Cisco seems to have an edge with greater protocol support and security features, while MikroTik's affordability and ease of installation are attractive to small and medium enterprises.

Features: Cisco Enterprise Routers are well-regarded for service virtualization, high-performance WAN services, and inbuilt security features, accommodating protocols like MPLS and BGP. They provide flexibility with diverse interfaces. MikroTik Routers and Switches are known for affordability, delivering extensive routing features and versatile operation, which cater to cost-sensitive users or small enterprises.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Enterprise Routers could enhance themselves with more competitive pricing, simpler scalability, and better cloud management solutions. The existing pricing and licensing can be limiting due to the high cost of advanced features. MikroTik Routers could improve their user interface, technical support, and enhance the security measures and documentation provided, as users find the support less responsive and the interface less intuitive.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Enterprise Routers are primarily on-premises or hybrid cloud deployments, noted for comprehensive technical support, although some variability in service quality is reported. MikroTik Routers are praised for their ease of installation and user-friendliness but face criticism over support consistency and complexity in configuration management without significant technical knowledge.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Enterprise Routers are often viewed as expensive, with complicated licensing and high costs possibly deterring smaller businesses, despite justifications in documentation for performance. MikroTik offers cost-effective solutions with a one-time purchase model without recurring licensing fees, appealing to budget-conscious users, demonstrating satisfactory ROI particularly for smaller enterprises.

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Buyer's Guide
Cisco Enterprise Routers vs. MikroTik Routers and Switches
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

Cisco Enterprise Routers
Ranking in Routers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MikroTik Routers and Switches
Ranking in Routers
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Routers is 20.3%, down from 26.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MikroTik Routers and Switches is 24.9%, down from 32.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Routers
 

Q&A Highlights

NC
Nov 22, 2021
How do Cisco Enterprise routers compare with Mikrotik routers and switches?
Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is very intuitive and the command line interface is very simple to handle, at least for the tech-savvy crowd. Technical support is also very good. Cisco Enterprise routers can be very expensive. You do have to have some knowledge to configure, and that can be a dissatisfaction for some. A graphical interface would be helpful for those with less expertise and would make setup, scaling, and overall management easier. They could also integrate better with other products and solutions. Their Firewall and VPN options should be improved to stay more competitive with other products. MikroTik Routers and Switches are very good with multi-routing, multi-dwelling, multi-tenant units. Their bandwidth is amazing - we have experienced zero downtime. We found the solution to be very stable and flexible. They deliver the same performance as the top brands for a significantly lower price. The initial setup can be tricky. The user interface is a bit dated and the support could use improvement. They only warranty their product for one year, where others offer three, five, or more. This could be a concern for some. We feel that this product is not suited for high-end projects. Conclusion MikroTik offers a very usable stable product for smaller organizations that are not looking to grow exponentially quickly. They do not scale beyond 3 gigs of traffic. For a smaller organization, they would be a very good fit. Cisco is the go-to solution for larger organizations. They have the brand recognition that clients like They offer a solid product that they will stand behind, and it performs well. They can easily meet the needs of large enterprises and growing organizations.
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Featured Reviews

Hafiz Umar Farooq - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows us to configure NAS through Cisco activities and to create GRE channels with different sites
You cannot configure internet policies or other options on Cisco routers. If you have a very limited budget, you can't afford two different pieces of equipment, and you can't afford yearly licensing. I would like Cisco to launch a small business router that has firewall capabilities as well. It would be a great initiative for small businesses. I would like to see two additional features: a remote access VPN with the MFA, multifactor authentication capabilities. At the moment, the ISR series only supports MFA, but not every company likes to use that tool. I think Cisco needs to consider MFA for the remote access VPN and should incorporate other MFA solutions as well. I would also like there to be some firewall features included in the routers. I'm not talking about a full-fledged firewall feature, but a limited set of features that can be used on the small and medium-sized enterprise level. These two features would be a great initiative. I would also like to recommend the licensing feature. Previously, the Cisco licensing model was either a perpetual or annual smart license. Now, Cisco has totally shifted over to the smart licensing feature, and perpetual licenses are about to be eliminated from Cisco. The licensing feature is a bit costly if we compare it to other vendors. The licensing features of the F5 are perpetual, but the support has periodic renewal. The license to use Cisco features like a firewall or the routers are actually yearly based and not perpetual. The lead times are extremely high. Normally, it's six to eight months initially, and they prolong it to up to one year for new device delivery by Cisco. If you say you need a brand new router, switch, or fiber from Cisco within one month, you will never get it, unless some stock is readily available with your vendor. Otherwise, it will initially take six to eight months, and then that will be prolonged to one year. This is what we're experiencing with our clients right now.
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AnikIslam - PeerSpot reviewer
Cost-effective protocol support and a straightforward setup with room for login enhancements
In the network operations center, I manage our client's bandwidth. We connect with our clients through BGP and OSPF based on client demands. We also manage routing protocols, policies, internal firewalls, and other details like QE bandwidth, client manage bandwidth management, PoE, PPPoE, and DNS…
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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

"I think Cisco Enterprise Routers are excellent."
"It's a sound solution, so it's very easy to solve problems without a support contract, as mainly the problems we have related to the equipment can be solved by doing a Google search."
"Something I like about the solution is all the options it offers and ways it can be configured."
"The product can help teach valuable life lessons about what not to do when building a network."
"I am satisfied with the tool overall. Although I haven't used all of its features yet, it's been great for providing internet access to both customers, and employees within the company."
"The solution has been highly secure."
"Provides good capabilities and performance."
"They are the best in failover switches. Their product line is excellent."
More Cisco Enterprise Routers pros
"The most valuable feature is that you can do anything on all platforms."
"I like the routing features."
"They are very good at providing the bandwidth for multi-tenants and multi-dwelling units. We're managing WiFi hotspots for hundreds of locations, and the speed and performance are quite there. They also have very cheap 10G products that come with really good and flexible software. They are way cheaper than the top brands, and they're able to deliver the same performance and capabilities."
"MikroTik Routers and Switches are stable"
"We make use of a script that will automatically re-route traffic when connections are slow."
"I use the tool to block external attempts."
"MikroTik routers are very user-friendly and easy to manage"
"The most valuable aspect of this solution is the combination of value for money. They're extremely cost effective, yet they provide you with an extensive feature set of things you can do across the board. Also, they're pretty reliable, as far as equipment goes."
More MikroTik Routers and Switches pros
 

Cons

"I would like to see support for software-defined networking."
"Other products are coming to the market that are not as expensive, Cisco should reduce their price to be more comparable."
"This solution is scalable but it does need some improvements."
"The installation process should be simplified, since it is quite complex in a new version."
"Having a well-designed graphical user interface would make this product easier to use."
"Recently, there seems to be a lot of people who are leaning towards Juniper CLI, which is easier to pick up."
"Cisco routers are an expensive product."
"Performance is one area that could be improved. The stability of the devices is great, but performance-wise we find that upgrading the memory or changing the device entirely is sometimes necessary."
More Cisco Enterprise Routers cons
"I don't like the product's performance."
"They should improve technical support and make direct access available to the customers."
"If the reporting functionality of the solution is considered, I think it is not good."
"I think the documentation of specific features could probably be improved. Especially if you want to try a new feature, sometimes you must test it thoroughly before implementing it with the client because the documentation doesn't give you the full background."
"The login process needs improvement."
"In the Israeli market, we are in need of Hebrew support."
"This product could offer better integration with VPNs."
"The solution needs to offer better documentation."
More MikroTik Routers and Switches cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"The pricing of Cisco routers is reasonable at times. But, here in my country, it is expensive because we get the product from outside our country, which involves a lot of processes...Only owing to the features it provides, it is reasonable."
"Cisco policy is to limit the features and performance through their license."
"For a boost performance license, the cost is $2,000 to $2,500. There is an additional cost for more scalability."
"I have found the price to be expensive for the solution."
"I rate the product's price a six or seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is extremely expensive, and ten is very cheap."
"If Cisco Enterprise Routers could be less expensive it would be better. In Turkey, clients prefer cheap solutions, but working solutions."
"Cisco Switches are an expensive product in India. Linksys products are cheaper than Cisco Switches."
More Cisco Enterprise Routers pricing and cost advice
"There is no licensing fee in addition to the hardware, but we do pay an annual fee for support."
"They are very cheap and not at all expensive."
"No fees are required for licensing."
"MikroTik is very cost-effective and quite good for the price. It performs very well. For one of our customers, the existing setup comprises Cisco Catalyst switches, and it is about 10 to 15 years old. We're looking into upgrading in a cost-effective way to get the performance and yet still be at par with the quality and expectations that customers have from Cisco. Price-wise, Cisco is really expensive, and customers are expecting something different than Cisco so that they can save on IT costs. They don't have the same budget that they had before when they installed Cisco products. That's why they're looking for a solution that can provide performance and features without too much money or investment. We're looking at some alternative brands, such as NETGEAR and MikroTik, to support our proposal."
"In terms of the economic side, we're completely satisfied. The price is affordable for both SMEs and enterprises."
"There is a lifetime subscription already embedded when you buy the product."
"A license is not required."
"In our last project, we used two hundred units and the price was approximately 500 Shekels ($140 USD)."
More MikroTik Routers and Switches pricing and cost advice
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Answers from the Community

NC
Nov 22, 2021
Nov 22, 2021
How do Cisco Enterprise routers compare with Mikrotik routers and switches?
Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is very intuitive and the command line interface is very simple to handle, at least for the tech-savvy crowd. Technical support is also very good. Cisco Enterprise routers can be very expensive. You do hav...
See 2 answers
reviewer1650858 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 2, 2021
Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is very intuitive and the command line interface is very simple to handle, at least for the tech-savvy crowd. Technical support is also very good. Cisco Enterprise routers can be very expensive. You do have to have some knowledge to configure, and that can be a dissatisfaction for some. A graphical interface would be helpful for those with less expertise and would make setup, scaling, and overall management easier. They could also integrate better with other products and solutions. Their Firewall and VPN options should be improved to stay more competitive with other products. MikroTik Routers and Switches are very good with multi-routing, multi-dwelling, multi-tenant units. Their bandwidth is amazing - we have experienced zero downtime. We found the solution to be very stable and flexible. They deliver the same performance as the top brands for a significantly lower price. The initial setup can be tricky. The user interface is a bit dated and the support could use improvement. They only warranty their product for one year, where others offer three, five, or more. This could be a concern for some. We feel that this product is not suited for high-end projects. Conclusion MikroTik offers a very usable stable product for smaller organizations that are not looking to grow exponentially quickly. They do not scale beyond 3 gigs of traffic. For a smaller organization, they would be a very good fit. Cisco is the go-to solution for larger organizations. They have the brand recognition that clients like They offer a solid product that they will stand behind, and it performs well. They can easily meet the needs of large enterprises and growing organizations.
Read full answer
GG
Nov 22, 2021
Mikrotik, as Cisco is not for everyone ... While this popular OS-based router, is simple, it is not for all applications. When one wants complex results, MK is useful. it is an assistant to ADMs who do not have much knowledge.  But not everything is simple or can be solved with a single team. The particularity of its Agile and intuitive interface makes MK lose in the middle to high segment.  Cisco has years of experience, one may or may not agree with its pricing and especially licensing policy, but its products are made to last, its IOS, is powerful in many areas.  One turns on a Cisco and if the initial configuration is optimal, it does not turn off that router anymore.  MK is a team that must be seen, controlling and above all optimizing. The reasons for choosing one and the other are simple, money, knowledge and, above all, projection.  Cisco can be planned and completed, but it is not for everyone. MK plans to buy and update the HW sooner or later. His continuous releases are tedious but necessary. Cisco in the Enterprise range is clearly superior, as is Juniper or Huawei.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Computer Software Company
15%
Hospitality Company
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How do Cisco Enterprise routers compare with Mikrotik routers and switches?
Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is ve...
See all answers
What do you like most about Cisco Enterprise Routers?
The most valuable feature of the solution is that it makes it possible for users to use encryption and decryption since our company aims to achieve transparency, and without it, the other system on...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Enterprise Routers?
I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price.
See all answers
Which are better - Ubiquiti UniFi switches or MikroTik routers and switches?
Ubiquiti Unifi is a great solution. For starters, it is easy to configure and implement, and doesn’t require a learning curve because it is easy to use. It is also simple to reconfigure an AP or ga...
See all answers
What do you like most about MikroTik Routers and Switches?
The price is a big factor. They are very affordable, and the quality is high.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MikroTik Routers and Switches?
MikroTik Routers and Switches are expensive, but they are the best products in terms of quality. From my knowledge, their quality is also the best.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Huawei Enterprise Routers vs Cisco Enterprise Routers Logo
Huawei Enterprise Routers vs Cisco Enterprise Routers
Compared 21% of the time
HPE Enterprise Routers vs Cisco Enterprise Routers Logo
HPE Enterprise Routers vs Cisco Enterprise Routers
Compared 13% of the time
OneAccess Enterprise Routers vs Cisco Enterprise Routers Logo
OneAccess Enterprise Routers vs Cisco Enterprise Routers
Compared 10% of the time
Juniper MX Series Routers vs Cisco Enterprise Routers Logo
Juniper MX Series Routers vs Cisco Enterprise Routers
Compared 5% of the time
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch vs Cisco Enterprise Routers Logo
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch vs Cisco Enterprise Routers
Compared 3% of the time
More Cisco Enterprise Routers Competitors
TP-Link Omada Switches vs MikroTik Routers and Switches Logo
TP-Link Omada Switches vs MikroTik Routers and Switches
Compared 37% of the time
NETGEAR Switches vs MikroTik Routers and Switches Logo
NETGEAR Switches vs MikroTik Routers and Switches
Compared 8% of the time
Huawei Enterprise Routers vs MikroTik Routers and Switches Logo
Huawei Enterprise Routers vs MikroTik Routers and Switches
Compared 7% of the time
Aruba Switches vs MikroTik Routers and Switches Logo
Aruba Switches vs MikroTik Routers and Switches
Compared 7% of the time
Juniper MX Series Routers vs MikroTik Routers and Switches Logo
Juniper MX Series Routers vs MikroTik Routers and Switches
Compared 4% of the time
More MikroTik Routers and Switches Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Enterprise Routers
May 2025
Cisco Enterprise Routers reportDownload Cisco Enterprise Routers product report
Buyer's Guide
MikroTik Routers and Switches
May 2025
MikroTik Routers and Switches reportDownload MikroTik Routers and Switches product report
 

Overview

The high-performance Cisco Enterprise Routers are the market leader due to their breadth of advanced support for LAN/WAN services, redundancy, reliability, and performance.
Cisco

MikroTik Routers and Switches provide all the features necessary for network administrators to secure and monitor their networks and are suitable for companies of any size. The solution is ideal for creating Wi-Fi hotspots, connecting multiple servers, setting up firewalls and VPNs, and distributing bandwidth. MikroTik's user-friendly dashboard helps you interact easily with your hardware. With MikroTik's user interface, you can obtain real statistics by user or IP address and monitor bandwidth consumption.

Benefits and Key Features of MikroTik Routers and Switches

  • Affordability: MikroTik routers and switches are very reasonably priced and offer features comparable to those of other higher priced solutions.

  • Highly customizable: Flexible scripting policies and configuration options enable users to enhance the functionality of MikroTik's various products. MikroTik routers also offer hotspot profiles, which allows admins to create different customizable guest user authentication profiles.

  • Consistency: All MikroTik routers have the same operating system and features, making it simple to migrate between different products.

  • Routing protocols: MikroTik provides several dynamic routing protocols that can be deployed to build robust and secure networks.

  • Built-in firewall: MikroTik offers a very powerful firewall implementation with multiple features, including state inspection, layer-7 protocol detection, and peer-to-peer protocols filtering.

  • Stability and robust performance: MikroTik routers and switches are long-lasting, resilient, and perform well.

Reviews from Real Users

MikroTik stands out among competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its reasonably priced products and its user-friendly user interface, which makes it easy to work and communicate with its hardware.

Parameshwar P., a director at Navyug Networks, writes, "I like MikroTik's GUI. It's completely handy and easy to handle because of its GUI. Despite other brands like Cisco urging me to switch, I didn't because they don't have a GUI. This is the most comfortable thing in my project that anyone can use easily. It’s effortless to maintain MikroTik routers because both screens make it very easy in GUI mode. You can easily interact with your hardware.”

Rodney T., the chief solutions architect at Tech2go Strategic IT Solutions, says, "They are very good at providing the bandwidth for multi-tenants and multi-dwelling units. We're managing Wi-Fi hotspots for hundreds of locations, and the speed and performance are quite there. They also have very cheap 10G products that come with really good and flexible software. They are way cheaper than the top brands, and they're able to deliver the same performance and capabilities."

A principal consultant at a tech services company notes, "The most valuable aspect of this solution is the combination of value for money. They're extremely cost effective, yet they provide you with an extensive feature set of things you can do across the board. Also, they're pretty reliable, as far as equipment goes."

MikroTik
 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Boingo, Chartwell School, Children's Hospital of Orange County , Department of Justice, Explorer Pipeline, Linz AG, National Rugby League, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Telecom Italia, Transwestern
ABB, Boingo Wireless, JPL, HP, Allied Telesis, iPass, Mips Technologies, MicroAge, Matsushita, Telia, undp, WFP, NASA
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Enterprise Routers vs. MikroTik Routers and Switches
April 2025
Free Report: Cisco Enterprise Routers vs. MikroTik Routers and Switches
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Enterprise Routers vs. MikroTik Routers and Switches and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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