Juniper Session Smart Router vs Prisma SD-WAN comparison

Juniper and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Juniper is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.3. Juniper holds a 2.5% mindshare in SDW, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 5.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Juniper users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Prisma SD-WAN and Juniper Session Smart Router are competing solutions in the SD-WAN market. Prisma SD-WAN has an upper hand in cost-effectiveness and user support, while Juniper Session Smart Router is preferred for its comprehensive feature set.

Features: Prisma SD-WAN includes intuitive management, simplified IT operations, and ease of integration, making network management accessible. Juniper Session Smart Router offers session-based policy control, dynamic routing, and real-time intelligence focusing on advanced security and performance features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Prisma SD-WAN is recognized for its straightforward deployment and responsive support, suitable for teams with limited technical resources. Juniper Session Smart Router, although more complex in setup, provides detailed deployment resources and robust customer service, appealing to organizations needing customizable solutions.

Pricing and ROI: Prisma SD-WAN has an attractive pricing model, offering strong ROI due to lower initial costs and efficient management. Juniper Session Smart Router, with higher initial costs, provides long-term benefits through its advanced performance and scalability, ensuring satisfactory ROI for security-focused businesses.

To learn more, read our detailed Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Prisma SD-WAN Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Prisma SD-WAN

July 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

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 19.9%, down from 21.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper Session Smart Router is 2.5%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma SD-WAN is 5.9%, up from 4.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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SRI GANESH PHANIYAPPA

Sub Divisional Engineer NOC Bangalore at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

Delivered tailored features and meets requirements effectively

We are using it as a DNG. This means all subscriber PPPoE sessions or ILS Smart VPN connections are terminated through the access network to this BNG, Uniphore BNG. From there, they are managed Everything has been fine. Although we did not explore much about the solution, they provided us with a…

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Engineerinfosec67

Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor

Centralized management streamlines global network traffic control

Prisma SD-WAN requires a more seamless integration with other Palo Alto solutions, like Prisma Access. Although there has been improvement, further steps can be taken. Additionally, it would be beneficial if the solution integrated the SD-WAN features of Prisma SD-WAN with the security features of Palo Alto's next-generation firewalls, as they currently do not align.

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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

"It has a good UI and overall integration, including FortiGate Manager for controlling all firewalls from a single place."

"The main benefits that Fortinet FortiGate brings to customers include that if you're going for a single fabric with core switches, access switches, and APs, compared to legacy Cisco or Aruba, the Fortinet FortiGate does not require a controller for the access points."

"The solution provides good threat intelligence feeds."

"FortiGate is on the cheaper end, and it offers good value."

"Fortinet FortiGate is easy to use. Anyone can easily maintain it."

"The virtual firewall feature is the most valuable. We have around 1,500 firewalls. We did not buy individual hardware, and the virtual firewalls made sense because we don't have to keep on buying the hardware. FortiGate is easier to use as compared to Checkpoint devices. It is user friendly and has a good UI. You don't need much expertise to work on this firewall. You don't need to worry much about DCLA, commands, and things like that."

"The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."

"Fortigate's most valuable feature is that it doesn't need a push policy when writing rules."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"They provided us with a customized product according to our requirements."

"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."

"The solution is especially Session's smart, application-aware, AI-based."

"Customer service is very prompt."

"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."

"Prisma SD-WAN is an absolutely stable solution."

"The biggest benefit for us is that we've seen a reduction in incidents."

"From the main controller, we can administer the customer's devices, QoS, network, and traffic. We can monitor it and we can change and create policies as well as upgrade the software. We can totally control a customer's network from one site, the Prisma SD-WAN portal."

"Overall, I would rate Prisma SD-WAN an eight out of ten."

"The most valuable feature is the single pane of glass, especially since we have Palo Alto firewalls."

"The implementation of the solution is easy."

"The AI ops feature streamlines revisions and automates compliance."

"Prisma SD-WAN offers capabilities such as path selection based on Layer 7 attributes and application quality of service at the application level."

More Prisma SD-WAN pros

Cons

"There are some license issues. Not every feature must have a separate license. There must be some of kind synergy between the license so we don't have to pay for every individual license that we would like to have."

"The platform's compatibility with Wi-Fi equipment needs improvement."

"The central management for the FortiGate Fortinet Firewall needs improvement. They have the manager to do the essential management for both SD-WAN and for the security policy. They should also improve the SD-WAN function."

"There were quite a few problems with the stability of the system."

"The user interface of the Fortinet FortiGate management console could be more intuitive and user-friendly, and the log analysis and reporting features could be enhanced to provide more flexibility and customizable insights."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a very good device overall, though it can be improved in certain areas regarding the licenses, particularly the big one called unified threat management, which has many capabilities."

"In my opinion, Fortinet FortiGate could be improved by making the appliance smaller than what we have here, as it is pretty big."

"Fortinet should focus on enhancing the capabilities of FortiGate by consolidating its various products, such as FortiGate Cloud, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"Juniper Session Smart Router can improve the integration for Wi-Fi devices and add additional Sassy deployments."

"Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in terms of software performance."

"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."

"Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do."

"The tool needs to work on price and complexity."

"Prisma SD-WAN can be built on top of a couple of hardware platforms, including the Palo Alto Next-Generation Firewall or the CloudGenix infrastructure."

"The product could be a bit cheaper for the services it provides."

"Sometimes, during the product's initial setup phase, bypass pair or couple ports don't come up normally, and it requires an hour and a half to troubleshoot to reset the box from Prisma SD-WAN to factory default."

"I would also like to see improvement in the product training for customers. Palo Alto has not initiated very much training but they have to do so because this is a new product. If you have experience in a legacy environment, and you are moving to Prisma SD-WAN, you don't have a training framework. That is one of the disadvantages."

"The documentation tends to be outdated, often directing us to resources that are no longer accurate or available, and this is one of the reasons we are potentially looking at alternatives."

"The pricing for Prisma SD-WAN needs improvement."

"Prisma could be a little cheaper."

More Prisma SD-WAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license is too expensive to renew. The license renewal process is also complex."

"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."

"The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars."

"It's an expensive solution."

"Currently, we are paying about $1,500 a month for three sites."

"No comment."

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

"It scales well if you know what to buy from a physical box standpoint. They seem to offer something for every level."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."

"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."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"Prisma SD-WAN is a pretty expensive solution."

"This solution stood out because it cost considerably less than the other SD-WAN solutions out there from Cisco."

"If you're already invested in a Palo Alto product, it would be logical to use this solution. If not, there might be some other solutions that are more viable in terms of pricing."

"It is more expensive than Fortinet."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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 Juniper Session Smart Router?

The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?

Juniper Session Smart Router is not significantly cheaper than, for example, Cisco.

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What needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?

I did not find any problem with Juniper. Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do.

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What do you like most about Prisma SD-WAN?

The product's initial setup phase is straightforward.

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

The costs seem crazy to me since I'm relatively new to the pricing world of enterprise security solutions, but compar...

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What needs improvement with Prisma SD-WAN?

I used to have notes about areas that could be improved. It is widely known that Palo Alto is quite expensive. The li...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 25% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 13% of the time

NFX Series Network Services Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 11% of the time

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 8% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 6% of the time

More Juniper Session Smart Router Competitors

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 20% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 19% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 11% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 8% of the time

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 2% of the time

More Prisma SD-WAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

August 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Routers

August 2025

Download Juniper Session Smart Router product report

Buyer's Guide

Prisma SD-WAN

August 2025

Download Prisma SD-WAN product report

Also Known As

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

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

CloudGenix

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

The 128T Networking Platform (128T) natively provides network-based security, control, and insight across data centers, wide-area networks (WAN), and edge locations for enterprises, service providers, and cloud companies alike. 128T is reshaping the way organizations design, deploy, and operate real-world networks by making them dramatically simpler, smarter, and more secure — it’s going to fix the router — and ultimately the network — as we know it.

Juniper

Simplify management, enable app-defined SD-WAN policies and deliver a secure, cloud-delivered branch today with the Industry’s first next-generation SD-WAN.

Palo Alto Networks

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

Revation Systems

Open Networking User Group, Columbia Sportswear Company, Coca Cola

Buyer's Guide

Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Prisma SD-WAN

July 2025

Free Report: Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Prisma SD-WAN

Find out what your peers are saying about Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Prisma SD-WAN and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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