Cisco routers, including Cisco Catalyst and Cisco Meraki

Network router competitive comparison

Performance that's beyond comparison

See how Cisco enterprise network routers compare to other vendors. The chart below details why Cisco outperforms Huawei NetEngine, Juniper MX, ACX, SRX, and HPE MSR.

Smarter. More flexible. More secure.

When it comes to choosing a network router vendor, performance, agility, scalability, and security are critical. Discover how Cisco enterprise routers stack up against the competition.

Routing comparison chart

Most popular
Vendors / Products
Most popular
Cisco
Huawei NetEngine Series
Juniper MX, ACX, SRX Series
HPE MSR Series
End-to-end secure architecture
Available
  • Application-aware enterprise firewall
  • Available on-box security with IPS/IDS, VRFs, SASE-capable, TLS decryption, segmentation, URL filtering, sandboxing, advanced malware protection 
Limited
  • Embedded enterprise firewall, VPNs, IPS, URL filtering; requires additional licensing
Limited
  • Application-aware enterprise firewall, IPS/IDS, VRFs, SASE-capable; requires additional licensing for MX and ACX series
Limited
  • Embedded enterprise firewall and VPNs
Threat defense
Available
  • Cisco provides Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA) which identifies malicious traffic patterns and does intraflow metadata analysis
Not Available
  • No advanced threat defense features
Available
  • Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA)
Not Available
  • No advanced threat defense features
Line-rate encryption for MACsec for high-speed links
Available
  • Built-in LAN and WAN MACsec support
Limited
  • LAN MACsec supported in select models (NetEngine 8000 series) only
Available
  • Built-in LAN and WAN MACsec support
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature available
NAC services
Available
  • In-house NAC engine with Cisco ISE integration for advanced policy configurations of security posture policies, Context Visibility, periodic reassessment of device posture
Not Available
  • Third-party NAC services required
Limited
  • Cloud NAC available on Mist dashboard for integration with SRX series but requires third-party NAC integrations for MX and ACX series
Not Available
  • Third-party NAC services required
Security Service Edge (SSE)
Available
  • Cisco Umbrella SIG platform
Not Available
  • No equivalent product
Available
  • Juniper Secure Edge platform
Not Available
  • No equivalent product
Fabric security
Available
  • Available security with encrypted control plane, encrypted data plane, hardware-based device authentication (SUDI), DDOS protection, enhanced security pairwise keys 
Limited
  • Limited fabric security with no hardware-based device authentication mechanisms, DDOS
Available
  • Hardware-based security features available
Limited
  • Limited fabric security with no hardware-based device authentication mechanisms, DDOS
Advanced troubleshooting tools
Available
  • Speed test and packet capture
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Hardware acceleration
Available
  • QuickAssist Technology (QAT) engine
  • All data plane services (for example, NAT, firewall) are implemented in hardware
Limited
  • ARM architecture, built-in NPU engines
Available
  • X86 architecture
Limited
  • Crypto engines
Flexible core allocation: system-on-a-chip architecture
Available
  • Dynamic core allocation architecture
Not Available
  • No dynamic core allocation technology
Not Available
  • No dynamic core allocation technology
Not Available
  • No dynamic core allocation technology
Investment protection
Available
  • Easy upgrade to SD-WAN
  • Uses single image
Available
  • Can be upgraded to SD-WAN
Not Available
  • Separate product line for SD-WAN
Not Available
  • Separate product line for SD-WAN
Last-mile network resilience for seamless backup connectivity
Available
  • Seamless 4G/5G connectivity
  • Primary high-speed cellular connectivity
  • Flexible backup
  • Built-in modules and extended cellular gateways
Available
  • Supports up to 5G cellular
Not Available
  • No built-in modules for cellular
Limited
  • Supports up to 4G cellular
Integrated unified communications services
Available

Supports Cisco IOS XE voice: 

  • Cisco Unified Border Element
  • Session Border Controller (SBC)
  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express
  • Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST)
  • ISDN
Limited
  • Integration of voice services in limited products only (AR2200 series and AR6120-VW) with RTP, SIP, SIP AG, IP PBX/TDM PBX, VoIP, SBC capabilities
Not Available
  • No integration of voice services supported in routing portfolio
Limited
  • Integration of voice services
Cellular gateway
Available
  • eSIM solution with the LTE CAT 18, LTE CAT 6 PIM modules supported
  • Enables user to configure QoS where corporate traffic will be prioritized over non-corporate traffic

 

Limited
  • No eSIM solution available
  • QoS on AR600 series teleworker available
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Application-aware routing
Available
  • Performance Routing (PfR) path monitoring
  • Selects the best network path for each application
  • Effective load-balance across paths
  • Delivers ideal application-level SLAs
Limited
  • Policy-based routing
  • Static routing policy per application 
  • Not based on an application-level SLA
Available
  • Supports policy-based routing
  • Best path selection for each application
  • Supports ECMP with load balancing
  • Delivers application-level SLAs
Limited
  • Basic routing metrics and load balancing
Enhanced visibility
Available
  • Enhanced application experience and network observability
  • Cisco ThousandEyes visibility
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Packet inspection and logging
Available
  • NBAR with deep packet inspection (DPI)
  • Real-time data and application identification and classification
  • Analyzes data from Layer 2 to Layer 7
Limited
  • NetStream application monitoring
  • Supports the NetFlow v9 export format
  • NetStream is Layer 4 flow-based
Available
  • Deep packet inspection
  • Application identification and Classification
  • Analyzes data from Layer 2 to Layer 7
Limited
  • Primarily sFlow
  • Limited router and network performance monitoring

 

Flow record maintenance
Available
  • Detailed flow records
  • Multiple flow caches according to the use cases
  • Source and destination IP/MAC addresses,  TCP/User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports or type of service (ToS)
  • Packet and byte counts
  • Input and output interface numbers
Limited
  • NetStream application monitoring
  • Supports the NetFlow v9 export format
  • NetStream Layer 4 flow-based
  • Not a true DPI technology
Available
  • Juniper flow monitoring (J-Flow)
  • Delivers full inspection services to all flows
Limited
  • Primarily sFlow
  • Limited router and network performance monitoring
Guest Shell access
Available

Guest Shell automated workflows to:

  • Install, update, and operate third-party Linux applications
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
IP mobility
Available

Catalyst 8000V features:

  • LISP Layer 2 extension
  • Secure IPsec tunnel

Extension of networks in the private data center to a public cloud:

  • Achieves host reachability
  • Supports the migration of application workloads between the data center and the public cloud
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Limited
  • Supports Layer 2 extension; no virtual routing-only instance
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Extend Layer 2 connectivity across IP/MPLS transport
Available

OTV and VPLS features on Catalyst 8000V extend VLAN segments from on-premises to private cloud for:

  • Server backup
  • Disaster recovery 
  • Compute scale
Limited
  • Ethernet Virtual Interconnect (EVI) extends Layer 2 connectivity—only between geographically dispersed on-premises sites
Limited
  • Ethernet Virtual Interconnect (EVI) extends Layer 2 connectivity—only between geographically dispersed on-premises sites
Limited
  • Ethernet Virtual Interconnect (EVI) extends Layer 2 connectivity—only between geographically dispersed on-premises sites
Cloud OnRamp
Available
  • Branch connect to AWS and Azure
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Not Available
  • No equivalent feature
Management plane protection
Available
  • Management plane protection (MPP)
  • Restricts management packets to designated interfaces
  • Provides greater control over management and security for that device
Limited
  • SSL for authentication between CPE and management 
  • SSL encrypts application-layer protocols for all the data transmitted
Limited
  • Basic management access
Limited
  • Basic management access
  • Modem port and terminal interface
End-to-end observability
Available
  • Supports ThousandEyes integration for end-to-end visibility
Not Available
  • No equivalent product
Not Available
  • No equivalent product
Not Available
  • No equivalent product

Updated in March 2024 based on public information.

Americas Headquarters

Cisco Systems, Inc.

San Jose, CA

Asia Pacific Headquarters

Cisco Systems (USA) Pte. Ltd.

Singapore

Europe Headquarters

Cisco Systems International BV Amsterdam,

The Netherlands

Netherlands

Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms

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Offer expires July 27, 2024.

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