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.

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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

Updated in March 2024 based on public information.

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Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms

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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

Network router competitive comparison

Performance that's beyond comparison

Smarter. More flexible. More secure.

Routing comparison chart

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Cisco network switches

Cisco access points

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

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