SD-WAN for small business buyers
Asked as “SD-WAN platform”, and as “software-defined WAN solution”, on behalf of a small B2B company. 53 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, fourteen models each.
Standing · first-choice share
42%
Clear leader
42Cisco Meraki SD-WAN26Fortinet Secure SD-WAN06Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN26others
42% of first choices, clear leader.
Since September 2026=heldSince September 2026: 40% → 39%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Cisco Meraki SD-WAN held the lead, ±0 points on 40%, inside the 11-point floor.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.
Small business
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN42%Clear leader=heldSince September 2026: 40% → 39%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.This pageMid-market
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN50%Clear leader▲+7Since September 2026: 41% → 48%, +7 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Standing →Enterprise
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN50%Clear leader▲+6Since September 2026: 45% → 51%, +6 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Standing →
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN42%Clear leader=heldSince September 2026: 40% → 39%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.This pageMid-marketFortinet Secure SD-WAN50%Clear leader▲+7Since September 2026: 41% → 48%, +7 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Standing →EnterpriseCisco Catalyst SD-WAN50%Clear leader▲+6Since September 2026: 45% → 51%, +6 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Standing →The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all fourteen models, for a small B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
01Cisco Meraki SD-WAN42%11%65endorsed leader=heldSince September 2026: 40% → 39%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.40% → 39%
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN42%11%65endorsed leader=heldSince September 2026: 40% → 39%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.40% → 39%02Fortinet Secure SD-WAN26%7%61accepted challenger▼−3Since September 2026: 31% → 28%, −3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.31% → 28%
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN26%7%61accepted challenger▼−3Since September 2026: 31% → 28%, −3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.31% → 28%03
Peplink6%0%15accepted challenger▼−4Since September 2026: 10% → 7%, −4 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.10% → 7%
Peplink6%0%15accepted challenger▼−4Since September 2026: 10% → 7%, −4 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.10% → 7%04Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN6%58%31criticized challenger▼−6Since September 2026: 10% → 4%, −6 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.10% → 4%
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN6%58%31criticized challenger▼−6Since September 2026: 10% → 4%, −6 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.10% → 4%05
Cato SASE Cloud2%12%24accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%
Cato SASE Cloud2%12%24accepted challenger▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 2%Show the four products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
09
Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN0%57%28criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN0%57%28criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%08
Versa Secure SD-WAN0%47%19criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Versa Secure SD-WAN0%47%19criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%07
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN0%43%35criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN0%43%35criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%06
HPE Aruba EdgeConnect0%27%11criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
HPE Aruba EdgeConnect0%27%11criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%The floor is 11 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. Movement is read over the twelve models both editions asked; GPT-6 Luna, Muse Glimmer 30B joined this edition and are in the standing but not yet in the comparison. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Head to head
All twenty-one head-to-head pages: the top seven products, each against each
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs HPE Aruba EdgeConnectFortinet Secure SD-WAN vs VMware VeloCloud SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs Cato SASE CloudCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs HPE Aruba EdgeConnectCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs VMware VeloCloud SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANCisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Cato SASE CloudCisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs HPE Aruba EdgeConnectCisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs VMware VeloCloud SD-WANCisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANCato SASE Cloud vs HPE Aruba EdgeConnectCato SASE Cloud vs VMware VeloCloud SD-WANCato SASE Cloud vs Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANHPE Aruba EdgeConnect vs VMware VeloCloud SD-WANHPE Aruba EdgeConnect vs Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANVMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Recommended versus criticized
Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.
Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
010203040506070809Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative60%
Key
01Cisco Meraki SD-WAN42%
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN42%02Fortinet Secure SD-WAN26%
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN26%03Peplink6%
Peplink6%04Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN6%
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN6%05Cato SASE Cloud2%
Cato SASE Cloud2%06HPE Aruba EdgeConnect0%
HPE Aruba EdgeConnect0%07VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN0%
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN0%08Versa Secure SD-WAN0%
Versa Secure SD-WAN0%09Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN0%
Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN0%What they warned about
Five of fourteen models held their first choice under the paraphrase. GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity Sonar, Mistral Small, Qwen 3.7 Flash, Kimi K2, GLM 4.7 FlashX, MiniMax M2.5 and GPT-6 Luna changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN58%
18 of 31 labels negative · 12 of 14 models · 10 hard negative
“True enterprise SD-WAN platforms (like Cisco Viptela or Palo Alto Prisma) are far too expensive and complex for small businesses.” Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt
Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN57%
16 of 28 labels negative · 10 of 14 models · 7 hard negative
“Why to avoid: Premium-priced enterprise platform... still cost-prohibitive for most small businesses” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN43%
15 of 35 labels negative · 10 of 14 models · 7 hard negative
“Named together with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN/Viptela and Palo Alto Prisma as heavy enterprise tools to avoid for SMBs” Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt
Versa Secure SD-WAN47%
9 of 19 labels negative · 9 of 14 models · 6 hard negative
“"Small businesses should avoid or be cautious about SD-WAN platforms designed for large enterprises, such as Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Versa Networks, and VMware SD-WAN"” Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt
What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: fourteen of the fourteen in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.
Sites the answers cite
77 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 1079 links across 200 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. 59 of the 252 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category; the method page measures whether that reading tilts an answer.
vendor site · FitGap44 answers · 54 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Guideflow38 answers · 38 citations · 11 models
vendor site · G237 answers · 66 citations · 11 models
vendor site · Fortinet32 answers · 46 citations · 11 models
28 answers · 28 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Cisco27 answers · 36 citations · 12 models
25 answers · 25 citations · 10 models
22 answers · 41 citations · 9 models
21 answers · 36 citations · 9 models
21 answers · 23 citations · 9 models
21 answers · 22 citations · 9 models
20 answers · 23 citations · 10 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
43 answers · 11 models
38 answers · 11 models
28 answers · 10 models
27 answers · 9 models
25 answers · 10 models
22 answers · 9 models
21 answers · 9 models
20 answers · 10 models
19 answers · 9 models
18 answers · 10 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best sd-wan platform”, “sd-wan platform”, “sd-wan platforms”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cisco parent site Cisco Meraki SD-WAN 42%, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN 6% | 47% | 129 | 165,000 | 48,352 | ||||
| Fortinet parent site Fortinet Secure SD-WAN 26% | 26% | 174 | 49,500 | 2,339 | ||||
| Peplink peplink.com | 6% | 28 | 5,400 | 451 | 18,246 | |||
| Ubiquiti ubiquiti.com Ubiquiti UniFi 6% | 6% | 41 | 9,900 | 450 | 15,584 company | |||
| Cato catonetworks.com Cato SASE Cloud 2% | 2% | 121 | 30 | 1 | 20,161 company | 10 | 2 | |
| FortiGate SD-WAN | 2% | |||||||
| flexiWAN flexiwan.com | 2% | 6 | ||||||
| ZeroTier zerotier.com | 2% | 5 | ||||||
| Cisco SD‑WAN | 2% | |||||||
| Cisco cisco.com | 2% | 199 | 165,000 | 48,352 | 5,114,808 | $683 | 91 | 2 |
Google's top ten for the three searches hold 23 sites; 4 of them are among the sites the models cited here (cisco.com, g2.com, peerspot.com, reddit.com). The first result for “best sd-wan platform” is g2.com.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best SD-WAN platform for a small B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which software-defined WAN solution would you recommend to a small business that sells to other businesses?”Comparative“What are the top SD-WAN platforms for a small team and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best SD-WAN platform for a small company with a tight budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 30 person company evaluating a SD-WAN platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which SD-WAN platforms should a small business avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choiceno first choiceHeldCisco Meraki SD-WANagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WANPeplinkno first choiceagainst: Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Versa Secure SD-WAN
Three alternatives
Aryaka SmartServices, Cato SASE Cloud, FatPipe SD-WANThree alternatives
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, NetFortris SD-WAN, Versa TitanGPT-5.4 miniFortinet Secure SD-WANagainst: Cato SASE Cloud, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WANChangedCisco Meraki SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WANagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WANno first choiceagainst: Cisco
Two alternatives
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WANTwo alternatives
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANFour alternatives
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANGemini 3.5 FlashCisco Meraki SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANChangedCisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANagainst: VMware VeloCloud SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WAN, Ubiquiti UniFiagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, ISP-Managed SD-WAN Bundles, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, Versa Secure SD-WAN
Three alternatives
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, Peplink, Ubiquiti UniFiThree alternatives
Cato SASE Cloud, NetBird, TailscaleThree alternatives
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Peplink, TailscaleTwo alternatives
Cato SASE Cloud, TodylPerplexity SonarCisco Meraki SD-WANagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN, FortiGate SD-WANChangedCisco Meraki SD-WANagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WANagainst: Cisco Meraki SD-WANno first choiceagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Two alternatives
Bigleaf Networks, Fortinet Secure SD-WANThree alternatives
Check Point SD-WAN, FortiGate SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANOne alternative
Cisco Catalyst SD-WANGrok 4.1 FastCisco Meraki SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WANHeldagainst: Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANagainst: Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANZeroTieragainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANno first choiceagainst: Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, Versa Secure SD-WAN, Windstream
Three alternatives
Bigleaf Networks, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANOne alternative
Fortinet Secure SD-WANTwo alternatives
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, PeplinkMistral SmallCiscoCisco Meraki SD-WANChangedCisco Meraki SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnectFortinet Secure SD-WAN, Peplinkno first choiceagainst: Bigleaf Networks, Comcast Business SD-WAN, Lumen, Masergy, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Four alternatives
Cato SASE Cloud, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANThree alternatives
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, Versa Secure SD-WANTwo alternatives
Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, Versa FlexVNFOne alternative
Turnium SD-WANDeepSeek V4 FlashCisco Meraki SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WANHeldagainst: Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WANCato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WANagainst: Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Comcast Business, LevelBlue, Masergy, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, Verizon, Versa Secure SD-WAN, Windstream
Three alternatives
Cradlepoint, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANThree alternatives
Cato SASE Cloud, Check Point Harmony SASE, PeplinkOne alternative
VMware VeloCloud SD-WANFour alternatives
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Cradlepoint, flexiWANOne alternative
Fortinet Secure SD-WANLlama 4 Maverickno first choiceno first choiceHeldFortinet Secure SD-WANCisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANno first choiceagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Comcast Business, LevelBlue, Masergy, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, Verizon, Versa Secure SD-WAN, Windstream
Two alternatives
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANQwen 3.7 FlashCisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANagainst: Check Point, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WANChangedCisco Meraki SD-WANagainst: VMware BroadbandOmnia Networksno first choiceagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Legacy Fortinet/Palo Alto standalone, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
One alternative
EcessaTwo alternatives
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, PeplinkTwo alternatives
Cato SASE Cloud, Fortinet Secure SD-WANThree alternatives
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, PeplinkKimi K2Cisco Meraki SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WANChangedagainst: Cisco Meraki SD-WANCato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WANagainst: Versa Secure SD-WANPeplink, Ubiquiti UniFiagainst: Cisco Meraki Z3/Teleworkerno first choiceagainst: Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Masergy, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Three alternatives
Cato SASE Cloud, FortiGate SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANOne alternative
Cloudflare OneTwo alternatives
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANOne alternative
Fortinet FortiGate 40FThree alternatives
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnectGLM 4.7 FlashXCisco SD‑WANCisco Meraki SD-WANChangedCato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WANflexiWANno first choiceagainst: AT&T SD-WAN, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Comcast SD-WAN, Masergy SD-WAN, New Horizon Communications, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, Spectrotel, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, Verizon, Versa Secure SD-WAN, Windstream SD-WAN
Four alternatives
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet FortiSD‑WAN, Palo Alto Prisma SD‑WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANTwo alternatives
Aryaka, Fortinet FortiGate 60FSix alternatives
Aryaka, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cloudbrink, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WANTwo alternatives
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANMiniMax M2.5Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet FortiSecure SD-WANagainst: FatPipe SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnectCisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANChangedagainst: Cato SASE CloudCato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WANagainst: VMware VeloCloud SD-WANCisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANno first choiceagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, Versa Secure SD-WAN
Two alternatives
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, Versa Secure SD-WANOne alternative
Versa Secure SD-WANTwo alternatives
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANOne alternative
VMware VeloCloud SD-WANGPT-6 LunaCisco Meraki SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WANChangedCato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANagainst: HPE Aruba EdgeConnectUbiquiti UniFino first choiceagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
Two alternatives
Cato SASE Cloud, Fortinet Secure SD-WANTwo alternatives
Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WANTwo alternatives
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANMuse Glimmer 30BCisco Meraki SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WANHeldagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, VMware SD-VMware VeloCloud SD-WANCisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WANno first choiceagainst: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Comcast Business, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, LevelBlue, Masergy, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, Verizon, Versa Secure SD-WAN, Windstream
Three alternatives
Cisco SD-WAN Viptela, FortiGate SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WANTwo alternatives
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, PeplinkFour alternatives
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WANFour alternatives
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, OPNsense, Peplink, ZeroTierBold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record
Eighty-four rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct recommendation | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 11:40 | no | 0 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 10:40 | yes | 6 | 5 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 11:05 | yes | 19 | 23 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 08:47 | yes | 18 | 3 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 09:21 | yes | 20 | 15 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 10:00 | yes | 10 | 5 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 13:23 | yes | 19 | 25 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 09:30 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 08:22 | yes | 8 | 28 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 10:40 | yes | 19 | 19 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 10:41 | yes | 14 | 39 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 08:29 | yes | 16 | 72 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 11:25 | yes | 3 | 16 s |
| Direct recommendation | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 12:34 | yes | 11 | 15 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 13:44 | no | 0 | 4 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 11:18 | yes | 4 | 6 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 07:38 | yes | 9 | 23 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 08:21 | yes | 15 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 13:50 | yes | 24 | 11 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 12:03 | no | 0 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 08:20 | yes | 23 | 34 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 13:15 | yes | 5 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 08:02 | yes | 11 | 53 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 07:55 | yes | 20 | 22 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 09:39 | yes | 23 | 155 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 09:40 | yes | 11 | 37 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 13:14 | yes | 3 | 18 s |
| Paraphrase | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 08:42 | yes | 13 | 28 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 10:44 | yes | 9 | 9 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 07:59 | yes | 6 | 7 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 08:32 | yes | 17 | 34 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 07:43 | yes | 16 | 4 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 12:09 | yes | 20 | 9 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 11:07 | yes | 17 | 10 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 11:50 | yes | 25 | 49 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 09:06 | yes | 5 | 1 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 12:09 | yes | 13 | 42 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 10:20 | yes | 19 | 35 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 10:13 | yes | 25 | 114 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 13:20 | yes | 22 | 39 s |
| Comparative | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 13:35 | yes | 4 | 22 s |
| Comparative | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 10:15 | yes | 20 | 43 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 12:01 | yes | 9 | 7 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 10:24 | yes | 2 | 4 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 09:35 | yes | 15 | 27 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 11:41 | yes | 17 | 7 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 08:19 | yes | 19 | 8 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 09:06 | yes | 19 | 12 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 11:02 | yes | 23 | 26 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 08:20 | yes | 5 | 1 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 11:40 | yes | 9 | 27 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 09:34 | yes | 16 | 23 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 13:46 | yes | 24 | 96 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 13:47 | yes | 5 | 15 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 08:20 | yes | 3 | 13 s |
| Budget constrained | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 13:46 | yes | 11 | 18 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 07:26 | no | 0 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 07:50 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 07:45 | yes | 10 | 26 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 12:33 | yes | 20 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 12:59 | yes | 19 | 10 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 11:06 | no | 0 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 09:26 | yes | 20 | 44 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 11:47 | yes | 5 | 1 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 13:06 | no | 0 | 34 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 10:08 | yes | 20 | 38 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 11:57 | yes | 15 | 50 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 10:32 | yes | 5 | 14 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 08:36 | yes | 2 | 16 s |
| Scale constrained | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 13:37 | yes | 14 | 23 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 08:14 | yes | 17 | 10 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 07:59 | yes | 5 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 11:02 | yes | 16 | 26 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 09:04 | yes | 18 | 4 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 09:49 | yes | 21 | 7 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 12:29 | yes | 10 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 10:47 | yes | 25 | 38 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 12:10 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 10:40 | yes | 15 | 41 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 12:03 | yes | 18 | 20 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 08:22 | yes | 22 | 41 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 13:42 | yes | 23 | 34 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 09:02 | yes | 5 | 18 s |
| Negative framing | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 13:51 | yes | 25 | 26 s |
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
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Category-scoped readings
Cato read as Cato SASE Cloud
Cato Networks read as Cato SASE Cloud
Cato Networks (Cato SASE Cloud) read as Cato SASE Cloud
Cato Networks SASE Cloud read as Cato SASE Cloud
Cisco Meraki read as Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
Cisco Meraki (MX Series) read as Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
Cisco Meraki MX read as Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
Comcast read as Comcast Business
FatPipe read as FatPipe SD-WAN
Fatpipe read as FatPipe SD-WAN
Fortinet read as Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Fortinet (FortiGate 40F / 50G) read as Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Fortinet (FortiGate Secure SD-WAN) read as Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Fortinet (FortiGate) read as Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Fortinet (Secure SD-WAN) read as Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Fortinet FortiGate read as Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Fortinet FortiGate (Secure SD-WAN) read as Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Fortinet Secure SD‑WAN read as Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Juniper read as Juniper Session Smart Routing (SSR) / Mist SD-WAN
Meraki read as Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
Meraki (Cisco) read as Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
Palo Alto read as Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Palo Alto Networks (CloudGenix) read as Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Palo Alto Prisma read as Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Peplink SD-WAN read as Peplink
Riverbed read as Riverbed SteelConnect
Ubiquiti read as Ubiquiti UniFi
VMware read as VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
VMware (Aria Velocloud) read as VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
VMware (VeloCloud) read as VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
VMware VeloCloud read as VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
VMware VeloCloud (Broadcom) read as VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
VMware VeloCloud (now Broadcom) read as VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
VMware Velocloud read as VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
Verizon SD-WAN read as Verizon
Versa read as Versa Secure SD-WAN
Versa Networks read as Versa Secure SD-WAN
Unresolved, counted raw
AT&T SD-WAN
Arista SD-WAN
Aryaka SmartServices
Cisco Meraki Z3/Teleworker
Cisco SD-WAN Viptela
Cisco SD‑WAN (Viptela)
Cloudbrink
Comcast SD-WAN
Fortinet FortiSD‑WAN
Fortinet FortiSecure SD-WAN
Halos Networks
ISP-Managed SD-WAN Bundles
Legacy Fortinet/Palo Alto standalone
Lumen SASE
Masergy SD-WAN
NetFortris SD-WAN
Omnia Networks
Palo Alto Prisma SD‑WAN
SonicWall SD-WAN
Turnium
Turnium SD-WAN
VMware Broadband
VMware SD-
Versa FlexVNF
Windstream SD-WAN
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.