# SD-WAN: what AI models recommend, September 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "SD-WAN platform" and as "software-defined WAN solution", six framings each, to twelve models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/network/sd-wan/

**Standing:** Fortinet Secure SD-WAN leads with 41% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 44 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fortinet Secure SD-WAN | 41% | 7% | 58 |
| 2 | Cisco Meraki SD-WAN | 30% | 21% | 34 |
| 3 | Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN | 9% | 47% | 32 |
| 4 | Aryaka | 5% | 0% | 10 |
| 5 | HPE Aruba EdgeConnect | 2% | 6% | 31 |
| 6 | Cisco | 2% | 6% | 18 |
| 7 | Versa Secure SD-WAN | 2% | 21% | 28 |
| 8 | VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN | 2% | 36% | 42 |
| 9 | Cato Networks | 0% | 6% | 18 |
| 10 | Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN | 0% | 22% | 32 |
| 11 | Peplink | 0% | 40% | 10 |

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: Fortinet Secure SD-WAN; alternatives Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN; alternatives Cato Networks, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
- Perplexity Sonar: Fortinet Secure SD-WAN; alternatives Cato Networks, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Versa Secure SD-WAN
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Cisco Meraki SD-WAN; alternatives FatPipe SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
- Mistral Small: HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN; alternatives Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Cisco Meraki SD-WAN; alternatives Cato Networks, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Cisco Meraki SD-WAN; alternatives FatPipe SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, MetTel, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
- Kimi K2: Fortinet Secure SD-WAN; alternatives Cato Networks, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, Versa Secure SD-WAN
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Fortinet Secure SD-WAN; alternatives Cato Networks, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
- MiniMax M2.5: Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN; alternatives Cato Networks, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, Versa Secure SD-WAN

## Sources the answers cite

65 of 72 answers came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- gartner.com: 40 answers, 56 citations
- zpesystems.com: 31 answers, 31 citations
- reddit.com: 23 answers, 57 citations
- cisco.com: 21 answers, 34 citations
- interfacesystems.com: 21 answers, 21 citations
- stlpartners.com: 20 answers, 20 citations
- fortinet.com: 18 answers, 29 citations
- networkworld.com: 16 answers, 23 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/sd-wan (38 answers)
- https://zpesystems.com/sd-wan-leaders-zs (28 answers)
- https://interfacesystems.com/blog/top-sd-wan-vendors (21 answers)
- https://stlpartners.com/articles/network-innovation/sd-wan-providers (20 answers)
- https://digitalcarbon.io/blog/sd-wan-leaders-in-the-2024 (15 answers)
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/best-sd-wan-vendors (12 answers)
- https://techtarget.com/it-infrastructure/tip/SD-WAN-comparison-chart-10-vendors-to-assess (12 answers)
- https://reddit.com/r/networking/comments/1kuoatj/best_sdwan_providers_to_offer_small_businesses (10 answers)
- https://costbench.com/best/sd-wan-for-enterprise (9 answers)
- https://costbench.com/best/sd-wan-for-small-business (9 answers)

## Warned against

- Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN: 15 of 32 labels negative. "Cisco SD-WAN systems have been actively targeted by malicious cyber actors globally, with attackers exploiting an authentication bypass vulnerability" (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt)
- VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN: 15 of 42 labels negative. "Massive instability post-acquisition... Currently on VeloCloud | Plan migration strategy" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)
- Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN: 7 of 32 labels negative. "A recent Reddit comment explicitly says "Avoid Prisma entirely."" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt)
- Cisco Meraki SD-WAN: 7 of 34 labels negative. "Complex enterprise routing needs | Avoid Meraki" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.