# Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 177 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/cisco-catalyst-sd-wan/alternatives/

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- Fortinet Secure SD-WAN: 48
- Cisco Meraki SD-WAN: 41
- Cato SASE Cloud: 8
- Cisco: 8
- Peplink: 6
- HPE Aruba EdgeConnect: 3

## SD-WAN

**Small business**: 73 of 84 answers did not name Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is #4 of 9 at 6%).

- Cisco Meraki SD-WAN: first choice in 34 of those 73
- Fortinet Secure SD-WAN: first choice in 19 of those 73
- Cato SASE Cloud: first choice in 4 of those 73
- Peplink: first choice in 4 of those 73
- Ubiquiti UniFi: first choice in 3 of those 73
- Cisco: first choice in 1 of those 73
- Cisco SD‑WAN: first choice in 1 of those 73
- FortiGate SD-WAN: first choice in 1 of those 73

**Mid-market**: 66 of 84 answers did not name Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is #3 of 10 at 10%).

- Fortinet Secure SD-WAN: first choice in 23 of those 66
- Cisco Meraki SD-WAN: first choice in 7 of those 66
- Cisco: first choice in 3 of those 66
- HPE Aruba EdgeConnect: first choice in 3 of those 66
- Cato SASE Cloud: first choice in 2 of those 66
- Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN: first choice in 2 of those 66
- Peplink: first choice in 2 of those 66
- VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN: first choice in 2 of those 66

**Enterprise**: 38 of 84 answers did not name Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is #1 of 9 at 50%).

- Fortinet Secure SD-WAN: first choice in 6 of those 38
- Cisco: first choice in 4 of those 38
- Cato SASE Cloud: first choice in 2 of those 38

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.