Data center networking · November 2026 Edition
SONiC vs Cisco Nexus
Zero of fourteen models named SONiC first on the direct prompt; one named Cisco Nexus. SONiC was named by nine of the fourteen models and Cisco Nexus by fourteen and SONiC carries 14 labels and Cisco Nexus 57, so the shares are not directly comparable.
SONiC
accepted challengerNamed in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share5%5%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate14%42%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#3A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels1457A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, SONiC reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Arista Networks was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Arista Networks vs SONiC · Arista Networks vs Cisco Nexus · SONiC vs Juniper Networks
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the data center networking page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
SONiCFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCisco Nexus
Direct013 against Cisco Nexus
Paraphrase012 against Cisco Nexus
Comparative04
Budget-constrained2011 against Cisco Nexus
Scale-constrained00
Negative002 against SONiC · 6 against Cisco Nexus
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where SONiC and Cisco Nexus stood in it.
| Model | DirectSO | ParaphraseSO | ComparativeSO | Budget-constrainedSO | Scale-constrainedSO | NegativeSO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | ||||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | SO | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | SO | | | SO |
| Perplexity Sonar | | SO | | |||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | SO | SO |
| Mistral Small | | | SO | | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | SO | SO | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | |||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | SO | SO | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | ||||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | | |
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | SO | |||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | SO | |
SO SONiC Cisco NexusSO first choiceSO named as an alternativeSO argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, SONiC on the left and Cisco Nexus on the right.
Cisco NexusSO first choiceSO named as an alternativeSO argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, SONiC on the left and Cisco Nexus on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where SONiC and Cisco Nexus stood in it.
Cisco Nexus first, SONiC not the choice
1 of 14 modelsSONiC was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GLM 4.7 FlashXCisco Nexus, HPE Aruba CX alternatives: Arista EOS, Juniper Junos
Neither was the first choice, one was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.GPT-5.4 miniArista Networks alternatives: Cisco Nexus, Juniper Apstra
Perplexity SonarArista EOS with CloudVision alternatives: Apstra, Cisco Nexus, HPE Juniper Networking
Grok 4.20Arista Networks alternatives: Cisco Nexus, Dell PowerSwitch Z/S-series, Juniper QFX Series
Mistral SmallArista Networks alternatives: Cisco Nexus
Qwen 3.7 FlashArista Networks alternatives: Cisco Nexus, Dell PowerSwitch, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect
MiniMax M2.5Arista Networks alternatives: Cisco Nexus, Juniper Networks
Muse Glimmer 30BArista Networks alternatives: Cisco Nexus
Neither was named
6 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Gemini 3.5 FlashArista Networks alternatives: Dell PowerSwitch, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, Juniper Networks
DeepSeek V4 FlashArista Networks alternatives: HPE Aruba CX, Juniper QFX
Llama 4 MaverickvSTREAM alternatives: Arista Networks, Aruba Instant On, HPE Business Switch Series CW 2050, HPE Networking Comware 5120v3 Campus Switch Series, Juniper Networks
Kimi K2Arista Networks alternatives: HPE Aruba CX Series, Juniper Networks
GPT-6 LunaArista EOS with CloudVision alternatives: Cisco Nexus 9000 with NX-OS and Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller, QFX with Apstra
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Cisco Nexus leads by four points.
Cisco Nexus4%#4 of 11SONiC0%#– of 11
The full small business standing →Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
SONiC5%#2 of 9
Cisco Nexus5%#3 of 9Enterprise
Cisco Nexus leads by nineteen points.
Cisco Nexus19%#2 of 10SONiC0%#8 of 10
The full enterprise standing →What the models said about SONiC
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“If you lack a dedicated network DevOps team, avoid SONiC/white box solutions — the risk/reward calculus doesn't favor you.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · hard negative
“SONiC is multi-vendor and open source, but the project's own FAQ says it is community-supported” GPT-6 Luna · negative prompt · soft negative
“best value usually comes from a white-box or merchant-silicon platform running SONiC” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · first choice
“Open / white-box SONiC as the lowest CapEx path” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
“SONiC (Switch ON Linux). Microsoft created this, and it is becoming the global standard for data centers.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · alternative
What the models said about Cisco Nexus
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Avoid or apply extra due diligence to: Cisco Nexus/NX-OS and Cisco ACI for general-purpose data centers if you are sensitive to complexity, software quality, support timeliness and pricing.” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“Avoid end-of-support platforms – prioritize migration to modern, actively supported platforms” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“Avoid for tight budgets: Cisco (Nexus 9000), Arista (DCS series), or Juniper (QFX)” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · hard negative
“the best data‑center switching platform is Cisco Nexus (if you already run Cisco in your environment and want the deepest feature set and vendor support)” GLM 4.7 FlashX · direct prompt · first choice
“Cisco holds the overall lead in broader data center networking... Largest overall share; Forrester calls it a "leader" with "no major weaknesses."” Grok 4.20 · comparative prompt · first choice
“Market leader with over 50% Ethernet switch market share ... Enterprise-grade support and ecosystem? → Cisco remains the benchmark” MiniMax M2.5 · comparative prompt · first choice
Also compared
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.