SD-WAN · November 2026 Edition
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Cato SASE Cloud
Zero of fourteen models named Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN first on the direct prompt; one named Cato SASE Cloud. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Cato SASE Cloud by eleven and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN carries 48 labels and Cato SASE Cloud 26, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in two categories this edition.
Named in five categories this edition.
First-choice share9%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate42%4%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#3#4A position in a field of 8; printed, not drawn.
Labels4826A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Cisco Meraki SD-WAN was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN · Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cato SASE Cloud · Cisco Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
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 SD-WAN page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WANFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCato SASE Cloud
Direct012 against Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Paraphrase401 against Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Comparative50
Budget-constrained003 against Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Scale-constrained00
Negative0012 against Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN · 1 against Cato SASE Cloud
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.
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and Cato SASE Cloud were named in the same answer sixty times, of the 156 answers naming Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and the 131 naming Cato SASE Cloud. In those answers Cato SASE Cloud took the first choice one time and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN fourteen.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and Cato SASE Cloud stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | | | |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | |||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | | |
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | ||
| Mistral Small | | | ||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | |||
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | | ||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | | |
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | ||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | |
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Cato SASE Cloud first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN on the left and Cato SASE Cloud on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN and Cato SASE Cloud stood in it.
Cato SASE Cloud first, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN not the choice
1 of 14 modelsCisco Catalyst SD-WAN was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-6 LunaCato SASE Cloud alternatives: Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Neither was the first choice, one was named
11 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.GPT-5.4 miniFortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN, Versa Secure SD-WAN
Perplexity SonarFortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
Grok 4.20Fortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Mistral SmallFatPipe SD-WAN alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Cisco vManage, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect
DeepSeek V4 FlashFortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect
Llama 4 MaverickFortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: Aryaka, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
Qwen 3.7 FlashFortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: AT&T Connect, Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, MetTel, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
Kimi K2Cisco Meraki SD-WAN alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect
GLM 4.7 FlashXFortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: Aryaka, Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
MiniMax M2.5Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, FatPipe SD-WAN
Muse Glimmer 30BFortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, FatPipe SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE, Versa Secure SD-WAN
Neither was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Gemini 3.5 FlashFortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: Aryaka Managed SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN
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 Catalyst SD-WAN leads by four points.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN4%#3 of 7Cato SASE Cloud0%#5 of 7Mid-marketThe figures above
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN leads by seven points.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN9%#3 of 8Cato SASE Cloud2%#4 of 8Enterprise
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN leads by forty-one points.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN45%#1 of 11Cato SASE Cloud4%#4 of 11What the models said about Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“a catastrophic certificate expiration issue affected ALL legacy Viptela customers, causing widespread network outages and business disruption” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“A maximum-severity flaw in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller has been exploited in the wild for years.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · hard negative
“Strongly advised against by some in recent threads. It's seen as outdated or problematic” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · hard negative
“The strongest choices for most enterprises are Cisco Catalyst, Fortinet, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect, VMware VeloCloud, Palo Alto Prisma, Versa, Cato, and Cisco Meraki.” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · first choice
“Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN ranks as the top SD-WAN solution as of September 2026, and it's an excellent choice for mid-market companies.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (formerly Viptela) is my top recommendation for a mid-sized B2B company.” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about Cato SASE Cloud
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Two of two in this category shown.
“Lack of pricing transparency — customers report being told certain features were "included" only to find them excluded later” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“For a typical greenfield mid-market B2B company, I'd start with Cato Networks” GPT-6 Luna · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cato SASE CloudCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs Cato SASE CloudCisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs HPE Aruba EdgeConnectCato SASE Cloud vs HPE Aruba EdgeConnectAll ten head-to-head pages and the full SD-WAN standing
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.