SD-WAN · November 2026 Edition
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Nine of fourteen models named Fortinet Secure SD-WAN first on the direct prompt; zero named Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. Both were named by all fourteen models and Fortinet Secure SD-WAN carries 66 labels and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN 48, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in two categories this edition.
First-choice share67%9%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate3%42%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 8; printed, not drawn.
Labels6648A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Fortinet Secure 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 Meraki SD-WAN · Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cato SASE Cloud · Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs HPE Aruba EdgeConnect
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.
Fortinet Secure SD-WANFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Direct902 against Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Paraphrase841 against Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Comparative25
Budget-constrained1303 against Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Scale-constrained00
Negative102 against Fortinet Secure SD-WAN · 12 against Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
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, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN were named in the same answer 135 times, of the 208 answers naming Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and the 156 naming Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. In those answers Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN took the first choice thirty-two times and Fortinet Secure SD-WAN forty-six.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN 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 | | | | | |
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN on the left and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN stood in it.
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN first, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN an alternative
9 of 14 modelsCisco Catalyst SD-WAN was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.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
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
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
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
GLM 4.7 FlashXFortinet Secure SD-WAN alternatives: Aryaka, Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, VMware VeloCloud 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 the first choice, one was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Kimi K2Cisco Meraki SD-WAN alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect
GPT-6 LunaCato SASE Cloud alternatives: Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Neither was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Mistral SmallFatPipe SD-WAN alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Cisco vManage, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect
MiniMax M2.5Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, FatPipe 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
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN leads by thirty-seven points.
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN40%#1 of 7Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN4%#3 of 7Mid-marketThe figures above
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN leads by fifty-eight points.
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN67%#1 of 8Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN9%#3 of 8Enterprise
The order flips: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN leads at enterprise.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN45%#1 of 11Fortinet Secure SD-WAN39%#2 of 11What the models said about Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“Fortinet SD-WAN (Caveats, not avoid entirely) ... IPv6 support is buggy and incomplete” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Fortinet's SD-WAN features are considered limited compared to competitors” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“For 90% of budget-conscious companies, Fortinet (FortiGate 40F/60F) provides the optimal balance of enterprise performance, security, and low long-term total cost of ownership.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“The best SD-WAN platform for a company with a limited budget is Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, as it is the clear leader with 50% of first choices” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
“Choose Fortinet Secure SD-WAN for cost-efficient branches where integrated NGFW security and simplified management are prioritized.” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
What 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
Also compared
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cisco Meraki SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cato SASE CloudFortinet Secure SD-WAN vs HPE Aruba EdgeConnectCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WANCisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Cato SASE CloudCisco Catalyst SD-WAN 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.