SD-WAN · November 2026 Edition
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
Nine of fourteen models named Fortinet Secure SD-WAN first on the direct prompt; two named Cisco Meraki SD-WAN. Both were named by all fourteen models and Fortinet Secure SD-WAN carries 66 labels and Cisco Meraki SD-WAN 44, 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%18%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#2A position in a field of 8; printed, not drawn.
Labels6644A 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.Cato SASE Cloud was named alongside these two in nine of the fourteen direct answers. Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst 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 Meraki SD-WAN
Direct92
Paraphrase81
Comparative21
Budget-constrained1315 against Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
Scale-constrained00
Negative102 against Fortinet Secure SD-WAN · 3 against Cisco Meraki 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 Meraki SD-WAN were named in the same answer 121 times, of the 208 answers naming Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and the 131 naming Cisco Meraki SD-WAN. In those answers Cisco Meraki SD-WAN took the first choice forty-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 Meraki 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 Meraki 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 Meraki SD-WAN on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and Cisco Meraki SD-WAN stood in it.
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN first, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN an alternative
9 of 14 modelsCisco Meraki 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
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN first, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN an alternative
2 of 14 modelsFortinet Secure SD-WAN was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Kimi K2Cisco Meraki SD-WAN alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect
MiniMax M2.5Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, FatPipe 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.Mistral SmallFatPipe SD-WAN alternatives: Cato SASE Cloud, Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Cisco vManage, HPE Aruba EdgeConnect
GPT-6 LunaCato SASE Cloud alternatives: Cisco Meraki SD-WAN, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN
Neither was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
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
Level: the same share of first choices.
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN40%#1 of 7Cisco Meraki SD-WAN40%#2 of 7Mid-marketThe figures above
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN leads by fifty-eight points.
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN67%#1 of 8Cisco Meraki SD-WAN9%#2 of 8Enterprise
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN leads by thirty-nine points.
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN39%#2 of 11Cisco Meraki SD-WAN0%#9 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 Meraki 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.
“criticized for weak traditional routing features... Better for smaller or cloud-heavy setups.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“| Cisco Meraki | $450+/site | Required | Ease of use (premium) |” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · soft negative
“Cons: More expensive — roughly $4,500–$7,500/site/year” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · soft negative
“For most mid-market B2B companies, Cisco Meraki or HPE Aruba EdgeConnect would be the strongest starting points” MiniMax M2.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“Fortinet and Cisco Meraki are the most frequently recommended options due to their affordability” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
“Start with Cisco Meraki if you want the simplest, most intuitive management experience.” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WANFortinet Secure SD-WAN vs Cato SASE CloudFortinet Secure SD-WAN vs HPE Aruba EdgeConnectCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst SD-WANCisco Meraki SD-WAN vs Cato SASE CloudCisco Meraki 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.