shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Cisco?

Not disclosed - cisco.com

Depends. Buy if you're a large organization with dedicated network engineers and a multi-year infrastructure budget — it remains the default for enterprise networking. Skip it for small offices, startups, or simple needs; you'll pay enterprise prices and complexity for capacity you won't use.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 35+ public sources across reviews, security trackers, pricing pages, and company data

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Not disclosed

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed

Best for

  • Enterprises with dedicated network teams
  • Large campuses and data centers
  • Hybrid-work conference rooms (Webex devices)
  • Orgs with multi-year infra budgets

Not for

  • Small businesses needing a few switches or Wi-Fi
  • Startups without network engineers on staff
  • Home offices
  • Buyers wanting transparent, self-serve pricing

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Deep ecosystem lock-in; switching later to Arista or Juniper is a known pain

medium

Quote-only pricing; global price lists exist but real costs come via partners

medium

Cisco confirmed upcoming list price increases — budget for renewals rising

medium

Smart Licensing activation is a recurring pain point per long-time partners

Pros and cons

Pros

  • 4.3/5 across 27,445 G2 product reviews
  • Practitioners still prefer Cisco for core networking
  • 97% of Cisco Duo customers would recommend it
  • Broad portfolio spanning networking, security, and collaboration
  • Free trials offered for Cisco Security products

Cons

  • Trustpilot customer service rating: 1.7/5
  • No public pricing; partner quotes required
  • List price increases confirmed
  • Smart Licensing widely criticized by partners
  • ISE zero-day auth bypass actively exploited

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/21/2026 - 14 sources - Active issues: an exploited ISE zero-day, a CISA KEV-listed email gateway CVE, and a claimed major breach — patch discipline is essential.

official x3review x5security x3news x3
  • Cisco ISE zero-day auth bypass actively exploited (CVE-2026-76460), Cisco warned of a zero-day authentication bypass in Identity Services Engine under active exploitation.
  • Cisco Secure Email Gateway flaw on CISA KEV (CVE-2026-76461), Listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog.
  • Massive breach claimed by ShinyHunters, A large-scale Cisco data breach was claimed by the ShinyHunters group; separate 2025 vishing attack hit a third-party CRM.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 2/5

    Rating

  • Not disclosed

    Starting price

  • 14

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 2/5. Price hikes, opaque quotes, licensing complaints
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Steep learning curve; specialist skills required
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Largest networking vendor, huge portfolio
  • Support quality: 2/5. 1.7/5 Trustpilot; partner-dependent support
  • Security posture: 2/5. Exploited zero-day, KEV listing, breach claims
  • 4.3/5 G2 seller rating 27,445 reviews
  • 1.7/5 Trustpilot 61 reviews
  • 4.1/5 Glassdoor (employees) 33,904 reviews

Pricing

Not disclosed

Security

Active issues: an exploited ISE zero-day, a CISA KEV-listed email gateway CVE, and a claimed major breach — patch discipline is essential.

  • Cisco ISE zero-day auth bypass actively exploited (CVE-2026-76460)Cisco warned of a zero-day authentication bypass in Identity Services Engine under active exploitation.⁶
  • Cisco Secure Email Gateway flaw on CISA KEV (CVE-2026-76461)Listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog.⁷
  • Massive breach claimed by ShinyHuntersA large-scale Cisco data breach was claimed by the ShinyHunters group; separate 2025 vishing attack hit a third-party CRM.⁸

What users say

Practitioners still rate Cisco's core networking as the preferred choice, but complain about licensing, pricing, and support.

“Networking wise, people still prefer Cisco, but Juniper”
Reddit, r/Cisco
“We like cisco compared to some worse companies”
Reddit, r/Cisco

Companies that use it

  • Riot Games14
Full analysis

Based on 35+ public sources across reviews, security trackers, pricing pages, and company data

Enterprise networking, security & collaboration. The default for big orgs — overkill and opaque for small teams.

Methodology

Based on 35+ public sources across reviews, security trackers, pricing pages, and company data

Sources

  1. Cisco Products | Read 27445 Reviews on G2g2.com
    review
  2. Read Customer Service Reviews of www.cisco.com - Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  3. Is Cisco any good anymore?reddit.com
    review
  4. Cisco Reviews | Glassdoorglassdoor.co.in
    review
  5. Cisco Smart Licensing community threadcommunity.cisco.com
    review
  6. Cisco Warns of New Zero-Day ISE Auth Bypassthehackernews.com
    security
  7. Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogcisa.gov
    security
  8. Massive Cisco breach claimed by ShinyHuntersscworld.com
    security
  9. Cisco Price Increasescisilion.com
    news
  10. Cisco Revises Partner Contract Terms - CRNcrn.com
    news
  11. Cisco Global Price Listitprice.com
    news
  12. Cisco homepage: AI Infrastructure, Secure Networkingcisco.com
    official
  13. Duo is Gartner's Customers' Choice for User Authenticationduo.com
    official
  14. Customer Stories (Riot Games)video.cisco.com
    official

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