What is Cisco Meraki used for?

Cisco Meraki is a cloud-managed networking platform covering wireless, switching, security appliances and SD-WAN from one dashboard. It is a good fit for managing networks across many branch locations, running school or retail Wi-Fi with a small team and managed service providers supporting customer networks.

How much does Cisco Meraki cost?

Cisco Meraki doesn't publish fixed prices; pricing is quoted on request.

Is Cisco Meraki open source?

No. Cisco Meraki is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Cisco Meraki include OpenWrt, OPNsense and pfSense.

What are some alternatives to Cisco Meraki?

Cisco Meraki competes with Juniper Mist, Aruba Central and Fortinet. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Cisco Meraki alternatives.

Cisco Meraki: features, pricing and alternatives

About Cisco Meraki

Cisco Meraki is a line of network hardware that is configured and monitored through a web-based cloud dashboard instead of on-device command lines. It covers wireless access points, switches, security appliances and SD-WAN, so a distributed organization can manage many sites from a single place.

Devices connect to the Meraki cloud, which pushes configuration, firmware updates and monitoring data. This lets small IT teams roll out and troubleshoot networks across remote locations without on-site specialists, and it also supports related products such as cameras and device management.

Meraki is a commercial product that combines purchased hardware with cloud-management licensing, and it is aimed at schools, retailers, multi-site businesses and managed service providers. Exact costs depend on the hardware and license term, so buyers usually work with a reseller.

Key features

Cloud dashboard for multi-site network management
Wireless access points and switches
Security appliances with SD-WAN support
Automatic firmware updates from the cloud
Zero-touch deployment of new devices

Good fit for

→Managing networks across many branch locations
→Running school or retail Wi-Fi with a small team
→Managed service providers supporting customer networks

Tags: cloud-managed; networking; wifi; switching; sd-wan; cisco; network-management

Cisco Meraki: questions and answers

What is Cisco Meraki used for?: Cisco Meraki is a cloud-managed networking platform covering wireless, switching, security appliances and SD-WAN from one dashboard. It is a good fit for managing networks across many branch locations, running school or retail Wi-Fi with a small team and managed service providers supporting customer networks.
How much does Cisco Meraki cost?: Cisco Meraki doesn't publish fixed prices; pricing is quoted on request.
Is Cisco Meraki open source?: No. Cisco Meraki is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Cisco Meraki include OpenWrt, OPNsense and pfSense.
What are some alternatives to Cisco Meraki?: Cisco Meraki competes with Juniper Mist, Aruba Central and Fortinet. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Cisco Meraki alternatives.