Software Alternatives & Reviews

Cisco Meraki VS OpenWrt

Compare Cisco Meraki VS OpenWrt and see what are their differences

Cisco Meraki logo Cisco Meraki

Meraki provides Cisco-based, cloud-controlled Wi-Fi and routing and security products for distributed wired and wireless networks.

OpenWrt logo OpenWrt

OpenWrt is an open-source firmware based on Linux for wireless routers
  • Cisco Meraki Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-06
  • OpenWrt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-14

Cisco Meraki videos

My Thoughts About Cisco Meraki VS Ubiquiti UniFi WiFi Deployments

More videos:

  • Review - Introducing Cisco Meraki
  • Review - Cisco Meraki MR 33 Wireless AP and Dashboard Features Review

OpenWrt videos

Upgrading Your Home Router to OpenWRT and Why It Is Worth It

More videos:

  • Review - Playing with OpenWrt Wireless Settings
  • Review - Make Your TP-LINK Router into a High Power Router with OpenWrt

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Cisco Meraki and OpenWrt)
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Operating Systems
0 0%
100% 100
Cyber Security
100 100%
0% 0
Linux
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Cisco Meraki and OpenWrt. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Cisco Meraki and OpenWrt

Cisco Meraki Reviews

We have no reviews of Cisco Meraki yet.
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OpenWrt Reviews

Best pfSense Software Alternatives and Competitors
Both pfSense and OpenWRT are formidable and versatile alternatives for network administration software. While OpenWRT is designed for embedded devices such as routers, Pfsense focuses on firewalls and routing functions that are more complex. Pfsense is more user-friendly, while OpenWRT provides more configuration options. Both are supported by thriving online communities...
The Best Open Source Router OS Software for Large or Small Networks
OpenWrt also offers a range of advanced networking configurations, including support for Quality of Service (QoS), network address translation (NAT), and virtual LAN (VLAN) tagging. These features make OpenWrt an attractive option for businesses and organizations that require more advanced networking capabilities. The open-source nature of OpenWrt means that users can...
Best free Linux router and firewall distributions of 2023
Unlike IPFire, OpenWRT has a large number of optional packages in its repository. As a result, you can configure this OS in countless different ways. Most importantly, OpenWRT has drivers for all hardware supported by Linux. This means that almost all Wireless hardware is supported, making it the most versatile OS for creating Access Points.
Source: teklager.se
Top 7 pfSense Alternatives
OpenWRT is made primarily to replace the software on existing routers, but it can also run on x86 (PCs, server hardware, VMs) machines. It is a very mature OS and has some of the best Wi-Fi support around, unlike a lot of other router software options. It has a pretty good GUI and a ton of add-on packages.
7 Best Router Firmware | Open Source | 2022
OpenWrt Project is a Linux based alternative open source firmware for routers in 2022 and embedded systems. And it is one of the best Open Source Firmware that offers you an utterly writable filesystem along with package management. It allows for full customization and lets you customize the device for any application.
Source: viralhax.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, OpenWrt seems to be a lot more popular than Cisco Meraki. While we know about 103 links to OpenWrt, we've tracked only 8 mentions of Cisco Meraki. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Cisco Meraki mentions (8)

  • Another one is born, former vic beauty huns
    Interestingly - I work in IT - I’d be very surprised if Cisco didn’t put up a fight to another company using the same name - https://meraki.cisco.com - unlike the mlms products, ciscos is actually pretty good, if a little pricey. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Which networking and security brand is best for SMEs: Cisco or Fortinet?
    Cisco - https://meraki.cisco.com/ - https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/small-business/networking/routers.html - https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/small-business.html. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Small Business Recommendations
    Forgive me that this is exact opposite of their wishes to manage it locally. Meraki is cloud-based admin panel, but man, it's easy to take care of. It has its critics, naturally, usually by comparing it to Palo Alto or Fortinet. But those require real expertise to manage, that takes time and lots of training. Yet it's light years better than Ubiquiti. If they can handle the price, it's quite nice. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • [QCrit] YA Fantasy "The Meraki Mythos" (115k/version 2)
    Meraki is a popular brand name - will that cause any problems? https://meraki.cisco.com/ I wonder if you would need to change it. It was the first thing I thought of when I saw your title. Source: about 2 years ago
  • New sysadmin trying to get a handle on an unmanaged environment
    Network & Telephony - These are some other areas you'll probably have to wrangle at some point. Depending on your budget, skills, and time, Meraki might be the best "Easy button" for your network needs -- a top to bottom Meraki network (Firewall, Switches, APs) will make for very easy management, but it doesn't come super cheap either. If you're looking for something more affordable, but still intuitive,... Source: about 2 years ago
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OpenWrt mentions (103)

  • Recommendation for a wifi router with L2TP or other VPN server support?
    If your current router supports a custom firmware like openWRT then you could do this without having to buy a new one. Source: 5 months ago
  • OpenWrt Site Account Creation
    Unfortunately, I can't create an account via Github on the openwrt site. Source: 7 months ago
  • openwrt.org not loading
    Anyone else having trouble reaching openwrt.org right now? I can't get the forums, main page or downloads. I've done plenty of troubleshooting and there isn't anything else on my network having trouble reaching anything else on the internet. Source: 8 months ago
  • Things just got a little weird, my current network is down, I'm a newb trying to start from the ground up and I found out I actually have another (newer) wifi router.... what to do?
    On the router. openwrt.org has lots of great documentation that lays out exactly what you're looking for and then some. Source: 11 months ago
  • As of June 2023, what is the best router that I could buy specifically for ease of use with all things pi-hole related
    Is the Verizon one a combined modem/router? If you want to add your own router, you might have to call them and ask them to put it into bridged mode. I like OpenWRT because it gives you a lot of customization options. I've just been running it on an old TP-Link Archer C7 for the past 5 years or so and I haven't had any issues, but that's ancient hardware now. Source: 11 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Cisco Meraki and OpenWrt, you can also consider the following products

SonicWall - SonicWall security solutions protects your network, systems, users and data from cyber threats.

MikroTik RouterOS - The main product of MikroTik is a Linux-based operating system known as MikroTik RouterOS.

Sophos UTM - Sophos UTM integrates complete security software within a single appliance.

pfSense - pfSense is a free and open source firewall and router that also features unified threat management, load balancing, multi WAN, and more

Purple WiFi - Oct 4, 2017 - Spectators that attended the Los Pumas vs All Blacks game on Saturday were able to enjoy high-speed connectivity and share memories of the game thanks to Efan, Cisco Meraki and Purple's WiFi and analytics solution.

OPNsense - OPNsense® you next open source firewall. Free Download. High-end Security Made Easy™. Offers Intrusion Prevention, Captive Portal, Traffic Shaping and more.