Small businesses with 2-10 branch offices need reliable multi-site connectivity without the complexity of enterprise SD-WAN. Cisco Meraki offers the simplest cloud-managed deployment. Tailscale provides modern mesh networking at fraction of the cost. For businesses that need integrated security, Fortinet and Cato Networks bundle firewall + SD-WAN.
8 best for small business highlighted below, plus 7 more in this category.
Sensor-based · Cloud / On-prem · Free trial
PRTG is positioned here as a infrastructure monitoring software option for teams comparing rollout fit, operating model, pricing structure, and how much administrative effort the product is likely to create after implementation.
Custom quote · Cloud / On-prem
Cisco AnyConnect (now part of Cisco Secure Client) is the enterprise VPN standard that runs on Cisco ASA and Firepower appliances — deployed by more Fortune 500 companies than any other VPN solution, but with licensing complexity and infrastructure requirements that make it overkill for most SMBs.
Best for: Enterprises already running Cisco ASA or Firepower firewalls that need an enterprise-grade remote access VPN with device posture assessment, per-application VPN tunneling, and integration with Cisco I
Usage-based pricing · Cloud · Free trial
Cloudflare One delivers SASE (SD-WAN, ZTNA, SWG, CASB, DLP) through Cloudflare's global network of 300+ data centers — leveraging the same infrastructure that handles 20%+ of global web traffic to provide the lowest-latency cloud security edge, with a developer-friendly approach that contrasts with traditional enterprise networking complexity.
Best for: Modern, cloud-first organizations that want to replace VPN concentrators and legacy firewalls with a SASE architecture delivered through the world's most distributed edge network. Particularly strong
Per-user · Cloud · Free trial
NordLayer (from the NordVPN team) provides cloud-delivered business VPN and ZTNA with the simplest onboarding in the category — deploy in under an hour with published pricing from $8/user/month — purpose-built for SMBs that need secure remote access without enterprise networking complexity.
Best for: SMBs and mid-market organizations with 10-500 employees that need to secure remote access quickly without dedicated network security staff. Strongest for companies replacing consumer VPN or no-VPN acc
Per-user · Cloud / On-prem · Free trial
OpenVPN Access Server is the commercial VPN platform built on the open-source OpenVPN protocol — providing a web-based management UI, LDAP/RADIUS/SAML authentication, and multi-platform client support on top of the most widely deployed VPN protocol in the world, with self-hosted deployment that gives organizations complete control over their VPN infrastructure.
Best for: IT teams that need a self-hosted VPN solution with full control over the VPN infrastructure — particularly organizations with compliance requirements that mandate on-premises VPN termination, teams al
Per-user · Cloud · Free trial
Perimeter 81 (now Check Point SASE) provides cloud-delivered ZTNA, SWG, and FWaaS with a UI-first approach that makes SASE accessible to mid-market IT teams without dedicated network security engineers — though the Check Point acquisition has introduced product roadmap uncertainty.
Best for: Mid-market organizations with 50-500 employees that need to replace traditional VPN with cloud-delivered ZTNA and SWG without the complexity of enterprise SASE platforms like Zscaler or Palo Alto. Str
Per-user · Cloud · Free trial
Tailscale is a mesh VPN built on WireGuard that creates encrypted peer-to-peer connections between devices without managing VPN servers — the simplest way to connect distributed infrastructure and remote teams, with a generous free tier and pricing that starts at $5/user/month.
Best for: DevOps and engineering teams that need to connect distributed infrastructure — dev environments, CI/CD runners, staging servers, databases — across cloud providers and on-premises without managing VPN
Open source · Cloud / On-prem · Free trial
WireGuard is the modern open-source VPN protocol that has become the performance standard — 4,000 lines of code versus OpenVPN's 100,000+, with cryptographically simpler and faster tunneling — but it is a protocol and kernel module, not a managed VPN product, requiring additional tooling for enterprise management.
Best for: DevOps engineers and Linux administrators who want the fastest, most secure VPN tunneling available and are comfortable configuring it manually or integrating it with management tooling. Site-to-site
These tools are part of the sd-wan solutions category but may not match the for small business filter above. Worth reviewing if the primary options don't fit.
Custom quote · Cloud
Cato Networks converges SD-WAN, firewall-as-a-service, CASB, SWG, and ZTNA into a single cloud-native SASE platform delivered from 80+ global PoPs — eliminating the need to stitch together separate SD-WAN and security point products, but with premium pricing that starts at ~$200/site/month and requires annual commitments.
Custom quote · Cloud · Free trial
Cisco Meraki SD-WAN is the cloud-managed networking platform that makes multi-site SD-WAN deployment operationally simple through a single-pane-of-glass dashboard — strongest for distributed enterprises with 10-10,000 branch sites where IT staff at each location is minimal or nonexistent, but with per-device licensing costs that add up at scale.
Custom quote · Cloud / On-prem
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN integrates SD-WAN directly into FortiGate next-gen firewalls — eliminating the need for separate SD-WAN appliances and delivering the strongest security-first SD-WAN approach in the market, with the tradeoff that the platform carries FortiOS configuration complexity and requires FortiGuard subscription licensing.
Custom quote · Cloud
Palo Alto Prisma SD-WAN (formerly CloudGenix) integrates with Prisma SASE and Prisma Access to deliver a security-first SD-WAN with application-defined policies — strongest for enterprises already invested in the Palo Alto ecosystem, but with premium pricing and integration complexity that requires significant Palo Alto platform expertise.
Custom quote · Cloud / On-prem
HPE Aruba EdgeConnect (formerly Silver Peak) is an enterprise SD-WAN platform with WAN optimization built into the SD-WAN fabric — unique in the market for combining real-time path conditioning, TCP acceleration, and data deduplication alongside SD-WAN routing, though HPE's acquisition has complicated the product roadmap and go-to-market.
Custom quote · Cloud
VMware VeloCloud (now Broadcom) is the carrier-grade SD-WAN platform deployed by 150+ service providers globally — offering the widest range of deployment models (hardware, virtual, cloud-hosted) and the deepest carrier integration, but Broadcom's acquisition has introduced pricing uncertainty and partner ecosystem disruption.
Custom quote · Cloud
Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is the market-leading zero-trust network access platform that replaces traditional VPNs with inside-out connectivity — applications are never exposed to the internet, and users connect through Zscaler's cloud broker — but it is a ZTNA/SDP solution, not a full SD-WAN replacement for site-to-site networking.
Cisco Meraki has the easiest cloud management. Tailscale deploys in minutes with no hardware. Fortinet bundles SD-WAN with next-gen firewall. For 2-5 sites, Tailscale or a site-to-site VPN may be sufficient without full SD-WAN.
Tailscale is free for up to 100 devices. Meraki hardware starts at $600-$1,200 per site plus $200-$500/year licensing. Fortinet appliances start at $400-$800 per site. Cloud-only options like Cato Networks start around $200/site/month.
If you have one office, better internet (fiber, redundant ISPs) is usually enough. SD-WAN becomes valuable when you have 3+ sites, need centralized policy, or use latency-sensitive applications (VoIP, video) across multiple locations.
