3-year cost calculator
Pre-filled for Cisco Catalyst / Nexus → VyOS. Adjust every figure with your own numbers.
Every figure here is an illustrative estimate, not a vendor quote. Defaults are editable starting points compiled from public information; real, binding pricing comes from the vendor or an authorized distributor. See our methodology.
Recommended for your requirements: Size for 25G access / 100G uplinks across 100 devices. Confirm ASIC is on the target NOS HCL; plan spine/leaf with N+1 and validate BGP/EVPN scale.
All figures are illustrative and fully editable — adjust the cost-per-device and migration inputs with your own numbers. Not guaranteed vendor pricing (defaults reviewed May 2026). For a binding quote, use the request form below to reach an authorized distributor or partner.
Quick comparison: Cisco Catalyst / Nexus vs VyOS
Common trade-offs teams weigh when staying on Cisco Catalyst / Nexus versus moving to VyOS. These are general, commonly-reported considerations — not statements of fact about any vendor — so check them against your own contract and the vendors' current terms.
- Already in production — no migration effort or risk
- Mature ecosystem with vendor support and SLAs
- DNA/smart-licensing subscriptions on top of hardware
- Premium support (SmartNet) renewals
- Lock-in to IOS-XE and proprietary features
- Costly hardware refresh cycles
- Ongoing smart licensing + hardware cost to budget for
- Higher vendor lock-in to weigh
- Open source — no license fees
- No vendor lock-in
- Cost model: Free (rolling) / LTS paid
- Requires a migration (~18 weeks, high effort)
- Community support by default — paid support optional
- Higher operational learning curve
Why teams evaluate alternatives to Cisco Catalyst / Nexus
Reasons commonly cited by users and in public industry coverage for re-evaluating Cisco Catalyst / Nexus. These are general, reported considerations — not statements of fact about Cisco — and may not reflect your situation or the vendor's current terms. Verify against your own contract before deciding.
- DNA/smart-licensing subscriptions on top of hardware
- Premium support (SmartNet) renewals
- Lock-in to IOS-XE and proprietary features
- Costly hardware refresh cycles
The migration plan
Roughly 18 weeks for a mid-size estate, in six phases.
Tooling & automation
For routing/edge, translate IOS configs to VyOS set-style config; stage in a lab; cut over per site with rollback configs ready.
OffVendor's wizard pre-fills these scripts with your environment — inventory export, disk/schema conversion, bulk provisioning, and validation.
Frequently asked
Is migrating from Cisco Catalyst / Nexus to VyOS worth it?
For most teams facing rising Cisco Catalyst / Nexus costs, yes — VyOS (free (rolling) / lts paid) typically lowers 3-year total cost of ownership, though the right answer depends on workload complexity and in-house skills. Use the calculator to model your own numbers.
How long does a Cisco Catalyst / Nexus to VyOS migration take?
A typical mid-size estimate is around 18 weeks across six phases — discovery, design, pilot, waved production migration, validation, and decommission. Larger or more complex estates take longer.
What tools are used to migrate from Cisco Catalyst / Nexus to VyOS?
For routing/edge, translate IOS configs to VyOS set-style config; stage in a lab; cut over per site with rollback configs ready.