Network as a Service vendors do not all deliver the same part of the network. Some run your campus LAN and Wi-Fi as a fully managed subscription. Some deliver WAN, security, or cloud connectivity on demand. Others sell familiar hardware under a subscription and leave your team to operate it. This guide separates those categories, says plainly which vendors are true NaaS and which are adjacent alternatives, and compares scope, pricing basis, hardware ownership, and best fit for each.
Purpose-built campus NaaS: Meter, Nile. Cloud-managed platforms: Cisco Meraki, Juniper Mist, Extreme Networks, HPE Aruba. Security-first: Fortinet. Carrier-delivered: AT&T, Verizon Business, Lumen, Comcast Business, NTT, Telefónica. Multicloud and interconnect: Alkira, Megaport, Aviatrix, Equinix Fabric. Managed WAN and SASE: Aryaka, Graphiant. Self-managed: Ubiquiti UniFi.
For the underlying model, see the full NaaS guide; for head-to-head matchups, see vendor comparisons.
Written and verified by Cody Swift, technology advisor, Bridgepointe Technologies ·
Skim the five groups below to see where each vendor fits, use the quick comparison table to weigh them side by side, then open any vendor guide to go deeper.
Vendor or provider? The two words are used interchangeably in this market. Strictly, a vendor builds the technology and a provider operates it for you. In purpose-built NaaS the same company does both, which is why buyers search for either term and land on the same shortlist. This page uses them as synonyms.
True NaaS or adjacent alternative? This matters more. Under a true NaaS contract the provider owns the hardware, operates the network, and carries the lifecycle risk for the term. Under an adjacent model you buy the gear, license the dashboard, and your team still runs it. Both can be the right answer, and both appear on the same shortlists, so we label every vendor below rather than blurring the two. Vendors that sell hardware on a subscription are not automatically NaaS.
Vendors built from the ground up to deliver the network as a fully managed subscription, with the hardware, software, and operation rolled into one bill. The best fit for lean IT teams that want to hand off the network rather than run it.
Established networking vendors you buy and operate yourself through a cloud dashboard, some now offering as-a-service consumption paths. Strictly these are not NaaS, because you still own the hardware and your team still runs the network; we include them because buyers evaluate them head to head against NaaS constantly. The right fit when you have network engineers on staff and want hands-on control of the stack.
Vendors that lead with security, converging firewall, SD-WAN, and switching/Wi-Fi into one stack rather than bolting protection on afterward. A strong fit for multi-site and compliance-driven environments where the security layer drives the decision. (Nile also builds security into the fabric, but is grouped under purpose-built NaaS.)
The large telecom carriers wrap the campus network into the same contract as your circuits, so connectivity, SD-WAN, and managed LAN/Wi-Fi arrive on one bill from one account team. The trade is longer contract terms, less say over the hardware, and pricing that only surfaces through an RFP rather than a published rate. Worth including when the carrier already owns your WAN. We don't publish deep-dive guides on these yet, so the summaries below are shorter than the vendor guides above.
A different layer of the network entirely. These vendors deliver connectivity between your sites, data centres, and cloud providers on demand, provisioned in a portal in minutes instead of ordered as circuits over weeks. They do not touch your campus switches or Wi-Fi, so they usually sit alongside a campus NaaS vendor rather than replacing one. Relevant when cloud egress cost, cross-cloud latency, or interconnect complexity is the problem you are solving.
Wide-area networking and security delivered as one managed service, so the SD-WAN, the security stack, and the underlying backbone come from a single provider. These compete for the WAN budget rather than the campus budget, but they show up on NaaS shortlists constantly because the buying motion is identical: subscription, managed, no appliances to own.
The DIY value alternative: capable hardware with a free controller and no recurring license fees. Best for teams with the in-house skills and time to design, deploy, and support the network themselves.
A high-level read on how the leading vendors differ on network layer, model, pricing basis, hardware ownership, and who runs the network. The "True NaaS?" column is the one most buyers skip and later regret: it says whether the provider actually carries the hardware and the operations, or whether that quietly stays with you.
| Vendor | Network layer | True NaaS? | Pricing basis | Hardware | Who runs it | Often best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meter | Campus LAN + Wi-Fi | Yes | Per square foot | Included (no CapEx) | Fully managed by Meter | Lean IT, CapEx-averse, multi-site growth |
| Nile | Campus LAN + Wi-Fi | Yes | Per sq ft or per user | Included (no CapEx) | Fully managed by Nile | Regulated, security-conscious environments |
| Carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Lumen, Comcast, NTT, Telefónica) | WAN + campus | Yes, when bought as a managed service | Custom quote, bundled with circuits | Usually included in the term | Managed by carrier or its partner | Multi-site estates already buying that carrier's WAN |
| Alkira | Multicloud + WAN | Yes | Consumption / subscription | None to own (cloud-delivered) | You configure, Alkira operates the fabric | Cloud-heavy estates needing a global network fast |
| Megaport | Interconnect | Yes | Per port, per hour or month | None to own | Self-service portal on Megaport's fabric | On-demand cloud on-ramps and data centre links |
| Aviatrix | Multicloud | Partly (software subscription) | Subscription | None to own | Self-managed control plane | Consistent policy across AWS, Azure, and GCP |
| Equinix Fabric | Interconnect | Yes | Per connection, per month | None to own | Self-service on Equinix's fabric | Estates already colocating with Equinix |
| Aryaka | WAN + SASE | Yes | Subscription per site or user | Included in the service | Fully managed by Aryaka | Multinational WANs with performance requirements |
| Graphiant | WAN + SASE | Yes | Subscription | Minimal on-premises footprint | Managed by Graphiant | Greenfield WAN projects avoiding an appliance stack |
| HPE Aruba | Campus LAN + Wi-Fi | Only via GreenLake | Hardware or GreenLake subscription | CapEx or consumption | Self-managed or HPE-managed | Large enterprises, existing HPE estates |
| Fortinet | Security + SD-WAN + campus | No, unless via an MSSP | Hardware + FortiCare/FortiGuard | Purchased (CapEx) | Self-managed or via MSSP | Security-first, multi-site SD-WAN |
| Cisco Meraki | Campus LAN + Wi-Fi | No, adjacent platform | Hardware + per-device license | Purchased (CapEx) | Self-managed via dashboard | Enterprise IT wanting full control |
| Juniper Mist | Campus LAN + Wi-Fi | No, adjacent platform | Hardware + cloud subscriptions | Purchased (CapEx) | Self-managed or partner/SI | Large enterprises with network engineers |
| Extreme Networks | Campus LAN + Wi-Fi | No, adjacent platform | Hardware + per-device license | Purchased (CapEx) | Self-managed via ExtremeCloud IQ | Education, stadiums, control-focused IT |
| Ubiquiti UniFi | Campus LAN + Wi-Fi | No, DIY | Hardware only, no license fees | Purchased (CapEx) | Self-managed in-house | Cost-sensitive sites with in-house skills |
Want two providers weighed against each other on your exact scope? See the head-to-head comparisons →. For how each type puts a quote together, see the NaaS pricing guide →.
Most shortlists are decided by one dominant constraint. Find yours below, then use the head-to-head comparisons to settle the final two.
| If this is your situation | Start with these vendors | Why |
|---|---|---|
| No network engineers on staff | Meter, Nile | They design, install, monitor, and fix the network. You get one bill and a service level, not a dashboard to learn. |
| Easiest setup and least configuration | Meter, Nile | Purpose-built NaaS vendors do the site survey, staging, and cutover themselves, so there is no controller for your team to stand up. |
| Regulated industry or a zero-trust mandate | Nile, Fortinet | Nile builds zero-trust into the fabric. Fortinet converges firewall, SD-WAN, and switching under one security stack. |
| You already have a strong network team | Cisco Meraki, Juniper Mist, Extreme Networks | Cloud-managed platforms keep configuration, roadmap, and troubleshooting in your hands. |
| Existing HPE or Cisco estate to extend | HPE Aruba, Cisco Meraki | Consumption paths such as HPE GreenLake let you move to a subscription without retraining on new gear. |
| WAN and campus network up for refresh together | Carriers, Fortinet | One contract can cover circuits, SD-WAN, and the LAN, which removes finger-pointing between suppliers. |
| Multi-country or multinational rollout | NTT, Aryaka, Cisco Meraki, Juniper Mist | Coverage is the first filter. Several purpose-built vendors are US-led, so confirm country support before you scope. |
| Cloud connectivity and egress costs are the problem | Alkira, Megaport, Aviatrix, Equinix Fabric | This is a different layer from campus NaaS. These vendors provision cloud and data centre links on demand, and usually sit alongside a campus vendor rather than replacing one. |
| WAN performance between regions is the bottleneck | Aryaka, Graphiant, carriers | Managed WAN and SASE providers own the backbone as well as the service, so latency between sites becomes their problem rather than yours. |
| Tight budget and in-house skills to spare | Ubiquiti UniFi | Lowest sticker price and no license fees, but your team becomes the support desk. |
Not sure which constraint should drive it? Work through the evaluation checklist →
These assessments are independent and vendor-agnostic. We group and describe each vendor by how it actually fits a buyer's team, footprint, and security needs, not by who markets hardest. NaaSAdvisor draws on the broader advisory experience of Bridgepointe Technologies, which has advised 12,000+ mid-market and enterprise companies over 20+ years. The goal is a clear shortlist you can act on, not a recommendation steered by any one vendor.
Inclusion criteria. A vendor appears here if it sells network infrastructure or operations on a subscription or consumption basis to mid-market and enterprise buyers in North America, and if the offer is currently listed on the vendor's own site. We mark a vendor as true NaaS only when the provider owns or supplies the hardware and carries day-to-day operations for the contract term. Everything else is labelled adjacent, including subscription hardware you still operate yourself.
Sourcing and disclosure. Scope, pricing basis, and coverage claims come from vendors' published documentation, checked against what we see in live sourcing engagements. Where a vendor does not publish pricing, we say so rather than estimate. Bridgepointe is compensated by providers when a client buys, which funds this site; that compensation does not determine who is listed, how they are grouped, or what we say about them. See the full editorial methodology. This page is reverified quarterly and after any major vendor announcement.
The vendors above solve overlapping problems in different ways. These are the dimensions that usually decide the shortlist.
Do you want the provider to run the network end-to-end (Meter, Nile), or keep your team in control of a cloud-managed platform (Meraki, Mist)? This is the biggest fork, and it usually follows whether you have network engineers on staff.
Purpose-built NaaS rolls hardware into a subscription (OpEx, no upfront buy); vendor platforms typically still involve hardware purchase plus licensing. Match the model to how your finance team prefers to budget.
Some providers build zero-trust into the fabric (Nile) or lead with security (Fortinet); others secure the access layer and expect a dedicated firewall alongside. Map this to your compliance and segmentation requirements.
Confirm what's actually inside the bill, switching and Wi-Fi always, but ISP/circuit management, SD-WAN, and advanced security vary by provider. See what's typically included.
Geographic reach differs, some providers cover the US, Canada, and Europe; others are US-only or global. Multi-site and international rollouts narrow the field quickly.
Because the provider often owns the hardware, ask about onboarding, hardware buyback, contract length, and end-of-term options before you commit. Terms vary widely.
Want the full framework, the questions to ask, the mistakes to avoid, and a shortlist process you can run this week? Read how to choose a NaaS provider →
Already narrowed it to a couple of names? Jump straight to a side-by-side breakdown of pricing, management, security, and total cost.
Evaluating one provider but want to see who else fits your footprint, security needs, and budget? These pages map each provider against the alternatives buyers most often compare it to.
An independent Bridgepointe advisor knows every provider on this page, and competes them on your exact footprint, at no cost to you.