No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Aruba Remote Access Points vs Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Remote Access Points
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Secure Client (includ...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (13th), Cisco Security Portfolio (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Aruba Remote Access Points is 1.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is 5.5%, down from 7.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect)5.5%
Aruba Remote Access Points1.1%
Other93.4%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Theesula Majuwanagamage - PeerSpot reviewer
Head Of ELV and ICT at Intec Systems Solution Pvt Ltd
Efficient Setup and Strong Performance Highlight Versatile Capabilities
In terms of areas for improvement in Aruba Remote Access Points, when planning for the customer's end, you need to highlight the precautions against EMF emissions and environmental emissions, as well as power management limitations. If the user is in one direction and you're transmitting everywhere, that's not good power management. Currently, all access points provide the same power requirement to the client, but we should explore what extra mile we can go. We are facing energy crises and climate issues, along with GHG and SDGs protocols. If we highlight the alignment with these protocols, it can enhance the product quality as an environmentally friendly option. Apart from that, service-wise, every unit is the same. Users can only distinguish those requirements using spectrum analyzers; otherwise, minor data delays of one or two seconds do not matter, but for high-security or high-speed needs, it becomes significant.
AS
Manager - Projects at airtel
Offers work-from-anywhere flexibility but navigates occasional proxy confusion
The analytics I downloaded from your site as a free download did not carry the information that was actually required. I was looking at the market segmentation and market share, along with some USPs which differentiated them from each other. The free download had two issues: many things were repetitive, and it was designed to not release any relevant information. Only headers were present, so I was not able to determine whether the final report would be worthwhile. I have not worked with enterprise tools that I could share feedback on for website publication. I see benefits from using Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect). However, I would not recommend it because future adoptions will be towards Zscaler, as SSC is a better model than VPN. On a scale of 1-10, I rate this solution a 7.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Once we got things set up properly, we just need to do updates, and it just runs."
"It's easy to manage."
"It’s very light."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is experienced by those working at home since they get a secure Wi-Fi connection."
"Overall, I would rate Aruba Remote Access Points nine out of ten. I can definitely recommend them to other users."
"Once configured and operational, they tend to function reliably, with few reported issues from clients or customers."
"The most valuable features of Aruba Remote Access Points are the easy configuration, straightforward installation, and secure security features."
"It is a very stable tool."
"Our company outsources our services to our customers, we use many different technologies, and from my experience, overall I find this solution to be quite good."
"For the most part, we've been very happy with the solution and its capabilities."
"Configuration policy, posture assessment, and other things can be done in great detail."
"It's a very good solution. My teams are currently distributed all over the globe and leading the software engineering work and for business purposes."
"The implementation is quite easy - if the person is aware of the right version."
"Cisco Secure Network Analytics has impacted our organization by securing each endpoint device properly through VPN usage, enabling us to understand what end users are using and what they are trying to access, and filling the gap between the monitoring and management side by allowing us to check end user activity clearly from the Cisco Secure Network Analytics console."
"The solution is stable and reliable; there are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze."
"The functions in Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) that I have found most valuable are that it is a connection tool that connects and has redundancy, which is a good thing."
 

Cons

"I would rate stability as five out of ten. Sometimes it is stable, and sometimes it is not."
"It would help if the remote APs had some kind of SoHo environment with built-in firewall features. That way it could connect directly in a client-to-site type of environment, or a site-to-site VPN environment. That way users could have a complete office setup without coming to the private cloud."
"There are some issues, like the VLAN capabilities and support for routing between two VMs."
"Its scalability capabilities should be improved."
"I don't really have any critiques at this time."
"I use the controller when using Aruba Remote Access Points, particularly during configuration. Hence, room for improvement in Aruba Remote Access Points is for its web UI to be easier to control."
"The product needs an increased level of security for the end user."
"The remote access point coverage should be bigger than it is now."
"I see benefits from using Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect). However, I would not recommend it because future adoptions will be towards Zscaler, as SSC is a better model than VPN."
"The solution should not rely on tokens from the mobile application for logins."
"Every two weeks there was a new version to install which was annoying for the users."
"The setup is a bit difficult to handle on the server-side."
"There is a speed limit for VPNs because of the encryption."
"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client could improve by adding faster connectivity."
"There are times the WiFi connectivity has disruptions and you have disconnections."
"The solution is great, but perhaps the security could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aruba pricing is not very high. They offer competitive pricing for what they provide."
"Price-wise, Aruba Remote Access Points is in the middle, so my rating for its pricing is three out of five."
"Aruba Remote Access Points' pricing is good and affordable."
"There are no other expenses than standard licenses for the product."
"In terms of pricing, we've found Aruba's offerings to be very competitive."
"You require no separate licensing to convert an access point to RAP."
"The price of Aruba Remote Access Points could be better. It is a little expensive."
"I would rate the pricing for the license of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client around four to five out of ten. It's not the cheapest option, but it's also not overly expensive."
"There is a license needed to use this solution. There are different licensing models available, such as a three-year license."
"We have yearly licensing and it's very affordable."
"The licensing costs are reasonable."
"We are in the North African region, and Cisco products are expensive for us. On a scale from one to ten with one being very affordable and ten being expensive, I'd rate the price at eight."
"One thing I've noticed is the price in comparison to other VPNs."
"It costs around 80,000 Indian rupees for a hundred licenses, so approximately $1,020 USD."
"The pricing depends on the requirement, so proper planning and an RF analysis help to properly size the solution and get the best pricing."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Infrastructure VPN solutions are best for your needs.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
17%
Construction Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise49
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Remote Access Points?
We do not use Zero Touch Provisioning with Aruba Remote Access Points because the Aruba device being expensive compared to cheaper Cisco options holds us back.
What needs improvement with Aruba Remote Access Points?
The device requires reconfiguration if we use a standalone setup because the battery fault leads to all configurations resetting. This is a significant area for improvement, especially when the dev...
What is your primary use case for Aruba Remote Access Points?
We have a solution that is completely Aruba, including the controller, access point, and switch. We deploy ClearPass from Aruba in our company on VMware, which integrates well and works without iss...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is somewhat expensive compared to others such as Fortinet or Palo Alto, which provide free VPN when the firewall is purchased. Palo Alto and Fortinet prov...
What needs improvement with Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
There are no features that I wish Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) had that it does not currently provide. If I could change one thing about it, I would have no changes to suggest.
What is your primary use case for Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
I primarily use Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) for VPN connections and network-related activities. We have Cisco APIs and Cisco VPN that serve as the foundation for our operations. As a...
 

Also Known As

Aruba RAP
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Trafford Metropolitan Borough
MST, Molina Healthcare, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Arup, New South Wales Rural FireService
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Remote Access Points vs. Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.