Aruba VPN vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #34, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.5. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 0.7% mindshare in EIV, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 6.4% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Palo Alto Networks users are willing to recommend the solution.

Aruba VPN

Read 4 Aruba VPN reviews

714 Views
707 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

Prisma Access by Palo Alto ...

Read 65 Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks reviews

25,584 Views
5,117 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Aruba VPN

Prisma Access by Palo Alto ...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks and Aruba VPN are both prominent products in the VPN market. Prisma Access leads in customer support and feature robustness, while Aruba VPN is favored for its cost-effectiveness and simpler deployment.

Features: User reviews highlight Prisma Access for its advanced security features, robust integration capabilities, and comprehensive security functionalities. In contrast, Aruba VPN is praised for its user-friendliness, straightforward management, and balanced feature set.

Room for Improvement: Prisma Access could enhance its performance speed, ease of use, and UI intuitiveness. Aruba VPN users suggest improvements in feature set, scalability, and advanced security options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Prisma Access is noted for its complex but highly secure deployment model, with exceptional customer support assisting throughout. Aruba VPN is valued for its easier deployment process, though its customer service is deemed adequate but not outstanding.

Pricing and ROI: Prisma Access tends to be on the pricier side, yet users feel the investment is justified by its extensive capabilities and superior customer support. Aruba VPN, with its lower setup costs, offers satisfactory ROI with its affordability and balanced features.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba VPN vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba VPN vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

August 2026

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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 VPN

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

34th

Average Rating

5.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Prisma Access by Palo Alto ...

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (5th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (1st), ZTNA as a Service (4th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Aruba VPN is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is 6.4%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks	6.4%
Aruba VPN	0.7%
Other	92.9%

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

Featured Reviews

Zoltán Nagy

Information Technology Infrastructure Manager at Provident Pénzügyi Zrt.

The appliance would crash because of the large number of connections, but its stability was fine

We purchased a relatively small Aruba VPN appliance. Unfortunately, it was not a well-designed VPN appliance product. I think the vendor did not provide us with the best solution. At that time, the world and our company faced the first COVID lockdown, and everybody had to work from home. During this time, the small VPN appliance was overwhelmed by the number of connections, and we experienced many issues. Firstly, it turned out that the firmware was buggy. When around 100 to 300 users tried to connect at the beginning of the day, the appliance would crash, and the users would not be able to connect. We had to escalate the issue to the manufacturer, and they had to release new firmware to resolve the problem, which took around one week. As you can imagine, during the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone had to work from home, and we were struggling to connect to the VPN because of the firmware bug. It took Aruba at least one week to resolve the issue. Another major pain point we faced was with the VPN client. At the time, we were using the Windows 7 operating system on the client machines. Unfortunately, we could not identify the precise circumstances in which the Aruba VPN client could not establish a connection. This was very, very disappointing for us and caused a lot of problems for our department. We had around 500 to 600 users who wanted to connect, and at least 50 to 60 users, or about 10% of the users, were unable to connect each day due to this anomaly. We were not able to identify the root cause of the problem. We collected and provided all the logs that the local support partner requested. Unfortunately, neither the Hungarian local support partner nor the Aruba headquarters could identify the root cause of how and why the Aruba VPN client could not establish a connection. So, it felt like a bad spot. Each day, users were praying to connect over the VPN and to be able to work that day. Aruba VPN sometimes worked, and sometimes it didn't. We were very disappointed and had to switch to a different supplier as soon as possible. We switched to a Cisco product and were very satisfied with the Cisco VPN.

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IgorPinter

Director at PULSEC

Zero-trust access has improved remote security and now simplifies cloud-based firewall management

Regarding the integration part for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, the integration with identity providers is pretty much good. It is basically firewall as a service, so it performs well. I completed the integration without any issues. What Palo Alto Networks can do better for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is probably to have the point of presence available in more locations. The point of presence from the Serbia region has the nearest POP in Frankfurt, which is an issue since it is your gateway—when you start browsing the internet, you go through a commercial connection in Germany. They definitely need to spread the service in other countries.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Aruba VPN’s stability was okay."

"What I like the most about Aruba VPN is that it's great for companies with diverse network needs."

"Aruba VPN is lighter on machines, and users don't feel any difference in having these items installed on their PCs or laptops."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"We're now able to go after contracts that require a Zero Trust solution and Prisma's other technology solutions."

"Overall, the security that Prisma Access provides definitely meets our security requirements."

"The most valuable feature of Prisma Access is its ability to provide enterprise-class security for both Internet and internal application access."

"I think the stability of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is excellent, and I would rate it ten out of ten."

"Prisma Access gives us security from a single point. It controls mobile users and determines how secure their networks will be, including from where they will get internet access. We can optimize things and add security profiles centrally."

"The performance is good."

"Considering this work from home scenario in COVID, it is one of the best solutions one can implement."

"It's much faster and more secure than legacy solutions. It is also quite stable and scalable as well. We are able to see all the traffic in one place."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks pros

Cons

"They could release product updates more frequently."

"When around 100 to 300 users tried to connect at the beginning of the day, the appliance would crash, and the users would not be able to connect."

"It should address issues that are vital to maintaining the company's reputation."

"There is room for improvement from the solution's security point of view."

"The Prisma Access could improve in terms of adding more machine learning and AI capabilities to automate tasks such as incident response."

"It's not very easy to use. Sometimes it's buggy and there are problems when doing updates. The user interface is okay, but some configuration items are difficult. I would like it to be less buggy and easier to configure, to better streamline the user experience."

"The initial support team is not very good. Most of the time, I have found that they are one to three years experienced only. They don't have network expertise. They know about Palo Alto products but don't know how to troubleshoot the issues. We have to guide them most of the time to troubleshoot correctly since their approach is not developed."

"We've run into some challenges, having hit a lot of bugs over the past year in the deployment of GlobalProtect. We've had our fair share of issues that I haven't been happy with. We're working with the support organization to remediate them and waiting for updated releases. The response on getting the bugs fixed has not been what I would consider adequate for a product like this."

"I would like the solution to support a different type of authentication. We can't configure a secondary method for our portal."

"They could add more flexibility and improve product performance."

"One area for improvement is for them to stay on top of keeping their CVEs on their platform up to date."

"The dependencies of applications sometimes are a bit confusing."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We do not have to purchase a separate license for Aruba VPN; it is included in the ClearPass package."

"Customers need to buy a VPN client license."

"The solution requires a license and the technical support has extra costs. The licensing model could improve."

"The licensing model for this product is complicated and changes all the time, making it very hard for the user to comprehend the configuration."

"It is not cheap. It is expensive. The good thing is that you are able to pay for what you need, but overall, it is not cheap. The pricing is not based on packages. You pay based on the features. If you want DLP, you only pay for DLP. They are very flexible. It is not cheap, but the licensing is flexible. There are no additional costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"Prisma Access is a little bit expensive."

"The initial prices of Prisma Access were okay. But as soon as you start deploying Palo Alto gear, the support prices and the recurring prices, which are the major operational costs, tend to increase over time."

"They price their products using credit modules."

"Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is an expensive solution, especially when compared to other solutions like Cisco. There are no additional charges apart from the standard licensing costs attached to the solution."

"Palo Alto is the Cadillac solution, so their products are pretty expensive. That's just the way it is. Their solution surpasses anything else. Cisco AnyConnect, Zscaler, and all of the other products don't compare. Palo Alto is the market leader with the most features. It saves you work, and you don't have to worry about it."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	26
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	27

Questions from the Community

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What is the better solution - Prisma Access or Zscaler Private Access?

We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure access service edge (SASE) designed to deliver network security in a cloud-deliver...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?

From my experience, Palo Alto is more expensive compared to solutions like Netskope and Triscale.

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What needs improvement with Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?

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Comparisons

Aruba Virtual Intranet Access vs Aruba VPN

Compared 37% of the time

Aruba Remote Access Points vs Aruba VPN

Compared 29% of the time

Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs Aruba VPN

Compared 21% of the time

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway vs Aruba VPN

Compared 13% of the time

More Aruba VPN Competitors

Netskope vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 11% of the time

FortiSASE vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 6% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 5% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 5% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 4% of the time

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

August 2026

Download Aruba VPN product report

Buyer's Guide

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

August 2026

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks report

Download Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks product report

Also Known As

No data available

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access

Overview

Aruba VPN provides secure remote access for employees working from home or remote locations. Users appreciate its ease of deployment, strong security features, and reliable connectivity, adaptable to different devices and operating systems with high performance and minimal downtime.

Aruba VPN is known for its strong security protocols and user-friendly interface, reliable performance, and seamless remote access capabilities. It integrates easily with existing systems and offers scalability and efficient technical support. Notably, it supports a large number of concurrent connections efficiently. Issues were noted during the COVID lockdown with firmware causing connection problems and compatibility problems with Windows 7, which remain under focus for improvement.

What are the most important features?

Strong Security Protocols: Ensures data integrity and protection.
User-friendly Interface: Simplifies deployment and usage for all employees.
Reliable Performance: Provides consistent connectivity with minimal downtime.
Easy Integration: Seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure.
High Scalability: Supports a large number of concurrent connections.
Efficient Technical Support: Resolves issues promptly and effectively.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in reviews?

Secure Remote Access: Allows employees to work securely from any location.
High Performance: Ensures a smooth and reliable user experience.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces the need for additional hardware or extensive IT resources.
Scalability: Adjusts to the growing needs without compromising performance.
Device Compatibility: Works across different devices and operating systems.

Aruba VPN is utilized across industries such as corporate sectors where secure remote access is critical, education institutions needing to provide students and faculty with reliable connections, and healthcare organizations requiring secure data transmission. Its adaptability and strong security make it a favored choice for dynamic and security-sensitive environments.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks delivers robust security features including secure remote access across apps and traffic monitoring. It integrates smoothly with cloud environments to provide advanced threat protection and visibility into network traffic.

Prisma Access offers a comprehensive suite of security tools designed to protect cloud environments and remote workforces. With its focus on real-time risk identification and threat prevention, Prisma Access provides encrypted tunnels and centralized management for seamless connectivity and enhanced data security. Designed to scale across platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP, it optimizes traffic and connectivity while offering extensive visibility into vulnerabilities. However, integration with third-party products, usability, and support services are areas for development, as users report interface challenges and desire improved scalability and geographic coverage, especially in regions like China and South America.

What are the key features of Prisma Access?

Real-Time Risk Identification: Detects and manages potential threats instantly.
Secure Remote Access: Ensures secure connectivity to applications from anywhere.
Traffic Monitoring: Provides comprehensive oversight of network traffic.
Seamless Integration: Works well with platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP.
Firewall Capabilities: Blocks unauthorized access and threats.
Scalability: Adapts to various cloud environments to meet growing demands.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Prisma Access?

Reduced Data Breach Risk: Protects sensitive information through encrypted connections.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies management and configuration tasks.
Centralized Management: Offers a single view for managing all security policies.
Advanced Threat Protection: Regular updates guard against new threats.

Prisma Access is effectively used in industries requiring secure remote access and stringent data protection, such as finance and healthcare. Organizations leverage it to enforce Zero Trust policies, optimize network performance with SD-WAN, and ensure security compliance across multiple platforms.

Palo Alto Networks

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack

Buyer's Guide

Aruba VPN vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

August 2026

Free Report: Aruba VPN vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

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