AWS Direct Connect vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Cisco are both solutions in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #12 with an average rating of 9.1, while Cisco is ranked #8 with an average rating of 9.0. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 1.9% mindshare in EIV, compared to Cisco’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

AWS Direct Connect

Read 11 AWS Direct Connect reviews

971 Views
942 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Read 50 Cisco IOS SSL VPN reviews

1,295 Views
1,062 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

AWS Direct Connect

Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Cisco IOS SSL VPN and AWS Direct Connect compete in the networking solutions category. AWS Direct Connect has the upper hand due to its performance and integration capabilities.

Features: Cisco IOS SSL VPN offers comprehensive security measures, ease of access management, and strong support. AWS Direct Connect provides high reliability, seamless integration with AWS services, and superior performance features.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest Cisco IOS SSL VPN should enhance its scalability options, improve user documentation, and streamline updates. AWS Direct Connect could improve the initial setup process, enhance customer support responsiveness, and refine deployment procedures.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco IOS SSL VPN boasts straightforward deployment processes and responsive customer service but has cumbersome updates. AWS Direct Connect is seen as more complex to deploy initially, but operates efficiently post-deployment with slower customer service response times.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco IOS SSL VPN is valued for reasonable setup costs and clear ROI from enhanced security. AWS Direct Connect has higher initial costs, but offers long-term value through performance and integration, providing satisfactory ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Direct Connect vs. Cisco IOS SSL VPN Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AWS Direct Connect vs. Cisco IOS SSL VPN

December 2025

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Helped 881,114 peers since 2012

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

AWS Direct Connect

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

12th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

8th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

SSL VPN (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.9%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco IOS SSL VPN	2.0%
AWS Direct Connect	1.9%
Other	96.1%

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

Featured Reviews

Harendra Sisodia

Business Analyst & Agile Strategist at Charles Schwab

enables seamless hybrid cloud connectivity and ensures secure, low-latency data transfers with robust security features

AWS Direct Connect is very useful for transferring data between on-premise and cloud servers quickly, with minimal latency issues. It is cost-effective for large data transfers and offers excellent network performance, even with low internet quality. Its security features are critical, especially for industries like healthcare and finance, providing secure data transfer without breaches. It supports multi-account and multi-tenant environments, allowing centralized management with a single connectivity.

Read full review

Viktor Masnyy

student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

Cost efficiency and ease of setup define network management while potential improvements in complexity handling are noted

Optimizing and configuring for network segmentation is the biggest thing for helping with segmenting traffic management. Configuring QoS on Linksys is pretty easy, especially compared to Cisco QoS, which I am certified in, as it helps ensure that the bandwidth for voice or other applications doesn't bleed over into the data links. In the past, Linksys has been pretty good at network protection, segmenting off that protection for unauthorized access or cyber threats. Cost savings and ease of use are the benefits I've seen from Linksys. It's a little bit less complex to set up and configure compared to Cisco switching. I utilized the VLAN support feature in the Linksys switches. A lot of the networks I have were broken up by VLAN, and I definitely configured them for different VLANs. The best feature of Linksys in my opinion is cost, as they tend to be more cost-effective compared to larger switches or Cisco switches.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."

"It is a stable solution."

"Direct Connect provides an improved connection quality and a diversified link, which contributes to high availability and failover capabilities."

"It is a highly scalable solution."

"AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet."

"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."

"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."

More AWS Direct Connect pros

"Stability-wise, it is a very good solution."

"The product is great because it is easy and simple."

"It's a stable solution."

"The platform provides value and benefits to our organization through efficient and effective communication."

"The solution is quite transparent."

"IOS is user-friendly and simple. You connect to a particular VPN, and that's it. You become seamless after that."

"The best feature of Linksys in my opinion is cost, as they tend to be more cost-effective compared to larger switches or Cisco switches."

"The valuable features of Cisco IOS SSL VPN are the ease of use and the speed; it is pretty fast and easy to use, definitely helps with our efficiency as it is one of our primary VPN solutions, and helps with maintaining security."

More Cisco IOS SSL VPN pros

Cons

"The platform's stability needs improvement."

"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."

"Its terminologies are challenging to interpret."

"It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks."

"It is complicated to do additional BGP configuration for the product."

"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."

"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."

"AWS Direct Connect is straightforward and performs well for me."

More AWS Direct Connect cons

"Cisco IOS SSL VPN doesn't support the configuration of multiple VPNs."

"The flexibility of configurations could be improved."

"The pricing is a stumbling block to scaling our utilization of Cisco products and we would prefer to use more of them."

"Sometimes the connection drops, and we don't like that. I'm not sure the reason, but sometimes it will take time to connect or it will disconnect fast."

"The configuration must be improved."

"The system needs to be upgraded to replace the Token Authentication software, which will no longer be supported."

"They could provide the cloud-based as-a-service model with monthly rental payments."

"The performance could be improved."

More Cisco IOS SSL VPN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."

"It is an expensive solution."

"FortiGate does not charge the client a licensing fee, although Cisco charges clients a couple of dollars per year for each license."

"With Cisco, there is a free solution or a licensed version of the solution with a set of endpoint services."

"The licensing cost of the solution is on a yearly basis, and it is expensive compared to other solutions in the market."

"Cisco IOS SSL VPN comes with a cost-effective subscription."

"Users have to pay a yearly licensing fee for Cisco IOS SSL VPN."

"The solution is reasonably priced, and we have around 50% to 60% discounts from Cisco."

"It is an expensive product."

"The product costs less."

More Cisco IOS SSL VPN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

12%

University

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	24
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	24

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS Direct Connect?

AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet.

See all answers

What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?

We encountered issues with the connection. The VPN was not connecting on multiple occasions.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?

I'm not an end user of any of those SAP products. I wanted to have a comparison between different solutions for process mining and process modeling, but I'm not an end user of any. I have Microsoft...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco IOS SSL VPN?

The solution is pretty fast.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco IOS SSL VPN?

I am not sure about the pricing of Cisco IOS SSL VPN.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco IOS SSL VPN?

I have not found any areas that could be improved so far. I am not sure how Cisco IOS SSL VPN can continue their improvements for the future, but I think it is a great product. To stay on top, they...

See all answers

Comparisons

AWS PrivateLink vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 22% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 21% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 10% of the time

SonicWall Connect Tunnel vs AWS Direct Connect

Compared 8% of the time

More AWS Direct Connect Competitors

OpenVPN Access Server vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 25% of the time

Ivanti Connect Secure vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 11% of the time

Citrix Gateway vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 10% of the time

Array AG Series vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 8% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 8% of the time

More Cisco IOS SSL VPN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

January 2026

Download AWS Direct Connect product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS SSL VPN

January 2026

Download Cisco IOS SSL VPN product report

Also Known As

No data available

Cisco SSL VPN

Overview

AWS Direct Connect offers low-latency, reliable connectivity with secure data transfers between on-premise infrastructures and AWS environments. It ensures high availability and cost-effectiveness for large data transfers, integrating seamlessly with existing systems.

AWS Direct Connect is recognized for its robust network and security, providing minimal latency and reliable connectivity. It seamlessly integrates with on-premise infrastructure, enabling secure and fast data transfers. Users benefit from its high availability and low maintenance, making it cost-effective for large data transfers. Multi-account environment support is a key feature. Despite a complex configuration process compared to cloud GUIs, it enhances security by avoiding public internet exposure. Room for improvement includes the setup of credentials and terminology, upgrade process, BGP configuration, multi-network connections, traffic visibility, stability, and throughput security. Expanding data center locations and cross-cloud connections can be advantageous. Promotion is necessary for awareness. Some report VPN connection issues while some are content with its performance.

What are the key features of AWS Direct Connect?

Secure Connectivity: Enhances security by avoiding public internet exposure
Low Latency: Provides minimal latency for fast data transfers
High Availability: Ensures continuous connectivity with low maintenance
Cost-Effective: Reduces costs for large data transfers and multi-account environments
Seamless Integration: Easily integrates with on-premise infrastructure

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Reliability: Sturdy and consistent connectivity minimizes downtime
Efficient Data Transfers: Cost reduction and efficiency for large data volumes
Security: Avoids exposure to the public internet, enhancing data protection
Resource Integration: Facilitates hybrid cloud environments by integrating on-premises and cloud resources

In industries like finance, healthcare, and media, AWS Direct Connect is implemented to ensure secure and efficient connectivity between on-premises data centers and AWS environments. It supports operations like database management and application deployment, facilitating data and application migration while enabling hybrid cloud connectivity.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Cisco SSL VPN solutions help you easily and securely extend the network to users who have access to the Internet and a web browser. You can customize access and extend the reach of your corporate network to individuals based on their roles, including teleworker contractors and business partners.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

MST Systems

Buyer's Guide

AWS Direct Connect vs. Cisco IOS SSL VPN

December 2025

Free Report: AWS Direct Connect vs. Cisco IOS SSL VPN

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