Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Barracuda SSL VPN vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

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

Barracuda SSL VPN
Ranking in SSL VPN
14th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
31st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco IOS SSL VPN
Ranking in SSL VPN
2nd
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Barracuda SSL VPN is 3.5%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 9.6%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco IOS SSL VPN9.6%
Barracuda SSL VPN3.5%
Other86.9%
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Ikh-Erdene Namsrai - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Administrator at Mongolian Mining Corporation
Provides good scalability and has a simple setup process
We use Barracuda SSL VPN for network connection The product is easy to connect. There could be more security features included in the product. We are the latest version of Barracuda SSL VPN. I rate Barracuda SSL VPN's stability an eight or nine out of ten. We have 30-40 Barracuda SSL VPN…
VM
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's a stand alone system that functions well."
"The setup is straightforward and hassle-free."
"The most valuable feature would be that you can actually narrow down your session to one application on one server, which is really nice."
"The product is easy to connect."
"The product's most valuable features are security, stability, and troubleshooting capabilities."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN is stable, and once we connect, we don't face any issues and can do our work."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN is integrated with domain controller, SSO and MFA."
"The solution's technical support is very good."
"The solution's environment is stable and doesn't get disconnected every now and then."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the management portal."
"The solution is very easy to work with. This is its most valuable feature. They also did a good job surrounding how you configure the devices."
"It is a stable solution. In my company, we haven't faced any issues related to the product's stability. I rate the product's stability a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"Since it's not going to be getting any more software updates as per the end of this year, we have to move off to a different product.."
"There could be more security features included in the product."
"Barracuda should find other ways to stir up interest about this product."
"Reporting could be improved."
"It can be difficult to find service and at times we cannot connect with the internet easily."
"The solution needs to integrate password-less technology so that you don't have to remember passwords each time that you log in, which is otherwise tedious. We should be able to log in as long as our system is connected to the internet."
"I think the administration can be improved to include web interfaces."
"The solution's configuration could be made easier."
"The solution's graphical user interface is not very user-friendly."
"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."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN doesn't support the configuration of multiple VPNs."
"The configuration must be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is affordable and reasonably priced so it would make a lot of sense for people to use it long-term."
"Barracuda SSL VPN is inexpensive."
"My company makes payments on a quarterly basis to the vendor to cover the licensing costs attached to the product. Cisco IOS SSL VPN is an expensive product. There are no additional costs apart from the licensing costs attached to the product."
"The tool is expensive."
"The product costs less."
"It stands as the priciest solution available in the market."
"Price flexibility could be improved in comparison to other vendors."
"FortiGate does not charge the client a licensing fee, although Cisco charges clients a couple of dollars per year for each license."
"The pricing of the solution is reasonable"
"The licensing cost of the solution is on a yearly basis, and it is expensive compared to other solutions in the market."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which SSL VPN solutions are best for your needs.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Educational Organization
9%
Performing Arts
9%
Computer Software Company
20%
Healthcare Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco SSL VPN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
MST Systems
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda SSL VPN vs. Cisco IOS SSL VPN and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.