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Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Citrix Gateway vs Peplink SpeedFusion comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco IOS SSL VPN offers strong security with high ROI, easy installation, minimal resource impact, and positive user feedback.
Sentiment score
7.3
Citrix Gateway enhances security, preventing breaches and ransomware, leading to savings and ROI depending on business models.
Sentiment score
8.4
Peplink SpeedFusion improved network stability, reduced downtime, and increased productivity, while financial savings and technical support enhanced user satisfaction.
Citrix Gateway secures our environment from potential threats, which can save substantial financial resources, especially in preventing data breaches or ransomware attacks.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco IOS SSL VPN is praised for its responsive, skilled customer support and clear documentation, reducing direct contact needs.
Sentiment score
6.0
Citrix Gateway support is generally satisfactory, though users suggest improvements in engineer expertise, training, and proactive communication.
Sentiment score
4.6
Peplink SpeedFusion customer service is praised for quick responses and efficient support, though hardware support delays unit replacements.
We contact support regularly, especially for deployments, and they are very responsive.
When Cisco first took over, it was a bit more difficult to get support, but they now integrate it without differentiating the support for Linksys versus full-blown Cisco switches.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Cisco IOS SSL VPN is scalable and integrates well with Cisco's ecosystem but may need improvements in pricing and licensing.
Sentiment score
7.5
Citrix Gateway is scalable for various enterprises, praised for flexibility but faces challenges due to updates and competition.
Sentiment score
7.1
Peplink SpeedFusion is scalable, supports many users, simplifies adding sites/devices, and is praised for flexibility, reliability, and performance.
It integrates well with Cisco's ecosystem, providing flexibility and options to connect to diverse environments.
I believe that the scalability of Citrix Gateway depends on the project's requirements, as it can vary from simple load balancing to extensive Web Application Firewall implementations.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cisco IOS SSL VPN is highly rated for stability but can experience intermittent issues and requires frequent updates.
Sentiment score
8.0
Citrix Gateway is highly rated for stability and reliability, with minor connection issues, offering a smooth, secure virtualization experience.
Sentiment score
8.2
Peplink SpeedFusion is praised for stability, secure VPN, failover, WAN smoothing, and seamless connectivity, ideal for broadcasting and banking.
Linksys can be fairly stable for easy environments, but in more complex network environments, Cisco is definitely a lot more stable.
I find Citrix products to be very stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco IOS SSL VPN needs better integration, usability, compatibility, language support, and simplified licensing to enhance user experience.
Citrix Gateway needs UI, cloud, integration, VPN speed, security improvements, cost reductions, and enhanced support and performance.
Peplink SpeedFusion needs better pricing, hardware support, advanced firewall, scalability, and security features for industrial and enterprise users.
There have been issues with operating systems where newer updates cause problems with backward compatibility.
I believe Cisco could support easier configuration and having tools that allow for easier management and configuration.
At this time it costs 35% more than other solutions.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco IOS SSL VPN is expensive but valued by enterprises; pricing is $60 per seat for over 100 users.
Citrix Gateway is seen as pricey, with flexible licensing, straightforward setup, and competitive features aligning with high-end solutions.
Peplink SpeedFusion offers a balanced value with higher costs, appealing lifetime licensing, and flexible pricing structures for customer preferences.
For more than one hundred users, it costs about $60 per seat.
I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco IOS SSL VPN offers strong encryption, reliable connectivity, seamless integration, multi-factor authentication, and practical management for secure remote access.
Citrix Gateway provides seamless and secure connectivity with features like VPN, web app support, load balancing, and threat protection.
Peplink SpeedFusion offers robust LTE, VPN, bonding, aggregation, and hot failover, ensuring network resilience and effective communication.
The solution is also very scalable, offering up to one hundred licenses for free, and can integrate well with Cisco's ecosystem, such as Cisco ISE and NAC.
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 product effectively helps me protect the organization's network from potential threats, thereby securing our environment from hackers and ransomware attacks.
It's easy to scale and easy to implement.
 

Mindshare comparison

SSL VPN
Universal Access Gateways
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

Rupesh Kolhapurkar - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers easy setup phase but needs to improve connectivity
For our company's remote workforce connectivity, the tool was very useful during the COVID-19 situation. In general, the VPN functionality offered by the product was very useful during the COVID-19 situation. In terms of the product's ability to secure third-party access, the tool works very well. The most valuable feature of the product in terms of network security stems from the fact that the tool provides access to the whole network, and even if users give access to some special applications, it is still really helpful. The clientless access feature is not available for clients. My company installed the product for its clients. If the product offers a clientless access feature, then it is okay and can be very helpful for our company. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. Cisco IOS SSL VPN is a reliable product. The product is very helpful for a work-from-home setup as the tool can be used to access our company's internal network, which Falls outside the network of our organization. I rate the tool a seven to eight out of ten.
VivekKumar10 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables secure remote access and load balancing with enhanced protection features
I find Citrix Gateway valuable for its capabilities as a reverse proxy, providing security to applications exposed to the Internet. Key features include load balancing, dual-factor authentication, clientless VPN, and Web Application Firewall (WAF). The product effectively helps me protect the organization's network from potential threats, thereby securing our environment from hackers and ransomware attacks.
Samuel Romero - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly, easy to install, and scalable
Peplink SpeedFusion needs a thin rail model for industrial solutions. The stability has room for improvement. Peplink SpeedFusion needs to have a heavy-duty heat sink on the case to perform better. Generally, what I found is that devices that have a heat sink on a case or, more weight on a case to absorb the heat, perform a little better. I get some areas where I'm right at the hundred and fifty degrees. So I've had a few failures not many, but I found more failures than a Cisco ISO eleven or a Moxa router. Those solutions have more mass to absorb the heat. Most failures have a lot to do with the case. That's why a lot of people have a hard time pushing Peplink SpeedFusion, and they want to move to Cradlepoint because they have a much more ruggedized case.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Healthcare Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Educational Organization
44%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco IOS SSL VPN?
The pricing for Cisco IOS SSL VPN is based on per user. For more than one hundred users, it costs about $60 per seat.
What needs improvement with Cisco IOS SSL VPN?
Compatibility can sometimes be a challenge. There have been issues with operating systems where newer updates cause p...
What do you like most about Citrix Gateway?
We can maintain our systems using the solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Gateway?
I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on ...
What needs improvement with Citrix Gateway?
Currently, Citrix is improving its solutions, and focusing more on AI features could further enhance its performance.
What do you like most about Peplink SpeedFusion?
In the Philippines, VPN usage may not be widely known, but we leverage VPN effectively within my organization. I've s...
What needs improvement with Peplink SpeedFusion?
The product needs to aggregate the bandwidth of different ISPs. It needs to improve scalability as well.
 

Also Known As

Cisco SSL VPN
Citrix NetScaler Unified Gateway
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST Systems
Aeronamic, Avianca, Bechtel Corporation, Betfair UK, Catholic University Leuven (K.U. Leuven), Centene Corporation, Cerner, Charityshare, City of High Point, Clark Builders
MIT Robotics Team, Intel, Apple, Google, Hootsuite, Northrop Gruman, Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Avocent, GE, VW, Marriott, Renaissance, WSI, Union /Pacific
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Citrix, Ivanti and others in SSL VPN. Updated: June 2025.
857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.