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Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

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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

Cisco IOS SSL VPN
Ranking in SSL VPN
4th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
14th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in SSL VPN
10th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
19th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (40th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 10.7%, up from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 4.7%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco IOS SSL VPN10.7%
Hillstone E-Series4.7%
Other84.6%
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

VM
student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Ease and speed of connectivity impress and recommend
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 probably need updates to this product. I do not know what kind of improvements these updates are offering. It is a great product so far.
TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Zubair Feeds
Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco IOS SSL VPN is very stable. We never experience issues with it."
"Cisco certainly has a really strong support team."
"Cisco is a well known brand which provides good service and many people have familiarity with it, including businesses."
"The platform provides value and benefits to our organization through efficient and effective communication."
"While we know that SSL VPN is an advanced technological step towards achieving a more secured network against ever growing multiple networking threats, Cisco's SSL VPN device is definitely a wise choice to pick."
"I have found that Cisco IOS SSL VPN is stable."
"It is very effective and I am satisfied with how it works and with its performance."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN provides fast connectivity and the option to connect through multiple servers."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
"Five out of five ROI."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients secure connectivity from a remote location to their offices or their servers."
"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."
"The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness."
 

Cons

"Multi-factor authentication in Cisco IOS SSL VPN has certain shortcomings that need improvement."
"I think the management of the design of the console or portal needs to improve because when you compare it to other vendors, you find that the graphical interface is old."
"Firewall rule configuration not as intuitive as Checkpoint. ASDM needs work"
"The pricing needs to be better because you need a license for every device."
"The administration should be improved."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN should add a sensor that can authenticate with a fingerprint instead of having to type the username and password every time."
"The servers should be more user-friendly."
"It would be helpful if Cisco IOS SSL VPN could help us set up devices on our iPads and phones."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"The current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"The room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are no pricing programs for non-profit organizations and the product is otherwise expensive by comparison."
"It stands as the priciest solution available in the market."
"The platform is expensive."
"Users have to pay a yearly licensing fee for Cisco IOS SSL VPN."
"It is an expensive product."
"Price flexibility could be improved in comparison to other vendors."
"I would say it is a bit expensive, but I think it is worth the price."
"The licensing cost of the solution is on a yearly basis, and it is expensive compared to other solutions in the market."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
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912,517 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
20%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What is your primary use case for Cisco IOS SSL VPN?
Currently, I use Cisco IOS SSL VPN to VPN in, but not with high frequency. We use Cisco IOS SSL VPN as our VPN client to connect to our network. This is for health.
What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. Wh...
What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?
I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features which are available in the firewall.
What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?
Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I have not used any AI in the tool. I recommend the tool to others. I rate the tool ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SSL VPN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST Systems
Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
912,517 professionals have used our research since 2012.