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Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Ivanti Connect Secure 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

Cisco IOS SSL VPN
Ranking in SSL VPN
3rd
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Ivanti Connect Secure
Ranking in SSL VPN
4th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
13th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 9.4%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ivanti Connect Secure is 22.7%, up from 19.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN
 

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.
Johan Derycke - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable remote access and tunneling enhance work efficiency, but upgrade processes need improvement
Ivanti needs improvement in its seamless upgrade and migration procedures, particularly with the browser components, which are fragile and sometimes cause issues depending on the Windows version, the browser version, and the different modules being used. On the client side, browser-initiated sessions are complex and require a more robust approach for non-admin users.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is stable."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN provides fast connectivity and the option to connect through multiple servers."
"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."
"Cisco VPN is easy to connect."
"The product's setup phase was easy."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN is an easy-to-use and straightforward solution."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the management portal."
"I have found that Cisco IOS SSL VPN is stable."
"The flexibility in their management is great."
"This solution enables secure connections for our engineers to work from home or other locations."
"The solution helps with principal decisions. It also helps with the security and configuration of many technologies."
"What I like the most about Pulse Connect Secure is that it's user-friendly. It's easy to use. You just need to connect, and that's it."
"It's a very convenient and user-friendly application."
"The most valuable features of the solution are reliability and uptime."
"This is a very secure and stable tool."
"I like the host checker, which thoroughly checks the security posture of the machine before allowing access. I also like application-based access and its seamless operations."
 

Cons

"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 only issue with Cisco IOS SSL VPN is on the price point. Price is an area of the solution where improvements are required."
"Improvements could be made in terms of connectivity for applications."
"When many people are using the internet at home, which is usually right after dinner, this type of service is a little bit hard to use. The internet becomes quite slow, and sometimes, I have to stop using this application. I am not sure if this issue is because of the application or my internet provider."
"The solution does not give us options if the connectivity to one server is not available."
"Compatibility can sometimes be a challenge. There have been issues with operating systems where newer updates cause problems with backward compatibility."
"The Secure Plus Connect product could be improved with many enhancements in any price license, especially for licensing. Cisco could simplify the licensing; it could make it easier to order and use the features."
"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."
"The support team of the product needs improvement. Sometimes we have issues with multiple authentications, but there is no help from the support team."
"We need to know how many live active users there are and we can't. We even updated the server, however, we still can't see the proper level of live connections. Right now, it's showing as 300 users and my customer does not have that many users in his organization."
"The solution must be more user-friendly."
"The product could use additional dashboards."
"I would like the solution to be more secure and compatible. It also needs to improve integration with other systems."
"Setup is complex. A few users had some issues with it."
"Pulse Connect Secure could improve the reporting, it is lacking in detail and should take the report automatically."
"Zero test FDP (Fraud Protection and Prevention) should be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product costs less."
"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 solution is reasonably priced, and we have around 50% to 60% discounts from Cisco."
"The licensing fee is expensive."
"With Cisco, there is a free solution or a licensed version of the solution with a set of endpoint services."
"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 pricing for Pulse Connect Secure is not low and not high, so it's good. It's a six out of ten for me, price-wise."
"The pricing is quite nominal. We pay on a yearly basis."
"The cost of the product is high, but worth it because of the utility and great product support."
"I rate the product price a six to seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"Pulse Connect Secure is relatively cost-effective."
"The price of Pulse Connect Secure is expensive."
"A license is required for you to use Pulse Connect Secure, but I'm not aware of how much it costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Healthcare Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 problems with backward compatibility. For instance, Windows 11 ( /products/window...
What do you like most about Pulse Connect Secure?
From an end-user perspective, the setup phase is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pulse Connect Secure?
Ivanti has always been known to be pricey, making it a rather high-cost solution.
What needs improvement with Pulse Connect Secure?
Ivanti needs improvement in its seamless upgrade and migration procedures, particularly with the browser components, which are fragile and sometimes cause issues depending on the Windows version, t...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SSL VPN
Pulse Connect Secure
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST Systems
Axcient, Baloise Group, Cygate, Catholic University of America, Datec Inc, Revlon, Santa Monica Networks, 7-Eleven
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. Ivanti Connect Secure and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.