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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
8th
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
11th
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 September 2025, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 9.1%, down from 9.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ivanti Connect Secure is 22.1%, up from 20.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco IOS SSL VPN9.1%
Ivanti Connect Secure22.1%
Other68.8%
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

"The product is very stable."
"Cisco certainly has a really strong support team."
"It's a stable solution."
"The product is great because it is easy and simple."
"The user interface is user-friendly."
"The customer service and support are the best. When it comes to support, Cisco is the best vendor ever."
"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 IOS SSL VPN is integrated with domain controller, SSO and MFA."
"The best feature of Pulse Connect Secure is the good security it provides. It gives a secure connection to your network."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"VPN tunneling is a very valuable feature of Pulse Connect Secure. I also like that it is straightforward to use, and you can see traffic logs on it."
"The tool's most valuable feature is remote access."
"The most valuable features of Pulse Connect Secure are multi-factor authentications, and VPNs and SSL VPNs we are using."
"Ivanti secures access to the corporate network from various devices and locations."
"This is a very secure and stable tool."
"The product is easy to use."
 

Cons

"In addition to Cisco, we work with other solutions on behalf of our customers, such as Fortinet for FortiGate, but this latter solution can achieve the same results at a lower price."
"I think the administration can be improved to include web interfaces."
"The company sets the policies for the default location, and destination, which the VPN connects. If there is a problem with one of those locations, which happens sometimes when I travel I need to have an option to select a different available location. Currently, I am unable to see that from a user's point of view."
"The pricing is a stumbling block to scaling our utilization of Cisco products and we would prefer to use more of them."
"The pricing needs to be better."
"Compatibility can sometimes be a challenge. There have been issues with operating systems where newer updates cause problems with backward compatibility."
"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 product’s dashboard is not good enough."
"The product's price is an area where improvements are required."
"We want to switch to another solution because there are some challenges with the support from Pulse. The quality of documentation is also not good. It is sometimes very hard to find documentation that provides a solution and describes how all this works."
"Ivanti Connect Secure needs to have faster connections. It also needs to improve the stability."
"I would like the solution to be more secure and compatible. It also needs to improve integration with other systems."
"This solution normally works but at times, we have had trouble with connectivity."
"User experience and after-sales support could be better. For example, over the last couple of years, when this COVID scenario was going on, there were multiple attacks on these types of solutions. SQL has been attacked numerous times, and there were a lot of vulnerabilities, and our customers had to update and upgrade the devices every two weeks or every month. This was a headache. It could also be more scalable."
"The most valuable features of Pulse Connect Secure are the user-friendly connection and interconnecting."
"The stability could be better. There are sometimes bugs in the system."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost of the solution is on a yearly basis, and it is expensive compared to other solutions in the market."
"It is an expensive product."
"The product costs less."
"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 platform is expensive."
"The pricing of the solution is reasonable"
"The tool is expensive."
"The price of Pulse Connect Secure is expensive."
"Pulse Connect Secure is relatively cost-effective."
"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."
"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."
"A license is required for you to use Pulse Connect Secure, but I'm not aware of how much it costs."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Educational Organization
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise18
 

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?
It's hard for me to say how Linksys could be improved. I can't think of any specific improvements needed. I believe Cisco could support easier configuration and having tools that allow for easier m...
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: August 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.