Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs SonicWall Netextender comparison

Cisco and SonicWall are both solutions in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category. Cisco is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.6, while SonicWall is ranked #14 with an average rating of 6.0. Cisco holds a 1.4% mindshare in EIV, compared to SonicWall’s 3.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 70% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Read 50 Cisco IOS SSL VPN reviews

1,052 Views
810 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SonicWall Netextender

Read 14 SonicWall Netextender reviews

2,606 Views
2,606 Comparison Views

70% willing to recommend

Cisco IOS SSL VPN

SonicWall Netextender

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Cisco IOS SSL VPN and SonicWall Netextender are both widely used for secure remote access. Users favor SonicWall Netextender for its robust features, despite the higher cost, while Cisco IOS SSL VPN receives better feedback regarding support and pricing.

Features: Cisco IOS SSL VPN offers reliable VPN connectivity, compatibility with various devices, and strong support services. SonicWall Netextender provides advanced security measures, excellent performance under load, and great scalability.

Room for Improvement: Cisco IOS SSL VPN could enhance its documentation, simplify configuration processes, and improve ease of use. SonicWall Netextender needs better administrative tools, enhanced stability, and improved error handling during usage.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco IOS SSL VPN's deployment is generally straightforward, though some find the initial setup complex. SonicWall Netextender deployment is mostly smooth, yet some report minor technical difficulties. Cisco is known for prompt and helpful customer service, while SonicWall's support is satisfactory but less praised.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco IOS SSL VPN is cost-effective, balancing price and functionality well. SonicWall Netextender, though more expensive, is valued for its comprehensive features and security, making it worth the investment for many users.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. SonicWall Netextender Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. SonicWall Netextender

September 2025

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Helped 872,706 peers since 2012

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 Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

8th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

SSL VPN (4th)

SonicWall Netextender

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

14th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 1.4%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Netextender is 3.5%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco IOS SSL VPN	1.4%
SonicWall Netextender	3.5%
Other	95.1%

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

Featured Reviews

Rupesh Kolhapurkar

Manager at Reliance Industries Ltd

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.

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Rich Darress

Chief Operating Officer at Darress Tech

Has provided secure remote access to multiple client networks with consistent performance

When buying the appliance itself, there is one downside that isn't exclusive to SonicWall. When you apply all the security settings, many people have one gig connections for internet ISP. If you're bringing in a one gig connection, you have to have a more robust SonicWall to handle that throughput with all your security settings turned on. It gets pretty pricey upfront if you're bringing in a one gig connection. If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious. However, this issue exists with pretty much any appliance.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The platform provides value and benefits to our organization through efficient and effective communication."

"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 most valuable features are that it's reliable, convenient, and easy. It always works if configured well."

"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 provides fast connectivity and the option to connect through multiple servers."

"The solution is pretty fast."

"The product is very stable."

"The product's setup phase was easy."

More Cisco IOS SSL VPN pros

"The most valuable feature for the Netextender is the ease with which we can integrate it with SAML."

"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."

"It allows us to work remotely."

"The product has two-factor authentication."

"My company opted for this solution because it can individually perform. Basically, we don't require load balancers and all those additional feature sets or additional devices that might be required. The solution can handle the certificate, DNS queries, and all that stuff individually."

"NetExtender works very well. I never had an issue with it, and it has been working well for me. In terms of management, you have good control over the destination. You can use NetExtender to set the policy and the static route for a client. You can modify it based on what your client needs or can access. You have good control over routing."

"The solution provides high availability."

"The initial setup is pretty easy."

More SonicWall Netextender pros

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."

"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 only issue with Cisco IOS SSL VPN is on the price point. Price is an area of the solution where improvements are required."

"The product costs a lot of money."

"In terms of what needs improvement, it should have better integration. Although, it might have already been taken care of."

"The performance could be improved."

"The flexibility of configurations could be improved."

"Cisco device management is quite difficult. They should work to simplify this."

More Cisco IOS SSL VPN cons

"If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious."

"The solution takes up a lot of bandwidth."

"The product does not work well."

"The only concern I do have is with the zero trust, and the solution is not coping with the newer technologies as much as it needs to do on that particular factor."

"They need to rewrite the software to make it a usable product."

"The initial setup of SonicWall Netextender is straightforward. The only issue we encountered was with relocating the VPN appliance. If we needed to move it from an on-premise to an on-cloud architecture, we had to start over and redeploy it from scratch. Unfortunately, it is not portable and any changes to its physical location often result in the need for a fresh deployment to ensure everything functions properly."

"SonicWall can be difficult for some people, but I don't find it difficult. Some companies provide a VPN client for free, but you have to pay for NetExtender."

"Sometimes you can get bounced around through the departments until you find the right one. Sometimes if you don't have the most current support contract or your license is out of date, they won't even talk to you."

More SonicWall Netextender cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are no pricing programs for non-profit organizations and the product is otherwise expensive by comparison."

"Cisco IOS SSL VPN comes with a cost-effective subscription."

"FortiGate does not charge the client a licensing fee, although Cisco charges clients a couple of dollars per year for each license."

"It is an expensive product."

"The product costs less."

"Users have to pay a yearly licensing fee for Cisco IOS SSL VPN."

"The platform is expensive."

"I would say it is a bit expensive, but I think it is worth the price."

More Cisco IOS SSL VPN pricing and cost advice

"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."

"The solution has a pretty good price."

"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."

"Cost wise, it would be a few hundred dollars for the base appliance with the first five clients. Then from there, your cost per seat depends on how many you're getting. It's a one-time cost, and then you have a few hundred dollars a year for the maintenance contract once you get the one-time seat costs out of the way."

"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."

"The price of SonicWall Netextender is reasonable. Whether it's a small shop with only five users or a larger operation with 130 users, we have received no complaints or objections regarding cost from any of the clients we are looking to deploy it with."

"You have to pay for its license. There are some other companies that provide a VPN client for free. When you buy NetExtender, its license is available for one, three, or five years."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

22%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

14%

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	24

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco IOS SSL VPN?

The solution is pretty fast.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco IOS SSL VPN?

I am not sure about the pricing of Cisco IOS SSL VPN.

See all answers

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...

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What do you like most about SonicWall Netextender?

The solution provides high availability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Netextender?

The pricing for my experience with the setup cost and licensing of SonicWall Netextender is fair. The Netextender itself has no cost. It's the SSL licensing that is attached to the SonicWall. It us...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall Netextender?

SonicWall Netextender has not helped with compliance, as it is not applicable for what I'm doing. I've put several feature requests in over the years and they've implemented them all, so it current...

See all answers

Comparisons

OpenVPN Access Server vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 33% of the time

Ivanti Connect Secure vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 20% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 14% of the time

Citrix Gateway vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 11% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs Cisco IOS SSL VPN

Compared 9% of the time

More Cisco IOS SSL VPN Competitors

OpenVPN Access Server vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 31% of the time

SonicWall Connect Tunnel vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 17% of the time

SonicWall Mobile Connect vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 11% of the time

SonicWall SMA vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 10% of the time

More SonicWall Netextender Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS SSL VPN

October 2025

Download Cisco IOS SSL VPN product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall Netextender

October 2025

Download SonicWall Netextender product report

Also Known As

Cisco SSL VPN

No data available

Overview

Cisco SSL VPN solutions help you easily and securely extend the network to users who have access to the Internet and a web browser. You can customize access and extend the reach of your corporate network to individuals based on their roles, including teleworker contractors and business partners.

Cisco

SonicWall Netextender provides secure remote access, supporting remote work with valuable features like two-factor authentication, low latency, and integration with Microsoft identity management.

SonicWall Netextender facilitates secure client-to-site VPN connections for remote staff, integrating seamlessly with Microsoft identity management and using existing credentials like Active Directory. Its cost-effectiveness and detailed documentation attract enterprises in sectors such as insurance, healthcare, and education. Despite excellent control over routing, the intuitive setup could be improved, with users experiencing performance and licensing flexibility issues, especially with multi-factor authentication. While integration with SAML ensures seamless authentication, high bandwidth consumption and the outdated interface are mentioned for enhancement. Overall, SonicWall Netextender supports remote file transfers and access to Microsoft 365 portals, although additional features like automatic connection on startup and AI integration would address current user demands.

What features does SonicWall Netextender offer?

Remote Work Support: Facilitates secure connections for remote staff
Integration with Microsoft Identity Management: Connects effortlessly using existing credentials
Two-Factor Authentication: Enhances security during remote access
Low Latency and High Stability: Ensures uninterrupted remote connections
Cost-effectiveness: Attracts organizations with budget-friendly options

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Secure Access: Reliable protection for remote file transfers
Ease of Setup: Quick deployment with minimal IT disruption
Flexible Integration: Utilizes existing credentials for seamless user experience
Documentation: Comprehensive guides for efficient setup and use

Enterprises from insurance, healthcare, and education sectors benefit from SonicWall Netextender by enabling secure remote or hybrid work. Companies facilitate efficient management of remote work, providing access to corporate resources from any location. Challenges include the authentication setup, but its support for remote access to Microsoft 365 and secure file transfers offer substantial utility for these industries.

SonicWall

Sample Customers

MST Systems

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. SonicWall Netextender

September 2025

Free Report: Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. SonicWall Netextender

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. SonicWall Netextender and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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