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Cisco Secure Access vs GajShield Next Generation Firewall comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Access
Ranking in Firewalls
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (4th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (3rd), ZTNA (5th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (3rd), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (2nd)
GajShield Next Generation F...
Ranking in Firewalls
46th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Firewalls category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 0.5%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GajShield Next Generation Firewall is 0.4%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewalls Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Access0.5%
GajShield Next Generation Firewall0.4%
Other99.1%
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2788500 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Operations Engineer at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Secure access has unified zero trust and web protection while AI assistance automates tasks
From a feature perspective, I have not experienced any issues, drawbacks, or shortcomings. However, the cost of Cisco's products and licensing is high. My clients usually prefer cheaper options if possible. Mid-size or smaller businesses typically cannot afford Cisco Secure Access. Additionally, there is a steep learning curve, as it is very intensive. Someone with significant knowledge can work on it, but a new professional would have to spend considerable time to get accustomed to it. It is hard to find engineers who can work on it. Overall, we get what we pay for, as it is a pretty good feature and service. The pricing of Cisco's products and licensing is higher than competitors. If they could be more reasonable, that would help. The support offered for two years also has higher costs. Overall, the client's IT budget gets affected. It was challenging to learn because, as mentioned, it has a significant learning curve and requires considerable training to become proficient.
Nazish Sameer Shaikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Security Engineer at UNITE HERE HEALTH
Simplifies the management of complex data networks, but its technical support could be improved
Sometimes, we have to use SD-WAN support for the solution, which can be improved by adapting some features that will help our approach to network services. The solution can adapt some of the tools where we, as network engineers, can adjust to the changing application needs. Also, the solution can provide us with multiple support, allowing us to create a network segment. The solution’s technical support could be improved.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, it improved security without creating unnecessary friction for end-users, which was one of the biggest advantages."
"I would say that over the last 15 years, Cisco Secure Access is the best solution for remote access because I work with other companies as well, but Cisco Secure Access is the best one."
"The primary benefit is being able to see exactly where a connection or person is getting blocked, and then if we can allow it to either that person by their credentials, MAC address, or using the agent on their laptop, it becomes easier to troubleshoot."
"The impact Cisco Secure Access has on protecting my company from threats such as phishing and ransomware is significant."
"In my opinion, Cisco Secure Access is a complete SSE solution."
"The biggest return on investment from Cisco Secure Access, from my perspective, is the end usability from a client perspective."
"It is a solid 10, does exactly what we need it to do in a way that is easy to manage and control, and gives us the information that we need to make sure our end users have a good experience wherever they are working."
"It has not only been a better solution overall, but also been cost saving, which is unusual—too good to be true at one point, but it has delivered."
"It is an easily scalable solution...The initial setup was very easy."
"It is a stable solution."
"The most valuable feature of the GajShield Next Generation Firewall is the user-friendly settings, dashboards, and anti-threat protection. Additionally, the solution upgrades frequently which is good because we receive new features."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall's best feature is the network DLP."
"The solution's outcome is very high, and we often use it in a very high-traffic environment."
"GajShield has improved our mobile device-based connectivity."
"Once it is configured, it is very stable, and we don't get any calls from our clients unless they have some specific requirement, like port forwarding or something."
"Gajshiled's enterprise cloud and DLP-level features give it an advantage over other products."
 

Cons

"One big challenge which I see with Cisco is their MDR capabilities. They do not provide it as a service, which Palo Alto does provide."
"In general, I think features can be improved."
"When speaking about improvements for Cisco Secure Access, the licensing structure is an area of concern, as many users struggle to understand how it works."
"Improvement on the pricing will help in expanding the market for Cisco Secure Access and then it can be affordable to much more number of companies than what it is right now."
"The overall pricing of Cisco Secure Access has changed dramatically in the last half year, and I would say it is too high."
"There are times when Cisco Secure Access feels slow; it takes multiple attempts to log in, which can definitely improve."
"One critique I have about the onboarding process is that for a lot of Cisco apps, you do have to sign back into everything."
"If the FTD devices themselves, the Firepower Threat Detection system, those are the firewalls themselves, the individual appliances, weren't so tightly coupled to FMC, I'd probably appreciate them as a product more."
"Sometimes, we have to use SD-WAN support for the solution, which can be improved by adapting some features that will help our approach to network services."
"The UI for the administration of the firewall needs a lot of work."
"We raised a support ticket, and the project didn't get a proper response. There was a skill issue in TAC support."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall could improve the flow of the settings. If somebody's using a Cisco firewall or any other brand and they want to use GajShield Next Generation Firewall the platform's UI is a bit different. If it was more similar to the others it would be better."
"The firewall configuration and administration screens could use some improvement."
"Gajshield can improve SD-WAN compatibility at an enterprise cloud level."
"We face issues with some configuration parts that we don't understand in the solution, and sometimes we face issues with the VPN connection."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall would be improved with the addition of a load-balancing feature."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is confusing. When you look at the prices, you have different licensing and years of licensing that you have to purchase. Additionally, it's unclear what service you get from those licenses regarding end-user support. We have a representative who has to walk me through it every time."
"The pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Cisco Secure Access have been very competitive compared to other platforms. I believe that if Cisco continues to improve costs or offers something similar to a Cisco credit, it would attract more customers."
"For what you get, it's a fair price in comparison to other products."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall is cheaper than the other products in the market. The licensing costs for the solution are on a yearly basis."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall is not that expensive, and its pricing is better than Palo Alto."
"GajShield is a cheaper solution as of now. The subscription is yearly."
"It was about 15% cheaper compared to Sophos."
"GajShield Next Generation Firewall is reasonably priced."
"The price of the GajShield Next Generation Firewall is very attractive when compared to other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise41
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?
The pricing is not too bad because it's per headcount with Cisco Secure Access. You check how many clients you have. If you have 500 users, then you base your pricing on that. It's still expensive ...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?
I am dealing with Cisco Secure Access products. As a consultant and reseller, I am using it myself with Cisco Secure Access. You can have tenants with Cisco Secure Access. Tenancy is obviously part...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?
The AI element of Cisco Secure Access should have better guidance on the logs. To be honest, I can't think of anything else because it's quite a robust feature. My overall review rating for Cisco S...
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Also Known As

No data available
GajShield NGFW
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. Google 5. Apple 6. Cisco Systems 7. Oracle 8. Intel 9. HP Inc. 10. Dell Technologies 11. Verizon Communications 12. AT&T 13. Comcast 14. T-Mobile 15. Sprint 16. Vodafone 17. Orange 18. BT Group 19. Deutsche Telekom 20. Telefonica 21. Nokia 22. Ericsson 23. Samsung Electronics 24. Sony 25. Panasonic 26. LG Electronics 27. Siemens 28. General Electric 29. Ford Motor Company 30. General Motors 31. Toyota Motor Corporation 32. Volkswagen Group
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Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Access vs. GajShield Next Generation Firewall and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.