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Cisco Secure Access vs OpenVPN Access Server comparison

 

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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.1
Cisco Secure Access offers significant ROI by consolidating services, reducing costs, and enhancing efficiency and integration with existing products.
Sentiment score
3.4
OpenVPN Access Server improves efficiency and security, essential for remote connectivity and simplifies operations despite limited quantifiable savings.
At Amazon, we knew exactly how much it would cost if a fulfillment center was down for an hour.
Director, Network Services at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The AI features further contribute by expediting threat detection and incident response, ensuring tangible returns through operational savings.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It is one of those tools that needs to work right out of the box, and thankfully, it does; it is reliable, and the setup time was quick and straightforward.
Cyber Security Manager at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Cisco's Secure Access support is praised for its efficiency and expertise, despite some challenges with ticket complexity and delays.
Sentiment score
4.0
OpenVPN Access Server is praised for its supportive community and efficient, knowledgeable technical support, despite infrequent direct interaction.
Cisco TAC is very competent.
Network Operations Engineer at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
With our established point of contact within Cisco, our experience has greatly improved; we no longer log all issues through technical cases, as we can go directly to our account managers or customer service team, which expedites resolution.
Cyber Security Manager at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
I would rate the technical support ten out of ten. Hands down.
Senior Network Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would rate the technical support an eight on a scale of one to ten.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Any issue was solved in five to ten minutes.
System Network Administrator at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
The documentation was absolutely fine for me; it was well-structured, and I did not have any difficulties with this solution.
Senior Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at Globant
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.4
Cisco Secure Access efficiently scales with infrastructure growth, offering seamless integration and adaptability despite some multi-organizational challenges.
Sentiment score
5.8
OpenVPN Access Server is highly scalable, excelling in varying environments, though facing challenges with AWS licensing and stringent inspection.
We turn the traffic to the Cisco Secure Access cloud, and we can manage and apply the policies that are necessary, making it very easy to scale the solution.
System Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Cisco has a great benefit in that you can integrate with other solutions in an easy way because it has a lot of protocols to integrate with others and sophisticated steps that we can apply for integration.
IT Manager at Bavaria Egypt S.A.E.
I would rate scalability at eight to nine out of ten.
Pre-Sales Solution Partner at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
When we deploy and install OpenVPN Access Server, the principle is to install and forget.
System Network Administrator at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
It's not very easy to expand, and it would be beneficial if the process were simpler.
Chief Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It is scalable on AWS because it is a matter of increasing the instance size and increasing the number of licenses.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech company with 51-200 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Cisco Secure Access is praised for stable operations and reliability despite minor Linux or SSL decryption issues.
Sentiment score
6.9
Users rate OpenVPN Access Server highly for stability, with minor concerns often due to external factors, not the server itself.
Cisco is renowned for their reliability, and their products perform well under high data usage.
Network Operations Engineer at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten.
General Manager at Datasoft Comnet
The solution is stable enough, and I did not experience any latency or performance issues.
Director -Digital Transformation at Convergence
Regarding stability, I have not had any crashes, performance issues, or stability issues with OpenVPN Access Server.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech company with 51-200 employees
I find it very stable.
System Network Administrator at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Secure Access requires better integration, licensing, pricing, AI development, management interface, third-party integrations, and global cloud coverage.
OpenVPN Access Server needs user-friendly improvements, enhanced security, better OS compatibility, streamlined upgrades, and clearer licensing workflows.
Modernization is needed, specifically in the enhancement of security features and functionality.
Pre-Sales Solution Partner at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
It was challenging to learn because it has a significant learning curve and requires considerable training to become proficient.
Network Operations Engineer at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The granular access issue is coming from the product limitation at the moment, as it does not offer us the option to tell it that a particular role can only manage websites, allowed sites, and blocked sites.
Technical Product Owner at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Adding stronger multi-factor authentication and continuous monitoring using tools like Splunk.
Cloud Operations Engineer at PowerSchool India Pvt.Ltd
If they had a one-click setup where you provide credentials instead of manually running commands, that would be beneficial.
Chief Cloud Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
If there was a dedicated plan for startups, it would be really helpful.
Devops Engineer at Emergent
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Access has complex pricing, offering good value for Cisco users, but licensing confusion and pricing flexibility issues exist.
OpenVPN Access Server offers flexible pricing with a free version, praised for cost-effectiveness despite AWS integration challenges.
The solution is cheaper than premium options such as Palo Alto, existing Cisco licenses facilitate replacing previous solutions with Cisco Secure Access smoothly and affordably.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It is good because you want to push Cisco Secure Access, and regarding the price, it is very much below other products.
Junior Information Technology Consultant Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
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.
Technical Manager at Ledorbis Solutions
The sticker price may look clear, but the real cost includes the time spent untangling subscription limitations, account conflicts, sales handoffs, and unclear guidance.
Webmaster & Software Engineer at a university with 501-1,000 employees
My experience with pricing is excellent as the pricing is free.
Service Delivery Manager at CasCom
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for OpenVPN Access Server is really good, not that expensive.
Devops Engineer at Emergent
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Access provides cloud-based security tools, AI-driven enhancements, and seamless integration, ensuring efficient management and robust threat detection.
OpenVPN Access Server is praised for security, compatibility, scalability, and features like 2FA, user management, and seamless remote access.
It eliminates the hassle of switching on VPNs and provides a direct connection to resources via Cisco Secure Access.
General Manager at Datasoft Comnet
They are sending the traffic encrypted and categorizing the traffic based on the type, whether web traffic or internet traffic, and doing the security mechanism that is needed for the traffic type.
Solution Architect at Velocis Systems
Using ZTNA in Cisco Secure Access has positively affected my transition and my clients' transition to Zero Trust and least privilege principles, reinforcing the security posture.
Ts Senior Technical Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable features of OpenVPN are its ease of use, client familiarity, end-user familiarity, operating system integration, and price points.
Service Delivery Manager at CasCom
The main benefits I have seen from using OpenVPN Access Server include secure access to private resources over the public internet.
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech company with 51-200 employees
OpenVPN Access Server has positively impacted my organization by allowing access to our private services, enhancing security, and enabling remote work from anywhere.
DevOps and Site Reliability Engineer at Honey Insurance
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Access
Ranking in ZTNA
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (5th), Firewalls (10th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (3rd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (4th), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (2nd)
OpenVPN Access Server
Ranking in ZTNA
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the ZTNA category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 3.0%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenVPN Access Server is 3.3%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ZTNA Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Access3.0%
OpenVPN Access Server3.3%
Other93.7%
ZTNA
 

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.
Fedir Plotnikov - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at Globant
User management has simplified internal VPN access and now provides clear visibility and control
I do not use any role defining features because it is a really small organization, so it wasn't required, but it is there if needed. I have seen OpenVPN Access Server integrations such as LDAP, RADIUS, PAM, and SAML, but again, due to the size of the company, it wasn't necessary and we didn't have it inside the company. However, it was nice that it is already embedded inside. We haven't used much in terms of integrations with OpenVPN Access Server, so it's hard to say. We only used basic features there. My advice for others looking to implement OpenVPN Access Server is that it is at least worth trying if you need a fast and easy implementation solution without technical overhead and you just need VPN access, which is supported by all operating systems and mobile operating system vendors. It is definitely worth a try. OpenVPN Access Server was purchased directly from the website, not on the AWS marketplace or through a partner purchase. I would rate this product an overall eight out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise34
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business36
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?
Pricing for Cisco Secure Access has been very reasonable in the context of the entire world of SASE solutions. Setup costs for customers coming off of Umbrella, because of the fact that it is an ev...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?
Our main use case for Cisco Secure Access is providing security for hybrid and mobile workforces. One of the big challenges these days is the fact that you will have users in the office, working re...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?
One of the things about policy verification is with Cisco Secure Access and modern security products in general, policies can become very complicated, very quickly, especially once you start doing ...
How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpenVPN Access Server?
Do not assume the pricing or purchasing path will be straightforward, especially through AWS Marketplace. Confirm in writing whether your intended setup requires PAYG, BYOL, a Marketplace amendment...
What needs improvement with OpenVPN Access Server?
The licensing and purchasing workflow needs serious improvement. OpenVPN should provide clear documentation for customers who need multiple Access Server instances, different connection counts, AWS...
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenVPN
 

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
Verizon, Amazon, Disney, HP, Microsoft, IBM, Samsung
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