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Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs Norton Small Business 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Cisco Secure Client offers seamless, user-friendly connectivity, simplifying remote work despite unclear direct ROI.
Sentiment score
8.6
Norton Small Business reduces security threat downtime, enhancing productivity, efficiency, and ROI by allowing focus on critical tasks.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Users find Cisco support knowledgeable and effective, despite occasional access difficulties, relying often on internal IT for Secure Client.
Sentiment score
8.1
Norton Small Business's technical support is rated excellent for its efficiency, helpfulness, and responsiveness, though some see room for improvement.
Cisco offers very high-quality customer service.
Cisco technical support is difficult, and it requires lots of contracts.
Over the years, there's been a decline in the quality, mainly in areas such as the experience level of support engineers and the time taken to address and escalate issues.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Secure Client is scalable and effective for thousands of users, with flexible licensing for diverse environments and remote work.
Sentiment score
8.1
Norton Small Business is highly scalable, allowing easy license expansion and adaptability for diverse business sizes and device platforms.
The scalability of Cisco Secure Client depends on the hardware I choose.
A smaller firewall can handle fewer sessions, while a larger one can handle tens of thousands of sessions.
Regarding scalability, Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) rates as excellent because we can scale out by simply buying more licenses from the vendor.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cisco Secure Client is highly stable and reliable, with user satisfaction and minimal technical issues reported, scoring 8-10 regularly.
Sentiment score
8.2
Norton Small Business is highly rated for its stability, with minor password manager issues on mobile devices.
Regarding the performance of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect), I have not seen any issues because performance-wise it functions properly.
The stability is really good, and I would rate it up to nine.
I would rate the stability ten out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

Users desire improvements in Cisco Secure Client's interface, ease of use, connectivity, security, updates, and integration with systems.
Norton Small Business requires better pricing, enhanced features, and fewer notifications to improve user experience and market availability.
I am using Intune for deployments, and it's not easy to create an automated deployment where users do not need to register server addresses.
The various licensing options make it challenging to manage, and the cost is a significant issue for customers.
Cisco's security portfolio, including Secure Client and the firewalls, is falling behind.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Client pricing is reasonable with term-based licensing, but some users find it costly compared to free competitors.
Norton Small Business offers affordable yearly licenses but frequent upsells for additional features can be a drawback for some.
Palo Alto and Fortinet provide free VPN connections, but Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) requires a license purchase.
The pricing seems to align equally with other competitors like Palo Alto during a competitive situation.
The price of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is acceptable.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Client provides seamless, secure VPN access with user-friendly setup, cross-platform support, and integration with enterprise software.
Norton Small Business offers comprehensive virus protection, secure features, multi-platform compatibility, and 24/7 support via a user-friendly dashboard.
Additionally, it gives the user flexibility of working from anywhere, which is a major feature we are looking at.
Beneficial for businesses needing secure access outside the office.
Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is user-friendly and has features like auto-connection and callback.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Client (includ...
Ranking in SSL VPN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (9th), Cisco Security Portfolio (5th)
Norton Small Business
Ranking in SSL VPN
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (12th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is 15.5%, up from 14.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Norton Small Business is 0.9%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Wouter Beer - PeerSpot reviewer
Generates revenue through service offering while needing additional safety features
The primary use case for Cisco Secure Client, including AnyConnect, is as a VPN for remote access I use AnyConnect because I have Cisco infrastructure. It utilizes certificates, which allows for automatic setup. The security features are beneficial, and the whole idea of the app is that it should…
LAWAL YUSUF - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps with password management and has good technical support services
We use the product as a firewall for threat protection, VPN security, password management, identity protection, cloud backup, and device optimization The product’s valuable feature is the availability of support services 24/7. In case of any issues, we can easily contact customer service. They…
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863,564 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
33%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
The tool is user-friendly, robust and easy to use in any environment.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is somewhat expensive compared to others such as Fortinet or Palo Alto, which provide free VPN when the firewall is purchased. Palo Alto and Fortinet prov...
What needs improvement with Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
At times there is confusion regarding when to keep the proxy on or off, a problem faced by some users.
What do you like most about Norton 360?
The product offers all the essential licenses compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and mobile platforms.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Norton 360?
I have a yearly licensing plan. The cost is not that high. The solution is cost-effective.
 

Also Known As

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST, Molina Healthcare, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Arup, New South Wales Rural FireService
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs. Norton Small Business and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
863,564 professionals have used our research since 2012.