No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey 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
6.9
Cisco Secure Client enhances remote connectivity with robust security, ease of use, and varied ROI experiences across organizations.
Sentiment score
5.1
OpenVPN Community Edition offers quick, cost-effective secure network access with no licensing fees, reducing risk compared to commercial solutions.
With Cisco Secure Network Analytics implemented, we have achieved collaboration as an IT support team where we reached out to network-related members to understand how they work on Cisco Secure Network Analytics-related issues.
Intune Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Having a centralized interface that combines user management, live session visibility, and route monitoring would drastically reduce administrator overhead.
Professional Services Engineer at Next7 IT
Our internal dashboard, admin panels, and servers are no longer directly exposed to the internet.
Founder at Cipheroot Cybersecurity Solutions
It is effective because within five to ten minutes you can configure it from the marketplace, and you are all set up to let your development and users access the environment in a secure manner.
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
Cisco Secure Client provides reliable performance, with support generally quick and effective, though access sometimes requires contracts and has delays.
Sentiment score
5.7
TurnKey's OpenVPN Community Edition receives high praise for effective, responsive support and well-maintained documentation, despite limited interactions.
Cisco offers very high-quality customer service.
Manager - Network Services at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Cisco technical support is difficult, and it requires lots of contracts.
Technical Manager at Gannexion BV
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.
Director/ Senior Network Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Customer support for OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey is fantastic.
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited
Customer support for OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey is really good, and the portal documentation is very well maintained.
Angular Developer at Flourish Software
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Secure Client efficiently scales for organizations, providing secure access while integrating with existing infrastructures despite potential hardware challenges.
Sentiment score
5.9
TurnKey's OpenVPN Community Edition scales efficiently for small to medium environments, ensuring secure remote access and smooth vertical expansion.
A smaller firewall can handle fewer sessions, while a larger one can handle tens of thousands of sessions.
Director/ Senior Network Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
The scalability of Cisco Secure Client depends on the hardware I choose.
Network Architect at Sysnet Solutions Bangladesh Limited
Regarding scalability, Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) rates as excellent because we can scale out by simply buying more licenses from the vendor.
Senior Network Engineer Specialist at Zenith Comp Co.,Ltd.
If you want to opt for a certain number of concurrent connections, we always have to look forward to a vertical scaling of OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey server.
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited
No matter the number of concurrent connections that need to be made, if one follows those recommendations of compute and memory configuration for OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey server deployment, it is really quick and efficient.
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited
For small and medium-sized enterprise organizations, it is very helpful and scalable.
Angular Developer at Flourish Software
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cisco Secure Client is praised for its stability and reliability, effectively handling remote connectivity despite minor flaws.
Sentiment score
8.4
OpenVPN Community Edition is stable and reliable, supporting 20-25 connections with minimal downtime, impressing users with its performance.
I would rate the stability ten out of ten.
Sr. I&C Enginner at Reliance Industries Ltd
The stability is really good, and I would rate it up to nine.
Manager - Network Services at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Regarding the performance of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect), I have not seen any issues because performance-wise it functions properly.
Manager - Projects at airtel
We are able to ensure around 20 to 25 concurrent connections, and they are stable enough while connecting to the public cloud.
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited
With the configuration recommendation given by OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey, if you follow it, it is really scalable and redundant.
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited
It is an extremely stable solution.
Analista de Infraestrutura de TI at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Secure Client faces usability and integration challenges, including outdated support, cumbersome authentication, and issues with pricing and technical support.
OpenVPN Community Edition needs improved management, setup, user interface, performance, integration, and configuration to aid new users and administrators.
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.
Chief Technologies Officer at ASTORG PARTNERS
Vendors offer more features, such as a kill switch.
Technical Manager at Gannexion BV
Cisco's security portfolio, including Secure Client and the firewalls, is falling behind.
Director/ Senior Network Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Performance is a key point for improvement.
Analista de Infraestrutura de TI at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Security-wise, OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey is one of the strongest areas, supporting strong encryption and authentication mechanisms, ensuring that everything is encrypted and authorized each time, which increases security.
Senior Lead Analytics Engineer at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I would like to see an improvement in OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey by adding a feature that shows user activity after connecting to the VPN.
Senior Information Technology Security Consultant at Mideast Data Systems
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Client licensing offers flexible annual terms but is sometimes considered costly compared to Fortinet and Palo Alto.
OpenVPN Community Edition offers cost-effective, secure VPN solutions with minimal setup, appealing to enterprises despite complex administration needs.
Palo Alto and Fortinet provide free VPN connections, but Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) requires a license purchase.
Senior Network Engineer Specialist at Zenith Comp Co.,Ltd.
I perceive the pricing to be a seven, however, I have perpetual licenses.
Technical Manager at Gannexion BV
The pricing seems to align equally with other competitors like Palo Alto during a competitive situation.
Director/ Senior Network Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is really minimal.
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is really efficient and not on the higher side.
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited
For regular engineers or help desk staff, the workflow is usually simple: launch the VPN client, select the client profile, authenticate the credentials or MFA, connect, and verify access.
Professional Services Engineer at Next7 IT
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Client provides reliable, cross-platform VPN access with multi-factor authentication and seamless Active Directory integration for enhanced security.
OpenVPN Community Edition offers secure, scalable, and cost-effective cross-platform connectivity with strong encryption and simple configuration for remote work.
Beneficial for businesses needing secure access outside the office.
Director/ Senior Network Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Additionally, it gives the user flexibility of working from anywhere, which is a major feature we are looking at.
Manager - Projects at airtel
Cisco Secure Network Analytics filled the gap between the monitoring and management side, allowing us to check end user activity clearly from the Cisco Secure Network Analytics console.
Intune Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey has measurably reduced our timelines and effectively given secure access to our clients' development resources with quick and efficient service.
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited
The features we use the most include secure encrypted remote access, cross-platform compatibility, client profile configuration, certificate-based authentication, stability and reliability, vendor-neutral deployment, flexible routing and subnet access, and logging and troubleshooting visibility.
Professional Services Engineer at Next7 IT
The best features OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey offers include strong encryption and flexibility in deployment, along with useful cross-platform support and extensive configuration options that enhance our organization's security.
Senior Lead Analytics Engineer at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Client (includ...
Ranking in SSL VPN
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (6th), ZTNA as a Service (12th), Cisco Security Portfolio (5th)
OpenVPN Community Edition -...
Ranking in SSL VPN
5th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is 8.7%, down from 15.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey is 2.9%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect)8.7%
OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey2.9%
Other88.4%
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Manager - Projects at airtel
Offers work-from-anywhere flexibility but navigates occasional proxy confusion
The analytics I downloaded from your site as a free download did not carry the information that was actually required. I was looking at the market segmentation and market share, along with some USPs which differentiated them from each other. The free download had two issues: many things were repetitive, and it was designed to not release any relevant information. Only headers were present, so I was not able to determine whether the final report would be worthwhile. I have not worked with enterprise tools that I could share feedback on for website publication. I see benefits from using Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect). However, I would not recommend it because future adoptions will be towards Zscaler, as SSC is a better model than VPN. On a scale of 1-10, I rate this solution a 7.
Abhishek Saini - PeerSpot reviewer
Professional Services Engineer at Next7 IT
Standardized remote access has boosted secure client support and improved team coordination
OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey is very flexible, but there are features that would significantly improve day-to-day operations, especially in MSPs. The biggest improvement I would see is better centralized management, easier routing and network virtualization, more advanced built-in monitoring and reporting, simplified certificate lifecycle management, and stronger integrations with identity providers. One thing we often wish for is something similar to enterprise VPN dashboards where we can instantly see who is connected, which routes are active, failed authentication attempts, and tunnel health. Overall, the core VPN engine itself is solid, but most frustrations are really around management, visibility, scalability, and operational convenience rather than the tunnel functionality itself. The biggest friction point with OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey is usually around configuration complexity and troubleshooting, especially in more complex client networks. I encounter issues whenever there are routing and subnet issues, DNS resolution problems, certificates and client configuration management challenges, limited centralized management in the community edition, or documentation dependency.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which SSL VPN solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Construction Company
6%
Construction Company
25%
Comms Service Provider
17%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise49
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

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?
There are no features that I wish Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) had that it does not currently provide. If I could change one thing about it, I would have no changes to suggest.
What is your primary use case for Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
I primarily use Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) for VPN connections and network-related activities. We have Cisco APIs and Cisco VPN that serve as the foundation for our operations. As a...
What needs improvement with OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey?
I would like to see an improvement in OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey by adding a feature that shows user activity after connecting to the VPN. Currently, OpenVPN Community Edition -...
What advice do you have for others considering OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey?
I purchased OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey through the AWS Marketplace. My advice for others looking into using OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey is that if you really ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey?
OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey is completely free. There is no pricing, no setup cost, and no licensing. OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey is not mainly an AI-based pla...
 

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. OpenVPN Community Edition - powered by TurnKey and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.