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Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs SonicWall Netextender comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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 Client (includ...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (12th), Cisco Security Portfolio (5th)
SonicWall Netextender
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
10th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is 5.7%, down from 7.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Netextender is 2.7%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect)5.7%
SonicWall Netextender2.7%
Other91.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure 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.
Rich Darress - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is an excellent tool, easy to configure, and adapted to different devices, such as PCs, phones, tablets, etc., from both the IT administrator and the end user's perspective."
"The solution provides seamless connectivity to the VPN without delay when you have a good internet connection."
"The solution is secure and has a lot of benefits."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is the one-click VPN connection, and additionally, the performance is good."
"It does not slow down anything, unlike other solutions."
"It is flexible and easy to use; you just need to enter the VPN details, and you can connect immediately and access what you need."
"This is a secure product that has had zero stability issues since I started using it in 2019."
"The posturing is working well, we have network access control, it's nice to have and easy to manage and easy to add routes, and we can easily add the route over the VPN whenever we have a new network."
"It can support multifactor authentication. Also, it is a very basic application."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"I found nothing of value in this solution."
"Overall, it's a really good product."
"The best feature is that employees can connect to our LAN, and have access to our network from home."
"It allows us to work remotely."
"The SSL-VPN encryption has been fantastic for my organization's data confidentiality and integrity; we've done extensive testing with third-party cybersecurity testing while connected and it has passed with flying colors."
"Productivity for my remote workers went up dramatically once we switched providers."
 

Cons

"Usability could be improved, as the look and feel of it is somewhat dated."
"The product is stable unless there's a fluctuation in connections as the internet can fluctuate anytime; we can lose stuff or the whole connectivity the moment there's a slight microsecond of connectivity, and it tries to reconnect, however, it's not always successful, and that's where the pain is."
"If you're just turning on your laptop, it should connect automatically without keying in the credentials."
"Even when your internet speed is good, once you connect to the VPN the speed gets automatically reduced, which is worrisome."
"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client can be improved by having better speed and reliability."
"Frequency of updates could be reduced."
"The notifications need to be improved. If the VPN is disconnected for a long period of time, they should push out notifications. We need to manually check if the VPN is connected or not. Sometimes it automatically disconnects, but the user doesn't get notifications, and we need to troubleshoot or open the client to manually reconnect. Auto-reconnection would be an improvement."
"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is a stable solution. However, there have been times it has not worked and I needed to call our IT department. It could be more stable."
"I am rolling out the new Netextender because I am having some issues with the older version."
"Right now, you have to load each license on to an appliance. You can't pool across multiple appliances. So, you end up having to do a lot of administrative work to recover if an internet provider goes down, and you cannot leverage it as easily into a DR solution."
"The solution takes up a lot of bandwidth."
"In future releases, introductions of AI features would be really helpful."
"The UI could be a little better."
"There must be multi-factor authentication enabled or integrated by default with it in order to be integrated with NetExtender."
"From my experience with using it, we do have problems sometimes with the credentialing-saving parts of it."
"There must be a multi-factor authentication enabled or integrated by default with it in order to be integrated with NetExtender."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing for the license of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client around four to five out of ten. It's not the cheapest option, but it's also not overly expensive."
"We have yearly licensing and it's very affordable."
"My company has a three-year or a four-year license. In scenarios attached to a solution where the product may be reaching an end-of-support or end-of-life phase, Cisco provides OS support in such environments."
"The pricing depends on the requirement, so proper planning and an RF analysis help to properly size the solution and get the best pricing."
"The licensing costs are reasonable."
"The initial cost is the ASA and other items, but after that, it is relatively inexpensive."
"We pay for an annual subscription. Additionally to the subscription, we thought in order to connect this solution to the Active Directory we had to purchase a Cisco ACS, Access Control System. It turns out we did not actually need it."
"One thing I've noticed is the price in comparison to other VPNs."
"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."
"The solution has a pretty good price."
"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."
"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."
"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."
"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise49
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

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?
Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) can be made better, as the product for me has not changed in the last year. The only problem is that if you want to download it somewhere else, you cannot...
What is your primary use case for Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is used to make a VPN connection to work, specifically for a VPN and internet connection to my work's office.
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...
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...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall Netextender?
Getting to local resources on a customer's network is my main use case with SonicWall Netextender or SonicWall SSL-VPN. As a managed service provider, all my customers have SonicWalls and I get int...
 

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. SonicWall Netextender and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.