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Fortinet FortiClient vs Ivanti Connect Secure 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

Fortinet FortiClient
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (12th), Endpoint Compliance (1st)
Ivanti Connect Secure
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 7.2%, down from 14.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ivanti Connect Secure is 5.4%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Fortinet FortiClient7.2%
Ivanti Connect Secure5.4%
Other87.4%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

KL
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
Remote access has become seamless and secure while deployment remains simple for our users
Performance could be improved today. People are now moving toward SASE, which stands for Secure Access, Secure Edge Solution. Fortinet also has that offering, which would be easier since it operates through the cloud, acting as a first line of defense. When the user connects to the internet, they connect to the cloud first for posture assessment and monitoring before connecting to the outside world. The impact is significant because nowadays people are adopting SASE. During COVID time, many users were trying to connect back to their office, causing the performance or CPU utilization of the firewall to increase tremendously, which slowed down performance. I have not worked with endpoint telemetry in Fortinet FortiClient that could have been helpful for threat mitigation.
Kaushlendra Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager - IT Infrastructure and Network at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Provides secure and simple remote access but needs improved reporting capabilities
Ivanti Connect Secure is simple and secure, making it valuable for our organization. Ivanti Connect Secure's access control feature provides global protect, which allows country-wise blocking. There are many access controls available, and policies can be created on a host basis and on the MAC address of assets that will connect. Firewall versions and OS versions can be defined, and only devices meeting these criteria can connect to the VPN. These features are effective, along with MFA. Ivanti Connect Secure is a client-based, agent-based solution, so if the agent is installed, users are able to connect to the network. Ivanti Connect Secure utilizes identity-based LDAP authentication. Ivanti Connect Secure is very effective for remote access for remote workers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"For our clients with remote sites and deployed firewalls, the filtering and authentication features are very helpful."
"Fortinet FortiClient provides several benefits such as saving time, saving money, and improving security."
"It's simple, downloadable, and there's usually no problem."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiClient is dual authentication and the VPN is secure."
"It's very stable."
"Fortinet FortiClient is not disruptive, and its interface is great. It has an in-built VPN, which is very useful."
"It’s easy to use."
"It's easy to use, easy to deploy, and I have more visibility over my network that shows which users are connected to the firewalls, which users are connected to the network, and what they're accessing."
"I can safely say this is one of the best solutions I have seen for VPN access. It can achieve what other vendors may not be able to. This product will train you about exactly what an SSL should be. You can leverage it to do whatever you wish, the way you wish to do it. This is the solution if you want a perfectly scalable product for your enterprise that can help your mobile users and integrate with the latest technologies."
"VPN tunneling is a very valuable feature of Pulse Connect Secure. I also like that it is straightforward to use, and you can see traffic logs on it."
"The product is easy to use."
"Ivanti secures access to the corporate network from various devices and locations."
"The flexibility in their management is great."
"This solution enables secure connections for our engineers to work from home or other locations."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"This is a very secure and stable tool."
 

Cons

"FortiClient is not communicating with the new version of the firewall."
"I would like Fortinet to improve FortiClient's compatibility with macOS."
"I would like to see an improvement in the web filter, because I think it can be more user-friendly."
"The current version of this solution does not show the malicious websites that have been visited. They should add this to an upcoming release."
"Compatibility issues between different versions."
"The user interface on the central server could be improved."
"They can improve the interface because it is very technical for a normal client to understand."
"We do not use the solution every day and there are times when the new users have trouble reconnecting. The technology itself works but our users getting adopted to it is a major problem. Having the user adapt to the desktop landing page that it begins on is throwing them off a bit."
"Pulse Connect Secure could improve the reporting, it is lacking in detail and should take the report automatically."
"Connection-wise, Pulse Connect Secure could be faster, and this is its area for improvement."
"Ivanti needs improvement in its seamless upgrade and migration procedures, particularly with the browser components, which are fragile and sometimes cause issues depending on the Windows version, the browser version, and the different modules being used."
"The product could use additional dashboards."
"The user experience has room for improvement."
"From our side, there is an issue when Windows updates. The security mechanisms of Ivanti Connect Secure are very slow to update."
"The support team of the product needs improvement. Sometimes we have issues with multiple authentications, but there is no help from the support team."
"The security mechanisms of Ivanti Connect Secure are very slow to update."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiClient comes free with the purchase of the FortiGate solution. There is a license required for this solution. You later can upgrade from the free version which will allow more endpoints. The cost of the license subscription is based on how many endpoints you require."
"FortiClient is quite reasonably priced."
"Fortinet requires you to buy a lot of product in order for you to have proper protection."
"Licensing was free up to ten users and after that, it was pretty reasonable."
"An annual license costs about 1.5 to 3,000 US dollars. There are no additional costs."
"Pricing is an area that I would like to see improved, as it could be lower."
"It is not that expensive. It was within the range. A dollar per user per month is nothing."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The pricing for Pulse Connect Secure is not low and not high, so it's good. It's a six out of ten for me, price-wise."
"Pulse Connect Secure is relatively cost-effective."
"I rate the product price a six to seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The price of Pulse Connect Secure is expensive."
"The pricing is quite nominal. We pay on a yearly basis."
"A license is required for you to use Pulse Connect Secure, but I'm not aware of how much it costs."
"The cost of the product is high, but worth it because of the utility and great product support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

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's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection because it continually scans servers for emerging vulnerabilities, which gives...
What do you like most about Pulse Connect Secure?
From an end-user perspective, the setup phase is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pulse Connect Secure?
Ivanti has always been known to be pricey, making it a rather high-cost solution.
What needs improvement with Pulse Connect Secure?
The reporting capabilities of Ivanti Connect Secure are not strong; the format is simple, and obtaining a detailed report is difficult and requires manual work. Regarding points for improvement, th...
 

Also Known As

FortiClient
Pulse Connect Secure
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Axcient, Baloise Group, Cygate, Catholic University of America, Datec Inc, Revlon, Santa Monica Networks, 7-Eleven
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiClient vs. Ivanti Connect Secure and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
882,180 professionals have used our research since 2012.