Ivanti Connect Secure vs SonicWall SMA comparison

Ivanti and SonicWall are both solutions in the SSL VPN category. Ivanti is ranked #3 with an average rating of 6.8, while SonicWall is ranked #6 with an average rating of 9.5. Ivanti holds a 17.8% mindshare in SV, compared to SonicWall’s 6.7% mindshare. Additionally, 79% of Ivanti users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Ivanti Connect Secure

Read 29 Ivanti Connect Secure reviews

3,653 Views
1,096 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

SonicWall SMA

Read 15 SonicWall SMA reviews

1,138 Views
364 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Ivanti Connect Secure

SonicWall SMA

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

SonicWall SMA and Ivanti Connect Secure compete in secure remote access solutions. While SonicWall SMA stands out for pricing and customer support, Ivanti Connect Secure dominates with feature richness, making it the more robust choice for many users.

Features: SonicWall SMA provides secure access gateways with comprehensive security tools, easy scalability, and reliable performance. It is also user-friendly and includes proprietary security technologies like Capture ATP for enhanced protection. Ivanti Connect Secure offers robust VPN capabilities, seamless enterprise integration, and strong endpoint protection, focusing on advanced security measures and application rewriting for thorough protection.

Room for Improvement: SonicWall SMA could enhance its customization capabilities and expand integration options with more third-party solutions. Additionally, offering broader support for more advanced enterprise environments could benefit users. Ivanti Connect Secure might improve its deployment ease, streamline its extensive features for more straightforward usage, and reduce the complexity of its initial setup for faster implementation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWall SMA boasts a swift deployment process supported by clear documentation and strong customer service, minimizing downtime. Ivanti Connect Secure requires a more complex deployment model because of its customization options, which can demand more initial effort. However, its dedicated customer service aligns with these sophisticated needs, ensuring effective support.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWall SMA offers cost-effective options with competitive pricing, providing quick ROI through its affordability and speedy setup. Ivanti Connect Secure demands a higher initial investment, reflecting its expansive feature set. Despite the cost, the investment proves worthwhile as businesses leverage its advanced capabilities for greater security and operational efficiency over time.

To learn more, read our detailed Ivanti Connect Secure vs. SonicWall SMA Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Connect Secure vs. SonicWall SMA

December 2025

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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

Ivanti Connect Secure

Ranking in SSL VPN

3rd

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

10th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SonicWall SMA

Ranking in SSL VPN

6th

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

16th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Universal Access Gateways (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Ivanti Connect Secure is 17.8%, down from 22.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 6.7%, up from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

SSL VPN Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Ivanti Connect Secure	17.8%
SonicWall SMA	6.7%
Other	75.5%

SSL VPN

Featured Reviews

Kaushlendra Singh

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.

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Barry Arendt

Owner at ThinkEzIT

Security enhances through autonomous protection and strong support while multi-factor authentication secures access

I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, as I haven't been looking at what they're releasing. We're a small shop, so we drop stuff in and manage it and do what we need to do to maintain it. If we run into an issue, we contact support. There's a learning curve, but it comes down to getting support to train you on the product, and then once you have the training you need, you're able to make the changes and updates that you need to.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"Ivanti Connect Secure is simple and secure, making it valuable for our organization."

"Pulse Connect Secure is a stable solution."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"The stability of the product is its most valuable feature."

"The most valuable features of the solution are reliability and uptime."

"This solution enables secure connections for our engineers to work from home or other locations."

"The most valuable feature of Pulse Connect Secure is its ease of use."

More Ivanti Connect Secure pros

"What I like best about SonicWall SMA is the relationship between its features and its price, because the solution is both affordable and functional."

"It is faster than other security options when using remote connections."

"The advanced threat protection and the endpoint control features of SonicWall SMA have helped improve security measures tremendously."

"I like the load balancing capability."

"SonicWall SMA allows us to provide CML-based access to any user."

"I am very satisfied with the technical support."

"The solution is reliable and has good overall performance."

"The performance is good."

More SonicWall SMA pros

Cons

"Setup is complex. A few users had some issues with it."

"We need to know how many live active users there are and we can't. We even updated the server, however, we still can't see the proper level of live connections. Right now, it's showing as 300 users and my customer does not have that many users in his organization."

"The product could use additional dashboards."

"At the moment, Pulse Connect Secure is a pretty good solution, and I don't see any issues with it. Currently, I'm not aware of a new or additional feature that's needed in Pulse Connect Secure, but it would be good if the team could look at how the speed of connection could be increased. Though it's quite seamless and I didn't face any problem with the speed, it would be better to improve the speed and keep going forward, especially as the industry's changing and people would love connections to be a lot faster."

"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."

"Pulse Connect Secure could improve the reporting, it is lacking in detail and should take the report automatically."

"An area for improvement in Pulse Connect Secure is the concurrent connections, particularly needing a license if you want to use Pulse Connect Secure with your Microsoft or Windows machine."

More Ivanti Connect Secure cons

"The product's technical support services could be improved."

"I'd like to see the product maybe polish keyboards in Bookmark."

"User interface could be improved."

"The timed synchronization between the network appliance needs improvement."

"The solution could integrate better with other platforms."

"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."

"This is an expensive solution and I think that the price could be improved."

"The overall menu is not very user-friendly and it could be easier."

More SonicWall SMA cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Pulse Connect Secure is expensive."

"The cost of the product is high, but worth it because of the utility and great product support."

"Pulse Connect Secure is relatively cost-effective."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."

"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."

"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."

"All the costs are included in a bundled license."

"The platform has medium pricing."

"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	19

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pulse Connect Secure?

From an end-user perspective, the setup phase is easy.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about SonicWall SMA?

Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall SMA?

The pricing for the solution could be a lot less.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 18% of the time

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Compared 15% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs Ivanti Connect Secure

Compared 10% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs Ivanti Connect Secure

Compared 3% of the time

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SonicWall Netextender vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 15% of the time

Citrix Gateway vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 11% of the time

OpenVPN Access Server vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 8% of the time

Peplink SpeedFusion vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 8% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Connect Secure

December 2025

Download Ivanti Connect Secure product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall SMA

December 2025

Download SonicWall SMA product report

Also Known As

Pulse Connect Secure

SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access

Overview

Ivanti Connect Secure provides a seamless, cost-effective SSL VPN solution for remote and mobile users from any web-enabled device to corporate resources— anytime, anywhere.

Ivanti

SonicWall SMA is a unified secure access gateway that enables organizations to provide anytime, anywhere and any device access to mission critical corporate resources. SMA's granular access control policy engine, context aware device authorization, application level VPN and advanced authentication with single sign-on empowers organizations to embrace BYOD and mobility in a hybrid IT environment.

SonicWall

Sample Customers

Axcient, Baloise Group, Cygate, Catholic University of America, Datec Inc, Revlon, Santa Monica Networks, 7-Eleven

UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Connect Secure vs. SonicWall SMA

December 2025

Free Report: Ivanti Connect Secure vs. SonicWall SMA

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