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Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) vs OpenVPN Access Server comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 20, 2026

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 Secure Access Client...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
25th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenVPN Access Server
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
71
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) is 1.6%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenVPN Access Server is 10.9%, down from 15.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
OpenVPN Access Server10.9%
Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC)1.6%
Other87.5%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

BabarShahbaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Saleas Lead at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
A cloud solution to access the corporate network with BYOD policy
Ivanti Secure Access and Zscaler provide secure access to corporate networks, their methods and features may differ. Ivanti Secure Access offers granular control over network access, allowing for on-demand VPN connections when accessing corporate resources. This means users may not need to initiate a VPN connection manually but can access resources seamlessly when accessing corporate websites or applications. This granular feature helps enhance security and user experience by providing secure access only when needed.
AS
Network operation center engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Secure remote access has protected critical data and now simplifies role-based user management
An area for improvement is the pricing model. The concurrent user licenses get expensive pretty quickly as your organization grows, so more flexible pricing options would be a huge plus. Another area is configurational disconnect. While the admin web UI handles about 90% of what you need, the moment you have to do deep, advanced routing customization, you still have to drop back to the command line interface to make those changes. It would be great to see those deeper configurations completely integrated into the web portal. Lastly, it would be awesome to see native support for newer, lighter protocols through WireGuard built straight into the platform alongside standard OpenVPN for better performance efficiency.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Pulse Client is a very good solution; it is very easy to manage, and very stable."
"The most valuable feature of Pulse Client is integration with Google authenticator for two-factor authentication."
"The scalability of Pulse Client is good."
"It also provides an auto-connect feature. When you turn on your laptop and put it on auto-connect, it automatically connects."
"Open VPN Access Server is fully stable."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to implement."
"For those looking into OpenVPN Access Server, I recommend it for its strong security, user-friendly access management, and operational scale."
"The most valuable features of the OpenVPN Access Server are the ease of use and integration with different platforms, such as Android and Windows. I can use the solution on my desktop and mobile devices. Additionally, the solution is secure."
"It is much easier to scale and troubleshoot compared to regular Windows-based VPN solutions or PPTP daemon."
"I have set the default routes to the VPN server so that all traffic is encrypted."
"The features I have found to be most valuable are the levels of encryption I can enact and the compression I can apply to improve throughput."
"The best features OpenVPN Access Server offers are ease of setup, and it is just easy."
 

Cons

"Pulse Client could improve the reports. The reports are not in PDF and we can't check the details in the reports of users who are using the VPNs."
"Ivanti Secure Access and Zscaler provide secure access to corporate networks, their methods and features may differ."
"Pulse Client could improve the system tokens for authentication."
"OpenVPN Access Server can be improved by addressing the issue we faced with a single VPN server since it does not allow the creation of replicas without a load balancer, which we found to be an availability issue that could be easily fixed."
"I have not seen a return on investment in terms of fewer employees needed, money saved, or time saved."
"We occasionally have internet issues which affect stability."
"The server configuration file needs to be improved, it's the biggest problem in the configuration process."
"You do need expertise in implementation if you do the initial setup yourself. As it is open-source, if you run into issues, there is nobody available to help you."
"My impression of the connection speed when using OpenVPN Access Server compared to other VPN solutions is that it is stable and reliable, but it can be resource-heavy compared to newer solutions, handling day-to-day corporate traffic well while experiencing higher CPU utilization and slightly slower connection throughput compared directly to lighter protocols like WireGuard."
"There is always room for more security features."
"I want the tool to be faster. We have experienced connectivity issues while using OpenVPN and FortiClient."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pulse Client has two types of licenses. One is subsistence-based and the second is perpetual-based. The license cost is good, it is not very costly."
"I don't need to pay for its license since it is an open-source tool."
"It is an open-source solution, so we don't pay for anything."
"OpenVPN Access Server is free and open source."
"OpenVPN is an open-source solution. If the solution is used for personal use it is free. For non-personal use, the solution can be expensive."
"One of the valuable features of OpenVPN is that it is free for a single user."
"It is free, you buy support."
"The solution was free of charge."
"The price point is fantastic since it is free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

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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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpenVPN Access Server?
The pricing and setup costs for OpenVPN Access Server are on the high side since licenses are not user-dependent but based on the number of connections established. With two free simultaneous conne...
What needs improvement with OpenVPN Access Server?
There are definitely areas for improvement. A broader network level access faces challenges, and the clustering configuration seems insufficient, posing a single point of failure. Moreover, patch m...
 

Also Known As

Pulse Client
OpenVPN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Verizon, Amazon, Disney, HP, Microsoft, IBM, Samsung
Find out what your peers are saying about Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) vs. OpenVPN Access Server and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,394 professionals have used our research since 2012.