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

Aruba Remote Access Points vs Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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

Aruba Remote Access Points
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Secure Client (includ...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (13th), Cisco Security Portfolio (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Aruba Remote Access Points is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is 5.1%, down from 6.8% 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)5.1%
Aruba Remote Access Points1.1%
Other93.8%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

AmrIssa - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Information Officer at Mobica Advanced
Remote access has provided secure site connectivity and supports centralized on‑prem operations
We have a solution that is completely Aruba, including the controller, access point, and switch. We deploy ClearPass from Aruba in our company on VMware, which integrates well and works without issues. Aruba Remote Access Points are critical for our construction company because we have many sites…
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Once we got things set up properly, we just need to do updates, and it just runs."
"There are no bad features in Aruba Remote Access Points. Every feature is customized to meet customer requirements according to their limitations, and we can make use of all features to benefit us as needed."
"The platform has the most valuable advanced filtering feature."
"Aruba Remote Access Points provide a level of protection for our IPs."
"Overall, I would rate Aruba Remote Access Points nine out of ten. I can definitely recommend them to other users."
"Aruba works well in large spaces, especially for manufacturing. That's when you start seeing the effectiveness of Aruba."
"It is a very stable tool."
"It's easy to manage."
"The multifactor authentication enhances security posture, and integrating our internal application for authentication was easy."
"The ability to connect to the VPN remotely."
"On Cisco's side, the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) story is quite valuable."
"Cisco Secure Network Analytics has impacted our organization by securing each endpoint device properly through VPN usage, enabling us to understand what end users are using and what they are trying to access, and filling the gap between the monitoring and management side by allowing us to check end user activity clearly from the Cisco Secure Network Analytics console."
"The primary use case of this solution as an access point; we have on-premises servers and if anyone needs to access those servers remotely, they access them through Cisco AnyConnect, which we use as a VPN between outside networks and our internal office network."
"It is easy to scale."
"AnyConnect is extremely useful because we are working from home and need to connect to various systems within the organization."
"The solution is stable and secure, with no bugs or glitches, no crashes or freezes, reliable performance, and very strong security."
 

Cons

"But the hardware needs to be revamped when we compare the Meraki solution."
"The solution's technical support has some shortcomings that need improvement."
"It could have better monitoring features. Not all features are available on the monitoring dashboard."
"There are some issues, like the VLAN capabilities and support for routing between two VMs."
"To make the solution better, the cloud solution should be more integrated as it has too many different menus, and it would be preferable to have it more cohesive in one solution."
"I use the controller when using Aruba Remote Access Points, particularly during configuration. Hence, room for improvement in Aruba Remote Access Points is for its web UI to be easier to control."
"Our difficulty with Aruba is that the product and the license are two different items. So, if we are adding an access point, we have to pay for two items. We have to pay to add the access point in the controller and we have to pay for the license."
"The security side of Aruba Remote Access Points could be improved."
"Complicated scenarios are difficult to deploy. On a scale from one to ten, with one being the most difficult, I'd give a rating of between two and three for the initial setup."
"However, when different configurations need to be completed, we need to get in touch with Cisco Technical Assistance Center because we don't have enough documentation on the website."
"It should implement something like a kill switch."
"Every two weeks there was a new version to install which was annoying for the users."
"The solution could improve the setup, it is complex."
"Sometimes when you are on the VPN, it can be a little bit slow."
"More frequent updates would be ideal."
"The solution's performance and stability are average."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aruba pricing is not very high. They offer competitive pricing for what they provide."
"There are no other expenses than standard licenses for the product."
"In terms of pricing, we've found Aruba's offerings to be very competitive."
"You require no separate licensing to convert an access point to RAP."
"The price of Aruba Remote Access Points could be better. It is a little expensive."
"Aruba Remote Access Points' pricing is good and affordable."
"Price-wise, Aruba Remote Access Points is in the middle, so my rating for its pricing is three out of five."
"The licensing costs are reasonable."
"It is not a free solution and the user needs to buy license."
"The initial cost is the ASA and other items, but after that, it is relatively inexpensive."
"We have yearly licensing and it's very affordable."
"The price is okay."
"The solution is based on an annual licensing model and is expensive."
"It costs around 80,000 Indian rupees for a hundred licenses, so approximately $1,020 USD."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Infrastructure VPN solutions are best for your needs.
917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Construction Company
15%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise49
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Remote Access Points?
We do not use Zero Touch Provisioning with Aruba Remote Access Points because the Aruba device being expensive compared to cheaper Cisco options holds us back.
What needs improvement with Aruba Remote Access Points?
The device requires reconfiguration if we use a standalone setup because the battery fault leads to all configurations resetting. This is a significant area for improvement, especially when the dev...
What is your primary use case for Aruba Remote Access Points?
We have a solution that is completely Aruba, including the controller, access point, and switch. We deploy ClearPass from Aruba in our company on VMware, which integrates well and works without iss...
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...
 

Also Known As

Aruba RAP
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Trafford Metropolitan Borough
MST, Molina Healthcare, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Arup, New South Wales Rural FireService
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Remote Access Points vs. Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.