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Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 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

Cisco IOS SSL VPN
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
14th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (3rd)
Ivanti Secure Access Client...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
23rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 3.2%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco IOS SSL VPN3.2%
Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) [EOL]2.1%
Other94.7%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

VM
student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Cost efficiency and ease of setup define network management while potential improvements in complexity handling are noted
Optimizing and configuring for network segmentation is the biggest thing for helping with segmenting traffic management. Configuring QoS on Linksys is pretty easy, especially compared to Cisco QoS, which I am certified in, as it helps ensure that the bandwidth for voice or other applications doesn't bleed over into the data links. In the past, Linksys has been pretty good at network protection, segmenting off that protection for unauthorized access or cyber threats. Cost savings and ease of use are the benefits I've seen from Linksys. It's a little bit less complex to set up and configure compared to Cisco switching. I utilized the VLAN support feature in the Linksys switches. A lot of the networks I have were broken up by VLAN, and I definitely configured them for different VLANs. The best feature of Linksys in my opinion is cost, as they tend to be more cost-effective compared to larger switches or Cisco switches.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is pretty fast."
"It is very simple to use, and it allows me to get into the university's network from my home, which is very useful for me."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN is a good solution."
"It is very effective and I am satisfied with how it works and with its performance."
"The solution is very reliable."
"The solution is quite transparent."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the management portal."
"IOS is user-friendly and simple. You connect to a particular VPN, and that's it. You become seamless after that."
"The most valuable feature of Pulse Client is integration with Google authenticator for two-factor authentication."
"Pulse Client is a very good solution; it is very easy to manage, and very stable."
"It also provides an auto-connect feature. When you turn on your laptop and put it on auto-connect, it automatically connects."
"The scalability of Pulse Client is good."
 

Cons

"I would like for it to have support for the Dutch language. I typically use English in 99% of our communications but for some people, it matters."
"The solution's graphical user interface is not very user-friendly."
"Cisco ASA system doesn't provide interface with radius based user mapping, other than the standard schema of users and groups."
"Unfortunately, the pricing is making us get out from incorporating Cisco products."
"Improvements could be made in terms of connectivity for applications."
"The solution takes some time to log in because of some unavoidable security barriers, but it would be better if that could happen faster."
"The solution needs to integrate password-less technology so that you don't have to remember passwords each time that you log in, which is otherwise tedious. We should be able to log in as long as our system is connected to the internet."
"The graphical interface is old and needs to improve."
"Pulse Client could improve the system tokens for authentication."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost of the solution is on a yearly basis, and it is expensive compared to other solutions in the market."
"With Cisco, there is a free solution or a licensed version of the solution with a set of endpoint services."
"There are no pricing programs for non-profit organizations and the product is otherwise expensive by comparison."
"FortiGate does not charge the client a licensing fee, although Cisco charges clients a couple of dollars per year for each license."
"It stands as the priciest solution available in the market."
"The solution is reasonably priced, and we have around 50% to 60% discounts from Cisco."
"The tool is expensive."
"The product costs less."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Performing Arts
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise26
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco IOS SSL VPN?
I have not found any areas that could be improved so far. I am not sure how Cisco IOS SSL VPN can continue their improvements for the future, but I think it is a great product. To stay on top, they...
What is your primary use case for Cisco IOS SSL VPN?
Currently, I use Cisco IOS SSL VPN to VPN in, but not with high frequency. We use Cisco IOS SSL VPN as our VPN client to connect to our network. This is for health.
Ask a question
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Also Known As

Cisco SSL VPN
Pulse Client
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST Systems
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
921,523 professionals have used our research since 2012.