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AWS Direct Connect vs Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) 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

AWS Direct Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
13th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Secure Client (includ...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (1st), ZTNA as a Service (10th), Cisco Security Portfolio (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.9%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is 6.8%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect)6.8%
AWS Direct Connect1.9%
Other91.3%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Flavio Gomes Figueira Camacho Junior - PeerSpot reviewer
Establish secure and private connections between on-premise infrastructure and cloud environments
AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure. This is particularly beneficial because it helps me use our infrastructure for databases and testing while leveraging AWS's computing power for production purposes. I also do not need to expose management of our machines to the public internet, enhancing security by using a private connection.
Wouter Beer - PeerSpot reviewer
Generates revenue through service offering while needing additional safety features
The primary use case for Cisco Secure Client, including AnyConnect, is as a VPN for remote access I use AnyConnect because I have Cisco infrastructure. It utilizes certificates, which allows for automatic setup. The security features are beneficial, and the whole idea of the app is that it should…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."
"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."
"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"Direct Connect provides an improved connection quality and a diversified link, which contributes to high availability and failover capabilities."
"It is a stable solution."
"It is a highly scalable solution."
"The solution provides seamless connectivity to the VPN without delay."
"Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is very stable."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"This solution gives you double security because it uses both hard and soft tokens."
"The solution is quite stable."
"I like the ability to share the connections or simply to be able to pass the credentials for a connection to other colleagues without bothering too much about the connection being tracked or about security, because each and every user will require a secret password, so I don't really care about sending the details. It's very secure."
"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is good for securing our connection. It is very easy to use, I click to use it and it works."
"The installation process is not difficult."
 

Cons

"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."
"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."
"AWS Direct Connect is straightforward and performs well for me."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks."
"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."
"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."
"Its terminologies are challenging to interpret."
"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client can be improved by having better speed and reliability. However, the speed and reliability are already really good."
"The logout should be automized and it should have a reminder that you have logged in into a private network."
"I have been working with the same interface for the last ten years. I would say that it needs some improvements made."
"Behavior analytics and other newer technologies should be integrated into the solution."
"Whenever there's a drop in internet or a connection fluctuation, it gets disconnected automatically."
"If you're just turning on your laptop, it should connect automatically without keying in the credentials."
"The price could be reduced."
"The solution's performance and stability are average."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The licensing costs are reasonable."
"One thing I've noticed is the price in comparison to other VPNs."
"I am using a paid version of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client."
"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."
"Sometimes there is a problem with the number of licenses for the end-user. The number of concurrent users is limited due to a valid license."
"We have yearly licensing and it's very affordable."
"We pay for an annual subscription. Additionally to the subscription, we thought in order to connect this solution to the Active Directory we had to purchase a Cisco ACS, Access Control System. It turns out we did not actually need it."
"We are in the North African region, and Cisco products are expensive for us. On a scale from one to ten with one being very affordable and ten being expensive, I'd rate the price at eight."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
34%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise46
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS Direct Connect?
AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet.
What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?
We encountered issues with the connection. The VPN was not connecting on multiple occasions.
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
I'm not an end user of any of those SAP products. I wanted to have a comparison between different solutions for process mining and process modeling, but I'm not an end user of any. I have Microsoft...
What do you like most about Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
The tool is user-friendly, robust and easy to use in any environment.
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?
At times there is confusion regarding when to keep the proxy on or off, a problem faced by some users.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
MST, Molina Healthcare, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Arup, New South Wales Rural FireService
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Direct Connect vs. Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.