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AWS Direct Connect vs Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway 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
12th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.8%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is 4.6%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway4.6%
AWS Direct Connect1.8%
Other93.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2231871 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Offers secure high-bandwidth connectivity without internet-related risks
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The customer, from the customer side to AWS, receives an ethernet point-to-point connection, and that is it. The interface and everything along with the communication with AWS, the customer has to do by themselves to build the routes and everything. The connection speed that our clients are using ranges from 100 megabits up to 10 gigabits. The main concern is the port costs. Clients do not report technical problems, so it is mainly always an issue of money. The solution is nice, but sometimes they avoid it because the port costs are high. This is not a problem AWS has exclusively; Azure has the same costs, and these port costs are quite expensive. I would rate this review as an 8 out of 10.
Srinivas A - PeerSpot reviewer
Director- Head of DevOps, security, and Complaince at Rightdata
Secure data links from on-premise sources have enabled private access to client databases
The best feature of Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is its sophisticated security mechanism for transmitting data between on-premise to Azure or Azure to Azure. The process of building the VPN gateway is user-friendly, making it easy to configure. Additionally, it supports various options to establish connections between on-premise to Azure or other sources to targets. Using pfSense as a firewall and VPN at our on-premise allows us to establish connections between Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway and our on-premise pfSense VPN easily. This streamlined connection process occurs within a few steps. Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway has positively impacted our organization because it is core to our system and crucial for establishing private connections to our customer's data sources. Their databases lie in a private network with no communication with the outside world. Our customers trust Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway, and by extension, trust us because of this efficient networking establishment process.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Direct Connect provides an improved connection quality and a diversified link, which contributes to high availability and failover capabilities."
"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."
"It is a highly scalable solution."
"AWS Direct Connect offers higher security options by avoiding internet-related problems such as DDoS attacks and provides stable bandwidth."
"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"It is a stable solution."
"The VPN Gateway is valued for its ease of use and redundancy."
"I like the stability, HA, and performance of the product."
"One of the most valuable features is its support for various protocols, including BGP, which helps in making more secure connections."
"It sends us a lot of detections when we have any anti-virus updates. It provides the extended time needed to update a set of time needs and notifications."
"The best feature is the ability to connect from anywhere."
"The point-to-site is pretty good for the B2C stuff. It's fairly straightforward to set up."
"You can configure these networks using IP numbers and connect them using certificates or SaaS strings."
"The ability to connect old protocols like Border Gateway Protocol is valuable."
 

Cons

"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"It is complicated to do additional BGP configuration for the product."
"Its terminologies are challenging to interpret."
"It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks."
"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."
"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."
"The product must provide a single sign-on."
"More configuration options could be included in Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway."
"The monitoring part needs to be improved."
"Their technical support could be better. If you don't have a support contract, it takes longer."
"Make it completely routable, for example, if I have a gateway, I should be able to connect to whatever network I want on either side of the gateway, and the gateway should figure out which packet goes where."
"The marketing material in the portal is not very user-friendly."
"They should release a less expensive version of the solution."
"I would like to see improvements in the deployment process as I faced challenges."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"It is an expensive solution."
"It's an expensive product"
"The solution is subscription-based and very cheap."
"I pay the licensing charges associated with the tool on an hourly basis. The tool is affordable."
"The product costs us $140 to $180 per month."
"It's saved us money compared to getting a third-party appliance."
"Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is the cheapest way for us to connect to our cloud infrastructure. Other solutions, such as ExpressRoute are very expensive."
"There is a monthly license and the price depends on how many users are using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway. The price could be less expensive."
"The software has good pricing compared to other vendors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
12%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise14
 

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?
One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high. It is primarily a budget issue because while the solution is effective, the port costs ...
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
Our customers primarily use AWS Direct Connect for hybrid cloud solutions. They have parts of their equipment in their on-premise data center, while also using AWS infrastructure for backups, datab...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?
Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway can be improved in security points with stronger encryption. I do not have additional feedback about needed improvements regarding configuration, support, or documentation.
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway?
My advice to others looking into using Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway is that if you have a specific use case such as site-to-site VPN, then this is a perfect option for you. I rate Microsoft Azure VP...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Azure VPN Gateway
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Direct Connect vs. Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
884,012 professionals have used our research since 2012.