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Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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 SSL VPN
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.2
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (9th)
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...
Ranking in SSL VPN
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (19th), Network Access Control (NAC) (8th), Remote Access (11th), Access Management (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 8.5%, down from 11.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 13.9%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Rupesh Kolhapurkar - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers easy setup phase but needs to improve connectivity
For our company's remote workforce connectivity, the tool was very useful during the COVID-19 situation. In general, the VPN functionality offered by the product was very useful during the COVID-19 situation. In terms of the product's ability to secure third-party access, the tool works very well. The most valuable feature of the product in terms of network security stems from the fact that the tool provides access to the whole network, and even if users give access to some special applications, it is still really helpful. The clientless access feature is not available for clients. My company installed the product for its clients. If the product offers a clientless access feature, then it is okay and can be very helpful for our company. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. Cisco IOS SSL VPN is a reliable product. The product is very helpful for a work-from-home setup as the tool can be used to access our company's internal network, which Falls outside the network of our organization. I rate the tool a seven to eight out of ten.
Ashish Kumar Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers remote access control, good GUI and easy to configure
I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal. In the APM interface itself, they could add direct hyperlinks to relevant online documentation. This would provide easy access to admin guides and other resources when working within the GUI.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's technical support is very good."
"It is highly scalable, speedy, and reliable."
"IOS is user-friendly and simple. You connect to a particular VPN, and that's it. You become seamless after that."
"The setup and installation was easy."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN is reasonably priced, and its technology is flexible."
"I like to work with the CMD command line because it's easy and it doesn't take very long to configure."
"It helps us access networks from anywhere."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN is very stable. We never experience issues with it."
"In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work."
"The product allows us to create customized portals for your users."
"Our customers have never complained about the stability"
"The performance of the solution is valuable."
"Our organization is small - a college with about 3,500 students. We use F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager to protect our site, especially from the Iranian attacks we faced last year. We restrict access to only inside the country."
"Stickiness is the most valuable feature of the product."
"This is a product that is easy to install and integrate, and it is simple to use."
"F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use."
 

Cons

"Cisco IOS SSL VPN doesn't support the configuration of multiple VPNs."
"The solution does not give us options if the connectivity to one server is not available."
"The only issue with Cisco IOS SSL VPN is on the price point. Price is an area of the solution where improvements are required."
"The administration should be improved."
"Enhancing the client certificate deployment process could be a valuable improvement, ensuring smoother and more reliable certificate renewal experiences in the future."
"It can be difficult to find service and at times we cannot connect with the internet easily."
"I would like Cisco IOS SSL VPN to provide a faster connection."
"In terms of what needs improvement, it should have better integration. Although, it might have already been taken care of."
"The operational deployment is not great."
"Regarding price, I'm not directly involved in purchasing, but our CIO thinks the product is very expensive. He's considering moving from the tool to Citrix NetScaler WAF because it's cheaper, and we already have Citrix for VDI. We got NetScaler almost free as part of our VDI deal. Three years ago, I convinced him to use the solution because it's better, but now, with budget constraints, he may want to switch."
"Cloud services are something that F5 Access Policy Manager could do better"
"The solution’s GUI looks very old."
"The technical support’s response time must be improved."
"Integrating identity providers and single sign-on solutions can simplify user authentication and access control."
"I have had a lot of issues in the past few months with the agents, which was disappointing."
"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager has room for improvement in integration with other products."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive product."
"There are no pricing programs for non-profit organizations and the product is otherwise expensive by comparison."
"The platform is expensive."
"The tool is expensive."
"The licensing fee is expensive."
"The solution is reasonably priced, and we have around 50% to 60% discounts from Cisco."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN comes with a cost-effective subscription."
"The product costs less."
"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The tool is a little bit expensive."
"The product is very expensive."
"Recently, they have simplified the licensing"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Educational Organization
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco IOS SSL VPN?
Sometimes, the product does not connect with the Wi-Fi. It usually does, but sometimes, if I'm using another Wi-Fi apart from my work Wi-Fi, it does not connect. It shows some error. If I have to w...
What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
Sometimes, if I erase or add a new agent in the policy, I can't go backwards, even if I haven't saved the access policy. I want the option to delete it, however, there's no option. I need to create...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SSL VPN
F5 Access Policy Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST Systems
City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
841,004 professionals have used our research since 2012.