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Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Hillstone E-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 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
3rd
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in SSL VPN
10th
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
28th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (37th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 9.1%, down from 9.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 3.4%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco IOS SSL VPN9.1%
Hillstone E-Series3.4%
Other87.5%
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.
TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The customer service and support are the best. When it comes to support, Cisco is the best vendor ever."
"The user interface is user-friendly."
"It is stable."
"The split panel functionality is much better in the Cisco IOS SSL VPN than in the Aruba VPN."
"The product is very stable."
"The solution is very stable."
"It helps us access networks from anywhere."
"The product's most valuable features are security, stability, and troubleshooting capabilities."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."
"Five out of five ROI."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients a secure connectivity."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
 

Cons

"When many people are using the internet at home, which is usually right after dinner, this type of service is a little bit hard to use. The internet becomes quite slow, and sometimes, I have to stop using this application. I am not sure if this issue is because of the application or my internet provider."
"The pricing needs to be better."
"The product’s dashboard is not good enough."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN should add a sensor that can authenticate with a fingerprint instead of having to type the username and password every time."
"Multi-factor authentication in Cisco IOS SSL VPN has certain shortcomings that need improvement."
"The solution takes some time to log in because of some unavoidable security barriers, but it would be better if that could happen faster."
"In addition to Cisco, we work with other solutions on behalf of our customers, such as Fortinet for FortiGate, but this latter solution can achieve the same results at a lower price."
"I would like Cisco IOS SSL VPN to provide a faster connection."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"The current usage reporting is very basic."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company makes payments on a quarterly basis to the vendor to cover the licensing costs attached to the product. Cisco IOS SSL VPN is an expensive product. There are no additional costs apart from the licensing costs attached to the product."
"The pricing of the solution is reasonable"
"The licensing fee is expensive."
"The solution is reasonably priced, and we have around 50% to 60% discounts from Cisco."
"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."
"Cisco IOS SSL VPN comes with a cost-effective subscription."
"Price flexibility could be improved in comparison to other vendors."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."
"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Non Profit
8%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco IOS SSL VPN?
The pricing for Cisco IOS SSL VPN is based on per user. For more than one hundred users, it costs about $60 per seat.
What needs improvement with Cisco IOS SSL VPN?
It's hard for me to say how Linksys could be improved. I can't think of any specific improvements needed. I believe Cisco could support easier configuration and having tools that allow for easier m...
What do you like most about Hillstone E-Series?
The most valuable feature of the Hillstone E-Series is its user-friendliness.
What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. Wh...
What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?
I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features which are available in the firewall.
 

Also Known As

Cisco SSL VPN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST Systems
Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. Hillstone E-Series and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.