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Citrix Gateway vs Ivanti Connect Secure 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

Citrix Gateway
Ranking in SSL VPN
1st
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (1st)
Ivanti Connect Secure
Ranking in SSL VPN
2nd
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
12th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Citrix Gateway is 11.5%, down from 14.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ivanti Connect Secure is 14.9%, down from 23.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Citrix Gateway11.5%
Ivanti Connect Secure14.9%
Other73.6%
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

SK
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
Strong security and versatile features drive positive experience, but support responsiveness can improve
The main purpose of Citrix Gateway is to enforce the appropriate level of access to the correct user on the proper device under the correct conditions. This is enabled through Citrix Gateway combined with endpoint analysis and optional Citrix analytics for security. Regarding improvements, implementing adaptive access policies on Citrix Gateway could be enhanced, particularly in security posture. Although it enforces real-time contextual access control based on device, user network risk, certain aspects can be improved. Other areas for improvement include BYOD access control and risk-based decision-making. Additionally, there is potential for reducing administrative overhead by applying policies dynamically based on context rather than static rules. Incident response speed is another area that could be enhanced.
Kaushlendra Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager - IT Infrastructure and Network at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Provides secure and simple remote access but needs improved reporting capabilities
Ivanti Connect Secure is simple and secure, making it valuable for our organization. Ivanti Connect Secure's access control feature provides global protect, which allows country-wise blocking. There are many access controls available, and policies can be created on a host basis and on the MAC address of assets that will connect. Firewall versions and OS versions can be defined, and only devices meeting these criteria can connect to the VPN. These features are effective, along with MFA. Ivanti Connect Secure is a client-based, agent-based solution, so if the agent is installed, users are able to connect to the network. Ivanti Connect Secure utilizes identity-based LDAP authentication. Ivanti Connect Secure is very effective for remote access for remote workers.

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 scalable."
"Citrix Gateway is really strong and secure for the companies to have the Endpoint Analysis feature configured."
"It performs quite well."
"We can maintain our systems using the solution."
"Most of our customers are using the load balancing feature and the verification feature is good as well, in my experience."
"The solution is stable."
"Citrix Gateway is stable once I am connected."
"They have the highest performing application on the planet, as far as I know."
"Ivanti Connect Secure is simple and secure, making it valuable for our organization."
"The most robust and reliable feature of Ivanti Connect Secure is the VPN tunneling, using both the Pulse and the Ivanti client."
"The most valuable feature is being able to securely connect and use virtual desktops."
"I like the host checker, which thoroughly checks the security posture of the machine before allowing access. I also like application-based access and its seamless operations."
"My company decided to use Pulse Connect Secure because it had all the required security features, it was easy to connect to it, and it's a standard solution in the market."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"It's quite stable."
"From an end-user perspective, the setup phase is easy."
 

Cons

"Areas that should be improved are the configuration of profiles and uploading and downloading of our certificates."
"We are currently looking at automation. It would be good if there is some way to automate it in a fast way. It should be easy to automate. It also has some security issues."
"The initial connection could be faster. That handshake takes a few seconds sometimes. That could be better and improved upon."
"Citrix Gateway could improve the speed of the VPN. I sometimes have to wait for 10 to 15 minutes to get connected and other times when I am connected I have to abort, and reconnect."
"Tech support is not that great. Whenever an issue arises, it takes them time to respond and they do so via email."
"The load balancing could be improved."
"I would like to see better configuration of repairs and downloading certification."
"Technical support could be improved."
"Connection-wise, Pulse Connect Secure could be faster, and this is its area for improvement."
"The stability could be better. There are sometimes bugs in the system."
"Connection-wise, Pulse Connect Secure could be faster, and this is its area for improvement."
"The support team of the product needs improvement. Sometimes we have issues with multiple authentications, but there is no help from the support team."
"I would like the solution to be more secure and compatible. It also needs to improve integration with other systems."
"We want to switch to another solution because there are some challenges with the support from Pulse. The quality of documentation is also not good."
"We want to switch to another solution because there are some challenges with the support from Pulse. The quality of documentation is also not good. It is sometimes very hard to find documentation that provides a solution and describes how all this works."
"We need to know how many live active users there are and we can't. We even updated the server, however, we still can't see the proper level of live connections. Right now, it's showing as 300 users and my customer does not have that many users in his organization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be lower."
"There is a need to make yearly payments for licensing purposes. Also, it is not an expensive one."
"There is a license to use Citrix Gateway and it is less expensive to use when compared to other solutions."
"There are two or three different models, but you can actually have a CapEx where you purchase the unit outright and then there's a yearly maintenance cost on top for years two and three, and four, or you can actually do a subscription purchase through Citrix cloud and you pay on a monthly basis, or you can have a three-year subscription contract as well. I give the solution a six out of ten for its cost."
"Usually with Citrix the issue is the pricing, especially for the African region. We believe it's really expensive."
"Pricing is very high if you do a comparison with what is available in the market."
"I believe the pricing is comparable to SaaS"
"The solution has a yearly licensing fee."
"The pricing for Pulse Connect Secure is not low and not high, so it's good. It's a six out of ten for me, price-wise."
"The price of Pulse Connect Secure is expensive."
"I rate the product price a six to seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The cost of the product is high, but worth it because of the utility and great product support."
"Pulse Connect Secure is relatively cost-effective."
"The pricing is quite nominal. We pay on a yearly basis."
"A license is required for you to use Pulse Connect Secure, but I'm not aware of how much it costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Gateway?
The price is one aspect, but technically it is complete. Technically, it is really complete.
What needs improvement with Citrix Gateway?
I see room for improvement in several areas. The monitoring site could be much better because monitoring NetScaler and Citrix Gateway is too difficult with just SNMP traps available. Improving the ...
What is your primary use case for Citrix Gateway?
I am on the customer side using Citrix products, specifically Citrix CVAD for Virtual and Desktop virtualization. I am using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service. We are using Citrix Gateway an...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pulse Connect Secure?
Ivanti has always been known to be pricey, making it a rather high-cost solution.
What needs improvement with Pulse Connect Secure?
The reporting capabilities of Ivanti Connect Secure are not strong; the format is simple, and obtaining a detailed report is difficult and requires manual work. Regarding points for improvement, th...
What is your primary use case for Pulse Connect Secure?
Ivanti Connect Secure is used for both applications and for the RDP of our server.
 

Also Known As

Citrix NetScaler Unified Gateway
Pulse Connect Secure
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aeronamic, Avianca, Bechtel Corporation, Betfair UK, Catholic University Leuven (K.U. Leuven), Centene Corporation, Cerner, Charityshare, City of High Point, Clark Builders
Axcient, Baloise Group, Cygate, Catholic University of America, Datec Inc, Revlon, Santa Monica Networks, 7-Eleven
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix Gateway vs. Ivanti Connect Secure and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.