F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Ivanti Connect Secure comparison

F5 and Ivanti are both solutions in the SSL VPN category. F5 is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.1, while Ivanti is ranked #1 with an average rating of 7.2. F5 holds a 13.9% mindshare in SV, compared to Ivanti’s 24.0% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of F5 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 77% of Ivanti users who would recommend it.

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...

Read 16 F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) reviews

718 Views
585 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Ivanti Connect Secure

Read 27 Ivanti Connect Secure reviews

1,277 Views
793 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...

Ivanti Connect Secure

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) and Ivanti Connect Secure based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two SSL VPN solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Ivanti Connect Secure Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Ivanti Connect Secure

March 2025

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Helped 839,422 peers since 2012

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

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...

Ranking in SSL VPN

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (19th), Network Access Control (NAC) (8th), Remote Access (11th), Access Management (10th)

Ivanti Connect Secure

Ranking in SSL VPN

1st

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 13.9%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ivanti Connect Secure is 24.0%, up from 19.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

SSL VPN

Featured Reviews

Ashish Kumar Rai

Associate Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

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.

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Bhaskar Rao

Network manager admin at Yamaha

Provides connection with roaming users with easy deployment

It is easy to integrate other solutions with Connect Secure. We are currently using Ivanti Connect Secure with client-based connectivity. Implementing clientless connectivity enable us to connect without the need for any client software. This allow us to access office resources such as URL-based or SAP SaaS-based systems. Additionally, Ivanti is working on enhancing this feature, which is a positive development. In terms of competition, backups from other providers like Cisco AnyConnect and Fortinet are also considered. I've worked with Cisco Connect and FortiGate, which are relatively easy to work with. FortiGate does have quite a few bugs, making some applications not visible, which can cause discomfort during implementation. The only concern arises from the vulnerabilities that are found. Ivanti Connect Secure's security is a priority, since they're operating on a legacy OS platform. Approximately 22,000 Ivanti users have transitioned from Juniper to Pulse Secure and then to Ivanti. I strongly recommend avoiding the use of any legacy platforms for security reasons. It's advisable to utilize the latest platforms equipped with comprehensive security management features. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool is reliable and easy to configure."

"The solution is stable and reliable."

"This is a product that is easy to install and integrate, and it is simple to use."

"Our customers have never complained about the stability"

"We have seen a return on investment from F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager. It provided access at a time when we didn't have it."

"The load balancing features are valuable."

"F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use."

"On a scale from one to ten for stability, I would rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) a ten."

More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) pros

"I can safely say this is one of the best solutions I have seen for VPN access. It can achieve what other vendors may not be able to. This product will train you about exactly what an SSL should be. You can leverage it to do whatever you wish, the way you wish to do it. This is the solution if you want a perfectly scalable product for your enterprise that can help your mobile users and integrate with the latest technologies."

"The solution helps with principal decisions. It also helps with the security and configuration of many technologies."

"It's quite stable."

"Ivanti Connect Secure provides the feature to check and ensure that employee devices are compliant before allowing them to access the VPN."

"Pulse Connect Secure is a stable solution."

"The stability of the product is its most valuable feature."

"The flexibility in their management is great."

"The tool's most valuable feature is remote access."

More Ivanti Connect Secure pros

Cons

"In my opinion, the GUI side needs some improvement based on my usage. Sometimes, it doesn't work as efficiently as the CLI side."

"The solution’s GUI looks very old."

"F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating."

"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) does not have a direction for SaaS."

"We do not have knowledgeable support teams locally."

"The technical support’s response time must be improved."

"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager has room for improvement in integration with other products."

"The solution is quite costly."

More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) cons

"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."

"The support team of the product needs improvement. Sometimes we have issues with multiple authentications, but there is no help from the support team."

"The user experience has room for improvement."

"An area for improvement in Pulse Connect Secure is the concurrent connections, particularly needing a license if you want to use Pulse Connect Secure with your Microsoft or Windows machine."

"The solution must be more user-friendly."

"I don't have any downsides to report about the product at this time."

"The security mechanisms of Ivanti Connect Secure are very slow to update."

"I would like the solution to be more secure and compatible. It also needs to improve integration with other systems."

More Ivanti Connect Secure cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is a little bit expensive."

"The product is very expensive."

"Recently, they have simplified the licensing"

"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."

"Pulse Connect Secure is relatively cost-effective."

"The price of Pulse Connect Secure is expensive."

"The cost of the product is high, but worth it because of the utility and great product support."

"The pricing is quite nominal. We pay on a yearly basis."

"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 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."

"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

14%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten.

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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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Pulse Connect Secure?

From an end-user perspective, the setup phase is easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pulse Connect Secure?

The product costs around 2000 rupees per year.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pulse Connect Secure?

From our side, there is an issue when Windows updates. The security mechanisms of Ivanti Connect Secure are very slow to update. We expect them to provide weekly updates for compatibility with Wind...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Compared 6% of the time

Aruba ClearPass vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Compared 6% of the time

More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) Competitors

Fortinet FortiClient vs Ivanti Connect Secure

Compared 22% of the time

Ivanti Secure Access vs Ivanti Connect Secure

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs Ivanti Connect Secure

Compared 8% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Ivanti Connect Secure

Compared 7% of the time

Check Point Remote Access VPN vs Ivanti Connect Secure

Compared 6% of the time

More Ivanti Connect Secure Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

March 2025

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Download F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) product report

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Connect Secure

February 2025

Download Ivanti Connect Secure product report

Also Known As

F5 Access Policy Manager

Pulse Connect Secure

Overview

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is an access management proxy solution for managing global access to the enterprise networks, cloud providers, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Through a single management interface, BIG-IP APM consolidates remote, mobile, network, virtual, and web access.

BIG-IP APM can also serve as a bridge between modern and classic authentication and authorization protocols and methods. For applications which are unable to support modern authentication and authorization protocols, like SAML and OAuth with OIDC, but which do support classic authentication methods, BIG-IP APM converts user credentials to the appropriate authentication standard supported by the application.

BIG-IP APM Benefits:

Ease of use
Flexibility
Ability to integrate with other systems
Security features
Granular access control
Responsive and helpful support team

BIG-IP APM Features:

Support for Identity Aware Proxy (IAP) enabling Zero Trust application access
Context-based authorization with dynamic L4/L7 ACLs
Integration with third-party MFA solutions
DTLS 2.0 mode for delivering and securing applications
SAML 2.0 identity federation support
Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol
SSO support for classic authentication (Kerberos, header- based, etc.), credential caching, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, and FIDO2 (U2F)
AAA server authentication and high-availability
Integration with leading IAM vendor products (Microsoft, Okta, Ping Identity)
BIG IP Edge Client and F5 Access integrate with VMware Horizon ONE (AirWatch), Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360
Risk-based access leveraging third-party UEBA and risk engines (HTTP Connector)

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by BIG-IP APM users.

Mahmmoud Rabie, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, writes that BIG-IP APM is "A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex."

Clyde Livingston, Senior Process Specialist at Telstra, says that BIG-IP APM is "Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability."

Chris Lam, Senior Solution Consultant at Macroview Telecom Limited, states that BIG-IP APM is "Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware.

Ivanti Connect Secure provides a seamless, cost-effective SSL VPN solution for remote and mobile users from any web-enabled device to corporate resources— anytime, anywhere.

Ivanti

Sample Customers

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office

Axcient, Baloise Group, Cygate, Catholic University of America, Datec Inc, Revlon, Santa Monica Networks, 7-Eleven

Buyer's Guide

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Ivanti Connect Secure

March 2025

Free Report: F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Ivanti Connect Secure

Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Ivanti Connect Secure and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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