Cisco AnyConnect vs. NordLayer

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco AnyConnect
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Cisco offers an SSL VPN solution via AnyConnect.N/A
NordLayer
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
NordLayer provides cybersecurity tools for businesses of any size or work model developed by the standard of NordVPN. NordLayer helps organizations secure networks and enhance internet security and modernizes network and resource access with technical improvements aligning with the best regulatory compliance standards. Helping organizations to adopt FWaaS, ZTNA, and SWG principles, NordLayer is focused on the Security Service Edge of cybersecurity services.…
$8
per month if Yearly plan per user
Pricing
Cisco AnyConnectNordLayer
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Lite
$8
per month if Yearly plan per user
Core
$11
per month if Yearly plan per user
Premium
$14
per month if Yearly plan per user
Custom
x
per month if Yearly plan per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco AnyConnectNordLayer
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
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Cisco AnyConnectNordLayer
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Nmap
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Score 8.8 out of 10
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Score 9.2 out of 10
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Score 8.8 out of 10
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User Ratings
Cisco AnyConnectNordLayer
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(93 ratings)
8.8
(5 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.3
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(72 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.8
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(77 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.7
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.7
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco AnyConnectNordLayer
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
It's well suited for the mobile task force we have at Engel for all the information workers, the salespersons, and the salespeople that are abroad and are not often on the Engel premises but are on customer premises. So for them, it's the only really good tool to connect to central IT resources. But when I look to the future way of utilizing cloud resources and having a hybrid approach and having SaaS services like Salesforce, which are running natively in the cloud, then AnyConnect might not be suitable for them because anyway, I have a direct connection via an HTTPS tunnel to run all my SAS applications. I would not see any benefit of using AnyConnect in this case. So the more a company runs in the cloud, the less it needs AnyConnect.
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Nord Security
NordLayer has become an invaluable resource for our security posture and day-to-day activity. The primary use case is preventing staff members from accessing sensitive resources on an unencrypted connection, applying NordLayer and conditional access policies in congruency. The ability to create teams and assigned them to specific dedicated servers is also helpful and allows for further security segmentation
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Pros
Cisco
  • Cisco AnyConnect connects the machine with the VPN very smoothly in a few clicks also provides security with Multi-Factor Authentication.
  • It Provides the facility of creating Network groups such as Local and Project Network so that user can limit the connectivity options.
  • The System scan feature is so robust, it Scans the System every time we connect to a new network and remembers the older Network and does not Scans while we connect to usual Netwroks.
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Nord Security
  • Easy to use
  • Simple user interface desgin
  • Support many VPN protocol
  • Fast and reliable connection
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Cons
Cisco
  • Manual Administrative Config: The Enrollment requires the user to enroll from their end and can't just be "Setup" for the user unless you act as the user. For things like SMS text, it would be nice just to put it in place and have it work without a "Setup/Enrollment" process. This does, however ensure the user understands the process.
  • Active Directory Sync and Azure Sync Did not automatically match up accounts and duplicate, so I had to do it manually, to be fair the account usernames do not match the Email Address which is used for Azure so it would be difficult.
  • Duo Support and Cisco Support seem to have not been integrated with each other well, most support tickets end up with a Duo expert and a Cisco Firewall Expert on at the same time, though this has improved dramatically.
  • They did not force my Admin to use an NTP Server off the bat, which would have fixed a few issues we had that persisted for a while until he started using one. (A bit old fashioned)
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Nord Security
  • The browser plugin needs some work, or some research about what browser/OS restrictions may limit its functionality. Ours does not work at all even after contacting support so we do not use it
  • Toast/Windows notifications scheduled or deployed through admin center would be amazing. The ability to remind a user who has been disconnected for X hours would be a great feature
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
This is software is easy to use, easy to maintain, easy to support, cost effective, and extremely secure. We will continue to use it for all employees well into the future. We have already renewed our licenses for another 5 years - that's how confident we are that this software will remain a primary security solution for our firm.
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Nord Security
No answers on this topic
Usability
Cisco
Compared to other products that I have used, Cisco gives me more information and it is easy for me to understand what's happening from the application, which is Cisco AnyConnect, which other vendors don't. It's very hard for me if I have to work with other applications, I have to get support from the application owner vendor. But in Cisco, I myself can read through and get this thing. Now with that being very comfortable, I mean very, very useful. I would like to get to more detail in a more simplified way. There are plenty of things. It is also where there is something it gives me in a simplified way. This is what has happened that would help me in some cases. But always there is a scope for improvement in any product. I never rate any product to 10, even if it's better because there is always room for improvement. So I personally feel we can still make this better. It is a good product, but we can still make it better
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Nord Security
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
Thus far, I have not encountered any outages to Cisco AnyConnect. Any firmware updates are completed infrequently and efficiently such that the users don’t experience noticeable downtime. I have not encountered any errors running the platform at any time of day or night , or from any geographical location. Provided a hard-wired or WiFi internet connection is available, expect Cisco AnyConnect to run without unexpected interruption.
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Nord Security
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco
We use Cisco AnyConnect to connect to on-prem resources. The delay in connecting is not noticeable.
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Nord Security
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
Their support team is extraordinary and quick responding. All support team members have great product knowledge and takes very minimum time for query resolution. Support is available on phone, emails, etc. As per my experience with their support team, I will rate them with 10 stars here because it was truly exceptional.
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Nord Security
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Cisco
We are quite satisfied with the deployment. We might extend our deployment. My suggestion to everyone will be utilizing Cisco cloud infra as well. As it will give you some nice features like cloud based firewall, DNS Security and threat intelligence. Threat intelligence was a key decision maker for us and people should not ignore it.
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Nord Security
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
I have tried the above too. I have noticed that the consistency and reliability that connect provides are way better than theirs. Integration with 2-factor authentication apps is something extremely important, and I am not sure if this two software provide such functionality. Network stability and speed are also not as good as Cisco Anyconnect.
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Nord Security
easy configuration and use case
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Scalability
Cisco
It is a simple application with a minimal interface.
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Nord Security
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • We are able to seamlessly work on multiple clients daily, and it allows us to quickly handle more projects at the same time.
  • Cisco AnyConnect has allowed our own company's coworkers to remotely connect back to the corporate network, easily assisting work schedules and processes, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being forced to work remotely, meant our processes still happened quickly and efficiently, by being able to leverage and use Cisco AnyConnect VPN.
  • Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have worked 100% remotely for a few years now. This was always due to the reliable connectivity and ease of use with Cisco AnyConnect VPN. I live 2+ hours from our nearest corporate office, and even further from some of my client locations, and I have always been able to connect to any of my multiple Cisco AnyConnect VPN connections, within seconds.
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Nord Security
  • Improved sercurity
  • Incresed productivity
  • Performance impact
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ScreenShots

NordLayer Screenshots

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