What users are saying about
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Top Rated
166 Ratings
Cisco AnyConnect
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Top Rated
166 Ratings
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Based on 166 reviews and ratings
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
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Top Rated
144 Ratings
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Based on 144 reviews and ratings
Feature Set Ratings
Firewall

Cisco AnyConnect
Feature Set Not Supported
N/A
9.7
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
97%
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series ranks higher in 11/11 features
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series ranks higher in 11/11 features
Identification Technologies

N/A
0 Ratings
9.9
99%
21 Ratings
Visualization Tools

N/A
0 Ratings
9.2
92%
21 Ratings
Content Inspection

N/A
0 Ratings
9.9
99%
21 Ratings
Policy-based Controls

N/A
0 Ratings
10.0
100%
21 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP

N/A
0 Ratings
9.7
97%
20 Ratings
Firewall Management Console

N/A
0 Ratings
9.8
98%
21 Ratings
Reporting and Logging

N/A
0 Ratings
9.4
94%
21 Ratings
VPN

N/A
0 Ratings
9.4
94%
21 Ratings
High Availability

N/A
0 Ratings
10.0
100%
20 Ratings
Stateful Inspection

N/A
0 Ratings
10.0
100%
20 Ratings
Proxy Server

N/A
0 Ratings
9.3
93%
10 Ratings
Attribute Ratings
- Cisco AnyConnect is rated higher in 1 area: Support Rating
- Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series is rated higher in 3 areas: Likelihood to Recommend, Likelihood to Renew, Usability
Likelihood to Recommend

8.7
Cisco AnyConnect
87%
72 Ratings
9.7
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
97%
37 Ratings
Likelihood to Renew

9.5
Cisco AnyConnect
95%
3 Ratings
10.0
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
100%
1 Rating
Usability

8.9
Cisco AnyConnect
89%
50 Ratings
10.0
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
100%
2 Ratings
Availability

10.0
Cisco AnyConnect
100%
1 Rating
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
N/A
0 Ratings
Performance

10.0
Cisco AnyConnect
100%
1 Rating
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
N/A
0 Ratings
Support Rating

8.8
Cisco AnyConnect
88%
85 Ratings
8.4
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
84%
18 Ratings
Implementation Rating

9.0
Cisco AnyConnect
90%
1 Rating
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
N/A
0 Ratings
Product Scalability

10.0
Cisco AnyConnect
100%
1 Rating
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
N/A
0 Ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco AnyConnect
This is a very solid connection with a nice timeout and retries grace period. It seems to keep the connection even if there are momentary network breaks in service. It then re-establishes that connection if it was brief enough making for a more simple tool standard users can use. This tool also works great with Apple machines in nearly the same manner as Windows.
Network Administrator
Precious Moments IncRetail, 51-200 employees
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Palo Alto firewall only affords by Large level infrastructure having a budget for Security Prospect. I will recommend it for the Card information industry & Confidential data solutions. Because it provides a bucket of security features that are not easily vulnerable.
Network Administrator
InfosysInformation Technology & Services, 10,001+ employees
Pros
Cisco AnyConnect
- Autoconnections are seamless for the users. There's nothing for them to do once it's all setup.
- It recognizes security certificates for the PC and user, so you can easily lock down the connectivity to the specific users and/or machines you need for your environment.
- Unless the WIFI is extremely poor, the software can make the connection and allow your users to function on the VPN.
Technology Systems Manager
Gentry Locke Rakes & MooreLaw Practice, 51-200 employees
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
- The PA handles VPN connectivity without missing a beat. We have multiple VPN tunnels in use for redundancy to cloud-based services.
- The PA has great functionality in supporting failover internet connections, again with the ability to have multiple paths out to our cloud-based services.
- The PA is updated on the regular with various security updates, we are not concerned with the firewall's ability to see what packets are really flowing across the network. Being able to see beyond just IP and port requests lets you know things are locked down better than traditional firewalls.
- It is a great overall kit, with URL filtering and other services that fill in the gaps between other solutions without breaking the bank.

Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology
Higher Education Company, 201-500 employeesCons
Cisco AnyConnect
- Next generation features are lacking.
- Split handling scenarios are limited.
- Sensitive to timeouts.
- Auto reconnect features does not work as expected.
- Auto mtu discovery does not work on some cases.
- Not a full featured solution on the client side.
- Detailed reporting is missing.
- Lack of multi device management.
- Application, url based dashboards needs to be enhanced.

Verified User
Supervisor in Information Technology
Banking Company, 10,001+ employeesNext-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
- Our specific model is a bit slow and outdated and takes up to 10 minutes to commit a configuration change.
- Nested security rules would be helpful instead of a linear approach. But rule creation in general is very simple.
- Documentation gives a very straight forward answer to some items but is very vague in others.
- Support could be a little better. An issue we had a tech was insistent it was the "other guy" and it ended up being the very latest PAN OS upgrade.
Senior Network Security Engineer
PeoplesBankBanking, 201-500 employees
Pricing Details
Cisco AnyConnect
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Likelihood to Renew
Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect 9.5
Based on 3 answers
It has been in use for the past 5 years and has worked without any issues during that time. It also allows us unprecedented flexibility and access resources as if on premise. With remote work force more and more prevalent, this solution has been a constant. As we move our on-premise resources into the cloud, there will come a time when we stop using AnyConnect.

Verified User
General Manager in Information Technology
Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 11-50 employeesNext-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series 10.0
Based on 1 answer
The PA5220s have far exceeded what we have expected out of them. It was a bit of a learning curve coming from another vendor, but everything falls into place now with ease. The capabilities of the solution still surprise us, allowing us to remove other costly hardware and providing a single point of management needed

Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology
Higher Education Company, 201-500 employeesUsability
Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect 8.9
Based on 50 answers
It's easy to use for the end user and reliable. They just need to login to their computer and connect to the VPN and they are on the network and have access to network resources. For the admins, it does take some time to configure things correctly but, once configured, it's quite easy to manage connection profiles and client software.

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Hospital & Health Care Company, 1001-5000 employeesNext-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series 10.0
Based on 2 answers
In my opinion, the Palo Alto Firewall is the simplest firewall in terms of management interfaces; though it has more advanced options that apply to more advanced use cases. Configuring basic features on the firewall is nearly self-explanatory; configuring more advanced features can be met with very thorough vendor documentation.

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 1001-5000 employeesReliability and Availability
Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect 10.0
Based on 1 answer
We use it all day, every work day and the availability has always been very high. The connection once established is also very stable and remains connected.

Verified User
General Manager in Information Technology
Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 11-50 employeesNext-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect 10.0
Based on 1 answer
We use Cisco AnyConnect to connect to on-prem resources. The delay in connecting is not noticeable.

Verified User
General Manager in Information Technology
Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 11-50 employeesNext-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect 8.8
Based on 85 answers
During the implementation of the solution, the Cisco team is always present and ready, from the initial planning to the final deployment. Once up and running, the system is quite stable. In general, inconveniences could arise when making a general change takes centralized changes to be done, and then assistance from Cisco support is required, which will be provided without further delay and with great professionalism. Local problems could also arise related to the client's installation on remote users' machines. Most are due to each user's home network issues, over which there is no control, but initial troubleshooting is, nevertheless, mandatory. This last fact makes it necessary to have some diagnostic method. Then it becomes important to have the DART (Diagnostics and Reporting Tool) functionality, which is functionality included in the Cisco AnyConnect client. It is useful to perform this task and be able to resolve local problems or problems related to inconveniences with the home network by gathering information that allows determining the reported problem cause. It turned out to be a great tool since it can perform remote diagnoses.
Analyst
BBVA Argentina S.A.Banking, 5001-10,000 employees
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series 8.4
Based on 18 answers
We've run into a couple undocumented bugs, but that seems to happen with every brand and technology. Any time we've had to engage Palo Alto support they've always been professional, knowledgeable and prompt. In almost all cases we've been able to resolve our issues without having to escalate our tickets.
Network Engineer
Kentucky Administrative Office of the CourtsGovernment Administration, 1001-5000 employees
Implementation Rating
Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect 9.0
Based on 1 answer
Cisco support is a good resource to deal with issues if they arise.

Verified User
General Manager in Information Technology
Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 11-50 employeesNext-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco AnyConnect
- Cisco is a better name in the market - Cisco products are better in quality and performance - Cisco product support is reliable and provides supports within the agreed SLA - Already using other Cisco products majorly, it is the trust that has already been built on Cisco products that has helped us to decide on using the Cisco products.

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Logistics & Supply Chain Company, 10,001+ employeesNext-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
No one can say any other companies in this time is better than Palo Alto Networks Next-Generatoin Firewalls. Palo Alto offers very advanced features which protect you[r] organization. Advanced malware protection, anti spam, lots of other threats.
Executive System Admin
FreelancerInformation Technology & Services, 1-10 employees
Scalability
Cisco AnyConnect
Cisco AnyConnect 10.0
Based on 1 answer
It is a simple application with a minimal interface.

Verified User
General Manager in Information Technology
Non-Profit Organization Management Company, 11-50 employeesNext-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco AnyConnect
- 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.
UC Consulting Engineer
CDWInformation Technology & Services, 10,001+ employees
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
- Overall, even though the device is very expensive (both hardware and licensing), the product does produce a decent ROI, given that one (or HA pair) of devices can do so many things, such as anti-virus, anti-malware, URL filtering, SSL decryption, SSL VPN, routing, etc.
- There will definitely be sticker shock when you're renewal comes up annually (or after 3 years), so be sure to look very carefully at the recurring costs of this product, with respect to licensing and hardware/software maintenance.

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Financial Services Company, 201-500 employees