Cisco AnyConnect vs. SoftEther VPN

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco AnyConnect
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Cisco offers an SSL VPN solution via AnyConnect.N/A
SoftEther VPN
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
N/AN/A
Pricing
Cisco AnyConnectSoftEther VPN
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco AnyConnectSoftEther VPN
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
Community Pulse
Cisco AnyConnectSoftEther VPN
Features
Cisco AnyConnectSoftEther VPN
Virtual Private Network
Comparison of Virtual Private Network features of Product A and Product B
Cisco AnyConnect
9.0
13 Ratings
0% below category average
SoftEther VPN
9.9
1 Ratings
9% above category average
AES 256-bit Encryption9.513 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Kill Switch8.89 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Multi-Platform Support9.313 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Split Tunneling9.511 Ratings10.01 Ratings
IP Address Masking9.012 Ratings10.01 Ratings
No-Logs Policy8.39 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Multiple Server Locations8.611 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Automatic Wi-Fi Protection9.210 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Simultaneous Connections9.010 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Customer Support Services8.512 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco AnyConnectSoftEther VPN
Small Businesses
Norton 360
Norton 360
Score 6.7 out of 10
Norton 360
Norton 360
Score 6.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.3 out of 10
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.3 out of 10
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco AnyConnectSoftEther VPN
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(103 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(81 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(86 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.7
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco AnyConnectSoftEther VPN
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Cisco AnyConnect has allowed me to connect to the network when I am not at the office. For example, in an international digital campaign, it was possible to access readily important files and work on other collaborative working spaces without any violation of security measures. I noticed that there was a slight lag whenever several members of the team logged in at the same time during the weekend.
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SoftEther Project
SoftEther VPN works easily, and extremely well through Azure, client-to-server, and in Layer 3 bridge mode between offices but it is not so easy to use from mobile devices, although we have had success, albeit with difficulty in the configuration.
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Pros
Cisco
  • It provides you an exceptional hybrid work experience. It enables your employees to work seamlessly from home, office, and other branches.
  • It enables your employees to access corporate applications anytime, even after office hours.
  • It helps your team to maintain a healthy work-life balance and boosts your productivity.
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SoftEther Project
  • It just works—I have never had a single call from a client or end-user complaining that their VPN wasn't working.
  • It can be configured to be super easy for end-users to use—Nearly transparent to them, in fact.
  • It is very lightweight on devices and works extremely fast. So fast, in fact, that about the only issue I ever have with SoftEther VPN are related to users sometimes forgetting they are working remotely.
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Cons
Cisco
  • Cisco AnyConnect can use the system resources as long as the program is being run.
  • Account activation may be very difficult when connecting from areas requiring captive portal login, if certain settings are not allowed.
  • By default, it is possible to request the user to authenticate again at specific intervals.
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SoftEther Project
  • We have has some issues where their default port won't connect through an AT&T wireless AP, but creating an exception for it on the AP or changing the port always gets it working.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
It is perhaps the second most functional tool we have, it will definitely be renewed every year. Our network is stable, which ensures that there is less for our technicians to troubleshoot, which frees them up to ensure other parts of the company are maintained. This keeps our costs low and our downtime at a minimum.
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SoftEther Project
No answers on this topic
Usability
Cisco
It has many advantages and uses other than other common VPNs but it's very important to understand the problems and issues which till not solved yet. The major issue is there is no support system or no body is doing hypercare for clients or client organizations. Speed is good, but making a connection is worse, and nobody cares about it.
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SoftEther Project
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
I have been using Cisco AnyConnect for past two years and thus I can say very firmly that I have never seen the outage from the Cisco AnyConnect services either It is VPN, System Scans or the Network Connectivity. Talking about the errors likewise major errors I have faced throughout my period of use.
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SoftEther Project
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco
Absolutely no speed issues, and I see no evidence of slowdowns across any of the multiple platforms I use daily. It's operation is completely invisible most of the time, except where there is a loss of connection due to server issues or a loss of power. Everything loads quickly and accurately.
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SoftEther Project
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
Because whenever I log the case with Cisco support, yes they have come back with valid technical data. So this is what has happened and we could fix it in this way. That support will detail what happened and how to get it overcome very quickly. That's what I like. The support level we get is really good for the product
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SoftEther Project
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Cisco
Our Managed Services vendor helped us with the implementation. When we initially setup our AnyConnect using MFA for remote connectivity, the setup was easy and straight forward and worked just fine. After a year, we decided to change to an "always on" feature and use machine and user based security certificates instead of MFA. We had to open a ticket with Cisco support and have their assistance getting this feature to work. Turned out they had a small bug in the code for that version of AnyConnect and it has since been corrected. We have had no issues with the upgrades since that time. The deployment of the software to the user machines was done with SCCM and was straight forward. The user machine upgrades are easy - when the user machine connects and sees a new version available, it upgrades itself! What could be easier?
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SoftEther Project
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
Cisco is one of our core partners besides Microsoft and SAP. And so yes, we are utilizing very many projects from Cisco. I would mention the whole networking equipment, the routing equipment, the wireless LAN, and also when it comes to infrastructure to compute infrastructure, we are utilizing Cisco servers within our converged infrastructure Flex spot. So we have been running a flex bot from Cisco, NetApp, and VMware for 12 years, and we are still very satisfied with the product. We are looking forward to upgrading to the newest blades and fabric interconnect to continue this journey.
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SoftEther Project
I had experienced several reliability issues soon after Pertino VPN-as-a-Service was acquired by Cradlepoint where the service would go down for a supposed update but would be down for long periods. And that was just one of several issues that caused me grief. I started looking around for a suitable replacement and came across SoftEther VPN, a project by the University of Tsukuba, Japan, quite by accident. I fell in love with its ease of implementation, low device cost, ease of Admin control, and ease of use for end-users, in addition to its near-zero downtime reliability, and the fact that I have total control over its operation and maintenance.
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Scalability
Cisco
Cisco AnyConnect has been a speedy, reliable, and efficient tool for the creation of your own VPN whatever location that you've brought your laptop. Customer support is consistently top-notch, coming up with quick fixes to whatever difficulties are thrown your way. I would not hesitate to reccommend Cisco AnyConnect to any business that needs connected employees throught the world.
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SoftEther Project
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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SoftEther Project
  • I went from a Pertino/Cradlepoint VPN-as-a-Service requiring no hardware to a SoftEther VPN Client/Server configuration and that required the purchase of a tiny server to run SEVPN. It could have been a Linux box or Windows and I chose Windows, so there was a minimal cost for the Windows 10 device but it eliminated the monthly service cost and has historically been far more reliable.
  • We went from about $12/user/month on Cradlepoint perimeter81 to $0/user/month after about a $500 investment in hardware, so just one of my clients has been saving $300/month after the initial $500 for the "Server" device.
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ScreenShots