Skip to main content
TrustRadius
Cisco AnyConnect

Cisco AnyConnect

Overview

What is Cisco AnyConnect?

Cisco offers an SSL VPN solution via AnyConnect.

Read more
Recent Reviews

Cisco AnyConnect

9 out of 10
February 14, 2024
Incentivized
We use Cisco AnyConnect for our VPN connection. It is a solution that we are using for the past 5 years and we are very satisfied with it. …
Continue reading
Read all reviews

Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

View all pros & cons

Video Reviews

3 videos

Cisco AnyConnect Review | A Secure Solution to Remote Work
03:57
Cisco AnyConnect Review
06:50
Cisco AnyConnect Review
07:49
Return to navigation

Pricing

View all pricing
N/A
Unavailable

What is Cisco AnyConnect?

Cisco offers an SSL VPN solution via AnyConnect.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Would you like us to let the vendor know that you want pricing?

89 people also want pricing

Alternatives Pricing

What is NordVPN?

NordVPN by Nord Security is a virtual private network (VPN) solution for individuals or small businesses with a limited number of devices. With 5100 servers across the globe, NordVPN aims to bring users both security and speed.

What is Avast Small Business Solutions?

Avast offers their business class antivirus application, simply Avast Business Antivirus, which the vendor boasts as having a 100% malware detection rate and a centralized management platform to monitor threats network-wide across all connected endpoints, in editions for Windows, MacOS, and Windows…

Return to navigation

Product Details

What is Cisco AnyConnect?

Cisco AnyConnect is a secure mobility client solution for secure VPN access for remote works, designed to empower remote workers with frictionless, highly secure access to the enterprise network from any device from anywhere at anytime.

Cisco AnyConnect Features

  • Supported: Unified Endpoint Compliance
  • Supported: Highly Secure Network Access
  • Supported: Web Security
  • Supported: Network Visibility
  • Supported: Off-Network Protection (DNS-Layer Security)
  • Supported: Mobile Device Support
  • Supported: Basic & Advanced VPN
  • Supported: Enterprise Access
  • Supported: Roaming Protection

Cisco AnyConnect Videos

Cisco AnyConnect for the RV340/RV345/RV345P
In this video, the TrustRadius team goes over some of the best VPN providers out there - including Cisco AnyConnect - and how they stack up against each other.

Cisco AnyConnect Competitors

Cisco AnyConnect Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Cisco AnyConnect Downloadables

Frequently Asked Questions

Cisco offers an SSL VPN solution via AnyConnect.

F5 BIG-IP and NetScaler Gateway are common alternatives for Cisco AnyConnect.

Reviewers rate Availability highest, with a score of 9.8.

The most common users of Cisco AnyConnect are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
Return to navigation

Comparisons

View all alternatives
Return to navigation

Reviews and Ratings

(242)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-2 of 2)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Cisco AnyConnect allows us to provide split-tunnel VPN connectivity to our remote end-points and allow those resources to access corporate IT facilities in a seamless manner. The authentication and authorization are controlled using our existing ADDS. Regular Internet traffic is sent using local internet gateway, while traffic destined for the VPN-connect network is redirected over the IPSec tunnel as authorized and to specific VLANs.
  • Seamless integration with existing AD.
  • Stable connection with low overhead for client.
  • Client check and auto-update AnyConnect client software makes it easier to manage.
  • Licensing costs can be a bit expensive.
  • Requires Cisco subscription for updates to client software.
  • Requires Cisco firewall.
Cisco AnyConnect is ideal where central resources need to be accessed remotely in a secure manner over IPSec encrypted tunnel. It is used to establish point-to-site connectivity initiated by the end-user. It works very well in this instance. It does require a VPN-capable gateway at the edge of the main network to allow connections to end-points. It may not be suitable where relevant IT expertise is not readily available to manage and monitor the network or where cost might be a challenge.
  • With enforced work from home, Cisco AnyConnect allowed us to work "normally".
  • ROI is negative as the initial setup costs of the VPN gateway and the ongoing subscription costs can be quite prohibitive, compared to the benefits derived from seamless connectivity.
  • Once set up correctly, the connection works seamlessly and stays connected as long as Internet connectivity is maintained.
  • Errors on VPN gateway can negatively impact general browsing on the end-point.
From the user perspective, AnyConnect is very easy to use. Requires only the address of the server with login credentials. Once authenticated, the connection allows seamless connectivity to corporate IT resources and the Internet at large. From the management perspective, AnyConnect is easy to administer with connection profiles and a centrally managed repository of minimum client software level, with an auto-update feature ensuring that clients are in compliance before the connection is allowed.
Yes, very much. With the global pandemic, this need to connect to central IT resources was brought forced on us, as we worked from home. Fortunately, we were able to leverage our existing VPN connectivity to manage access for our workforce as well as allow them to continue working from home, with minimal disruption. Cisco AnyConnect has definitely served the purpose in this regard and delivered on a fast and easy way to connect to the corporate networks using standard home internet connectivity.
While support is very good with lots of KB articles dealing with a variety of known issues, this can be a challenge if your Cisco subscription is not kept active. Client software is not available without a valid subscription. This can be quite expensive and hence my rating is lower as while the solution is very good, it is not a small investment to roll out and maintain.
TeamViewer is fairly easy to use, but we found it to be more appropriate for remote access and support. We could not deploy centralized ADDS managed authentication and account access setup was fragmented. The UAC also prevented some support tasks and so this was not a seamless or consistent VPN alternative for us.
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Bitdefender GravityZone, Microsoft Teams, Slack, FileZilla
Definitely resilience is a must in the current climate with the ability to work remotely a must and most organizations were able to or were forced to accommodate remote working early in the pandemic. Also a robust business continuity plan is of paramount importance, even cloud services can fail and it is important to be able to anticipate and respond to failures as and when they occur. With all manner of malware in the wild, including unknown zero day vulnerabilities, air-gapped backups, though an out dated model are still relevant in this context.
Provide funding and promote BCP across the organization, this includes all areas, not just to technical requirements. To be able to anticipate and thrive in an environment of data spread, it is important that regular training form the backbone of any response and as the first barrier to threat vectors.
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.
Cisco support is a good resource to deal with issues if they arise. The application itself is very light and has minimal configurable options on the client end (less chances of a misconfiguration). It is unobtrusive once connected and works well in the background. To get the latest versions, you do require an active support subscription, which can be costly.
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.
Easy to deploy on network infrastructure and install on endpoints.
  • We have taken remote backups of executive computers
  • Published group policy and WSUS to keep remote computers safe
12
Access to centralized file shares. Download group policy objects. Connect to SQL servers. Connect and download approved updates from on-premise Windows Software Update Server.
1
Network engineers with certifications on Cisco firewall.
  • Able to access centralized resources for remote workers
  • Control and manage remote users computers
  • Provide encrypted connections to access internet using remote internet gateway, when required.
  • Backup of all remote user computers.
No
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Prior Experience with the Product
As the existing network equipment was already all Cisco, it makes sense from a pricing perspective to continue using the same platform which lead us to Cisco AnyConnect for our remote work users.
I was not part of the evaluation and selection process. However, I do not think there would be any change to the deployment.
  • Implemented in-house
No
Change management was minimal
  • Cost of the equipment
  • Annual cost for SmartNet is quite high
  • no training
Yes, it was a simple thing to select the server to connect to and provide relevant SSO credentials.
It is fairly limited. Most of the configuration is done on the supporting infrastructure. There is limited need for additional configuration parameters.
DDL certificates makes MITM attacks less likely, as well as preventing connections to unsafe servers.
No - there is no facility to customize the interface
No - we have not done any custom code
None
Not sure of the support level, but there is smartnet support as that is required to get support on any tickets and also to access the latest version of the AnyConnect client software.
No
Trying to make Cisco AnyConnect work with Citrix presentation server over multiple vlans was a complicated setup. The support engineer helped to resolve and provided a workaround to make it work successfully.
  • Connection is seamless
  • Connection works away in the background and is not intrusive at all
  • Appropriate security warnings are flagged e.g. SSL certificate warnings if expired to prevent MITM attacks.
  • Auto Connect functionality not present
Yes
flawlessly
It is a simple application with a minimal interface.
We use Cisco AnyConnect to connect to on-prem resources. The delay in connecting is not noticeable.
  • SQL Server Management Studio
  • Remote printing
Since the Cisco AnyConnect client creates a virtual network adapter, all LAN traffic is routed to the correct Vlans, as configured. Applications can then connect to remote resources transparently. We have not noticed any issues with accessing a remote resource once the connection is successfully made and correct routes are defined on the profile.
  • Single Signon
SSO with existing ADDS is easy to achieve.
The vendor has provided sufficient step by step instructions for installation.
Tickets can be raised to deal with any issue that might come up. The vendor's response is excellent. Requires a valid smartnet subscription.
Number of licenses.
None.
Yes
We had to upgrade from version 4.07 to 4.10.
  • Able to use it on latest version of Windows
  • Any security issues to be mitigated
  • Sleeker interface
No
No
Debbie Johnson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
My entire company uses Cisco AnyConnect as our primary remote work connectivity tool. We have used it for the last 15 years, with all of our users using it as of 2 year[s] ago. We have added several layers of security and feel that this software made our transition to remote work during the pandemic flawless.
  • 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.
  • The client logs are usually good enough to begin troubleshooting issues - for example if you aren't getting good enough WIFI for connections or the certificates have expired and so on. However I wish they had more robust logs available without installing their special tools from Cisco support.
  • I wish it could prevent users from open[ing] applications while it was attempting to connect. It's usually super fast to make connections, but this is based on the WIFI to some degree. Occasionally, we have users open Outlook too fast and add-ins gets disabled. It's not really a problem with this software, but I do wish it had the ability to prevent apps from opening until the connection is made or fails.
We now install Cisco AnyConnect on all of our laptops for remote work users and all of desktops, which have WIFI adapters. During the pandemic, we were therefore able to send all of our workers home to work remotely, even if they had a desktop. All of our users find it easy to use, especially since we have it set to auto-connect. We have our colosite for DR setup with an alternate VPN so in the event that our live site is down and we failover, all our users have to do is to type in the alternate VPN to be up and running once IT completes the failover. This means a simple process for our users during a stressful DR situation.
  • It's not an expensive software license if you already have the Cisco firewalls that offer the licensing. So choosing this was not a significant investment for our company.
  • Our alternate remote connection method for now is Citrix XenApp, which everyone hates because it's slow and they don't have access to their local drives, printers, and so on. So it's made our users extremely happy after we set up AnyConnect for everyone.
  • During the pandemic, if we had not used AnyConnect, many of our users would not have been able to work, causing significant losses for our company and perhaps some user jobs.
For our users, they login to their firm provided laptop/desktop at home, Cisco AnyConnect sees they are not on our IPs, so it autoconnects the VPN to the specified name on the computer certificate, verifies the user by the user security certificate installed, and simply connects. Typically on my home WIFI this all takes 1-3 seconds. Once the user is connected, it's like sitting at their desk in the office. It doesn't fail. If there's a problem, it's always been the location's WIFI or the user security certificate expired.
We use several of the security options Cisco offers for AnyConnect. We use both the computer and user based security certificates, which we feel is more secure than the multifactor authentication but it works with that as well (such as DUO, which we have used with this in the past). We have the machines autoconnect to the VPN if they aren't in our offices both for the ease of use for the user and for security reasons. In our opinion, if the VPN is connected, then our data has a security wrapper around it traveling over the internet instead of their home routers which we have little to no control over.
We have a Managed Services provider that helped us setup the AnyConnect with the security settings we wanted on the Firewall. Implementing the always on feature (autoconnect) was NOT obvious and we could not get it to work with the certificates at first. We placed a call with the support team, which were fabulous. They stayed on the phone with us testing until we got it all working the way we wanted. Their support is great, especially if you ask them to stay on until its solved.
We have Citrix Xenapp installed for remote connectivity as well as the Cisco AnyConnect. Since installing the AnyConnect, we have 2 out of 130 users that now use Citrix Xenapp for remote connectivity - everyone else prefers AnyConnect for speed of connection, less profile issues on Citrix, and access to their installed applications and their local C drive. Citrix Xenapp is now slated to be deprecated within the year at our business.
Cisco AnyConnect is not only our chosen secure remote connectivity method, but it is also a large part of our Business Continuity plan. We have implemented AnyConnect in our production environment for remote connectivity. We have also implemented AnyConnect VPN access to our colo-site (DR site). If we have to fail-over to our DR site, the users simply have to 1) connect to WIFI and 2)type in the name of the DR VPN site we provide to connect. The resiliency built into this DR plan adds immense value as potential time savings to our business continuity plan. In the event of a DR situation, the time to get users up and connected to our DR site is significantly reduced with this configuration made possible by AnyConnect software.
We implemented Cisco AnyConnect as "always on", using machine and user security certificates, and enforce no split-tunneling. All of these together have added to our security posture. We are strongly considering also adding MFA for user machine logins, which adds yet another layer of security to physically accessing the user laptop before user login. We had MFA enforced on the AnyConnect at one point, but decided the security certificates (both machine and user) made more sense for our organization. The great thing is that AnyConnect offers security options for each organization to choose their setup methodology.
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.
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?
We have had zero issues with connectivity.
We have had zero issues with any software running through the AnyConnect remote connection.
  • Originally AnyConnect was used for travel, so only a few users had it installed, but it became our number one method for remote connectivity for work at home during COVID19. We were able to get ALL users home to work within 2 days of HR deciding on the plan - which was time for the full user install and training!
  • Some of our attorneys are now able to use the AnyConnect while in court to access documents on the fly when needed unexpectedly.
130
Everyone in our firm, about 130 users, connect using Cisco AnyConnect when working remotely (from home, travel, court). This includes our administrative staff (accounting, IT, HR), our legal staff (paralegals and legal assistant) and attorneys. This is our primary method of remote connectivity and our users all like it and find it extremely easy to use.
2
Cisco AnyConnect was implemented by our Managed Services vendor on network equipment. The client side application was initially installed via SCCM to all user machines. We have done four or five upgrades and they have all been easy. We have 2 IT people that support the user side of this application, but honestly once it's installed and the user 5 minute training is done, we've not had any issues to support.
  • Secure remote connectivity to on prem servers for users to access data
  • Secure remote connectivity forcing GPOs, EDR, and other security services to run as required by our policies
  • Secure remote connectivity to enforce upgrades (OS and application) while users work from home
  • We are looking to potentially open AnyConnect usage with trusted vendors for remote connectivity for scheduled maintenance of their applications.
We purchase the Cisco SmartNets for our all of our Cisco gear and software. The support we get makes the extra cost worth it. We renew the maintenance annually. This also keeps us keep track of EOS and EOL on the software and hardware and make sure we replace items in a timely manner to avoid security holes.
Yes
We reported an issue with AnyConnect on specific firmware version on the Cisco firewall when using the VPN "always on" and machine and user certificates. Cisco support helped us with a work around for about 2 months until they released a new firmware version for our ASA and we were able to upgrade and then implement the features we needed. Support was helpful and responsive and we felt like two months was timely since we did indeed have a work around.
We reported an issue with AnyConnect on specific firmware version on the Cisco firewall when using the VPN "always on" and machine and user certificates. Cisco support helped us with a work around for about 2 months until they released a new firmware version for our ASA and we were able to upgrade and then implement the features we needed. Support was helpful and responsive and we felt like two months was timely since we did indeed have a work around. During this time, one Friday during the final testing of the update, our support person's shift ended and she stayed over almost an hour to help transition our case to someone else to finishing helping us so we could complete the test and go live that weekend.
  • If you use the machine and user based security certificates with the always-on feature, there is zero user interaction required. The user connects to WIFI, then the software automatically connects with zero user interaction.
  • If you use the MFA for the AnyConnect connection, once the VPN address is entered in software once and it successfully connects, it will remember it. For there the user just has to connect to WIFI, select the remembered VPN, enter their MFA code (or a push if setup). It's super easy.
  • None
Yes
So we've been through many upgrades of AnyConnect over the years, but we've done 3 since we implemented the secure certificates and always on features. They went pretty well. One of the 3 upgrades had a random issue with 20% of our laptops and we had to manually uninstall, delete the certificates, then install the new version. The last 2 upgrades we have done in the last year went flawlessly. We pushed via SCCM. The install actually uninstalled the old, installed the new and read the same security certificates. It can be set to download the upgrade and install from the firewall when the users try to connect (which we tested fine), but we decided to use SCCM while users were at the office and do the install just incase we had issues - but there were none. The upgrade was a requirement for new firmware on the firewall.
  • We didn't really notice any changes in the AnyConnect itself. The upgrades are all for security pieces users do not see.
  • More security - Cisco is always closing security vulnerabilities it finds.
  • Confirmed support for Windows 11
No
No
Return to navigation