By Cisco
Report updated Apr 17, 2026
Cisco Secure Client
For enterprise IT administrators and remote employees requiring secure, persistent access to corporate network resources and private applications.
Cisco Secure Client is a challenged business app that is available. With a 3.7/5 rating from 17.4K reviews, it faces significant user friction. Users particularly appreciate core connectivity, though authentication & password management remains a common concern.
What is Cisco Secure Client?
Current Momentum
v5.1 · 1mo ago
MaintenanceCisco Secure Client is currently in maintenance mode, with recent updates focusing exclusively on general improvements and bug fixes.
Active Nemesis
Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect
By Palo Alto Networks
Other Rivals
Rating Pulse 🇺🇸
Recent User MoodAI-powered deep analysis surfacing high-signal insights. Still in beta, accuracy improves daily. For informational purposes only.
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
How Is The App's Momentum Right Now?
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What Are The Key Features?
Automatically adapts to the most efficient tunneling method using TLS and DTLS based on network constraints.
Allows connectivity to resume seamlessly after IP address changes, loss of connectivity, or device standby.
MDM-controlled feature that restricts VPN connectivity to specific applications.
Provides DNS-layer protection for users even when they are off the VPN.
How much does it cost?
- AnyConnect Plus
- AnyConnect Apex
- VPN Only term/contract
The app is a B2B gateway requiring specific Cisco hardware (ASA 8.0(4)+) and modern licensing; it explicitly excludes older Essentials/Premium mobile licenses, forcing an enterprise-wide upgrade cycle.
Who Built It?
Cisco
Empowering global enterprises with secure, integrated collaboration and networking tools to facilitate seamless hybrid work environments.
Portfolio
13
Apps
Who is Cisco?
Cisco leverages its dominant position in enterprise networking to create a software moat centered on security and deep infrastructure integration. Their mobile strategy is a collaboration-first extension of the Webex and Jabber ecosystems, designed to lock enterprise users into their proprietary communication stack. The current strategic shift focuses on AI-driven asynchronous video and zero-trust security, aiming to defend their enterprise territory against pure-play software rivals.
Who is Cisco for?
- Enterprise professionals
- IT administrators
- Remote teams requiring secure
- Integrated communication
Portfolio momentum
Maintains a high update frequency with 58 releases in the last 6 months across a portfolio where over 70% of apps remain actively maintained.
What other apps does Cisco make?
What do users think recently?
High confidence · Latest 100 of 17.4K total reviews analyzed
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a frustrated sentiment. Users appreciate core connectivity, but report authentication & password management and platform compatibility.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What is the competitive landscape for Cisco Secure Client?
How's The Business Market?
How does it evolve in the Business market?
| Country | Category | Chart | Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇷🇺 Russia | Business | AndroidFree | #91 | ▼4 |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | Business | iOSFree | #94 | NEW |
The rivals identified
The Nemesis
Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect
Palo Alto Networks
The most direct rival in the enterprise firewall-to-client market, GlobalProtect is the primary alternative for large-scale organizations choosing between Cisco and Palo Alto security ecosystems.
Head to Head
While Cisco Secure Client maintains a technical edge in legacy environments and real-time traffic optimization, GlobalProtect has the strategic edge in modern cloud-integrated security, backed by much stronger user sentiment and a more cohesive mobile experience.
What sets Cisco Secure Client apart
Superior performance for latency-sensitive traffic like VoIP through mature DTLS (Datagram Transport Layer Security) implementation
Deeper support for legacy Cisco ASA/Firepower infrastructure and complex split-tunneling configurations
What's Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect's Edge
Significantly stronger user reception and higher ratings on mobile platforms
More streamlined configuration process for end-users compared to Cisco's multi-step licensing and setup requirements
Contenders
Deep integration with FortiGate firewalls for endpoint compliance and telemetry
Includes built-in web filtering and sandbox features within the same client
Eliminates the need for hardware-based VPN concentrators by routing traffic through a global cloud network
Provides more granular, application-level access rather than full network-level tunneling
Ivanti Secure Access Client
★4.4 (5K)Pulse Secure LLC
🚀Formerly Pulse Secure, this is the leading legacy SSL VPN competitor that many enterprises use as their primary remote access gateway.
Specialized focus on secure access with a long history in SSL VPN technology
Strong support for diverse authentication methods and granular access control policies
Peers
Native integration with Azure AD and Microsoft 365 ecosystems
Supports passwordless login and phone sign-in for enterprise accounts
Okta Verify
★4.2 (40.6K)Okta, Inc.
⚡The standard identity provider companion used by enterprises to secure Cisco VPN connections via push-based MFA.
Vendor-neutral identity management that works across multiple VPN and cloud providers
Highly rated for its simple, reliable user experience
Intelligent Hub
★4.5 (80.9K)AirWatch, LLC
⚡The primary Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) tool used by IT administrators to deploy and configure Cisco Secure Client on mobile devices.
Provides the MDM/EMM framework required for Cisco's Per-App VPN features
Manages device compliance and automated certificate enrollment for the VPN
New Kids on the Block
Tailscale
★4.3 (3.7K)Tailscale Inc.
⚡A rapidly growing threat that uses the WireGuard protocol to create a zero-config mesh VPN, appealing to modern DevOps and engineering teams.
Uses a peer-to-peer mesh architecture instead of a traditional hub-and-spoke VPN model
Extremely fast setup and high performance due to the lightweight WireGuard protocol
Twingate
★3.6 (246)Twingate Inc.
⚡A modern ZTNA solution focused on replacing traditional VPNs with a more secure, granular, and user-friendly access model.
Designed to be invisible to the end-user, connecting only when an internal resource is requested
Significantly easier to deploy and manage than traditional enterprise VPN infrastructure
The outtake for Cisco Secure Client
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Mature DTLS implementation for VoIP optimization
- Deep integration with Cisco security hardware ecosystem
- Advanced Per-App VPN and MDM policy controls
- Comprehensive multi-factor authentication support
Critical Frictions
- Failure to persist user credentials/passwords
- Recent regressions on Android 15 and Work Profiles
- Installation loops and timeout issues
- Complex licensing requirements for legacy customers
Growth Levers
- Modernize mobile UI to compete with GlobalProtect's higher sentiment
- Integrate more native ZTNA features to counter Zscaler
- Improve ChromeOS and Android 15 stability to capture emerging hardware segments
Market Threats
- Cloud-native SASE providers eliminating the need for VPN hardware
- Developer-centric mesh VPNs like Tailscale gaining grassroots adoption
- Competitors offering more streamlined, user-friendly configuration processes
What are the next best moves?
Implement secure credential persistence
This is the #1 complaint theme in sentiment data, causing significant user friction and manual entry fatigue.
Hotfix Android 15 and Work Profile regressions
Specific technical errors (Local host error) and broken Work Profile behavior are driving recent 1-star reviews and churn.
Streamline the mobile configuration and licensing check
Competitors like GlobalProtect and Twingate are cited as having more 'streamlined' or 'invisible' setup processes.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Cloud-native SASE/Prisma Access integration (available in GlobalProtect)
- Peer-to-peer mesh architecture (available in Tailscale)
- Application-level ZTNA without hardware concentrators (available in Zscaler/Twingate)
Key Takeaways
Cisco Secure Client remains a technical powerhouse for legacy environments, but it is currently failing on basic mobile usability. If I were the PM, I would prioritize fixing the password storage issue and Android 15 compatibility immediately to stem the declining sentiment, as rivals like Palo Alto and Zscaler are successfully exploiting this friction to win over modern enterprise accounts.
Where Is It Heading?
Declining
Frustrated user base reporting persistent password entry issues and Android 15 regressions.
Recent updates focused on maintenance and framework transitions rather than new feature expansion.