Appgate SDP vs Cisco Secure Access comparison

Appgate and Cisco are both solutions in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category. Appgate is ranked #20, while Cisco is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.4. Appgate holds a 2.0% mindshare in SASE, compared to Cisco’s 3.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Appgate users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 6, 2024

Appgate SDP and Cisco Secure Access compete in secure access technology. Cisco Secure Access seems to have the upper hand due to its extensive feature set and long-term value.

Features: Appgate SDP offers a flexible security model with strong integration capabilities and user-friendly adaptability. Cisco Secure Access features robust security policies, extensive integration options, and advanced control management, giving it superior comprehensive protection.

Room for Improvement: Appgate SDP could improve scalability, implementation simplicity, and advanced configuration speed. Cisco Secure Access needs better technical support response times, simplified advanced configuration, and reduced deployment complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Appgate SDP is recognized for straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. Cisco Secure Access, while complex to deploy, also offers strong customer service, though the initial complexity may be a barrier to simple deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Appgate SDP is favored for competitive setup costs and positive ROI with a lower initial investment. Cisco Secure Access has higher upfront costs due to advanced functionalities but offers long-term value and appeals to users needing extensive features.

To learn more, read our detailed Appgate SDP vs. Cisco Secure Access Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Appgate SDP vs. Cisco Secure Access

April 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Appgate SDP is 2.0%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 3.7%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Access	3.7%
iboss	3.0%
Appgate SDP	2.0%
Other	91.3%

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula

Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.

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IgnitiusMolepo

Senior IP Network Defense at MTN

Helps us manage traffic-related issues and streamlines access management for the network

Appgate SDP has significantly streamlined our access management, providing a notably efficient solution compared to traditional VPNs. The simplicity of the SDP platform is a standout feature; instead of navigating through intricate details, users can seamlessly connect to the company's network or switch to the internet with minimal effort, unlike VPNs which often involve waiting for connection handling and unblocking. Recognizing the robustness of SDP, we made strategic decisions to minimize reliance on VPNs, reserving only two for administrative purposes. In a scenario where Appgate SDP significantly improved our network security posture, the platform played a crucial role in fortifying defenses against major threats. The encryption algorithms utilized by SDP provide a high level of security to our network architecture. Compared to Cisco, SDP proves to be most critical in protecting resources with the help of role-based policies. It only provides selective access to the application. The dynamic policy engine significantly enhances our access control mechanisms. It has single sign-on and multifactor authentication features. It makes processes faster and easier. It has helped our IT team to manage the workload with ease. It gives an intelligent solution whenever they face traffic-related problems. I rate it a nine out of ten.

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Kartik Amin

Network Operations Engineer at Redex IT Limited

Secure access has unified zero trust and web protection while AI assistance automates tasks

From a feature perspective, I have not experienced any issues, drawbacks, or shortcomings. However, the cost of Cisco's products and licensing is high. My clients usually prefer cheaper options if possible. Mid-size or smaller businesses typically cannot afford Cisco Secure Access. Additionally, there is a steep learning curve, as it is very intensive. Someone with significant knowledge can work on it, but a new professional would have to spend considerable time to get accustomed to it. It is hard to find engineers who can work on it. Overall, we get what we pay for, as it is a pretty good feature and service. The pricing of Cisco's products and licensing is higher than competitors. If they could be more reasonable, that would help. The support offered for two years also has higher costs. Overall, the client's IT budget gets affected. It was challenging to learn because, as mentioned, it has a significant learning curve and requires considerable training to become proficient.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."

"iboss has significantly lowered the number of security incidents. It is crazy how much it blocks and how much it is aware of the outside danger."

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device."

"The iboss solution gives me the ability to scan the traffic through all the ports, through all the 131,000 PCP and UDP ports, and with this ability, we have the granularity also for consults over social media and applications on mobile, and this is an advantage that the customers are looking for right now."

"From a use-case scenario, what I like the most is the plug-in. I like the fact that we can do the filtering of these devices offsite independent of the network they are connected to, and we do not have to have traffic coming back inside our network."

"Technical support is pretty sharp and very responsive."

"As I mentioned, the return on investment is significant, as it saved our office locations' bandwidth because when you are working remotely at home, your internet traffic routes directly to iboss and will not go to your office building, saving bandwidth bottlenecks and ensuring that issues with our building internet circuits will not impact your internet connectivity because you are directly going to the iboss data center."

More iboss pros

"The flexibility of the tool is valuable; it is very robust, has a very robust configuration capability, is pretty well documented, and is also good interface-wise."

"It is a scalable solution...The support answers your questions very fast."

"The interface is really friendly. It's simple to understand."

"Appgate SDP is the best solution for micro-segmentation and supplying VPN solutions."

"It is pretty stable."

"One of the most important features is stopping lateral movement across our network."

"The simplicity of the SDP platform is a standout feature; instead of navigating through intricate details, users can seamlessly connect to the company's network or switch to the internet with minimal effort."

"The flexibility of the tool is valuable. It is very robust. It has a very robust configuration capability."

"I believe Cisco Secure Access is the best option on the market at the moment; it is the right and recommended choice."

"The integrated capabilities of Cisco Secure Access deliver significant ROI through reduced mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR), with resource efficiency notably improved as fewer personnel are needed for triage and system management."

"Our security posture has improved significantly with Cisco Secure Access."

"The best features Cisco Secure Access offers include stability, and with 4,000 people using it and not many tickets, Cisco Secure Access has positively impacted my organization by providing stable VPN access to the data center, leading to measurable outcomes with fewer tickets."

"The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Access is the level of security it provides."

"I rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten."

"I find it an amazing product, and as it is an upgrade for Umbrella, it has all the good sides of Umbrella while removing some bad sides."

"Customers spend much less time troubleshooting VPNs because ZTNA works more stably, and therefore it has become a pretty good point of sales for us as a reseller to increase our revenue at the customer level, because it's an extra layer of security that you can add to an already existing networking solution."

More Cisco Secure Access pros

Cons

"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."

"One thing I would like to see differently with their Zero Trust platform is that some of the AI aspects related to high-risk activities have more false positives."

"Their on-premise hardware's network interface is capped at one gigabit, which is sort of a problem. If you stand a filter up where all traffic flows through that, according to them, in order to go above a gigabit, you have to have multiple devices, which in today's IT seems a little bit silly. They could easily put in an SFP port into their device that could accommodate 10 gigs or at least offer a box."

"The area I would like to see improvement in is the ability within the reporter to navigate directly to the content the user is traversing."

"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."

"I have heard they are doing DDoS filtering, but I am not certain if they are implementing it correctly."

"The dashboards for local use could be better."

"Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern."

More iboss cons

"One limitation is that it's harder to provide access to multiple applications in the company with Appgate, but that's probably because of poor management."

"They could provide a single-box solution to manage tools for 4000 users. Additionally, they could add extra features to enhance remote micro connection."

"One thing that kind of sticks out to me is the ability to do a proper non-split tunnel."

"On the cloud, when you make some changes, it may be difficult."

"One thing that kind of sticks out to me is the ability to do a proper non-split tunnel. VPN tunnel-wise, it is not really a true unsplit tunnel, but I think that's just because of the way it's designed. A split VPN basically allows your system to talk to other systems without being forced down the tunnel. A VPN running in a non-split tunnel mode forces all the traffic down the tunnel to wherever you're VPNing to. It forces the traffic down so that the traffic is subject to the firewall and rules that you have in your corporate environment and such. It helps to prevent remote malicious folks that may be talking directly to that box from piggybacking into the corporate environment through it. They do it partially, but it would be nice to see more of an enterprise-level solution there."

"The user interface should be improved as it is not very easy to work with the updates."

"It would be better to connect to an application portal from any device. Documentation and support could be better."

"We did run into an issue with URL filtering where it would not filter a site properly. It took months to resolve by Cisco, but that is the only hiccup I would say there has been."

"Cisco Secure Access can be improved with more integration; the more integrations, the better. There are always third-party products that you might have, such as Carbon Black."

"The ease of managing Cisco Secure Access is quite challenging; it is not user-friendly, and we have to involve too much time to review the information available in the dashboard, which can be confusing."

"In general, I think Cisco Secure Access can be improved. I have worked a lot with Cisco Secure Connect, which is very intuitive and easy. With Cisco Secure Access, things are very complicated."

"In general, what can be improved about this solution is to not change the name of everything every year, as Cisco marketing are experts at making changes to everything, and I don't understand what this is; that was the AnyConnect VPN, and now it's Cisco Secure Access, and what's tomorrow?"

"This is my first time in healthcare after being in commercial space for a long time. It's always a challenge because we can't just turn stuff off as we could in the commercial space, since it may interfere with patient care. It takes longer to understand what's going on, so anything that could help give us a faster understanding of what's happening, why it's there, and if it's a risk to us would be helpful."

"In my opinion, Cisco Secure Access could be improved by potentially incorporating features that other brands have been using. I"

"In my opinion, Cisco Secure Access could be improved by potentially incorporating features that other brands have been using. I see benefits from features offered by competitors, which could enhance the Cisco experience if adapted thoughtfully."

More Cisco Secure Access cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"We pay $100 per user per month. One license for the site is around $17."

"It is a pretty expensive tool. It is maybe about $20,000 per year for a hundred users or so."

"The pricing is according to the market price. It is not a very cheap solution. They have some very aggressive promotions to sell the product in the market."

"The pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Cisco Secure Access have been very competitive compared to other platforms. I believe that if Cisco continues to improve costs or offers something similar to a Cisco credit, it would attract more customers."

"For what you get, it's a fair price in comparison to other products."

"It is confusing. When you look at the prices, you have different licensing and years of licensing that you have to purchase. Additionally, it's unclear what service you get from those licenses regarding end-user support. We have a representative who has to walk me through it every time."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	27

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent ...

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What is your primary use case for iboss?

We used iBoss mainly for Internet Access by having an Agent on Windows laptops Primarily because when we try to use i...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

I am not involved in pricing, but as per the information I have, during that time, the Blue Coat proxies we were usin...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?

Regarding affordability, I find the product to be reasonably priced, as we have access to a partner portal where we, ...

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What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?

I evaluate Cisco Secure Access's AI Access feature for providing deep visibility and control over AI applications as ...

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What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?

I am using Cisco Secure Access's Hybrid Private Access feature for varying the enforcement location for ZTNA private ...

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Comparisons

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs iboss

Compared 8% of the time

FortiSASE vs iboss

Compared 7% of the time

Lightspeed Filter vs iboss

Compared 3% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Appgate SDP

Compared 8% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Appgate SDP

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Appgate SDP

Compared 5% of the time

Twingate vs Appgate SDP

Compared 4% of the time

Check Point Harmony SASE (formerly Perimeter 81) vs Appgate SDP

Compared 4% of the time

More Appgate SDP Competitors

Cisco Umbrella vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 19% of the time

Netskope vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 9% of the time

FortiSASE vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 8% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 6% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Secure Access Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

May 2026

Download iboss product report

Buyer's Guide

ZTNA

May 2026

Download Appgate SDP product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Access

May 2026

Download Cisco Secure Access product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

No data available

Overview

Iboss offers a comprehensive cloud-based security platform valued for its scalability and autonomous features, ensuring robust security with easy deployment and management capabilities.

Renowned for its robust security architecture, Iboss integrates seamlessly within diverse networks, delivering efficient granular filtering and advanced content categorization. Its single pane of glass console provides ease of management, allowing rapid scalability suitable for rapidly deploying environments. Operates in BYOD setups due to inline filtering without device installation. Integration with cloud-based applications enhances user control, and features like SASE, SSL inspection, and ChatGPT risk protection stand as highlights. Despite its strengths, users have pointed out areas for enhancement like direct navigation in reports, SSL decryption, and better cloud integration while having room to improve data loss prevention.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

Scalability: Supports rapid deployment across diverse networks.
SASE: A consolidated approach to secure access.
SSL Inspection: Ensures safe data transmission.
Granular Filtering: Detailed control over accessible content.
Single Pane Management: Unifies control through a centralized console.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Offers competitive pricing with robust features.
Autonomous Operation: Reduces management overhead.
Responsive Support: Provides assistance when needed.
Flexible Deployment: Available for both cloud and on-premises environments.

The usage of Iboss spans educational institutions, specifically K-12, to enforce internet policies, protect data, and support remote work environments. It provides web filtering and security frameworks to ensure safe browsing. Its platform-as-a-service model offers flexibility for both cloud-based and on-premises requirements, integrating seamlessly to deliver enhanced security features suitable for various deployment needs including zero trust, CASB, and network security for work-from-home setups.

iboss

Appgate SDP provides a comprehensive approach to network access control, optimizing security with robust configurations and a user-friendly interface, featuring flexible deployment and server concealment to mitigate risks.

Appgate SDP has been designed to enhance security operations through reliable access management. It prides itself on offering strong documentation, substantial scalability, and an interface that supports easy deployment, creating a seamless experience for local and remote connections. It enables organizations to implement micro-segmentation and integrate multifactor authentication, thus elevating their security posture. Recent updates reflect improvements, yet aspects like cost, cloud modification difficulties, VPN customization needs, and an upgraded interface remain areas for future enhancement. Ideal for hybrid environments, Appgate SDP aids transitions from traditional VPNs, protecting digital assets and preventing lateral network threats.

What are the key features of Appgate SDP?

Robust Configuration: Allows flexible setups to meet specific requirements.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies deployment, enhancing user experience.
Server Concealment: Minimizes exposure to threats by hiding servers.
Scalability: Accommodates growing organizational needs with stable performance.
Access Rule Granularity: Provides detailed options for managing network access.

What benefits should be considered in user reviews?

Security Enhancement: Improved protection against lateral movement and ransomware.
Deployment Ease: Streamlined processes for faster implementation.
Strong Support: Reliable assistance from the vendor ensures sustained use.
Remote Work Optimization: Facilitates safe remote access, vital for modern work environments.

Appgate SDP is prevalent in industries shifting from traditional VPNs to more secure architectures. It supports enterprises embracing cloud technologies by providing reliable network access solutions, especially in hybrid work settings, ensuring the security of digital assets while accommodating multifactor authentication and micro-segmentation strategies.

Appgate

Cisco Secure Access is a comprehensive Security Service Edge (SSE) solution (a key component of a SASE solution) that addresses the complexities of securing a hybrid enterprise. Cloud-delivered and grounded in zero trust, it delivers a unique blend of user simplicity and IT efficiency for frictionless, secure access to all applications—SaaS (with gen AI), private apps, and the internet—regardless of user location or device. Secure Access protects users, data, and devices against relentless, sophisticated, and constantly evolving threats including AI-driven attacks and identity breaches.

Provides all core SSE components (ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and FWaaS) plus extended capabilities.

Includes VPN-as-a-Service (VPNaaS), data loss prevention (DLP), AI Assistant, visibility/control/guardrails for generative AI use, digital experience monitoring (DEM), reserved IP, remote browser isolation (RBI), DNS-layer security, flexible security enforcement (in cloud or on-premises), policy verification, and more.
Protects users as they seamlessly access resources and apps with no extra steps needed, regardless of protocol, port, or level of customization
Simplifies IT operations through a single client, single dashboard, single license, and unified policies.
Lowers risk with least privilege, granular controls backed with unmatched threat intelligence of Cisco Talos.
Eases interoperability with other products from Cisco and third-party vendors with common administrative controls, data structures, and policy management.

Robust integrations

Integrates with Cisco Identity Intelligence to protect against the startling increase in identity-based attacks.
Integrates with many SAML Identity Providers (IDPs) such as AD, Azure AD, Okta, Ping, etc.
Integrates with Cisco offerings including SD-WAN, Splunk, XDR, Thousand Eyes, third party technologies such as Menlo RBI, Chrome Enterprise Browser, and AppOmni for SSPM.

Cisco

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

United States Air Force FINRA Weight Watchers Rackspace DataDog SageNet Verdant Norwegian Cruise Line VoiceBase The Third Floor

1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. Google 5. Apple 6. Cisco Systems 7. Oracle 8. Intel 9. HP Inc. 10. Dell Technologies 11. Verizon Communications 12. AT&T 13. Comcast 14. T-Mobile 15. Sprint 16. Vodafone 17. Orange 18. BT Group 19. Deutsche Telekom 20. Telefonica 21. Nokia 22. Ericsson 23. Samsung Electronics 24. Sony 25. Panasonic 26. LG Electronics 27. Siemens 28. General Electric 29. Ford Motor Company 30. General Motors 31. Toyota Motor Corporation 32. Volkswagen Group

Buyer's Guide

Appgate SDP vs. Cisco Secure Access

April 2026

Free Report: Appgate SDP vs. Cisco Secure Access

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