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AWS Direct Connect vs AWS PrivateLink comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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

AWS Direct Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
12th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
AWS PrivateLink
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
30th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.8%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS PrivateLink is 1.0%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
AWS Direct Connect1.8%
AWS PrivateLink1.0%
Other97.2%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2231871 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Offers secure high-bandwidth connectivity without internet-related risks
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The customer, from the customer side to AWS, receives an ethernet point-to-point connection, and that is it. The interface and everything along with the communication with AWS, the customer has to do by themselves to build the routes and everything. The connection speed that our clients are using ranges from 100 megabits up to 10 gigabits. The main concern is the port costs. Clients do not report technical problems, so it is mainly always an issue of money. The solution is nice, but sometimes they avoid it because the port costs are high. This is not a problem AWS has exclusively; Azure has the same costs, and these port costs are quite expensive. I would rate this review as an 8 out of 10.
Francis Adesalu - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Administrator at WSTC Financial Services Limited
A highly stable tool that needs to improve its security
The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that the tool provides security features, and AWS serves as a certificate of trust for its uses. The tool is easy to set up, and it secures your internet connection, so your IP address and email are not exposed over the internet since the VPN has the ability to mask the IP addresses of users after users get an Amazon ID to use for internet browsing.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."
"Direct Connect provides an improved connection quality and a diversified link, which contributes to high availability and failover capabilities."
"AWS Direct Connect offers higher security options by avoiding internet-related problems such as DDoS attacks and provides stable bandwidth."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"AWS VPN is cost-effective and affordable; it has the security regulation with 3DES protocol, and they have the security protocol required to encrypt the information in the link."
"It is a highly scalable solution."
"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."
"It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"It is complicated to do additional BGP configuration for the product."
"AWS Direct Connect is straightforward and performs well for me."
"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."
"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."
"One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high."
"It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"Security is an area of concern in the product where the solution needs to improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."
"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"The tool is not completely available for free, especially if you want to use certain features for which the cost is very minimal."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Healthcare Company
10%
University
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?
One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high. It is primarily a budget issue because while the solution is effective, the port costs ...
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
Our customers primarily use AWS Direct Connect for hybrid cloud solutions. They have parts of their equipment in their on-premise data center, while also using AWS infrastructure for backups, datab...
What advice do you have for others considering AWS Direct Connect?
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The c...
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Heroku, Twilio, Autodesk, SigOpt, Aqua, Snowflake
Find out what your peers are saying about OpenVPN, Fortinet, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN. Updated: February 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.