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Citrix Gateway vs Symantec VIP Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Citrix Gateway
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (1st), SSL VPN (4th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (11th)
Symantec VIP Access Manager
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (13th), Access Management (18th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Citrix Gateway and Symantec VIP Access Manager aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Citrix Gateway is designed for Universal Access Gateways and holds a mindshare of 39.1%, down 47.6% compared to last year.
Symantec VIP Access Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Authentication Systems, holds 2.0% mindshare, up 1.9% since last year.
Universal Access Gateways Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Citrix Gateway39.1%
SonicWall SMA40.2%
Other20.69999999999999%
Universal Access Gateways
Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Symantec VIP Access Manager2.0%
Microsoft Entra ID8.2%
Cisco Duo5.3%
Other84.5%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

SK
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
Strong security and versatile features drive positive experience, but support responsiveness can improve
The main purpose of Citrix Gateway is to enforce the appropriate level of access to the correct user on the proper device under the correct conditions. This is enabled through Citrix Gateway combined with endpoint analysis and optional Citrix analytics for security. Regarding improvements, implementing adaptive access policies on Citrix Gateway could be enhanced, particularly in security posture. Although it enforces real-time contextual access control based on device, user network risk, certain aspects can be improved. Other areas for improvement include BYOD access control and risk-based decision-making. Additionally, there is potential for reducing administrative overhead by applying policies dynamically based on context rather than static rules. Incident response speed is another area that could be enhanced.
Berk Onur - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Consultant at Cyberwise
With its mobile application, this tool offers a convenient and user-friendly experience to its users
To improve the tool, I think that the solution should consider integrations with other cybersecurity and IT technologies, such as Privileged Access Management and Site Integration. Additionally, the implementation of second-factor authentication via Symantec VIP Access Manager, CyberArk, and Delinea, among other technologies, could be best for the product. While the existing technology is okay, improving the integration capabilities for Symantec VIP Access Manager would benefit the product. I would like to see the solution meet the integration needs at our company. While many cybersecurity solutions can function independently, they often lack integration with our systems due to missed integration points. Improving the solution's integration feature would be beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support is very responsive and fast"
"I find Citrix Gateway valuable for its capabilities as a reverse proxy, providing security to applications exposed to the Internet."
"We have users in a remote environment that might require to access the service."
"It is easy to set up and is stable. It is scalable as well, depending on the model."
"The solution is very stable. If I were to rate it out of ten, I would give stability a nine."
"It's a stable solution while it's running. We don't have to work on it a lot. There are not many bugs, so it's easy to use if you deploy successfully. You can be sure of an uninterrupted solution for quite a long time. Citrix is a good product."
"Providing our organization the ability to work remotely was the most valuable feature of Citrix Gateway. I also enjoy that they are always adding features."
"For our use case, it was scalable. There were at least 25 end users using this solution from remote locations. And once the connection was established, there weren't any complaints."
"In this version 9.1, lots of changes are done for the dashboard, User Store etc."
"The tool has been very stable, in my experience. Also, I haven't faced any issues or problems with integration or connectivity."
"The VPN we are using is good and working quite well."
"Cloud-based service and management."
"It's a good tool. It's pretty straightforward."
"The product is useful for providing user access from an in-built office server as we follow the work-from-home model."
"It is easy to use."
"The two-factor authentication is most definitely valuable and moves us closer to being able to check off those important boxes for compliance."
 

Cons

"The load balancing could be improved."
"The initial setup could be made easier."
"I consider Citrix Gateway to be an expensive solution, generally ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 yearly, depending on the model."
"If there is an increase in the customer infrastructure, it is not stable."
"Lacks access through a mobile device."
"Sometimes the input-output has issues."
"The solution can be a bit pricey."
"As an organization, our initiative is to move to the cloud, Citrix Gateway needs to improve its cloud capabilities and make the cloud solution more robust."
"Maybe Symantec could consider providing a step-by-step guide for first-time users."
"The gateway server is a RADIUS server, but it lacks the functionality of returning RADIUS attributes other than those that are required for the gateway to authenticate the users."
"It is challenging to use when installing a new version."
"It gets out of sync with Active Directory or whatever it might be, whatever the authentication piece is on Active Directory, and they just reset it on the backend. I never have to contact the vendor."
"I would like to see the solution meet the integration needs at our company...Improving the solution's integration feature would be beneficial."
"Every time that I have a new phone or computer, it takes a little longer to deploy it."
"If they had dashboards or a report for managers or executives, then it would allow them to see the status and have it make sense to them."
"The User Store synchronization part needs to improve. Also, the logs, reports, and dashboard can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive and requires proper planning with strategy."
"There is a license to use Citrix Gateway and it is less expensive to use when compared to other solutions."
"The price could be lower."
"There are two or three different models, but you can actually have a CapEx where you purchase the unit outright and then there's a yearly maintenance cost on top for years two and three, and four, or you can actually do a subscription purchase through Citrix cloud and you pay on a monthly basis, or you can have a three-year subscription contract as well. I give the solution a six out of ten for its cost."
"There is a need to make yearly payments for licensing purposes. Also, it is not an expensive one."
"It costs about 4,000 a year."
"The solution has a yearly licensing fee."
"Usually with Citrix the issue is the pricing, especially for the African region. We believe it's really expensive."
"Licensing and pricing seems very fair."
"There is a one-time setup fee plus the licenses are provided as per the number of users. For SMS and voice calls, the costs are separate."
"I can say that the solution is worth the money."
"There are additional costs for maintenance."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Gateway?
The price is one aspect, but technically it is complete. Technically, it is really complete.
What needs improvement with Citrix Gateway?
It's difficult to say that because Citrix Gateway is changing all the time. It is improving all the time, and I think that it is periodically giving us patches. Anything that I can think to be impr...
What is your primary use case for Citrix Gateway?
I participate in integrator projects over the last year or two. Citrix Gateway is used in both my company and my customer's companies.
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Also Known As

Citrix NetScaler Unified Gateway
Symantec VIP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aeronamic, Avianca, Bechtel Corporation, Betfair UK, Catholic University Leuven (K.U. Leuven), Centene Corporation, Cerner, Charityshare, City of High Point, Clark Builders
Maine Medical Center, Aria S.p.A
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix, SonicWall and others in Universal Access Gateways. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.