F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Ivanti Connect Secure comparison

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Ivanti Connect Secure

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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

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...

Ranking in SSL VPN

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (13th), Network Access Control (NAC) (8th), Remote Access (11th), Access Management (11th)

Ivanti Connect Secure

Ranking in SSL VPN

3rd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (13th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 5.9%, down from 13.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ivanti Connect Secure is 16.5%, down from 24.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

SSL VPN Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Ivanti Connect Secure	16.5%
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)	5.9%
Other	77.6%

SSL VPN

Featured Reviews

SÜ

SalihUcpinar

Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem

Has provided reliable policy controls and secure web access for large enterprises

I consider Cloudflare when evaluating centralized access control features; Cloudflare utilizes multi-factor authentication and full API support, while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) needs to enhance its API support. I recommend F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) for large companies such as Tüpraş and Ford. Tüpraş is one of the biggest companies in Turkey, along with other customers such as Tofaş, Euroko, Koç Holding, and more. For on-premises deployment, I would rate it a 10. For cloud deployment, I would rate it a seven. I primarily use it on-premises. I rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) eight out of ten.

Read full review

Kaushlendra Singh

Manager - IT Infrastructure and Network at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Provides secure and simple remote access but needs improved reporting capabilities

Ivanti Connect Secure is simple and secure, making it valuable for our organization. Ivanti Connect Secure's access control feature provides global protect, which allows country-wise blocking. There are many access controls available, and policies can be created on a host basis and on the MAC address of assets that will connect. Firewall versions and OS versions can be defined, and only devices meeting these criteria can connect to the VPN. These features are effective, along with MFA. Ivanti Connect Secure is a client-based, agent-based solution, so if the agent is installed, users are able to connect to the network. Ivanti Connect Secure utilizes identity-based LDAP authentication. Ivanti Connect Secure is very effective for remote access for remote workers.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The F5 Access Policy Manager is something that I have experience with and I am happy with it."

"F5 is great for handling complex issues, and most of our big customers, including banks and insurance companies, like it because it's such a robust platform that enables them to do almost anything."

"The tool is reliable and easy to configure."

"Our organization is small - a college with about 3,500 students. We use F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager to protect our site, especially from the Iranian attacks we faced last year. We restrict access to only inside the country."

"We have seen a return on investment from F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager. It provided access at a time when we didn't have it."

"I recommend F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) to others due to its reliability, and it is perceived as critical to security infrastructure."

"F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use."

"Stickiness is the most valuable feature of the product."

More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) pros

"From an end-user perspective, the setup phase is easy."

"The most robust and reliable feature of Ivanti Connect Secure is the VPN tunneling, using both the Pulse and the Ivanti client."

"The tool's most valuable feature is remote access."

"The flexibility in their management is great."

"It's a very convenient and user-friendly application."

"I can safely say this is one of the best solutions I have seen for VPN access."

"I like the host checker, which thoroughly checks the security posture of the machine before allowing access. I also like application-based access and its seamless operations."

"Integration with third party RADIUS Server for OTP Password (secondary)."

More Ivanti Connect Secure pros

Cons

"F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating."

"If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great."

"The initial setup was complex."

"I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal."

"The price of this product can be improved."

"We do not have knowledgeable support teams locally."

"The main improvement needed for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is to integrate into the cloud-delivered services from F5."

"Cloud services are something that F5 Access Policy Manager could do better."

More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) cons

"This solution normally works but at times, we have had trouble with connectivity."

"It could be more user-friendly and not as complicated as it is right now."

"I don't have any downsides to report about the product at this time."

"Ivanti needs improvement in its seamless upgrade and migration procedures, particularly with the browser components, which are fragile and sometimes cause issues depending on the Windows version, the browser version, and the different modules being used."

"Pulse Connect Secure could improve the reporting, it is lacking in detail and should take the report automatically."

"From our side, there is an issue when Windows updates. The security mechanisms of Ivanti Connect Secure are very slow to update."

"An area for improvement in Pulse Connect Secure is the concurrent connections, particularly needing a license if you want to use Pulse Connect Secure with your Microsoft or Windows machine."

"User experience and after-sales support could be better. For example, over the last couple of years, when this COVID scenario was going on, there were multiple attacks on these types of solutions. SQL has been attacked numerous times, and there were a lot of vulnerabilities, and our customers had to update and upgrade the devices every two weeks or every month. This was a headache. It could also be more scalable."

More Ivanti Connect Secure cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Recently, they have simplified the licensing"

"The tool is a little bit expensive."

"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."

"The product is very expensive."

"I rate the product price a six to seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."

"A license is required for you to use Pulse Connect Secure, but I'm not aware of how much it costs."

"The pricing for Pulse Connect Secure is not low and not high, so it's good. It's a six out of ten for me, price-wise."

"The pricing is quite nominal. We pay on a yearly basis."

"The price of Pulse Connect Secure is expensive."

"Pulse Connect Secure is relatively cost-effective."

"The cost of the product is high, but worth it because of the utility and great product support."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Government

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	9

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	19

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability, akin to purchasing a Bentley as opposed to an Audi.

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is not user-friendly and operates slowly. Additional features for architecture such as Anycast would be beneficial. The ability to run the Anycast feature woul...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pulse Connect Secure?

Ivanti has always been known to be pricey, making it a rather high-cost solution.

What needs improvement with Pulse Connect Secure?

The reporting capabilities of Ivanti Connect Secure are not strong; the format is simple, and obtaining a detailed report is difficult and requires manual work. Regarding points for improvement, th...

What is your primary use case for Pulse Connect Secure?

Ivanti Connect Secure is used for both applications and for the RDP of our server.

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Product Reports

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Download F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) product report

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Ivanti Connect Secure

Download Ivanti Connect Secure product report

Also Known As

F5 Access Policy Manager

Pulse Connect Secure

Overview

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is an access management proxy solution for managing global access to the enterprise networks, cloud providers, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Through a single management interface, BIG-IP APM consolidates remote, mobile, network, virtual, and web access.

BIG-IP APM can also serve as a bridge between modern and classic authentication and authorization protocols and methods. For applications which are unable to support modern authentication and authorization protocols, like SAML and OAuth with OIDC, but which do support classic authentication methods, BIG-IP APM converts user credentials to the appropriate authentication standard supported by the application.

BIG-IP APM Benefits:

Ease of use
Flexibility
Ability to integrate with other systems
Security features
Granular access control
Responsive and helpful support team

BIG-IP APM Features:

Support for Identity Aware Proxy (IAP) enabling Zero Trust application access
Context-based authorization with dynamic L4/L7 ACLs
Integration with third-party MFA solutions
DTLS 2.0 mode for delivering and securing applications
SAML 2.0 identity federation support
Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol
SSO support for classic authentication (Kerberos, header- based, etc.), credential caching, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, and FIDO2 (U2F)
AAA server authentication and high-availability
Integration with leading IAM vendor products (Microsoft, Okta, Ping Identity)
BIG IP Edge Client and F5 Access integrate with VMware Horizon ONE (AirWatch), Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360
Risk-based access leveraging third-party UEBA and risk engines (HTTP Connector)

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by BIG-IP APM users.

Mahmmoud Rabie, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, writes that BIG-IP APM is "A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex."

Clyde Livingston, Senior Process Specialist at Telstra, says that BIG-IP APM is "Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability."

Chris Lam, Senior Solution Consultant at Macroview Telecom Limited, states that BIG-IP APM is "Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware.

Ivanti Connect Secure provides a seamless, cost-effective SSL VPN solution for remote and mobile users from any web-enabled device to corporate resources— anytime, anywhere.

Ivanti

Sample Customers

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office

Axcient, Baloise Group, Cygate, Catholic University of America, Datec Inc, Revlon, Santa Monica Networks, 7-Eleven

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Ivanti Connect Secure