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Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) vs OpenVPN Access Server comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 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

Ivanti Secure Access Client...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
23rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenVPN Access Server
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
71
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenVPN Access Server is 9.1%, down from 14.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
OpenVPN Access Server9.1%
Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) [EOL]2.1%
Other88.8%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

BabarShahbaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Saleas Lead at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
A cloud solution to access the corporate network with BYOD policy
Ivanti Secure Access and Zscaler provide secure access to corporate networks, their methods and features may differ. Ivanti Secure Access offers granular control over network access, allowing for on-demand VPN connections when accessing corporate resources. This means users may not need to initiate a VPN connection manually but can access resources seamlessly when accessing corporate websites or applications. This granular feature helps enhance security and user experience by providing secure access only when needed.
AS
Network operation center engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Secure remote access has protected critical data and now simplifies role-based user management
An area for improvement is the pricing model. The concurrent user licenses get expensive pretty quickly as your organization grows, so more flexible pricing options would be a huge plus. Another area is configurational disconnect. While the admin web UI handles about 90% of what you need, the moment you have to do deep, advanced routing customization, you still have to drop back to the command line interface to make those changes. It would be great to see those deeper configurations completely integrated into the web portal. Lastly, it would be awesome to see native support for newer, lighter protocols through WireGuard built straight into the platform alongside standard OpenVPN for better performance efficiency.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Pulse Client is a very good solution; it is very easy to manage, and very stable."
"The most valuable feature of Pulse Client is integration with Google authenticator for two-factor authentication."
"It also provides an auto-connect feature. When you turn on your laptop and put it on auto-connect, it automatically connects."
"The scalability of Pulse Client is good."
"OpenVPN Access Server has positively impacted my organization by supporting remote work and improving security since users must authenticate through the VPN first before accessing services such as RDP and SSH, which reduces our attack surface."
"It is open source and therefore affordable for small projects."
"I have set the default routes to the VPN server so that all traffic is encrypted."
"OpenVPN Access Server has positively impacted my organization mainly through improved security for myself."
"Simple to install and maintain, easy to find documentation or help in Google."
"It allows our employees to work remotely across Mac, Windows, and Linux platforms."
"OpenVPN Access Server has positively impacted my organization by helping us design a reliable infrastructure and even providing definite SLA metrics to our clients."
"We use OpenVPN Access Server to connect from site to site from our data center to our customer site and to dial and access our VPN to our network."
 

Cons

"Pulse Client could improve the reports. The reports are not in PDF and we can't check the details in the reports of users who are using the VPNs."
"Ivanti Secure Access and Zscaler provide secure access to corporate networks, their methods and features may differ."
"Pulse Client could improve the system tokens for authentication."
"When there are too many concurrent users trying to connect at the same time, there may be a bit of a bottleneck."
"There was one annoying feature where we had to disable and enable the user."
"OpenVPN Access Server could be improved in several areas. The encryption strength is inevitably lower compared with the latest technologies, and when I try to add features like two-factor authentication, the needed plugins and so on often are not really available or do not fit well."
"The stability of the solution could improve."
"I would like to see a GUI or Web UI to manage users. Today these features are in the Pro Edition or are done by scripts."
"The connections could be faster and more stable."
"If there was a Graphical User Interface to help streamline the configuration, I believe OpenVPN would probably venture more into the non-geek realm as it were."
"The concurrent user licenses get expensive pretty quickly as your organization grows, so more flexible pricing options would be a huge plus."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pulse Client has two types of licenses. One is subsistence-based and the second is perpetual-based. The license cost is good, it is not very costly."
"The licensing has a fixed pricing."
"One of the valuable features of OpenVPN is that it is free for a single user."
"With regard to setup cost, pricing and/or licensing, the simple answer is that you'll need to set aside some time to learn it and experiment with it."
"I don't need to pay for its license since it is an open-source tool."
"OpenVPN is an open-source solution. If the solution is used for personal use it is free. For non-personal use, the solution can be expensive."
"The solution was free of charge."
"I would say the product's pricing is a good value. I would recommend to other companies to implement it. I've seen other software, in tandem with the service, to be very expensive."
"The price point is fantastic since it is free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Performing Arts
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

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How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpenVPN Access Server?
The pricing and setup costs for OpenVPN Access Server are on the high side since licenses are not user-dependent but based on the number of connections established. With two free simultaneous conne...
What needs improvement with OpenVPN Access Server?
There are definitely areas for improvement. A broader network level access faces challenges, and the clustering configuration seems insufficient, posing a single point of failure. Moreover, patch m...
 

Also Known As

Pulse Client
OpenVPN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Verizon, Amazon, Disney, HP, Microsoft, IBM, Samsung
Find out what your peers are saying about Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) vs. OpenVPN Access Server and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,574 professionals have used our research since 2012.