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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 May 20, 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
25th
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 September 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC) is 1.6%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenVPN Access Server is 10.9%, down from 15.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
OpenVPN Access Server10.9%
Ivanti Secure Access Client (ISAC)1.6%
Other87.5%
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

"The scalability of Pulse Client is good."
"It also provides an auto-connect feature. When you turn on your laptop and put it on auto-connect, it automatically connects."
"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."
"The setup is easy."
"The product has strong encryption and scalability features. It provides security for private network connections."
"The best thing is that it is open source and free of cost."
"It is easy to use."
"The stability is very reliable in my experience."
"The initial setup phase of OpenVPN Access Server was fine, and it was easy."
"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."
"I like that it's free."
 

Cons

"Ivanti Secure Access and Zscaler provide secure access to corporate networks, their methods and features may differ."
"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."
"Pulse Client could improve the system tokens for authentication."
"The solution can be more compatible with different operating systems."
"The security needs to be improved because it was a complaint that our customers had."
"There sometimes is an incompatibility between some VPNs."
"I think right now the GUI part of it is locked out behind the pay wall. It could use something that gives it a very basic, minimal, graphic interface for logging in, for the community version. That would probably be a good step forward."
"I want the tool to be faster. We have experienced connectivity issues while using OpenVPN and FortiClient."
"One improvement I would like to see in OpenVPN is better adaptability in certain geographical areas."
"I would like to see a simpler interface, so that we can make the connection between the local network using the LAN IP."
"The high availability deployment is not very straightforward. They can make it simpler. OpenVPN does not support some of the additional protocols that Pulse Secure and Cisco AnyConnect support. They can include support for these additional protocols."
 

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."
"It is free, you buy support."
"One of the valuable features of OpenVPN is that it is free for a single user."
"The solution was free of charge."
"OpenVPN is a free and open-source solution."
"It is an open-source solution, so we don't pay for anything."
"OpenVPN Access Server was free for students. I don't know if you have to pay for an advanced version."
"The Pro Edition has a reasonable price per user."
"I don't need to pay for its license since it is an open-source tool."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
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.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.