Ivanti Secure Access vs SonicWall Netextender comparison

Ivanti and SonicWall are both solutions in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category. Ivanti is ranked #20 with an average rating of 8.0, while SonicWall is ranked #11 with an average rating of 9.0. Ivanti holds a 1.8% mindshare in EIV, compared to SonicWall’s 3.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Ivanti users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 70% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Ivanti Secure Access

Read 3 Ivanti Secure Access reviews

1,236 Views
1,224 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SonicWall Netextender

Read 14 SonicWall Netextender reviews

2,564 Views
2,564 Comparison Views

70% willing to recommend

Ivanti Secure Access

SonicWall Netextender

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Ivanti Secure Access and SonicWall Netextender are both notable products in the realm of secure remote access solutions. Ivanti Secure Access appears to have the upper hand with its robust security features, while SonicWall Netextender excels in ease of use and deployment.

Features: Ivanti Secure Access offers advanced encryption, multi-factor authentication, and endpoint compliance checks. SonicWall Netextender provides efficient connectivity, simple setup, and reliable integration capabilities. Ivanti Secure Access is ideal for handling complex network environments with high security standards. SonicWall Netextender is appreciated for user-friendliness, ensuring secure and stable remote access with minimal setup.

Room for Improvement: Ivanti Secure Access users seek an improved management console, better customer support responsiveness, and more frequent updates. SonicWall Netextender users report occasional connection issues, and suggest enhanced logging and reporting features. Ivanti's main challenge is improving support, while SonicWall needs to enhance connection reliability and reporting capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Ivanti Secure Access offers a flexible deployment model but comes with a steep learning curve. Customer service is often criticized for being unresponsive and not knowledgeable enough. SonicWall Netextender has straightforward deployment and reliable customer service, making it easier to deploy and manage for most users.

Pricing and ROI: Ivanti Secure Access has higher setup costs but delivers substantial ROI due to its strong security benefits. SonicWall Netextender is recognized for its cost-effectiveness, providing value despite a simpler feature set. Users find Ivanti’s higher initial cost justified by advanced features, while SonicWall is preferred for affordability in less complex environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Ivanti Secure Access vs. SonicWall Netextender Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Secure Access vs. SonicWall Netextender

March 2026

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Helped 884,933 peers since 2012

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

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

20th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SonicWall Netextender

Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

11th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Ivanti Secure Access is 1.8%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Netextender is 3.1%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SonicWall Netextender	3.1%
Ivanti Secure Access	1.8%
Other	95.1%

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

Featured Reviews

BabarShahbaz

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.

Read full review

Rich Darress

Chief Operating Officer at Darress Tech

Has provided secure remote access to multiple client networks with consistent performance

When buying the appliance itself, there is one downside that isn't exclusive to SonicWall. When you apply all the security settings, many people have one gig connections for internet ISP. If you're bringing in a one gig connection, you have to have a more robust SonicWall to handle that throughput with all your security settings turned on. It gets pretty pricey upfront if you're bringing in a one gig connection. If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious. However, this issue exists with pretty much any appliance.

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 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 scalability of Pulse Client is good."

"The most valuable feature of Pulse Client is integration with Google authenticator for two-factor authentication."

"My company opted for this solution because it can individually perform. Basically, we don't require load balancers and all those additional feature sets or additional devices that might be required. The solution can handle the certificate, DNS queries, and all that stuff individually."

"The SSL-VPN encryption has been fantastic for my organization's data confidentiality and integrity; we've done extensive testing with third-party cybersecurity testing while connected and it has passed with flying colors."

"Employees can have access to the network from home."

"The initial setup is pretty easy."

"NetExtender works very well. I never had an issue with it, and it has been working well for me. In terms of management, you have good control over the destination. You can use NetExtender to set the policy and the static route for a client. You can modify it based on what your client needs or can access. You have good control over routing."

"The solution provides high availability."

"The best features of the SonicWall Netextender were its ease of use."

"The most valuable feature for the Netextender is the ease with which we can integrate it with SAML."

More SonicWall Netextender pros

Cons

"Pulse Client could improve the system tokens for authentication."

"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 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 only concern I do have is with the zero trust, and the solution is not coping with the newer technologies as much as it needs to do on that particular factor."

"The initial setup of SonicWall Netextender is straightforward. The only issue we encountered was with relocating the VPN appliance. If we needed to move it from an on-premise to an on-cloud architecture, we had to start over and redeploy it from scratch. Unfortunately, it is not portable and any changes to its physical location often result in the need for a fresh deployment to ensure everything functions properly."

"SonicWall can be difficult for some people, but I don't find it difficult. Some companies provide a VPN client for free, but you have to pay for NetExtender."

"They need to rewrite the software to make it a usable product."

"If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious."

"In future releases, introductions of AI features would be really helpful."

"The product does not work well."

"There must be a multi-factor authentication enabled or integrated by default with it in order to be integrated with NetExtender."

More SonicWall Netextender cons

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."

"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."

"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."

"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."

"The solution has a pretty good price."

"You have to pay for its license. There are some other companies that provide a VPN client for free. When you buy NetExtender, its license is available for one, three, or five years."

"The price of SonicWall Netextender is reasonable. Whether it's a small shop with only five users or a larger operation with 130 users, we have received no complaints or objections regarding cost from any of the clients we are looking to deploy it with."

"Cost wise, it would be a few hundred dollars for the base appliance with the first five clients. Then from there, your cost per seat depends on how many you're getting. It's a one-time cost, and then you have a few hundred dollars a year for the maintenance contract once you get the one-time seat costs out of the way."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Performing Arts

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

Government

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Outsourcing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Pulse Client?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Pulse Client?

We use the solution to access the corporate network.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Pulse Client?

The tool is a preferred option for making the tunnel from these cloud VPNs. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Netextender?

The pricing for my experience with the setup cost and licensing of SonicWall Netextender is fair. The Netextender itself has no cost. It's the SSL licensing that is attached to the SonicWall. It us...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall Netextender?

SonicWall Netextender has not helped with compliance, as it is not applicable for what I'm doing. I've put several feature requests in over the years and they've implemented them all, so it current...

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What is your primary use case for SonicWall Netextender?

Getting to local resources on a customer's network is my main use case with SonicWall Netextender or SonicWall SSL-VPN. As a managed service provider, all my customers have SonicWalls and I get int...

See all answers

Comparisons

Ivanti Connect Secure vs Ivanti Secure Access

Compared 34% of the time

Microsoft Azure VPN Gateway vs Ivanti Secure Access

Compared 11% of the time

Tailscale vs Ivanti Secure Access

Compared 10% of the time

SonicWall SMA vs Ivanti Secure Access

Compared 10% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs Ivanti Secure Access

Compared 9% of the time

More Ivanti Secure Access Competitors

OpenVPN Access Server vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 27% of the time

SonicWall Connect Tunnel vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiClient vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 10% of the time

SonicWall SMA vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 9% of the time

SonicWall Mobile Connect vs SonicWall Netextender

Compared 8% of the time

More SonicWall Netextender Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

February 2026

Download Ivanti Secure Access product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall Netextender

February 2026

Download SonicWall Netextender product report

Also Known As

Pulse Client

No data available

Overview

Easily secure your hybrid workforce Elevate your VPN experience with Ivanti Neurons for Secure Access—a unified platform that seamlessly integrates Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Neurons for Zero Trust Access. Harness the power of cloud-based centralization to gain real-time insights, optimize access management and enhance security across your network. Take control and thrive in today's borderless digital landscape.

Ivanti

SonicWall Netextender provides secure remote access, supporting remote work with valuable features like two-factor authentication, low latency, and integration with Microsoft identity management.

SonicWall Netextender facilitates secure client-to-site VPN connections for remote staff, integrating seamlessly with Microsoft identity management and using existing credentials like Active Directory. Its cost-effectiveness and detailed documentation attract enterprises in sectors such as insurance, healthcare, and education. Despite excellent control over routing, the intuitive setup could be improved, with users experiencing performance and licensing flexibility issues, especially with multi-factor authentication. While integration with SAML ensures seamless authentication, high bandwidth consumption and the outdated interface are mentioned for enhancement. Overall, SonicWall Netextender supports remote file transfers and access to Microsoft 365 portals, although additional features like automatic connection on startup and AI integration would address current user demands.

What features does SonicWall Netextender offer?

Remote Work Support: Facilitates secure connections for remote staff
Integration with Microsoft Identity Management: Connects effortlessly using existing credentials
Two-Factor Authentication: Enhances security during remote access
Low Latency and High Stability: Ensures uninterrupted remote connections
Cost-effectiveness: Attracts organizations with budget-friendly options

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Secure Access: Reliable protection for remote file transfers
Ease of Setup: Quick deployment with minimal IT disruption
Flexible Integration: Utilizes existing credentials for seamless user experience
Documentation: Comprehensive guides for efficient setup and use

Enterprises from insurance, healthcare, and education sectors benefit from SonicWall Netextender by enabling secure remote or hybrid work. Companies facilitate efficient management of remote work, providing access to corporate resources from any location. Challenges include the authentication setup, but its support for remote access to Microsoft 365 and secure file transfers offer substantial utility for these industries.

SonicWall

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Secure Access vs. SonicWall Netextender

March 2026

Free Report: Ivanti Secure Access vs. SonicWall Netextender

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