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Aruba Remote Access Points vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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

Aruba Remote Access Points
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Prisma Access by Palo Alto ...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (4th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (1st), ZTNA as a Service (2nd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Aruba Remote Access Points is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is 6.4%, up from 5.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks6.4%
Aruba Remote Access Points1.0%
Other92.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Theesula Majuwanagamage - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient Setup and Strong Performance Highlight Versatile Capabilities
In terms of areas for improvement in Aruba Remote Access Points, when planning for the customer's end, you need to highlight the precautions against EMF emissions and environmental emissions, as well as power management limitations. If the user is in one direction and you're transmitting everywhere, that's not good power management. Currently, all access points provide the same power requirement to the client, but we should explore what extra mile we can go. We are facing energy crises and climate issues, along with GHG and SDGs protocols. If we highlight the alignment with these protocols, it can enhance the product quality as an environmentally friendly option. Apart from that, service-wise, every unit is the same. Users can only distinguish those requirements using spectrum analyzers; otherwise, minor data delays of one or two seconds do not matter, but for high-security or high-speed needs, it becomes significant.
Amar-Patil - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables seamless policy management and supports secure remote work
Our primary use case for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is to control the internet and serve as an internet proxy. Additionally, we use it for secure remote work One of the most valuable features of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is the ability to manage on-premise firewalls. We can…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution is experienced by those working at home since they get a secure Wi-Fi connection."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba Remote Access Points is the manageability from the central cloud platform."
"What I like best about Aruba Remote Access Points is that it's pretty easy to set up."
"It is a very stable tool."
"There are no bad features in Aruba Remote Access Points. Every feature is customized to meet customer requirements according to their limitations, and we can make use of all features to benefit us as needed."
"Overall, I would rate Aruba Remote Access Points nine out of ten. I can definitely recommend them to other users."
"This solution is widely adopted and involves both technology and non-technical devices. It is robust, except in cases of significant power outages."
"I can use the solution from my home or any remote office to access printers, servers, etc."
"There are plenty of features this solution provides and the most valuable would be the complete security protection we are receiving. We are provided with similar security that the Palo Alto AWS solution has. This includes features such as a firewall and machine learning AI."
"Overall, the cost savings, ease of deployment, and better VPN user experience and performance are valuable."
"It has predefined or preconfigured rules, which are getting periodically updated. They are providing continuous improvements and periodically updating all search queries that they are looking for. That is one thing that helps us to stay vigilant and focused. If we query our AWS account for any breaches or vulnerabilities with any of the cloud tests, and it alerts us based on these predefined rules. It also provides an option to configure our own rules, and based on these rules, it can query the cloud trail logs, pull the information, and trigger alerts in real-time. I haven't explored this feature much because there are multiple accounts, and we don't have enough time to explore this feature. It also provides multiple integrations. When vulnerabilities or breaches are happening, you should be aware of them immediately. It provides integration with tools such as Slack, PagerDuty so that you can get alerted as soon as the high severity stuff comes up. For example, you have a security group that has allowed public traffic on port 22. As TechOps, you should be aware of this immediately. You cannot scan each machine or look into all security groups to identify it. So, Prisma helps us and alerts us when this kind of high-priority stuff comes up. It has different statistics, analytics, and graphs for data. The description of alerts is also pretty good. They describe what are the possible causes for this and what are the solutions. From Prisma Cloud, you can directly go to the AWS account. When you click on an alert, a resource, or a resource ID, it takes you to the AWS console where you need to log in. If you are already logged in, it will take you to that instance directly, and you can fix the issue there. I have found this feature very useful."
"The protection for web-based applications was helpful for my colleagues who didn't want a particular application on their devices. And the non-web access protection was more for our developers because they were writing and building code on their computers. Prisma Access was able to protect them."
"The solution improved the consistency of our security controls and the BCP. There has been a 20 percent reduction in TCO. Prisma Access also enabled us to deliver better applications by centralizing security management."
"The most valuable feature is the zero-trust part of this solution."
"Being able to use the user ID or Active Directory Group is one of the great features for control and providing more flexibility without worrying about IP addresses."
"Monitoring is the most valuable feature because we can easily monitor all kinds of stuff coming over the network. We can check the dashboard and work accordingly."
 

Cons

"To make the solution better, the cloud solution should be more integrated as it has too many different menus, and it would be preferable to have it more cohesive in one solution."
"I would rate stability as five out of ten. Sometimes it is stable, and sometimes it is not."
"One thing that would be beneficial is for the Aruba Central mobile app to work more effectively. Currently, it does not function as expected when I really need it."
"There is room for improvement in terms of pricing. If they can be more competitive."
"They can add more graphical reporting systems so that network admins and system admins get more information about user usage, such as which user, what they use, and when they use it."
"It could have better monitoring features."
"Our difficulty with Aruba is that the product and the license are two different items. So, if we are adding an access point, we have to pay for two items. We have to pay to add the access point in the controller and we have to pay for the license."
"I don't really have any critiques at this time."
"We would like to see improvements in the licensing; currently, Palo Alto provides 500 to 1000 licenses for users, and we want to see 1500 to 2000 licenses for one version."
"Better integration with the MDM solution would be useful."
"The price can be reduced to make it more competitive."
"The cloud setup is straightforward, and the onboarding process is much better, but the on-premises initial setup is slightly complex."
"The Cloud Management application has room for improvement. There are a lot of things on the roadmap for that application; things are going to happen soon."
"The tools' scalability is subject to some limitations when done on-premise due to the need for additional licenses. However, in other scenarios, increasing scalability involves expanding infrastructure to accommodate more third-party VPN access. It is scalable as long as you pay the money. Also, it needs to improve security."
"Prisma's integration between operational technology and IT should be more seamless. Right now, it requires additional setup and maintenance."
"The solution needs to be more compatible with other solutions. This is specifically a problem for us when it comes to healthcare applications. They have proprietary connection types and things of that nature that make compatibility a challenge sometimes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aruba pricing is not very high. They offer competitive pricing for what they provide."
"Price-wise, Aruba Remote Access Points is in the middle, so my rating for its pricing is three out of five."
"There are no other expenses than standard licenses for the product."
"You require no separate licensing to convert an access point to RAP."
"In terms of pricing, we've found Aruba's offerings to be very competitive."
"The price of Aruba Remote Access Points could be better. It is a little expensive."
"Aruba Remote Access Points' pricing is good and affordable."
"Palo Alto is the Cadillac solution, so their products are pretty expensive. That's just the way it is. Their solution surpasses anything else. Cisco AnyConnect, Zscaler, and all of the other products don't compare. Palo Alto is the market leader with the most features. It saves you work, and you don't have to worry about it."
"Prisma Access is a little bit expensive."
"The pricing is very friendly. It's not confusing to figure out your workload and how much you'd be paying for the solution."
"They price their products using credit modules."
"As compared to other solutions, Prisma Access is much cheaper. It is probably 30% to 40% cheaper than other solutions, but I do not know the exact cost."
"The pricing can be difficult because it came to us with another agreement, but it can be negotiated. I highly recommend people to compare this product's performance and pricing against BetterCloud, because I feel BetterCloud is better than Prisma SaaS if they're starting from scratch."
"Based on what I have heard from others, it is a pricey solution as compared to its peers, but I am not sure. However, considering the features that it offers, it is a break-even point. You get whatever they are promising."
"In terms of pricing, considering that it is a two or three years old solution, they should apply big discounts for the next two or three years. This approach will be better for them to capture the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Healthcare Company
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise28
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Remote Access Points?
This solution is widely adopted and involves both technology and non-technical devices. It is robust, except in cases of significant power outages.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Remote Access Points?
The pricing is adequate. It is available in every range, from medium range to high range and enterprise level. Thus, it is not an issue.
What needs improvement with Aruba Remote Access Points?
In terms of areas for improvement in Aruba Remote Access Points, when planning for the customer's end, you need to highlight the precautions against EMF emissions and environmental emissions, as we...
What is the better solution - Prisma Access or Zscaler Private Access?
We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure access service edge (SASE) designed to deliver network security in a cloud-deliver...
What do you like most about Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
The most valuable features of the solution are in the areas of the secure remote access it provides while also being user-friendly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
From my experience, Palo Alto is more expensive compared to solutions like Netskope and Triscale.
 

Also Known As

Aruba RAP
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Trafford Metropolitan Borough
Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Remote Access Points vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.