Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Anjan Basu Chowdhury - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre-Sales Manager at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Reseller
Top 10
Robust product that supports multiple integrations
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a robust product."
  • "The pricing policy could be more flexible."

What is most valuable?

ClearPass has been the best NAC product and market leader for a decade. It is a robust product.

What needs improvement?

The pricing policy could be more flexible. Additionally, ClearPass can be integrated with the Aruba cloud solution because many companies are moving to the cloud.

For how long have I used the solution?

We use Aruba ClearPass for authentication purposes.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the product's stability an eight out of ten.

Buyer's Guide
Aruba ClearPass
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Aruba ClearPass. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
856,807 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a very high-end product. Its scalability is an eight or nine out of ten.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used Cisco before. ClearPass supports multi-vendor products. On the other hand, Cisco is limited to being designed, configured, and managed for a specific device. ClearPass configures any products for authentication, device sharing, security, etc.

How was the initial setup?

The configuration was very complex. It is not a product that normal users can use. A bunch of technologies are involved. There are a lot of other policies, which also include device posturing and management. There are many features involved in this product, best used by experts.

If you implement all of the modules, deployment will be perfect. Otherwise, it is not possible because it is very complex. You need to understand the entire system. Since we are just starting with this product, we need to redirect our switching and wireless traffic to the NAC solution. We need to know the network controller features and infrastructure.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The product is very costly, starting at a minimum of 500 users. No small or medium-sized business can go with it as a standard organization has more than 500 users.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I rate Aruba ClearPass a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller

PeerSpot user
RaviVerma2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Group Head - IT at Medusind Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.
Real User
High availability and simple implmentaion
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has been working well."
  • "The scalability could improve."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Aruba ClearPass for authentication purposes.

What is most valuable?

The solution has been working well.

What needs improvement?

The scalability could improve.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Aruba ClearPass within the last 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Aruba ClearPass is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the scalability of Aruba ClearPass a nine out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Aruba ClearPass was simple.

What about the implementation team?

We did the deployment of the solution in-house.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Aruba ClearPass an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Aruba ClearPass
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Aruba ClearPass. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
856,807 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Binju Charly - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Manager - GCC at Gerab System Solutions LLC
Reseller
A budget-friendly NAC solution that provides quality and functionality to its users
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature, I would say, is the cost-effectiveness of the solution when compared to others."
  • "I remember our technical team stating that the installation front of the solution was a bit difficult when compared to other solutions."

What is our primary use case?

Our clients use Aruba ClearPass since it is a NAC solution.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature, I would say, is the cost-effectiveness of the solution when compared to others.

What needs improvement?

Regarding the improvement needed in the solution, I remember our technical team stating that the installation front of the solution was a bit difficult when compared to other solutions. So, some of the other solutions, when compared to Aruba ClearPass, are more user-friendly to install.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Aruba ClearPass for almost five to six years. My company is a reseller of the solution. I am unsure about the version of the solution I am using since we also deal in other products.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. I rate the solution's stability a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. I rate the solution's scalability somewhere around seven to eight out of ten. Mostly, our organization deals with medium and enterprise-sized customers.

How are customer service and support?

I rate the solution's technical support team a seven out of ten. There are no issues with the support we are receiving. I will probably have to check with the engineers who have dealt with the technical support team. Since I have never heard a complaint against the support team, I would reconsider my decision over the rating provided by me previously and rate the technical support an eight.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

I rate the solution's initial setup a six on a scale where one is difficult and ten is easy. There are some difficulties when installing the solution. For our company, installation is not difficult since we are system integrators who are well-versed in Aruba ClearPass. However, one of our customers told us that it is difficult to manage the installation part of the solution.

The solutions deployment was quick because our company is well-versed in deployment. So, it took around twenty to thirty days. Usually, four L3 engineers from our company are involved in the deployment process. For the maintenance and deployment of the solution, we have a lot of people in our organization. So, our company has around 28 engineers, and we serve around 120 customers in UAE. Specifically speaking, two network engineers are handling the maintenance part of the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is too expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten. So, the price could be lower. The solution has a yearly based licensing cost attached to it.

What other advice do I have?

I want to tell those planning to use the solution that it is a good solution where one needs to have a certain level of expertise to carry out the deployment phase. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller

PeerSpot user
CEO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
The compatibility is a key valuable feature that sets it above other products
Pros and Cons
  • "ClearPass is open to any operating system or mobile app."
  • "Licensing cost is extremely high."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case of ClearPass is for network access control, wireless access and policy enforcement. We use it for authentication, verification and authorization, and then patch it to our users. We are system integrators. 

What is most valuable?

The advantage of Aruba is that it is open to any operating system or mobile app. The compatibility of Aruba ClearPass is a key valuable feature and makes it a stronger product than Cisco ISE in this area.

What needs improvement?

The cost of Aruba is very, very high. It's the biggest challenge we have with this product. It would be helpful if Aruba would integrate the SDN controller into the solution. Cisco is moving towards that in order to create one platform. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using this solution for 10 years. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability depends on the design policy. One device has a scalability provision of 20,000 but you might only use 5,000 licenses initially so it really depends on your needs.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is excellent. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy and there is no need to install anything whether you buy the virtual platform or the appliance. It's all very open and clear and a matter of configuring for policy enforcement. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There are licensing options but this is a very expensive product. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Forescout and ClearPass are both trying to build their system as an open platform for everyone which is why their reachability is very high. If you're using ClearPass or Forescout, you can use any open switches on the market. Cisco has a limited category that it has developed for its own products and infrastructure. If you use different switches and different Wi-Fi, it doesn't provide the pure solution inside. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution 10 out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator

PeerSpot user
Senior konsult at IT-Total Sweden AB
Real User
Easy to deploy, integrates well with network equipment, but complex rule building
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Aruba ClearPass is the ease of deployment and integration with other equipment in the network."
  • "Aruba ClearPass could improve the complexity of the initial usage. It takes some time to be good at it. It's not simple to build and connect the rules to the network you want to deploy them on."

What is our primary use case?

I have a few customers that are using Aruba ClearPass.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Aruba ClearPass is the ease of deployment and integration with other equipment in the network.

What needs improvement?

Aruba ClearPass could improve the complexity of the initial usage. It takes some time to be good at it. It's not simple to build and connect the rules to the network you want to deploy them on.

In a feature release of Aruba ClearPass, they should add a more graphical way to deploy the rules.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Aruba ClearPass for approximately two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Aruba ClearPass is stable.

I rate the stability of Aruba ClearPass a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of Aruba ClearPass could improve. It is easy to make room but some aspects are difficult.

We have approximately 2,000 to 3,000 users that use Aruba ClearPass.

How are customer service and support?

The response time and the knowledge of the support could improve from Aruba ClearPass.

I rate the support from Aruba ClearPass a three out of five.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Aruba ClearPass is straightforward. When you need to activate the rules it becomes difficult.

What about the implementation team?

We have one person that is needed to use to support Aruba ClearPass.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. However, Cisco ISE was as expensive when we were comparing.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We compared Cisco ISE before choosing Aruba ClearPass. Aruba ClearPass is better to use, especially if you have a mixed environment from different deployers or different hardware, it scales better.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Aruba ClearPass a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

PeerSpot user
Aditya Buditama - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer - Network at PT.Helios Informatika Nusantara
Real User
Top 5
Has an access tracker that's helpful when you want to troubleshoot authentication failures
Pros and Cons
  • "What I like most about Aruba ClearPass is its access tracker that serves as its monitoring feature. The access tracker is really helpful when you want to troubleshoot authentication failures."
  • "What needs improvement in Aruba ClearPass is just the endpoint context server, in particular, the indication with the context server because sometimes the daily process isn't as smooth-sailing. Sometimes, the information isn't up-to-date. I'm not sure if that's a vendor limitation, but currently, it's the only tricky part of the current configuration. What I'd like to see in the next release of Aruba ClearPass is a dashboard or a monitoring feature that would allow users to see the integration process with an external server because there's no visibility into that right now."

What is our primary use case?

We use Aruba ClearPass for our authentication server and also integrate it with our active directory. We also use the endpoint function of the solution.

How has it helped my organization?

Aruba ClearPass has improved our organization because, through it, we have much better visibility in terms of who our users are in our network. We have more insight into the type of devices people are using and their roles. For guests, we can also gather some information from them, for example, their emails, so in most cases, Aruba ClearPass is pretty useful for us.

What is most valuable?

What I like most about Aruba ClearPass is its access tracker that serves as its monitoring feature. The access tracker is really helpful when you want to troubleshoot authentication failures.

What needs improvement?

What needs improvement in Aruba ClearPass is just the endpoint context server, in particular, the indication with the context server because sometimes the daily process isn't as smooth-sailing. Sometimes, the information isn't up-to-date. I'm not sure if that's a vendor limitation, but currently, it's the only tricky part of the current configuration.

What I'd like to see in the next release of Aruba ClearPass is a dashboard or a monitoring feature that would allow users to see the integration process with an external server because there's no visibility into that right now.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Aruba ClearPass for one and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Aruba ClearPass, in terms of stability, is good. We haven't experienced it shutting down in the last one and a half years of using it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've only used Aruba ClearPass for the last one and a half years, and we haven't had any need to scale it up, but it seems to be a scalable solution.

How are customer service and support?

We haven't had any issues with Aruba ClearPass. It's been really quiet in the past year, so we haven't contacted their technical support team.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used a different system before using Aruba ClearPass, but we heard that the licensing scheme for Aruba ClearPass is permanent. The solution offers a permanent license while our previous system had an annual license that we had to renew and repurchase yearly, so that was troublesome for us. With Aruba ClearPass, we don't have to repurchase or renew every year, so that's one of the main reasons we switched to it.

How was the initial setup?

Installing Aruba ClearPass was quite easy. The deployment process for it was quite easy and quick. It took our partner less than two weeks to deploy the solution, so it was quite quick.

What about the implementation team?

We used a third-party company for deploying Aruba ClearPass.

What was our ROI?

You can get ROI from Aruba ClearPass after two or three years.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I can't give the exact cost of Aruba ClearPass because that's handled by the purchasing team, but it's on the cheaper side, and on a scale of one to five, I'm rating the cost a four.

Initially, the pricing for the solution is expensive in terms of deployment, but in the long term, for example, after more than five to ten years, the operational cost incurred by the company is quite affordable because you don't have to renew the license. It's a one-time purchase.

My company only uses the standard license for Aruba ClearPass.

What other advice do I have?

My company has eight hundred users of Aruba ClearPass in the IT security team, and about five or six people are required for the deployment and maintenance of the solution.

Currently, my company doesn't have any plans of increasing usage for Aruba ClearPass because it's been scaled up three times more than the current need when it was first purchased, so the solution is only being used at about 30% of its maximum capacity. It could take another four or five years before my company increases its usage.

Aruba ClearPass is a solution I would highly recommend to others looking into implementing it because, in my experience, it's really easy to manage. It has a low production cost, and even if the initial cost for the deployment is quite high, it becomes pretty cheap because you don't have to renew the license. If you need basic captive portal authentication, I would recommend Aruba ClearPass.

I'm rating Aruba ClearPass nine out of ten.

My company is a customer, not a partner of Aruba ClearPass.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

PeerSpot user
Anil Ergunsah - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
Real User
Top 5
Simple configuration, helpful support, and beneficial one window troubleshooting
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of Aruba ClearPass are the GUI and its ease-to-do configuration. Additionally, we can troubleshoot many things in one window."
  • "Aruba ClearPass could improve when it comes to troubleshooting, it can be difficult. Some advanced problems are difficult."

What is our primary use case?

We have Aruba ClearPass installed on a VM.

We are using Aruba ClearPass for our data needs, and authentication for local networks. We are adding some additional features to control clients using agents. We installed an agent for clients and it controls many things such as if the firewall is enabled or the antivirus is up-to-date.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Aruba ClearPass are the GUI and its ease-to-do configuration. Additionally, we can troubleshoot many things in one window.

What needs improvement?

Aruba ClearPass could improve when it comes to troubleshooting, it can be difficult. Some advanced problems are difficult. 

The documentation could improve.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Aruba ClearPass for approximately five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of Aruba ClearPass is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Aruba ClearPass is scalable. You can scale it in the same network, or you can scale the Aruba ClearPass server to another disaster recovery site.

We have over 10 customers using this solution. We have some large customers that have 300 companies and it's all linked. They have hundreds of users.

How are customer service and support?

Aruba ClearPass has good support. The engineers are good, they solved every problem that we have.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Aruba ClearPass is simple. It is done through the CLI asking questions that need answers to be input. It takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Aruba ClearPass has permanent licenses. You purchase it one time and this license is yours. You don't need to refresh it for five years, et cetera. They have a couple of licenses for enabled features with not only one license.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Aruba ClearPass an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

PeerSpot user
Senior Manager Network Design at MEEZA, Managed IT Services Provider
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Beneficial protocol support, helpful technical assistance, and reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "A lot of the issues in Forescout are mitigated in Aruba ClearPass, it supports all the expected protocols."
  • "Aruba ClearPass has fewer deployment scenarios and flexibility than Forescout."

What is our primary use case?

Aruba ClearPass is used for enforcing certain security policies all around the organization, it covers certain security policies, which is in turn, is deducted from the business requirements. You start with a security policy, then you need technology to enforce it, this is where Aruba ClearPass is used.

What is most valuable?

A lot of the issues in Forescout are mitigated in Aruba ClearPass, it supports all the expected protocols.

What needs improvement?

Aruba ClearPass has fewer deployment scenarios and flexibility than Forescout.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Aruba ClearPass for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Aruba ClearPass is reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have found Aruba ClearPass to be scalable.

I have approximately two clients with 400 users each, giving a total of 800 users using the solution.

How are customer service and support?

Aruba ClearPass has a very good technical support team. Whenever we need the vendor to be involved, we find a good deal of technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used Forescout and I would rate Aruba ClearPass second best.

How was the initial setup?

The initial installation is simple. The deployment could be better since it has fewer capabilities than other solutions, it could be more flexible.

What about the implementation team?

We have a dedicated engineer for Aruba ClearPass when it comes to deploying and support of the solution. One engineer is enough for my client's environment.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing model is very straightforward. There are two types of licensing for Aruba ClearPass, a perpetual license, and a subscription. Both of them are straightforward. We don't need to read an ordering guide, it's very clear.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others if they have a certain use case. If there is a lot of Cisco environments that need to be implied under the security policy, then ClearPass is the right solution for them. It supports a wide range of Cisco technologies and Cisco protocols.

I rate Aruba ClearPass an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Aruba ClearPass Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: June 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Aruba ClearPass Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.