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Aruba ClearPass vs Fortinet FortiNAC vs Portnox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.4
Aruba ClearPass offers ROI through data security and management ease, but licensing and price concerns may cause confusion.
Sentiment score
6.9
Fortinet FortiNAC boosts security, reduces costs and configuration time, offering financial benefits and substantial ROI with minimal post-sale support.
Sentiment score
7.3
Portnox CORE improved network visibility, security, and efficiency, reducing costs and enhancing decision-making through detailed analytics and automated features.
Using Aruba ClearPass has resulted in less engineering time compared to other products we've used.
The investment is huge for enterprise clients, but Aruba ClearPass makes processes easier.
If you were moving from a traditional on-premise NAC that was 100% managed by the IT department, there would be great savings in going to a cloud-based NAC with Portnox.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Aruba ClearPass customer support is praised for expertise and efficiency, despite occasional slow responses and communication issues.
Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiNAC support is responsive and helpful but criticized for slow responses, knowledge gaps, and lacking UK-based support.
Sentiment score
7.3
Portnox customer service is highly rated for responsiveness and efficiency, with room for improvement in local services and communication.
Portnox is one level up, as their customer support is outstanding.
We have faced delays in the resolution of production issues after raising tickets, which impacts productivity.
We have escalated questions to tech support, and I would rate the technical support an eight out of ten.
They provide sessions to help with various questions.
They could do more to improve, not because of the product itself but because of the support they provide.
They respond very immediately and provide detailed, amazing support.
I was seeing weird things, and they were able to explain things to me and help me quickly find a resolution.
They resolved issues quickly and provided clear explanations.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Aruba ClearPass is praised for scalability and integration, though some find its initial setup complex despite flexible licensing.
Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiNAC is generally scalable, flexible, suitable for enterprises, but user experiences vary due to licensing and integration challenges.
Sentiment score
7.5
Portnox is scalable and flexible, supporting growth efficiently, though larger setups may require more resources, rated seven to ten.
I believe the scalability of ClearPass is rated as ten out of ten.
In our environment, ClearPass handles up to 100,000 users, which is better than some other NAC solutions like Fortinox that scale up to 25,000.
Aruba ClearPass is very scalable.
The pricing model makes it challenging as the cost is substantial due to the per-node licensing model.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Aruba ClearPass is stable and reliable, effectively handling high loads with high user ratings despite minor integration issues.
Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiNAC's stability receives mixed reviews, with praises for improvements but concerns about initial issues and support challenges.
Sentiment score
7.6
Portnox offers reliable uptime, though CORE users report issues with vendor support and configuration, while Clear performs smoothly.
There are issues with some versions, especially in integrating with AD and SSL configurations over port sixty-three.
There aren't many stability issues, but sometimes the guest management function occasionally throws errors.
The product itself is available and its uptime is 100%.
In the four years that I used Portnox, if it crashed or the server crashed, that would not have been more than once.
 

Room For Improvement

Aruba ClearPass needs better UI, APIs, documentation, third-party compatibility, independent integration, cost effectiveness, and intuitive setup.
Fortinet FortiNAC faces issues with integration, user interface, training, support, and network visibility, while being costly.
Portnox can improve with better GUI, integration, scalability, support, licensing, false positives, documentation, and Wi-Fi and AI analytics.
The language and policy enforcement mechanisms are not clear, making it difficult to use the product effectively.
It is also better to improve threat intelligence for built-in threat detection and prevention.
A more streamlined menu of licensing options would be helpful.
Improvement in the interface design would make FortiNAC a better solution.
The graphical user interface (GUI) of Fortinet FortiNAC is very poor compared to competitors like Forcepoint and Cisco ISE.
Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
When I'm doing filtering at times, it doesn't filter the items properly.
They don't have much support during Asia Pacific hours.
 

Setup Cost

Aruba ClearPass is seen as costly but competitive, with complex licensing and valuable long-term affordability for larger enterprises.
Fortinet FortiNAC offers competitive pricing with flexible licensing, good value, and affordability, especially in larger deployments.
Portnox offers scalable, competitive pricing based on ports, with annual fees, appreciated value, but no perpetual license option.
Achieving the best price requires careful selection from a menu of licensing options.
We cannot mix in prices, and of course, prices are going higher.
Aruba ClearPass is a premium product with higher pricing, which seems unnecessary given its complexity.
Fortinet FortiNAC is relatively cheap compared to other solutions.
If you compare Portnox with all other well-known standard products, it is the cheapest.
The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe.
It is a bit on the high side, but considering the cloud features and how much it costs to run the instance in the cloud, it is not unreasonable.
 

Valuable Features

Aruba ClearPass provides comprehensive network security through advanced policy management, seamless integration, robust authentication, and user-friendly centralized management.
Fortinet FortiNAC provides strong security with device visibility, seamless integration, user management, compliance checks, and effective reporting tools.
Portnox provides scalable, agentless network visibility with intuitive dashboards and automated security integration, enhancing efficiency and endpoint compliance.
The ClearPass solution has reduced the amount of engineering time compared to previous solutions, making it more efficient for our purposes.
The most effective feature for us is the OnGuard feature.
Aruba ClearPass is a very user-friendly solution compared to Cisco ISE.
I appreciate the feature where it can connect with different vendor equipment, regardless of the network devices from other vendors.
The main advantage of Fortinet FortiNAC is its integration with the entire Fortinet product portfolio.
It's notable how Portnox has improved operational efficiency.
It is very easy to implement on our current network hardware.
We use Meraki for our switching, making it simple to point all our networks and offices to Portnox.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Aruba ClearPass is 24.5%, down from 25.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiNAC is 18.9%, up from 16.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portnox is 3.7%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

Abdelhamid Saber - PeerSpot reviewer
Secures the network with flexible controls and excellent support
We use Aruba ClearPass as a network access control solution. It prevents unauthorized access and allows access for users in the internal environment, performing checks and onboarding We use ClearPass to secure our environment. Before ClearPass, our environment wasn't as secure. The most…
Boaz Katabazi - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless device discovery with integration and discovery capabilities
FortiNAC is very good in terms of device discovery and integration. I appreciate the feature where it can connect with different vendor equipment, regardless of the network devices from other vendors. That's something I appreciate about it, particularly in terms of adaptability. Despite the complexity of its interface, its discovery capabilities are commendable.
Scott Kerr - PeerSpot reviewer
It is seamless and integrates well with our Azure setup
We use devices like PLCs and controllers, and when we receive a request to allow one on the network, we bypass typical authentication, associate it with a group account, and push it to a firewalled VLAN. However, problems arise when the same MAC address is requested for a different project. Our current system only finds authenticated MAC addresses, making it difficult to troubleshoot when the same device is used for multiple purposes. Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Educational Organization
21%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Aruba Clearpass or Cisco ISE?
Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can...
What is the biggest difference between Aruba ClearPass and FortiNAC?
I've done quite a lot of work with ClearPass, and not a lot with FortiNAC/Bradford. ClearPass incorporates a number ...
What do you like most about Aruba ClearPass?
If you are looking at the base installation, then it was a very straightforward process, which I would rate an eight ...
How does Cisco ISE compare with Fortinet FortiNAC?
Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if some...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiNAC?
The support responds to our queries within two to four hours.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiNAC?
I am not directly involved with pricing, but I know that Fortinet FortiNAC is relatively cheap compared to other solu...
What do you like most about Portnox CORE?
It's easy to manage and troubleshoot thanks to the lightweight components.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox CORE?
It's not cheap. It's not expensive. It's in the middle, so I'll probably give it a seven out of ten, where one is che...
What needs improvement with Portnox CORE?
We have been having some issues with it. That's why we're considering migrating to Portnox Clear due to some limitati...
 

Also Known As

Avenda eTIPS
FortiNAC, Bradford Networks, Bradford Networks Sentry, Network Sentry Family
Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified School District, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities
Isavia, Pepperdine University, Medical University of South Carolina, Columbia University Medical Center, Utah Valley University
Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: June 2025.
858,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.