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Aruba ClearPass vs NordLayer 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba ClearPass
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NordLayer
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (28th), Internet Security (12th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (23rd), ZTNA as a Service (20th), ZTNA (16th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (14th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (22nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Aruba ClearPass is 24.5%, down from 24.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NordLayer is 0.2%, up from 0.1% 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…
Christophe Derdeyn - PeerSpot reviewer
A convenient and easy tool with an incredibly high number of dialing points
The solution is convenient and easy. It has an incredibly high number of dialing points for pretty much every single country in the world. It has a few additional security features. It has a function that prevents unsecured access if my connection were to drop for any reason. It’s something I like. It has threat protection features. It can protect my web connection and files against malicious downloads and trackers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Support is decent."
"ClearPass's best feature is its comprehensiveness."
"It eliminated the management of 10 different individual discrete RADIUS servers."
"Aruba ClearPass is feature-rich and fairly straightforward to implement."
"Its clustering model saved us staff time and reduced errors by eliminating the need to manage individual RADIUS servers."
"I'd rate the solution ten out of ten."
"We are able to satisfy many different organizational needs because of its flexibility."
"Aruba ClearPass has improved the security control in our network environment."
"The solution is convenient and easy."
 

Cons

"In the next version, I would like to see some enhancement or extension on the tracking side. For example, when any user enters the network, it should be more visible in the graphical form."
"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."
"This solution could be improved by making it possible to use it across different territories. Currently, if a user moves from the US to the UK, their usage and access will be restricted."
"Lacks the ability to handle more than one certificate for both the management process and the Captive Portal."
"The solution should be more precise for VMs and allow for management of the entire system."
"I remember our technical team stating that the installation front of the solution was a bit difficult when compared to other solutions."
"ClearPass' interface could be more user-friendly."
"ClearPass isn't hard to set up, but it takes a long time."
"The tool is not perfectly stable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I can say that the package or licensing model offered for the solution is a permanent one."
"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."
"The product is quite expensive. I rate its pricing a seven out of ten."
"The licensing cost for Aruba ClearPass is a bit expensive. Its pricing could be better. The license costs around $125,000 for the perpetual license and support for one year. Aruba can give you a license with five thousand endpoint access and one thousand five hundred onboard licenses on one hundred endpoints and two controllers."
"We pay an annual licensing fee for Aruba and there are no additional costs."
"There are three types of licenses."
"The starting price of Aruba ClearPass is 200k Hong Kong dollars. The licensing is based on the endpoints. For example, 100 - 500 end points."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
30%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Legal Firm
8%
Real Estate/Law Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely ...
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 of different functions including ClearPass Guest for creating complex wireless g...
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 or nine out of ten.
 

Also Known As

Avenda eTIPS
No data 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
Hostinger, Shutterstock, USMobile, Soundcloud, Calendly, whatagraph.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: June 2025.
860,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.