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Aruba ClearPass vs Portnox vs Sophos Network Access Control 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Aruba ClearPass is 20.8%, down from 24.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portnox is 5.4%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Network Access Control is 2.3%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba ClearPass20.8%
Portnox5.4%
Sophos Network Access Control2.3%
Other71.5%
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

Darko Skurla - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Enterprise Customer Solutions Specialist at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Role-based policies have simplified secure access control for all users and smart devices
I do not know about the functionality of Aruba ClearPass integration with a third party. If you ask me if there is support for Zebra and for different IoT devices, they have it. However, I do not know how to describe integration with other products. Aruba ClearPass can act as a RADIUS server and it can connect to the domain RADIUS server, for example. The biggest problem is when a customer does not know what they want with Aruba ClearPass. I can recommend Aruba ClearPass to other users because it is very stable. My review rating for this product is ten out of ten.
Maurice Mwaura - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
Unified access control has improved compliance visibility and simplified passwordless access
There is work to be done when it comes to making the solution more seamless. For example, when a user is denied access, they would need a way to maybe self-resolve themselves, perhaps a way to generate a ticket on their own, something around resolutions. When it comes to users using the product, that is where good products are differentiated from products that are a bit of a challenge. Portnox has much to do in terms of their reporting. The generated reports need improvement. Things that other tools would say are normal are usually not present. For example, there is a page called NAS devices or NAS network that is able to show the switches that have been managed. Currently, there is no way of generating an easy report or an easy way of just generating something to tell the customer what they have been able to achieve so far. This is not done yet and is still very manual. I think there is work to be done there. More integrations around the various products being used would be beneficial. So far I have not encountered any major challenge. Where there was a challenge, I think support came in and helped us resolve. In fact, most of the challenges are not with the product; they are with the customer environment. I think that is just to update their documentation where they have come across a new vendor for easier integrations in the future.
HirenPatel2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at rspl
Have faced delays in support despite strong multi-layer policy configuration
I have observed some disadvantages as we have experienced one particular problem. We were facing an issue of synchronization of the endpoint with our firewall with help on a cloud for heartbeat syncing. However, it was not syncing as per our requirement. The user has to connect our firewall with the help of VPN. We were supposed to assume a solution on a cloud, which has good synchronization on a cloud with Sophos Central. It will sync with our firewall as well with the help of Sophos Central. Endpoint and firewall synchronization is not as smooth as we are expecting from Sophos Network Access Control. We have to connect with VPN. We are expecting that if we have already installed an endpoint on our system and it is connected to the internet, then it must be synchronized on a cloud with Sophos Central. Through Sophos Central, it must connect with our firewall. If the endpoint is configured on Sophos Central and the firewall is also configured in Sophos Central, then there should be no need to connect to VPN.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"ClearPass has simplified our security as an automatic email is now sent to concerned users when something goes down."
"Aruba ClearPass is easy to manage and less complicated compared to other NAC solutions, which makes it valuable."
"The interface is very easy to use and the workflow is quite straightforward."
"Authentication capabilities are one of the most valuable features."
"ClearPass is one of the best solutions we have ever worked with; it is very stable and secure, and it has a lot of features that an institution can benefit from."
"I like the stability and the GUI, which is always improving."
"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."
"It provides a single access point and is highly available."
"For a network access control solution, Portnox is a very good solution."
"Portnox saves me about fifty percent of my time."
"The ability of the product to search the entire network and know what you have hidden on your network."
"Portnox ensures system compliance through policy enforcement, including antivirus updates, Windows operating system updates, and system patches, helping network administrators maintain system health and security across the network."
"It's a stable product."
"The cloud-based feature of Portnox is excellent."
"Technical support was very helpful when we needed them."
"Most customers feel value immediately upon deployment; they are able to see what is connected and apply the policies."
"We have had interactions with the technical support team through the Xnet platform. It's good."
"The return on our investment was huge, mostly due to the time saved in managing thousands of physical endpoints."
"There is good documentation that helps to deploy a new wireless access point and a controller in a very easy way."
"I am very satisfied with this solution overall. All of the features that we use have been working successfully."
"Sophos Network Access Control saves our clients time and money."
"The user interface makes it easy to configure and use."
"The wifi control is fantastic and makes it very easy to administer."
"The installation is very straightforward."
 

Cons

"We cannot onboard IoT devices such as printers, cameras, and some smaller devices."
"Installation can be time-consuming, so hire an Aruba consultant to do the install and save yourself a lot of time."
"The improvement can be in the cloud area. They can improve it for the cloud so that we can deploy it on the cloud."
"The pricing policy could be more flexible."
"Some functions could be improved."
"After HP, their support is the worst."
"One a scale of one to five, I would give the scalability a three. It is not scalable enough."
"I would like for Aruba to make it easier to configure. They could integrate the different engines (Policy Manager, Guest, Onboard) into one single product."
"The support team is very limited. They don't have much support during Asia Pacific hours; the team sits in during the EMI and US hours."
"Portnox CORE can improve on support for unmanaged switches (or hubs) and other brands of network devices. These kinds of devices are still in use in organisations, especially SMEs who cannot afford to buy a managed switch."
"We have been having some issues with it. That's why we're considering migrating to Portnox Clear due to some limitations with CORE."
"I think while Portnox provides wonderful technology, the support and maintenance agreements are problematic."
"The licensing is based on a per-port price, even when you are not using all of the ports, and this is something that could be improved."
"Their filtering system tends to lag quite a bit, so when I'm doing filtering at times, it doesn't filter the items properly."
"Portnox has design considerations that limit its applicability."
"I guess the only thing that might really make a difference is a change in the pricing structure."
"I would like more details on the incoming connection, like what is the download speed and how it fluctuates. If Sophos can give that information, it would be really good."
"The difficult thing was finding the metrics."
"Continuous development in specific areas might be required."
"What needs to be improved on is the fact that Sophos consumes a lot of processor resources and, once it starts scanning, the RAM utilization is very high."
"Users are not controlled by role-based access; it's basically device-based control. The definition of role-based control is a little vague here because on the cloud level, it regulates access rather than tasks."
"It would be beneficial to consider some improvements regarding the dashboard."
"The solution could increase the integration with other platforms or other systems."
"Sophos Network Access Control could be improved by having an ASIC chip similar to FortiNAC, as this would provide better processing for big organizations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is not bad and everything is included."
"It is affordable. In Lebanon, companies are small, and they do not have a big budget. They cannot invest a lot of money, and Aruba ClearPass is quite affordable for them."
"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 product is very costly."
"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."
"I can say that the package or licensing model offered for the solution is a permanent one."
"The solution has a licensing model."
"The tool is more expensive than Fortinet."
"It is not bad. 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. We do have RADIUS servers for the US, Asia, and Europe."
"The users are not very happy with the new licensing option where there is only a subscription license. There is no perpetual license."
"Portnox CORE's pricing is adequate and cheaper compared to other complex solutions. Its licensing costs are yearly and include support. Cost is calculated per device."
"The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe."
"Pricing is not cheap. It is based on licenses per port. After licensing is purchased, you only pay for support."
"The licensing module should be reviewed to count the number of devices instead of port numbers of total switches. There is a case for this where not all ports for a switch are used by devices. Unused ports are calculated in the license, then the customer pays for license for those unused ports."
"The solution is very expensive and I would rate it 10 out of 10."
"It provides a moderate pricing option for all of its features and benefits."
"It is quite expensive."
"Sophos Network Access Control is an expensive solution."
"I rate the price of Sophos Network Access Control a five out of ten."
"Sophos Network Access Control is very cheap compared to other solutions like Cisco, Barracuda, and Palo Alto."
"Sophos Network Access Control is costly but has a similar price range as CrowdStrike and Check Point. The product can get more market share if Sophos can play around with Sophos Network Access Control pricing and improve it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
5%
Healthcare Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise33
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise3
 

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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox Clear?
Portnox's pricing is very conservative and offers great value for money. If I compare it with any other solution, pri...
What needs improvement with Portnox Clear?
In Portnox, the area that has room for improvement is that older data is not fetching correctly. For an older switch,...
What is your primary use case for Portnox Clear?
My use case for Portnox is for whitelisting ports and adding policies. We are using two modes: enforce mode and monit...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Network Access Control?
The pricing of Sophos Network Access Control is good, but it is somewhat high.
What needs improvement with Sophos Network Access Control?
In my opinion, one feature that should be added is the ability to trace emails from individuals who change their IP a...
What is your primary use case for Sophos Network Access Control?
Sophos Network Access Control serves primary use cases for both networking purposes and security purposes.
 

Also Known As

Avenda eTIPS
Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
No data available
 

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
Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
Rushmoor Borough Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: March 2026.
885,728 professionals have used our research since 2012.