No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Aruba ClearPass vs Sophos Network Access Control comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sophos Network Access Control
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Aruba ClearPass is 18.0%, down from 24.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Network Access Control is 3.0%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba ClearPass18.0%
Sophos Network Access Control3.0%
Other79.0%
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.
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

"The advanced RADIUS functionality is the most valuable feature for us."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba ClearPass is its ease of use and the GUI is user-friendly."
"Aruba ClearPass has improved the security control in our network environment."
"It has an easy to learn web GUI and ​command lines.​"
"Gives us network access control, visibility, scalability, security, and control in what is becoming an uncontrollable, inundated BYOD and IoT world."
"Whatever we have thought can be done, they have done it."
"The most valuable thing about Aruba ClearPass is ease of use for security policies, as it has a much better granular configuration on policies for security."
"There is really good visibility for the appliance."
"The platform's most valuable features include robust reporting and analytics capabilities, which provide deep insights into our sales performance and customer behavior."
"The solution offers very good visibility."
"The solution offers very good visibility."
"What Sophos has done is integrate almost the entire OSI layer infrastructure. It gives me visibility across my infrastructure. It gives me visibility into all the mobile devices that are on my network and into the security I have on those mobile devices."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"There is good documentation that helps to deploy a new wireless access point and a controller in a very easy way."
"The biggest advantage of Sophos Network Access Control is that it is very synchronized with the security on both the endpoint and the firewall on a single platform, and it is easy to maintain."
 

Cons

"Aruba ClearPass has fewer deployment scenarios and flexibility than Forescout."
"I remember our technical team stating that the installation front of the solution was a bit difficult when compared to other solutions."
"ClearPass isn't hard to set up, but it takes a long time."
"An issue with Aruba ClearPass is the lack of information and poor community support."
"Aruba ClearPass has fewer deployment scenarios and flexibility than Forescout."
"There is room for improvement in terms of scalability."
"The user interface could be more polished and modern. It would be useful to have more options for automation."
"The user interface is a little old school compared to other solutions."
"The solution could offer more useful documentation."
"In Indonesia, there are a lot of false positives. For example, many websites from our government and local industries are blocked by the IPS."
"The difficult thing was finding the metrics."
"The solution could increase the integration with other platforms or other systems. This would be very useful."
"Endpoint and firewall synchronization is not as smooth as we are expecting from Sophos Network Access Control."
"I would like to see mobile administration capabilities in the next release so that we can administer the device from a mobile device."
"In order to provide better management, it would be ideal with they offered better plugins for their firewall."
"An area that could be improved is the information about licensing, which is fairly confusing at present."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. However, Cisco ISE was as expensive when we were comparing."
"The solution is costly."
"There are three types of licenses."
"You can get Aruba ClearPass either where you purchase it outright or you can be subscription-based. The cost will vary according to what is selected, but it's licensed per device. For example, for a hundred users or a hundred device license, it would cost approximately $2,000."
"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."
"There is a license to use Aruba ClearPass."
"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."
"It is quite expensive."
"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."
"Sophos Network Access Control is very cheap compared to other solutions like Cisco, Barracuda, and Palo Alto."
"Sophos Network Access Control is an expensive solution."
"I rate the price of Sophos Network Access Control a five out of ten."
"It provides a moderate pricing option for all of its features and benefits."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Access Control (NAC) solutions are best for your needs.
896,692 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Healthcare Company
9%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise34
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 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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba ClearPass?
Compared to Cisco and others, the pricing is reasonable. Licensing costs are case-specific and have been manageable.
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 address or send misbehaving emails from alternative networks. If someone sends 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
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
Rushmoor Borough Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba ClearPass vs. Sophos Network Access Control and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,692 professionals have used our research since 2012.