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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)
9th
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 August 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Aruba ClearPass is 17.5%, down from 24.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Network Access Control is 3.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba ClearPass17.5%
Sophos Network Access Control3.1%
Other79.4%
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 most valuable features of Aruba ClearPass are its ease of use and the general network access controls."
"It's very easy to access support and the documentation is self-explanatory."
"It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"We are able to satisfy many different organizational needs because of its flexibility."
"I like the stability and the GUI, which is always improving."
"If you are looking for a NAC solution ClearPass is one of the best all in one solution it covers all authentication methods and has a large flexibility that can be easily customized to fit any scenario in any industry vertical."
"We are mainly using Aruba ClearPass for our clients for securing access to their on-premise assets. As per customer expectations, we are trying our best to track the complete user activity in the network. This is the main and the core feature we require."
"ClearPass's best feature is its comprehensiveness."
"I found all Sophos Network Access Control features valuable, but IP blocking is the most useful."
"The most valuable features of Sophos Network Access Control are the quick response times to threats and reliable security."
"Web protection, URL filtering, and application filtering are the most valuable features of Sophos Network Access Control."
"The scalability of the system and the performance of the system and the solution's most valuable features."
"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."
"The user interface makes it easy to configure and use."
"The platform's most valuable features include robust reporting and analytics capabilities, which provide deep insights into our sales performance and customer behavior."
"Sophos has helped us to save time and money and to better manage web activities. It has also helped us to reduce misuse of the network and restrict hacking attempts."
 

Cons

"The technical support has some room for improvement. It takes them a long time to respond sometimes. I rate Aruba support six out of 10."
"The cost of Aruba is very, very high. It's the biggest challenge we have with this product."
"I would describe the initial setup as moderately difficult."
"The OnGuard agent requires some enhancements."
"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 ClearPass Insight: it currently has low limits and a lot of use cases couldn’t be applied by the customer which required customization by the Aruba TAC."
"One a scale of one to five, I would give the scalability a three. It is not scalable enough."
"The policies are quite complex to set up."
"Sophos Network Access Control could be improved by having an ASIC chip similar to FortiNAC, as this would provide better processing for big organizations."
"An area that could be improved is the information about licensing, which is fairly confusing at present."
"The solution can improve the for applying policies. They can be complex depending don't the group they are applied to."
"The difficult thing was finding the metrics."
"In Indonesia, there are a lot of false positives. For example, many websites from our government and local industries are blocked by the IPS."
"There is room for improvement in pricing."
"Endpoint and firewall synchronization is not as smooth as we are expecting from Sophos Network Access Control."
"Sophos Network Access Control needs improvement regarding its slow interface, loading time, and reporting."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing model for Aruba ClearPass is complex. Customers only pay for the license fees, with no additional costs."
"The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. However, Cisco ISE was as expensive when we were comparing."
"There is a license to use Aruba ClearPass."
"We pay an annual licensing fee for Aruba and there are no additional costs."
"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."
"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."
"The product is quite expensive. I rate its pricing a seven out of ten."
"The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. When you want to build redundant systems it can be seen as necessary, so the enterprise will manage all of those costs."
"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."
"It is quite expensive."
"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."
"Sophos Network Access Control is an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Healthcare Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

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: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.