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Aruba ClearPass vs UserLock comparison

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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
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st)
UserLock
Average Rating
10.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (30th), Access Management (34th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Aruba ClearPass and UserLock aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Aruba ClearPass is designed for Network Access Control (NAC) and holds a mindshare of 17.5%, down 23.9% compared to last year.
UserLock, on the other hand, focuses on Authentication Systems, holds 1.0% mindshare, up 1.0% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba ClearPass17.5%
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)18.4%
Fortinet FortiNAC11.9%
Other52.2%
Network Access Control (NAC)
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
UserLock1.0%
Microsoft Entra ID5.6%
Okta Platform4.4%
Other89.0%
Authentication Systems
 

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.
Bill H. - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology at City Of Keizer
Affordable, easy to use, and integrates well with Active Directory
The product and service are already great as it is but if I could add one feature, I guess it would be nice to have another factor of authentication (two additional factors) like your phone and a token for example, for when people forget their phone at home. It’s not that I mind not having two factors, but I do get that question from time to time from some of our users who think it would be really useful. From what I’ve heard, they’re working on it and it should be coming in the next version so that’s great news.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"But for authentication and authorization, I believe Aruba ClearPass is the best, and I believe that it is a top product currently on the market."
"This is a very reliable and robust product and we plan to continue using it"
"Aruba ClearPass is easy to manage and less complicated compared to other NAC solutions, which makes it valuable."
"The greatest feature in Aruba ClearPass, in my opinion, is its modularity and its openness to all vendors."
"The most valuable thing about Aruba ClearPass is its ease of use. It has always been a very reliable and very stable policy management platform."
"Aruba ClearPass allows for guest access, BYOD control, IoT device control, access control, device visibility, policy management, interoperability with third-party solutions, self-service, and device profiling."
"Our existing wireless infrastructure is Aruba so it made sense to use their solution for AAA."
"It supports AAA and offers a range of features, including guest authentication for visitors and 802.1X authentication for employees. ClearPass provides options for customized authentication methods, such as SMS and social media authentication, which customers are effectively utilizing."
"The most valuable features are two-factor authentication and real-time logon monitoring."
"We mainly implemented UserLock for multi-factor authentication, but the user login insights are also nice."
"UserLock was pretty easy to set up and simple to use, and the documentation covered everything."
"It is affordable, integrates easily with Active Directory, and is simple to install and maintain."
 

Cons

"Aruba ClearPass could improve when it comes to troubleshooting, it can be difficult. Some advanced problems are difficult."
"Customer service was 2/10 - it was very difficult to find the correct assistance."
"In the future, I would like to see plugins for AI and machine learning."
"The solution needs to upgrade its user interface. Right now, it's not so user friendly, and it's an aspect that my clients' wish was improved upon."
"A specific component is part of the solution called ClearPass Onboard, which can sometimes be complex and challenging to set up. If they could simplify the process and make it easier, that would be a benefit."
"The initial setup was quite complex, it is not that easy."
"Aruba ClearPass could improve the complexity of the initial usage. It takes some time to be good at it. It's not simple to build and connect the rules to the network you want to deploy them on."
"The policies are quite complex to set up. Aruba's modular and staggered commercial model requires separate licenses."
"The product and service are already great as it is but if I could add one feature, I guess it would be nice to have another factor of authentication (two additional factors) like your phone and a token for example, for when people forget their phone at home."
"I would like to see UserLock add the ability to automatically create a group policy in Active Directory. That might streamline the setup process."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 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."
"In terms of your fixed cost, it is much less than a lot of other solutions in the market. The initial cost is very high."
"The licensing model is very straightforward. There are two types of licensing for Aruba ClearPass, a perpetual license, and a subscription. Both of them are straightforward. We don't need to read an ordering guide, it's very clear."
"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."
"There is a license to use Aruba ClearPass."
"Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."
"Compared to the functionality, the pricing is very favorable. It's affordable and provides good value for the money."
"You will be hard-pressed to find better pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
19%
Construction Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise34
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 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.
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Also Known As

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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
Barclays, US Department of Justice, National Bank of Kuwait, Turkish Aerospace, New York Albany School District, Regtransfers, University of Kent, Camden City School District, Oklahoma City Public Schools, Bank of Cyprus, Detran-PE: Pernambuco State Traffic Department
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, ThreatLocker and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: September 2026.
914,805 professionals have used our research since 2012.