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Cisco Secure Access vs Portnox 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.4
Cisco Secure Access improves security and reduces costs, though further integration is needed for optimal efficiency and financial analysis.
Sentiment score
4.8
Portnox CORE improved network visibility, security, and efficiency, reducing costs and enhancing decision-making through detailed analytics and automated features.
At Amazon, we knew exactly how much it would cost if a fulfillment center was down for an hour.
From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Cisco Secure Access is the security it provides, and I believe the best word to describe it is best security, ensuring our protection.
There was a significant cost reduction.
If you were moving from a traditional on-premise NAC that was 100% managed by the IT department, there would be great savings in going to a cloud-based NAC with Portnox.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Cisco Secure Access customer service is generally effective, with quick support, though accessing expert resources can be challenging.
Sentiment score
6.7
Portnox customer service is responsive, but needs improvement in local support, ticketing, and technical training for better service.
This stems from their original business in networking, integrating router and switch operations, as well as security devices.
Although Cisco is reliable, the process to raise a support ticket has become more complex, requiring specific user accounts and access to specialized platforms.
Our engineers are very satisfied with the features, technical assistance, and documentation provided by Cisco.
The main area needing improvement is the technical knowledge of support staff.
They respond very immediately and provide detailed, amazing support.
I was seeing weird things, and they were able to explain things to me and help me quickly find a resolution.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Cisco Secure Access is praised for its scalability, adaptability, and seamless integration, meeting diverse organizational needs with minimal negative feedback.
Sentiment score
7.5
Portnox is highly scalable and flexible, efficiently supporting many endpoints with its adaptable cloud-based licensing model.
We turn the traffic to the Cisco Secure Access cloud, and we can manage and apply the policies that are necessary, making it very easy to scale the solution.
I would rate scalability at eight to nine out of ten.
Cisco Secure Access scales with the growing needs of our company.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Secure Access is rated highly for stability, with few experiencing minor issues that are quickly resolved.
Sentiment score
7.5
Portnox is stable but CORE faces issues; improved communication and support are needed, especially during updates and for older versions.
I rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten.
The solution is stable enough, and I did not experience any latency or performance issues.
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues.
The product itself is available and its uptime is 100%.
In the four years that I used Portnox, if it crashed or the server crashed, that would not have been more than once.
If there is a version one and another version, the communication between the organization using it and Portnox should be firm so they can coordinate effectively.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Secure Access needs enhanced security, global coverage, integration, better pricing, simplified support, and improved CASB functionality for user satisfaction.
Portnox should optimize licensing, integration, UI, partner training, support hours, Wi-Fi integration, and resolve cloud authentication delays.
Modernization is needed, specifically in the enhancement of security features and functionality.
Previously, sending an email would automatically create a ticket, but now it requires accessing specific portals, making the process complicated.
Prices are high when compared to competitors, which makes it challenging to position the product with customers.
Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
When I'm doing filtering at times, it doesn't filter the items properly.
They don't have much support during Asia Pacific hours.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Access's high cost and complex pricing challenge competitiveness, particularly for smaller markets like Asia and Brazil.
Portnox pricing is considered balanced, offering scalable licenses, with mixed reactions to subscription-only plans and varying regional costs.
Renewal prices have been surprisingly high.
Cisco is known for being a premium product, and its pricing reflects this.
The main issue with pricing is that it is higher compared to other competitors.
If you compare Portnox with all other well-known standard products, it is the cheapest.
The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe.
You are charged according to the number of users.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Access provides robust, user-friendly security with DNS protection, ZTNA, seamless connectivity, and advanced threat protection for organizations.
Portnox offers scalable, intuitive network management with seamless integration and security compliance for efficient endpoint management and visibility.
It eliminates the hassle of switching on VPNs and provides a direct connection to resources via Cisco Secure Access.
The main feature of interest to me and the customers is DNS security and Integrated Secure Web Control (ISWC).
The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Access is the level of security it provides.
It's notable how Portnox has improved operational efficiency.
It is a very robust application because three teams use that part: the network team, the security team, and the support people.
It is very easy to implement on our current network hardware.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Access
Ranking in ZTNA
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (9th), Firewalls (17th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (8th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (9th), Domain Name System (DNS) Security (4th)
Portnox
Ranking in ZTNA
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (6th), Passwordless Authentication (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the ZTNA category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 1.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portnox is 1.6%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ZTNA Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Secure Access1.3%
Portnox1.6%
Other97.1%
ZTNA
 

Featured Reviews

Vasil Blagov - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy management and security ensure reliable 24/7 connectivity
Zero Trust Network Access has helped my organization in securing standard applications because it's mandated to have it. It provides peace of mind knowing that we have that deployed in our network. Cisco Secure Access's ability to provide secure access via standard HTTP2, and optionally, QUIC protocol is good. It complies with the new standards. The impact of Cisco Secure Access on protecting my organization from phishing and ransomware threats has been good so far. We've been doing well with no threats.
Scott Kerr - PeerSpot reviewer
It is seamless and integrates well with our Azure setup
We use devices like PLCs and controllers, and when we receive a request to allow one on the network, we bypass typical authentication, associate it with a group account, and push it to a firewalled VLAN. However, problems arise when the same MAC address is requested for a different project. Our current system only finds authenticated MAC addresses, making it difficult to troubleshoot when the same device is used for multiple purposes. Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Access?
Price-wise, we get a significant discount with Cisco. I actually prefer Juniper products. From a professional perspective, I prefer Palo Alto and Juniper probably more than I do anybody else. But I...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?
I support the US government. From a customer perspective, the use cases tend to be where we are guarding edge devices that we don't have necessarily 100% positive command and control. The devices h...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?
Because we operate with what could only be called a skeleton crew, a monitoring solution to the extent possible is dependent heavily on logging, which these applications allow. We do a heavy amount...
What do you like most about Portnox CORE?
It's easy to manage and troubleshoot thanks to the lightweight components.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox CORE?
It's not cheap. It's not expensive. It's in the middle, so I'll probably give it a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with Portnox CORE?
We have been having some issues with it. That's why we're considering migrating to Portnox Clear due to some limitations with CORE. At the end of the day, Portnox Clear's capabilities are much more...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. Google 5. Apple 6. Cisco Systems 7. Oracle 8. Intel 9. HP Inc. 10. Dell Technologies 11. Verizon Communications 12. AT&T 13. Comcast 14. T-Mobile 15. Sprint 16. Vodafone 17. Orange 18. BT Group 19. Deutsche Telekom 20. Telefonica 21. Nokia 22. Ericsson 23. Samsung Electronics 24. Sony 25. Panasonic 26. LG Electronics 27. Siemens 28. General Electric 29. Ford Motor Company 30. General Motors 31. Toyota Motor Corporation 32. Volkswagen Group
Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Access vs. Portnox and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,922 professionals have used our research since 2012.