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Forescout Platform vs Portnox vs Tenable Security Center 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
6.7
Forescout Platform users achieve improved security, reduce workload, and automate threat management, though some question direct ROI impact.
Sentiment score
7.3
Portnox CORE improved network visibility, security, and efficiency, reducing costs and enhancing decision-making through detailed analytics and automated features.
Sentiment score
7.5
Tenable Security Center optimizes resources, enhances security, and reduces costs with improved compliance, visibility, and efficient management.
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.
Through the use of Tenable Security Center, my clients achieve more efficient patching and gain visibility and understanding of security operations, leading to improved resilience and infrastructure insight.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Forescout Platform's customer service is praised for responsiveness, but technical support experiences vary, with some delays and challenges noted.
Sentiment score
7.3
Portnox customer service is highly rated for responsiveness and efficiency, with room for improvement in local services and communication.
Sentiment score
7.3
Tenable Security Center's support is generally effective with praised premium service, though initial and international support need improvement.
We have had experience with their technical support and must pay additionally for maintenance, support, and regional service.
I was seeing weird things, and they were able to explain things to me and help me quickly find a resolution.
They respond very immediately and provide detailed, amazing support.
They resolved issues quickly and provided clear explanations.
Longer response times and less thorough assistance.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Forescout Platform is known for scalable expansion suitable for medium to enterprise entities, despite cost and setup complexities.
Sentiment score
7.5
Portnox is scalable and flexible, supporting growth efficiently, though larger setups may require more resources, rated seven to ten.
Sentiment score
8.2
Tenable Security Center is praised for its high scalability, easily managing numerous assets and users while supporting future growth.
Scalability can be costly since a physical box needs to be installed for every site.
I can scale it extensively with the use of agents, allowing scanning in restrictive environments and loosely connected devices.
Scalability is a bit limited with Tenable Security Center.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Forescout Platform is stable and reliable, though some users note performance issues; support enhances overall dependability and satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.6
Portnox offers reliable uptime, though CORE users report issues with vendor support and configuration, while Clear performs smoothly.
Sentiment score
8.0
Tenable Security Center is stable, reliable, efficiently supported, handles large scans well, with minimal technical issues reported.
I would rate its stability as 9.5 out of ten.
In the four years that I used Portnox, if it crashed or the server crashed, that would not have been more than once.
The product itself is available and its uptime is 100%.
The stability of the solution is outstanding.
 

Room For Improvement

Forescout Platform needs better integration, AI, cost-effectiveness, support, iOS compatibility, reporting, visualization, and seamless connectivity with third-party tools.
Portnox can improve with better GUI, integration, scalability, support, licensing, false positives, documentation, and Wi-Fi and AI analytics.
Tenable Security Center struggles with customization, integration, performance, and support, needing improved UI, assessment, and management capabilities.
Forescout Platform could enhance its integration of AI to improve IoT and OT device security to better meet our needs.
The console is a fat client, and a web interface would be preferable.
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.
It's important for Tenable to catch up on testing capabilities that are present in solutions like Qualys.
The reports and plugins for reports and scans could benefit from enhancements.
Translating reports into European languages is especially relevant in Central Eastern Europe, where clients often require reports in local languages.
 

Setup Cost

Forescout Platform offers flexible, endpoint-based licensing for medium to large organizations, though setup costs and complexity can be high.
Portnox offers scalable, competitive pricing based on ports, with annual fees, appreciated value, but no perpetual license option.
Tenable Security Center offers comprehensive but expensive asset-based pricing, with complexity impacting setup and licensing, especially for smaller enterprises.
Installing a physical box on each site can be expensive.
The overall pricing of Forescout Platform is reasonable for the functionality it provides.
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.
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.
The product is somewhat pricey, reflecting its valuable features and status as a high-quality solution in the vulnerability management market.
Tenable Security Center is quite expensive, particularly for the CEE region, causing us to lose cases due to its pricing.
The cost of Tenable Security Center is reasonable for our company.
 

Valuable Features

Forescout Platform offers agentless deployment for enhanced device visibility, integration flexibility, and customizable network security and management solutions.
Portnox provides scalable, agentless network visibility with intuitive dashboards and automated security integration, enhancing efficiency and endpoint compliance.
Tenable Security Center excels in vulnerability scanning, customizable policies, and integrations, with user-friendly UI and predictive prioritization.
One of the most valuable features of Forescout Platform is its automation, particularly the ability to automate remediation of rogue devices on the network.
The most effective feature has been network access management, which has been crucial for our primary use cases in the organization.
Our IT support team can easily manage daily tasks without being network administrators.
It provides very granular details of the device connected to each port.
Additionally, it has a great detection and alert tool that is easy to filter and identify any rogue agents or rogue endpoints in our network.
The most valuable features of Tenable Security Center for my clients are Vulnerability Priority Rating (VPR) and Asset Criticality Scoring.
The most effective feature of Tenable Security Center for detecting vulnerabilities is its capability for critical mapping.
Tenable Security Center provides an overall score of vulnerabilities, comparing an organization with others in the same industry.
 

Mindshare comparison

Network Access Control (NAC)
Network Access Control (NAC)
Risk-Based Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

AmjadKhan1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Blocks users who don't follow the policies and enforces compliance
The solution has a compliance enforcement feature that sends non-compliant systems to quarantine. Forescout Platform is a good product that provides seamless integration with Cisco Juniper and other devices. We wanted Forescout Platform to integrate with our firewalls and some vulnerability patch management solutions. Forescout Platform is currently the best product and top-of-the-line NAC solution in the market. I always recommend this product to other companies as well. We have 365 subsidiary companies. I work in the head office, and I always recommend it. This solution will be purchased by other companies in the next financial year. Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten.
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.
OndrejKOVAC - PeerSpot reviewer
Empower clients with risk-based vulnerability management through continuous workflow and valuable insights
Tenable Security Center could improve by implementing more dynamic data displays and translating reports into European languages. This is especially relevant in Central Eastern Europe, where clients often require reports in local languages. Additionally, the licensing model could be more flexible for managed security providers, similar to a pay-as-you-go model.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Educational Organization
9%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
Forescout is a very powerful NAC product that does not rely on port level configuration. It can detect and block unau...
What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
I would rate the Forescout Device and Visibility Control Platform at a six out of ten.
What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
I recommend doing a compression demo. If people use it, they will buy it. So they have to see the product in place. T...
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 che...
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 limitati...
What do you like most about Tenable SC?
The tool's dashboard and reporting capabilities match our company's needs since we are able to modify the basic view ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Tenable SC?
Tenable Security Center is quite expensive, particularly for the CEE region, causing us to lose cases due to its pric...
What needs improvement with Tenable SC?
Tenable Security Center could improve by implementing more dynamic data displays and translating reports into Europea...
 

Also Known As

Forescout Platform, CounterACT for Endpoint Compliance, ForeScout CounterACT
Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
Tenable.sc, Tenable Unified Security, Tenable SecurityCenter
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NHS Sussex, SAP, SEGA, Vistaprint, Miami Children's Hospital, Pioneer Investments, New York Law School, OmnicomGroup, Meritrust
Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
IBM, Sempra Energy, Microsoft, Apple, Adidas, Union Pacific
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: June 2025.
862,077 professionals have used our research since 2012.