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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
6.4
Forescout Platform enhances security by automating risk remediation, identifying devices, and targeting vulnerabilities, leading to cost savings.
Sentiment score
4.5
Portnox improves network security with efficient cloud-based management, reducing maintenance needs and offering quick policy control advantages.
Sentiment score
6.5
Tenable Security Center boosts ROI by minimizing costs, enhancing security, reducing manpower needs, and preventing costly data breaches.
If I compare this to an on-premises environment using Cisco ISE or Aruba ClearPass, it would require phenomenally large teams for infrastructure management.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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.
IT Infrastructure Manager at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Most customers feel value immediately upon deployment.
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
If we cannot adjust how to operate the solution, then it becomes very difficult, so hearing and initial tuning are very important.
Marketing Expert at J's communication
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.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
Forescout Platform's customer service is responsive and knowledgeable but needs improvements in partner interactions and consistent service quality.
Sentiment score
6.9
Portnox's customer service is praised for responsiveness and helpfulness, though some suggest improvements in local services and partner training.
Sentiment score
7.4
Tenable Security Center customer support is responsive and knowledgeable, with U.S. support rated higher than the European counterpart.
We have had experience with their technical support and must pay additionally for maintenance, support, and regional service.
IT Head at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The main area needing improvement is the technical knowledge of support staff.
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
For very high severity issues where the entire office is non-functional, response time is within 30 minutes.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
They respond very immediately and provide detailed, amazing support.
Systems Analyst at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Longer response times and less thorough assistance.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
They are helpful and were very helpful to us, coordinating with us on several issues.
Head of Information Security at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Forescout Platform is praised for scalability and adaptability, accommodating various environments and needs despite network issues.
Sentiment score
7.7
Portnox effectively scales for multiple deployments, supports thousands of endpoints, and adjusts easily, though large environments may need tweaks.
Sentiment score
8.0
Tenable Security Center is praised for its seamless scalability, adaptability, and integration, accommodating diverse organizational needs and sizes effectively.
Scalability can be costly since a physical box needs to be installed for every site.
Director, International IT Infrastructure Support & Information Security at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
We have never had any challenge based on a customer who has 1,000 devices versus a customer who has 30,000 devices; the feel is the same.
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
They ensure the backend can support it and do the provisioning while maintaining headroom and elasticity.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I rate scalability a ten; you simply pay and you get more.
Network And Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I can scale it extensively with the use of agents, allowing scanning in restrictive environments and loosely connected devices.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
Scalability is a bit limited with Tenable Security Center.
Cyber Security Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Forescout Platform is highly stable, with minor issues resolved quickly by effective support, earning user confidence in its performance.
Sentiment score
7.4
Portnox is generally reliable, with high stability ratings, but experiences occasional glitches and recommends improved update communication.
Sentiment score
8.0
Tenable Security Center is highly stable and reliable, handling large tasks efficiently with users rating its stability highly.
I would rate its stability as 9.5 out of ten.
Director, International IT Infrastructure Support & Information Security at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The product itself is available and its uptime is 100%.
Systems Analyst at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
In the four years that I used Portnox, if it crashed or the server crashed, that would not have been more than once.
Information Technology System Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
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.
Windows Server Administrator/ IT Support Officer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
The stability of the solution is outstanding.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
 

Room For Improvement

Forescout users seek enhanced memory management, detection, integration, reporting, interfaces, AI features, affordability, and improved support.
Portnox users seek better integration, interface improvements, flexible configuration, enhanced reporting, and reduced cloud reliance for on-premises solutions.
Users desire improved reporting, third-party integration, interface design, vulnerability handling, web scanning, pricing, support, and user-friendly features.
It would help if during integration, an admin user could check the password or credential used, as they currently cannot see the password after it is entered and saved.
Security Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Forescout Platform could enhance its integration of AI to improve IoT and OT device security to better meet our needs.
IT Head at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The console is a fat client, and a web interface would be preferable.
Director, International IT Infrastructure Support & Information Security at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
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.
President at TrackerSoft
When I reach the technical support, they give solutions that do not help me much, so I try to search the internet for other users' experiences to find solutions.
IT Project Manager at Xpress technologies
When I'm doing filtering at times, it doesn't filter the items properly.
Systems Analyst at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's important for Tenable to catch up on testing capabilities that are present in solutions like Qualys.
Cyber Security Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The reports and plugins for reports and scans could benefit from enhancements.
IT Helpdesk at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Translating reports into European languages is especially relevant in Central Eastern Europe, where clients often require reports in local languages.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
 

Setup Cost

Forescout Platform is costly but offers scalable value, with flexible licensing based on devices and potential discounts available.
Portnox offers competitive, transparent pricing under $20 per device annually, though opinions on affordability vary among users.
Tenable Security Center is costly per asset, with options including subscription and perpetual licenses, generally pricier than competitors.
Installing a physical box on each site can be expensive.
Director, International IT Infrastructure Support & Information Security at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The overall pricing of Forescout Platform is reasonable for the functionality it provides.
IT Head at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The price of Forescout Platform is reasonable and not overly costly.
Security Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
If you compare Portnox with all other well-known standard products, it is the cheapest.
IT Network Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe.
President at TrackerSoft
You are charged according to the number of users.
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The product is somewhat pricey, reflecting its valuable features and status as a high-quality solution in the vulnerability management market.
IT Helpdesk at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Tenable Security Center is quite expensive, particularly for the CEE region, causing us to lose cases due to its pricing.
Solution engineer at EXPERTience
The price of Tenable Security Center is not so high; it's relatively a cheaper solution.
Marketing Expert at J's communication
 

Valuable Features

Forescout Platform offers agentless network access, endpoint visibility, and seamless integration for efficient security and compliance management.
Portnox provides agentless, scalable network visibility and security with easy management and integration, streamlining access control and operational efficiency.
Tenable Security Center offers comprehensive vulnerability management with intuitive tools, strong integration, and flexible compliance for effective threat detection.
One of the most valuable features of Forescout Platform is its automation, particularly the ability to automate remediation of rogue devices on the network.
Director, International IT Infrastructure Support & Information Security at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The most effective feature has been network access management, which has been crucial for our primary use cases in the organization.
IT Head at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
When it comes to the effectiveness of Forescout Platform's real-time visibility in reducing the overall attack surface, I give it a 9 out of 10.
Security Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
It's notable how Portnox has improved operational efficiency.
IT Network Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is a very robust application because three teams use that part: the network team, the security team, and the support people.
Windows Server Administrator/ IT Support Officer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is possible to find the MAC address in the switch, but in Portnox, it is very useful to see the status of those ports, and that increases our security.
Assistant System Engineer at Tata Consultancy
We obtained good reports showing when patches were closed and the details of each patch, including who executed it and everything related to the patching process until it was closed.
Head of Information Security at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Tenable Security Center provides an overall score of vulnerabilities, comparing an organization with others in the same industry.
IT Helpdesk at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
The most effective feature of Tenable Security Center for detecting vulnerabilities is its capability for critical mapping.
Cyber Security Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Mindshare comparison

Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Forescout Platform10.3%
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)21.7%
Aruba ClearPass20.8%
Other47.2%
Network Access Control (NAC)
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Portnox5.4%
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)21.7%
Aruba ClearPass20.8%
Other52.099999999999994%
Network Access Control (NAC)
Risk-Based Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tenable Security Center8.9%
Qualys VMDR12.1%
Rapid7 InsightVM10.5%
Other68.5%
Risk-Based Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

AshishKumar Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Comprehensive visibility has strengthened endpoint control and automated threat response across networks
When it comes to improving Forescout Platform, I have faced some issues recently, particularly with the switch integration part. When integrating a switch, it asks for the vendor type, and often it does not match. For example, one series of HP switches may not be found in that vendor list. This leads to frustration because you have to check again with different HP models, and once you integrate a switch, you cannot edit the vendor list without removing it. Other issues are being worked on, particularly related to switch integration. I believe they will be fixed in the next upgrade or patch fix. There are no major issues, but the configuration changes needed for the switch model are necessary, and I think it would help if during integration, an admin user could check the password or credential used, as they currently cannot see the password after it is entered and saved.
Maurice Mwaura - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
Unified access control has improved compliance visibility and simplified passwordless access
There is work to be done when it comes to making the solution more seamless. For example, when a user is denied access, they would need a way to maybe self-resolve themselves, perhaps a way to generate a ticket on their own, something around resolutions. When it comes to users using the product, that is where good products are differentiated from products that are a bit of a challenge. Portnox has much to do in terms of their reporting. The generated reports need improvement. Things that other tools would say are normal are usually not present. For example, there is a page called NAS devices or NAS network that is able to show the switches that have been managed. Currently, there is no way of generating an easy report or an easy way of just generating something to tell the customer what they have been able to achieve so far. This is not done yet and is still very manual. I think there is work to be done there. More integrations around the various products being used would be beneficial. So far I have not encountered any major challenge. Where there was a challenge, I think support came in and helped us resolve. In fact, most of the challenges are not with the product; they are with the customer environment. I think that is just to update their documentation where they have come across a new vendor for easier integrations in the future.
reviewer1534134 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Information Security at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Centralized analytics have strengthened patch visibility and support efficient regulatory reporting
From my experience, I assess the product's analytics capabilities as successful. It helped us significantly with patching and managing the risk of the patching process across all our environments, including network devices with Windows and Unix systems. The product covered several environments and gave us exactly what we needed in our environment. Tenable Security Center's centralized platform helped with risk assessment and management across our IT environments. It covered the patching process, and we previously faced many issues regarding how to patch different environments, how to monitor the patching process, and whether it was successful or not. We obtained good reports showing when patches were closed and the details of each patch, including who executed it and everything related to the patching process until it was closed. This gave us good details about the process which helped us significantly in our reporting and even in audits, whether internal or external. We learned how to close audit issues safely and successfully. We used the dashboards for real-time threat insights and extracted several dashboards from Tenable Security Center. We use these dashboards in our cybersecurity dashboard and committees that we have. These dashboards are part of our committees, especially the cybersecurity committee and other committees that we attend.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise44
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise27
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox Clear?
Portnox's pricing is very conservative and offers great value for money. If I compare it with any other solution, pri...
What needs improvement with Portnox Clear?
In Portnox, the area that has room for improvement is that older data is not fetching correctly. For an older switch,...
What is your primary use case for Portnox Clear?
My use case for Portnox is for whitelisting ports and adding policies. We are using two modes: enforce mode and monit...
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?
The price of Tenable Security Center is not so high; it's relatively a cheaper solution.
What needs improvement with Tenable SC?
We did conduct a long implementation which relates to what I think can be improved about Tenable Security Center. In ...
 

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 Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: March 2026.
885,728 professionals have used our research since 2012.