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Forescout Platform vs Sophos Network Access Control comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

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

Forescout Platform
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
IoT Security (3rd), Endpoint Compliance (4th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (15th)
Sophos Network Access Control
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Forescout Platform is 12.3%, down from 13.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Network Access Control is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

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.
Vishal Deshwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical support excels but hardware enhancements are needed for faster processing
The best features in Sophos Network Access Control are fewer than FortiNAC and Cisco ISE, but when discussing budget and customer support, different vendors have different perspectives. Cisco is better in support, FortiNAC is better in security, and different vendors maintain different perspectives. I utilized the device quarantine feature around eight months ago. It is specifically for when any malicious or harmful file comes to the system. Through NAC, we can put it in quarantine, and if anything comes or goes from this system, it will be monitored continuously. We can define these parameters as needed. The role-based access controls feature of Sophos Network Access Control allows persons at different positions in an organization to have different types of roles. We can give them full access as an administrator, provide some network access, or give users only read-only access. This depends on the user's requirements and the position they hold within the organization, allowing us to grant roles according to their post. The integration capabilities of Sophos Network Access Control are good, as it can easily integrate with other solutions and vendors.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The platform enables automated policy enforcement, allowing us to simulate and test policies before enforcement, streamlining our security operations."
"Emergency response, risk assessment information to get a view of the of the vulnerability."
"Being able to actively identify the client without a certificate allows you to control every device on your network regardless of the make, model, and software running. This allows for end-to-end security."
"The interface is easy to use."
"Forescout Platform's best feature is plug-in integration."
"Ease of deployment There's a great support team that becomes actively engaged whenever we encounter issues. Their technical support is amazing. Good documentation is available. The product is stable. The solution is highly scalable. I recommend using the solution because it gives verified control over the environment. It has a great visibility feature."
"The valuable feature of the product stems from the fact that it is easy to implement."
"The visibility is the main benefit. We now know how many devices are connected, what the use for each device is and what kind of devices we have in our environment."
"I found all Sophos Network Access Control features valuable, but IP blocking is the most useful."
"I am very satisfied with this solution overall. All of the features that we use have been working successfully."
"The platform's most valuable features include robust reporting and analytics capabilities, which provide deep insights into our sales performance and customer behavior."
"The user interface makes it easy to configure and use."
"The most valuable features of Sophos Network Access Control are the quick response times to threats and reliable security."
"Sophos' technical support is great, very fast and responsive, and they always know how to fix the problem."
"What Sophos has done is integrate almost the entire OSI layer infrastructure. It gives me visibility across my infrastructure. It gives me visibility into all the mobile devices that are on my network and into the security I have on those mobile devices."
"The scalability of the system and the performance of the system and the solution's most valuable features."
 

Cons

"The installation is not secure because it takes high admin privileges."
"Can be expensive if it's only being used for one feature."
"The solution could always improve by adding more features to make it more robust."
"The solution needs more definitive pricing. The costs are hard to nail down."
"Forescout Platform needs to improve how the device works in preventing rogue servers."
"Definitely, having more third-party integration would be an improvement."
"In the next release of the solution, it could benefit from being more flexible to allow for more freedom."
"Better integration with third-party vendors is needed because as it is now, the list of third-party solutions that we can integrate and automate is quite limited."
"It would be good if Sophos Network Access Control had better integration with other devices."
"The solution can improve the for applying policies. They can be complex depending don't the group they are applied to."
"Sophos Network Access Control requires a lot of resources to work, which is an area for improvement. Pricing could also be improved because it's costly."
"Sophos Network Access Control needs improvement regarding its slow interface, loading time, and reporting."
"There is room for improvement in pricing."
"The difficult thing was finding the metrics."
"I would like to see mobile administration capabilities in the next release so that we can administer the device from a mobile device."
"Sophos Network Access Control could be improved by having an ASIC chip similar to FortiNAC, as this would provide better processing for big organizations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's pricing is reasonable."
"You can have a flexible license depending on your environment."
"The price of Forescout is reasonable when compared to Cisco ISE."
"Forescout Platform is on the expensive side."
"Forescout's pricing is noted for its attractiveness, with potential discounts depending on partnership levels."
"The pricing structure should be enhanced."
"We need to pay for integration for each integration that we want to do and there is an additional license fee. This adds more costs. It is not something that anyone can afford. If you want to integrate this with a lot of other tools, it can be costly."
"The fact that we were allowed to spin up as many servers as we had need of to support our geographic requirements while paying for licensing as an enterprise truly set Forescout apart from the crowd and improved the way we could design our access."
"Sophos Network Access Control is very cheap compared to other solutions like Cisco, Barracuda, and Palo Alto."
"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."
"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."
"It is quite expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Educational Organization
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
7%
Construction Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

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 unauthorized devices very quickly. But it has a lot of capabilities and really would...
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. That's the main recommendation is to do a proof of concept. If they do, they will...
What do you like most about Sophos Network Access Control?
Sophos Network Access Control has a useful interface, and I like its dashboard, which is very useful for us to check everything.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Network Access Control?
I am not able to say much on the financial specifics as it pertains to the sales unit.
What needs improvement with Sophos Network Access Control?
Sophos Network Access Control could be improved by having an ASIC chip similar to FortiNAC, as this would provide better processing for big organizations. In larger organizations, we need higher sp...
 

Also Known As

Forescout Platform, CounterACT for Endpoint Compliance, ForeScout CounterACT
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NHS Sussex, SAP, SEGA, Vistaprint, Miami Children's Hospital, Pioneer Investments, New York Law School, OmnicomGroup, Meritrust
Rushmoor Borough Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Forescout Platform vs. Sophos Network Access Control and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,490 professionals have used our research since 2012.