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Portnox vs Yubico YubiKey comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Portnox
Ranking in Passwordless Authentication
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (5th), ZTNA (7th)
Yubico YubiKey
Ranking in Passwordless Authentication
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (7th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Passwordless Authentication category, the mindshare of Portnox is 11.8%, down from 14.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Yubico YubiKey is 9.6%, down from 11.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Passwordless Authentication Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Portnox11.8%
Yubico YubiKey9.6%
Other78.6%
Passwordless Authentication
 

Featured Reviews

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.
KM
Co-Founder at LBR Infosolutions
Robust authentication boosts security in restricted environments
Yubico YubiKey is highly valued for its anti-phishing feature, which prevents phishing of OTPs that are normally obtained through phones. The security features of Yubico YubiKey make it stand out among other MFA products in India, as it prevents anyone from accessing my password or PIN. Additionally, it supports receiving OTPs on phones.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Portnox ensures system compliance through policy enforcement, including antivirus updates, Windows operating system updates, and system patches, helping network administrators maintain system health and security across the network."
"It's a stable product."
"My impression of the universal zero-trust platform offered by Portnox is that it is a strong solution that is easy to manage, improves network security, and provides centralized control over user and device access."
"The most important of all is that we are aware of situations the minute anyone on the network has issues, with a very good graphical interface that shows us exactly where the issue is and what ports it is occurring at, making it a lot easier for us to troubleshoot network issues and helping with uptime and productivity."
"Portnox saves me about fifty percent of my time."
"The cloud-based feature of Portnox is excellent."
"CLEAR is one of the best of its kind on the market with respect to compatibility."
"The ability of the product to search the entire network and know what you have hidden on your network."
"Yubico YubiKey is highly valued for its anti-phishing feature, which prevents phishing of OTPs that are normally obtained through phones."
"It's small and lightweight. Like a phone, it doesn't run out of battery. It also doesn't have to be unlocked. It doesn't break. Moreover, they're very durable and it's very convenient."
"The solution is simple to use and we have installed it in our clients' endpoints. The tool is just plug-and-play for the end user. The end user can just put in the key to the security computer and log in without any hassle. The solution is efficient, user-friendly, and easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Yubico YubiKey is security."
"YubiKey is a hardware security device with advanced security features."
 

Cons

"I believe there are some difficulties with the removal of devices that could be improved."
"As there are no agents in Portnox Clear, the customers of the product cannot download any agents on their devices, making them unsure if the product offers proper security."
"We have seen instances where the older version stops working properly, and we have to update each system individually."
"In many situations, the authentication steps cause slightly slow access and introduce some delay in the authentication process."
"The support team is very limited. They don't have much support during Asia Pacific hours; the team sits in during the EMI and US hours."
"It can't work fully redundant."
"Regarding improvements, maybe in terms of integration, they could look into something the guest captive portal features."
"It would be good to integrate Portnox CORE with CLEAR."
"Yubico YubiKey could be improved by allowing for centralized administration, which is not currently available in India."
"Currently, an area where the product lacks is in addressing service needs."
"It's a hardware device, so it isn't cost-effective to use for all your accounts. You might have a hard time getting budget approval. It's better to take a strategic approach and use it only for critical accounts. You can use other forms of authentication for the rest."
"Yubico YubiKey is inconvient. No one likes the idea of having to put a USB device into the system, having to remember to take it out, and having passwords. It may be very good for security but it is not great for people to use."
"It would be better if the product can come up with a serial number for the keys. It would be nice if they had a numbering system as a configuration identity that would help the IT and technical teams to identify the keys because they look all the same. It would be more like putting a tag on them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's not cheap. It's not expensive. It's in the middle."
"The licensing module should be reviewed to count the number of devices instead of port numbers of total switches. There is a case for this where not all ports for a switch are used by devices. Unused ports are calculated in the license, then the customer pays for license for those unused ports."
"The solution is very expensive and I would rate it 10 out of 10."
"It is not bad. 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. We do have RADIUS servers for the US, Asia, and Europe."
"Pricing is quite reasonable."
"The users are not very happy with the new licensing option where there is only a subscription license. There is no perpetual license."
"The cost of Portnox Clear is reasonable."
"Pricing is not cheap. It is based on licenses per port. After licensing is purchased, you only pay for support."
"We paid 100 bucks for one Yubikey."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise15
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox Clear?
Overall, our experience with Portnox pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been very positive. One of the key advantages is the cloud-native licensing model, which eliminates the need for signific...
What needs improvement with Portnox Clear?
During my daily use, I noticed that if you have many devices being managed by a particular server, any device being managed by that server takes quite a bit of time to respond. If you log into Port...
What is your primary use case for Portnox Clear?
Portnox was primarily used for network access control, which granted access to enterprise devices based on specific parameters that we set. A specific example of how I used Portnox for network acce...
What needs improvement with Yubico YubiKey?
Yubico YubiKey could be improved by allowing for centralized administration, which is not currently available in India. In India, administrators typically have control over all security devices, bu...
What is your primary use case for Yubico YubiKey?
I primarily use Yubico YubiKey ( /products/yubico-yubikey-reviews ) for authentication in environments such as Active Directory, cloud administration, trading room, and dealing room where phones ar...
What advice do you have for others considering Yubico YubiKey?
From an individual perspective, no improvements are required for Yubico YubiKey. However, at a corporate or enterprise level, a central control mechanism is necessary, which is currently lacking in...
 

Also Known As

Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
YubiKey
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sallie Mae, Roku, Vuori, Legal Zoom, Anaplan, Aecon, H.I.G. Capital, McLaren Construction Group, PFCU, UK Mortgage Lending Limited, CCC Intelligent Solutions
Google Inc., Salesforce, Novartis, Facebook, GitHub, CERN, Duke University, Code Enigma, Luther Burbank High School, ZorgSaam, Agfa, Santa Clara County Fire Department, Dyson Ltd, Portugal Telecom, Boral, Canonical Ltd
Find out what your peers are saying about Portnox vs. Yubico YubiKey and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.