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Aruba ClearPass vs Sophos Network Access Control comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 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

Aruba ClearPass
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sophos Network Access Control
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Aruba ClearPass is 20.8%, down from 24.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Network Access Control is 2.3%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba ClearPass20.8%
Sophos Network Access Control2.3%
Other76.9%
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

Darko Skurla - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Enterprise Customer Solutions Specialist at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Role-based policies have simplified secure access control for all users and smart devices
I do not know about the functionality of Aruba ClearPass integration with a third party. If you ask me if there is support for Zebra and for different IoT devices, they have it. However, I do not know how to describe integration with other products. Aruba ClearPass can act as a RADIUS server and it can connect to the domain RADIUS server, for example. The biggest problem is when a customer does not know what they want with Aruba ClearPass. I can recommend Aruba ClearPass to other users because it is very stable. My review rating for this product is ten out of ten.
HirenPatel2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at rspl
Have faced delays in support despite strong multi-layer policy configuration
I have observed some disadvantages as we have experienced one particular problem. We were facing an issue of synchronization of the endpoint with our firewall with help on a cloud for heartbeat syncing. However, it was not syncing as per our requirement. The user has to connect our firewall with the help of VPN. We were supposed to assume a solution on a cloud, which has good synchronization on a cloud with Sophos Central. It will sync with our firewall as well with the help of Sophos Central. Endpoint and firewall synchronization is not as smooth as we are expecting from Sophos Network Access Control. We have to connect with VPN. We are expecting that if we have already installed an endpoint on our system and it is connected to the internet, then it must be synchronized on a cloud with Sophos Central. Through Sophos Central, it must connect with our firewall. If the endpoint is configured on Sophos Central and the firewall is also configured in Sophos Central, then there should be no need to connect to VPN.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The web dashboard and the policy manager are very intuitive and very easy for the engineers to use."
"It makes it easy to require robust user authentication for both wired and wireless endpoints, including BYODs."
"Document authentications allows us to decide which users can connect to an office VLAN and this has been the most valuable feature."
"It is beneficial from a security perspective because not everyone can connect to our wifi without going through an authentication process."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba ClearPass is the ease of deployment and integration with other equipment in the network."
"ClearPass works, it's quite stable and the solution is NAC and will stay that way."
"I'd rate the solution ten out of ten."
"ClearPass is the best Network Access Control Swiss army knife out there right now."
"The most valuable features of Sophos Network Access Control are the quick response times to threats and reliable security."
"We get full visibility into the network as a product, which is one of the key features of the product because recently they have acquired another product called Secure Wave, which is integrated into Sophos Network Access Control and provides advanced capabilities for managed detection and remediation, MDR, a major plus for customers."
"The wifi control is fantastic and makes it very easy to administer."
"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."
"Sophos' technical support is great, very fast and responsive, and they always know how to fix the problem."
"There is really good visibility for the appliance."
"What Sophos has done is integrate almost the entire OSI layer infrastructure; it gives me visibility across my infrastructure, into all the mobile devices that are on my network and the security I have on those mobile devices, my users, my servers, what is happening at all my gateways, and visibility on my switches, so it gives me a global view of my infrastructure."
"The return on our investment was huge, mostly due to the time saved in managing thousands of physical endpoints."
 

Cons

"After HP, their support is the worst."
"The GUI of Aruba ClearPass could improve, it is not user-friendly."
"Technical support was not all that great, actually. They are responsive, but oftentimes are VERY reluctant to initiate a screen-sharing session or give in-depth answers."
"Some functions could be improved."
"Because some users use OS 10, it would be good if the solution could group its functions better."
"Reporting module has room for improvement. It also need integration with SIEM solutions and Next Generation Firewalls."
"If the UI is simplified and improved, bugs are minimized, and the support becomes more responsive, it would be perfect."
"The licensing model wasn't explained terribly well to us so we vastly under-purchased; this has unfortunately caused us a bit of trouble over the last year."
"I would like more details on the incoming connection, like what is the download speed and how it fluctuates. If Sophos can give that information, it would be really good."
"An area that could be improved is the information about licensing, which is fairly confusing at present."
"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."
"In Indonesia, there are a lot of false positives. For example, many websites from our government and local industries are blocked by the IPS."
"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."
"The difficult thing was finding the metrics."
"The interface on the cloud could be a bit better - just to give more performance on it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license to use Aruba ClearPass."
"I can't give the exact cost of Aruba ClearPass because that's handled by the purchasing team, but it's on the cheaper side, and on a scale of one to five, I'm rating the cost a four. Initially, the pricing for the solution is expensive in terms of deployment, but in the long term, for example, after more than five to ten years, the operational cost incurred by the company is quite affordable because you don't have to renew the license. It's a one-time purchase. My company only uses the standard license for Aruba ClearPass."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is too expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."
"I can say that the package or licensing model offered for the solution is a permanent one."
"The solution is costly."
"The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. However, Cisco ISE was as expensive when we were comparing."
"The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. When you want to build redundant systems it can be seen as necessary, so the enterprise will manage all of those costs."
"Aruba is a little more expensive than other products in the market here."
"Sophos Network Access Control is very cheap compared to other solutions like Cisco, Barracuda, and Palo Alto."
"It provides a moderate pricing option for all of its features and benefits."
"I rate the price of Sophos Network Access Control a five out of ten."
"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."
"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
8%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise33
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Aruba Clearpass or Cisco ISE?
Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely ...
What is the biggest difference between Aruba ClearPass and FortiNAC?
I've done quite a lot of work with ClearPass, and not a lot with FortiNAC/Bradford. ClearPass incorporates a number of different functions including ClearPass Guest for creating complex wireless g...
What do you like most about Aruba ClearPass?
If you are looking at the base installation, then it was a very straightforward process, which I would rate an eight or nine out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Network Access Control?
The pricing of Sophos Network Access Control is good, but it is somewhat high.
What needs improvement with Sophos Network Access Control?
In my opinion, one feature that should be added is the ability to trace emails from individuals who change their IP address or send misbehaving emails from alternative networks. If someone sends a ...
What is your primary use case for Sophos Network Access Control?
Sophos Network Access Control serves primary use cases for both networking purposes and security purposes.
 

Also Known As

Avenda eTIPS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified School District, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities
Rushmoor Borough Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba ClearPass vs. Sophos Network Access Control and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,376 professionals have used our research since 2012.