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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

"It provides a single access point and is highly available."
"We are able to satisfy many different organizational needs because of its flexibility."
"The most valuable features of Aruba ClearPass are the authentication mechanisms and the integration with Active Directory(AD)."
"A mature and functional product."
"I have managed to transfer many customers from different NACs to Aruba ClearPass, even though they already had NAC implemented that was not Aruba ClearPass, because the service fee was much more expensive than buying Aruba ClearPass."
"Document authentications allows us to decide which users can connect to an office VLAN and this has been the most valuable feature."
"We are mainly using Aruba ClearPass for our clients for securing access to their on-premise assets, and as per customer expectations, we are trying our best to track the complete user activity in the network."
"I like the integration options with a multitude of other vendors and Aruba applications."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"The installation is very straightforward."
"Web protection, URL filtering, and application filtering are the most valuable features of Sophos Network Access Control."
"The scalability of the system and the performance of the system and the solution's most valuable features."
"The biggest advantage of Sophos Network Access Control is that it is very synchronized with the security on both the endpoint and the firewall on a single platform, and it is easy to maintain."
"There is really good visibility for the appliance."
"Sophos' technical support is great, very fast and responsive, and they always know how to fix the problem."
"I found all Sophos Network Access Control features valuable, but IP blocking is the most useful."
 

Cons

"The improvement can be in the cloud area. They can improve it for the cloud so that we can deploy it on the cloud."
"What needs improvement in Aruba ClearPass is just the endpoint context server, in particular, the indication with the context server because sometimes the daily process isn't as smooth-sailing."
"The solution needs to upgrade its user interface. Right now, it's not so user friendly, and it's an aspect that my clients' wish was improved upon."
"Lacks the ability to handle more than one certificate for both the management process and the Captive Portal."
"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."
"In the future, I would like to see plugins for AI and machine learning."
"The response from technical support can be very late. We have faced delays in the resolution of production issues after raising tickets, which impacts productivity."
"One a scale of one to five, I would give the scalability a three. It is not scalable enough."
"In order to provide better management, it would be ideal with they offered better plugins for their firewall."
"In Indonesia, there are a lot of false positives. For example, many websites from our government and local industries are blocked by the IPS."
"The difficult thing was finding the metrics."
"Endpoint and firewall synchronization is not as smooth as we are expecting from Sophos Network Access Control."
"The difficult thing was finding the metrics."
"What needs to be improved on is the fact that Sophos consumes a lot of processor resources and, once it starts scanning, the RAM utilization is very high."
"Sophos Network Access Control needs improvement regarding its slow interface, loading time, and reporting."
"It would be beneficial to consider some improvements regarding the dashboard."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aruba is a little more expensive than other products in the market here."
"In terms of your fixed cost, it is much less than a lot of other solutions in the market. The initial cost is very high."
"Aruba ClearPass has permanent licenses. You purchase it one time and this license is yours. You don't need to refresh it for five years, et cetera. They have a couple of licenses for enabled features with not only one license."
"The solution is costly."
"The pricing model for Aruba ClearPass is complex. Customers only pay for the license fees, with no additional costs."
"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."
"The licensing cost for Aruba ClearPass is a bit expensive. Its pricing could be better. The license costs around $125,000 for the perpetual license and support for one year. Aruba can give you a license with five thousand endpoint access and one thousand five hundred onboard licenses on one hundred endpoints and two controllers."
"I rate the price of Sophos Network Access Control a five out of ten."
"It is quite expensive."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Healthcare 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.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.