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Aruba ClearPass vs Sophos Network Access Control comparison

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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)
9th
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 October 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Aruba ClearPass is 17.8%, down from 23.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Network Access Control is 3.1%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba ClearPass17.8%
Sophos Network Access Control3.1%
Other79.1%
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.
PS
System Administrator And Network Engineer at Vidyashilp University
Access control has strengthened security and central console management streamlines device oversight
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 misbehaving email from the network but is not connected to our network and uses a personal network instead, it becomes difficult to trace and identify which network the email is coming from. An inventory system should also be added in the future. Some antivirus solutions have inventory systems that provide all system details. Since we install the Sophos client on client machines, we could obtain details about which software is being used and what the configuration of the machines is. This information would be valuable, as some information was missing when I was using the product previously.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"ClearPass is effortless to use and configure. It's not hard to learn the tool, and it has lots of features."
"It has an easy to learn web GUI and ​command lines.​"
"It is beneficial from a security perspective because not everyone can connect to our wifi without going through an authentication process."
"The support is top notch, expert, and very friendly. ​"
"Aruba ClearPass is a very stable solution."
"But for authentication and authorization, I believe Aruba ClearPass is the best, and I believe that it is a top product currently on the market."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"Aruba Clearpass has a great set of networking securing features and, with its four modules policy manager, guests, onboard, and insight, it will give you the best NAC solution along with AAA, RADIUS, TACACS+ and BYOD features, which will help you to have a robust security on your network."
"The wifi control is fantastic and makes it very easy to administer."
"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 return on our investment was huge, mostly due to the time saved in managing thousands of physical endpoints."
"There is good documentation that helps to deploy a new wireless access point and a controller in a very easy way."
"The most valuable features of Sophos Network Access Control are the quick response times to threats and reliable security."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"Sophos has helped us to save time and money and to better manage web activities. It has also helped us to reduce misuse of the network and restrict hacking attempts."
"I found all Sophos Network Access Control features valuable, but IP blocking is the most useful."
 

Cons

"The scalability could improve."
"ClearPass Policy Manager has to be easier to configure."
"The licensing model could be improved."
"In my opinion, the price of Aruba ClearPass could be better."
"The cost of Aruba is very, very high. It's the biggest challenge we have with this product."
"The monitoring of Aruba ClearPass needs improvement."
"Aruba ClearPass could improve when it comes to troubleshooting, it can be difficult. Some advanced problems are difficult."
"The monitoring of Aruba ClearPass needs improvement. For example, they have monitoring for TECHx and you can find out what the administrator did. However, if Aruba ClearPass is managing GUI devices, you do not know what the administrator is doing."
"Endpoint and firewall synchronization is not as smooth as we are expecting from Sophos Network Access Control."
"There is room for improvement in pricing."
"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."
"It would be beneficial to consider some improvements regarding the dashboard."
"I would like to see mobile administration capabilities in the next release so that we can administer the device from a mobile device."
"Sometimes we encounter intermediate-level support staff who use trial-and-error approaches, but sometimes we receive support from excellent staff members who resolve issues within seconds."
"The user interface, in terms of managing the product, could be better."
"In Indonesia, there are a lot of false positives. For example, many websites from our government and local industries are blocked by the IPS."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"It is affordable. In Lebanon, companies are small, and they do not have a big budget. They cannot invest a lot of money, and Aruba ClearPass is quite affordable for them."
"Compared to the functionality, the pricing is very favorable. It's affordable and provides good value for the money."
"There is a license to use Aruba ClearPass."
"The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. However, Cisco ISE was as expensive when we were comparing."
"Aruba is a little more expensive than other products in the market here."
"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."
"Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."
"It provides a moderate pricing option for all of its features and benefits."
"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."
"It is quite expensive."
"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."
"I rate the price of Sophos Network Access Control a five out of ten."
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916,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Construction Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise34
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba ClearPass?
Compared to Cisco and others, the pricing is reasonable. Licensing costs are case-specific and have been manageable.
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: September 2026.
916,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.