No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

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 April 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."
"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."
"ClearPass is stable; in my opinion, it's the best solution of its kind."
"Aruba ClearPass has improved the security control in our network environment."
"Aruba ClearPass is easy for everybody and better than Cisco."
"I like the stability and the GUI, which is always improving."
"As opposed to Cisco ISE and their tech act solution, hands down, Aruba is far better."
"Aruba is a highly scalable product. It just works. We have no issues with scalability."
"I found all Sophos Network Access Control features valuable, but IP blocking is the most useful."
"Sophos Network Access Control is easy to implement, use, and manage, and I recommend it."
"The installation is very straightforward."
"Sophos' technical support is great, very fast and responsive, and they always know how to fix the problem."
"The solution offers very good visibility."
"The platform's most valuable features include robust reporting and analytics capabilities, which provide deep insights into our sales performance and customer behavior."
"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 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."
 

Cons

"In the future, I would like to see plugins for AI and machine learning."
"The main issue I have seen with Aruba ClearPass is specific integration with Juniper firewalls, and this is definitely something I would like to see in the future."
"Aruba ClearPass has fewer deployment scenarios and flexibility than Forescout."
"It was a complex solution to set up because of its newness."
"The user interface should be improved. The logs and how the logging mechanism works can also use an upgrade."
"I would like the area of managing wired technology to be improved. Wireless is very good but I'm still struggling a bit to do my end to end configurations in the wired technology area."
"The improvement can be in the cloud area. They can improve it for the cloud so that we can deploy it on the cloud."
"One a scale of one to five, I would give the scalability a three. It is not scalable enough."
"The solution can improve the for applying policies. They can be complex depending don't the group they are applied to."
"I would like to be able to fully customize the reports."
"The solution could offer more useful documentation."
"Sophos Network Access Control needs improvement regarding its slow interface, loading time, and reporting."
"An area that could be improved is the information about licensing, which is fairly confusing at present."
"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."
"It would be good if Sophos Network Access Control had better integration with other devices."
"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."
 

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."
"The product is very costly."
"The licensing model is very straightforward. There are two types of licensing for Aruba ClearPass, a perpetual license, and a subscription. Both of them are straightforward. We don't need to read an ordering guide, it's very clear."
"Run a 90 day free Proof of Concept (POC) for each product by implementing and using it fully in your environment. This way you will be educated on its features, functionality, and manageability.​"
"The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. However, Cisco ISE was as expensive when we were comparing."
"​Cost is important. I switched because Aruba's costs were well below Cisco's."
"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."
"Aruba is a little more expensive than other products in the market here."
"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 very cheap compared to other solutions like Cisco, Barracuda, and Palo Alto."
"Sophos Network Access Control is an expensive solution."
"It provides a moderate pricing option for all of its features and benefits."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Access Control (NAC) solutions are best for your needs.
885,880 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Healthcare Company
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

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: April 2026.
885,880 professionals have used our research since 2012.