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Forescout Platform vs Sophos Network Access Control comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

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

Forescout Platform
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
IoT Security (4th), Endpoint Compliance (2nd), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (19th)
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 June 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Forescout Platform is 8.6%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Network Access Control is 3.0%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Forescout Platform8.6%
Sophos Network Access Control3.0%
Other88.4%
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

AshishKumar Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Comprehensive visibility has strengthened endpoint control and automated threat response across networks
When it comes to improving Forescout Platform, I have faced some issues recently, particularly with the switch integration part. When integrating a switch, it asks for the vendor type, and often it does not match. For example, one series of HP switches may not be found in that vendor list. This leads to frustration because you have to check again with different HP models, and once you integrate a switch, you cannot edit the vendor list without removing it. Other issues are being worked on, particularly related to switch integration. I believe they will be fixed in the next upgrade or patch fix. There are no major issues, but the configuration changes needed for the switch model are necessary, and I think it would help if during integration, an admin user could check the password or credential used, as they currently cannot see the password after it is entered and saved.
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

"Customer Service: It's excellent! Technical Support: It's excellent!"
"The platform enables automated policy enforcement, allowing us to simulate and test policies before enforcement, streamlining our security operations."
"Provides a good overview of all devices on a network."
"The most valuable feature of Forescout Platform is that it has everything that Aruba has at significantly less cost."
"It gives us a clear initial and secondary view of what's happening on our network to determine its health."
"This product provided a really good effect in terms of network access control."
"The user management has been very easy for the most part."
"The most valuable feature is the blocking of USB devices."
"We have had interactions with the technical support team through the Xnet platform. It's good."
"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 pricing is very reasonable and you can negotiate on the price."
"The solution offers very good visibility."
"I am very satisfied with this solution overall. All of the features that we use have been working successfully."
"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."
"The return on our investment was huge, mostly due to the time saved in managing thousands of physical endpoints."
"The most valuable features of Sophos Network Access Control are the quick response times to threats and reliable security."
 

Cons

"Forescout Platform could improve the vulnerability management as well as the control on the endpoint, which needs to be connected to my network."
"For improvements, I think technical support could be enhanced. The time zone difference makes remote support difficult - I'm in Indonesia, and they're in the US. Maybe the Forescout Platform could provide engineers from Asia Pacific."
"The solution could always improve by adding more features to make it more robust."
"Search - needs boolean functionality (or pseudo operand now working)."
"It needs enhanced mobile support, but I have heard that this is coming."
"The configuration of the rules is both a blessing and a curse. While it is almost infinitely configurable, knowing how to get the product to do what you want it to do can be difficult, especially at first."
"Custom integrations need to be better."
"First and foremost, that information is not accessible."
"Users are not controlled by role-based access; it's basically device-based control. The definition of role-based control is a little vague here because on the cloud level, it regulates access rather than tasks."
"Continuous development in specific areas might be required."
"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 could be improved by having an ASIC chip similar to FortiNAC, as this would provide better processing for big organizations."
"It would be good if Sophos Network Access Control had better integration with other devices."
"It would be beneficial to consider some improvements regarding the dashboard."
"In order to provide better management, it would be ideal with they offered better plugins for their firewall."
"One area in which the product could be improved is the user interface. While functional, it can be somewhat cluttered and unintuitive, especially for new users."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool's pricing is expensive but reasonable."
"The cost of the solution depends on the customer's requirement because the customer is asking for different integration with a different product. Forescout Platform's price would start to get a bit higher. However, overall the price is a little expensive. It's can fit within the customer budget."
"I would rate Forescout Platform's pricing as four out of five."
"Time savings in finding rogue devices as well as identifying potentially unwanted devices on the network has saved the organization time and money."
"It's about $160,000, but I'm not sure how long that is for or what it includes. Because we were a test base, we were provided with servers, but now, Forescout wants us to buy servers because those servers are now end-of-life or end-of-service. For our lifecycle management program, in order to get a refresh on those servers, we would have to buy servers or use our own network resources to house Forescout. Forescout takes up about 13 or 14 virtual CPUs."
"The fact that we were allowed to spin up as many servers as we had need of to support our geographic requirements while paying for licensing as an enterprise truly set Forescout apart from the crowd and improved the way we could design our access."
"We paid between $20,000 and $25,000 for a three-year license with maintenance."
"Devices with multiple IP's count multiple times against your license count."
"It is quite expensive."
"Sophos Network Access Control is an expensive solution."
"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 very cheap compared to other solutions like Cisco, Barracuda, and Palo Alto."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise45
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
Forescout is a very powerful NAC product that does not rely on port level configuration. It can detect and block unauthorized devices very quickly. But it has a lot of capabilities and really would...
What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
I would rate the Forescout Device and Visibility Control Platform at a six out of ten.
What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
I recommend doing a compression demo. If people use it, they will buy it. So they have to see the product in place. That's the main recommendation is to do a proof of concept. If they do, they will...
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

Forescout Platform, CounterACT for Endpoint Compliance, ForeScout CounterACT
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NHS Sussex, SAP, SEGA, Vistaprint, Miami Children's Hospital, Pioneer Investments, New York Law School, OmnicomGroup, Meritrust
Rushmoor Borough Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Forescout Platform vs. Sophos Network Access Control and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,051 professionals have used our research since 2012.