

Portnox and Aruba ClearPass compete in the network access control solutions category. Portnox appears to have the upper hand in terms of ease of deployment and pricing, making it attractive for businesses looking for cost-effective solutions.
Features: Portnox offers agentless operation, excellent security features, and seamless integration with Azure AD, Okta, and Google Workspace, all of which facilitate easy setup across multiple environments. Its scalability and cloud-based controls enhance operational efficiency. Aruba ClearPass is known for its robust authentication mechanisms and flexible integration with various systems, offering comprehensive policy management and supporting multiple vendors.
Room for Improvement: Portnox could improve its response times in certain environments and enhance integration with certain third-party vendors. Challenges with cloud authentication and outdated data retrieval for older devices are also noted. Aruba ClearPass users mention the complexity of setup and management, calling for better user interfaces and documentation. The licensing model and integration capabilities, especially with firewalls and cloud environments, need further enhancement.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Portnox provides flexible deployment options like on-premises, hybrid, and cloud, which suit diverse IT environments. Users highlight the responsiveness and effectiveness of Portnox's technical support. Aruba ClearPass offers primarily on-premises or private cloud deployment models fit for complex network environments. While their support is generally positive, quicker problem resolution and better local support capabilities are suggested.
Pricing and ROI: Portnox has competitive pricing with device-based licensing, avoiding high costs, and offering immediate ROI through operational efficiencies. Its direct licensing model is appreciated. Aruba ClearPass is viewed as expensive, sparking discussions on its cost-effectiveness, especially for large deployments. However, its enterprise-grade features often justify the cost for businesses seeking extensive network control.
Using Aruba ClearPass has resulted in less engineering time compared to other products we've used.
The investment is huge for enterprise clients, but Aruba ClearPass makes processes easier.
If I compare this to an on-premises environment using Cisco ISE or Aruba ClearPass, it would require phenomenally large teams for infrastructure management.
If you were moving from a traditional on-premise NAC that was 100% managed by the IT department, there would be great savings in going to a cloud-based NAC with Portnox.
By automating the device containment and remediation processes, we save countless hours weekly.
Portnox is one level up, as their customer support is outstanding.
We have faced delays in the resolution of production issues after raising tickets, which impacts productivity.
If Aruba ClearPass is not working, then the organization is not working because this is the access control in the organization.
The main area needing improvement is the technical knowledge of support staff.
For very high severity issues where the entire office is non-functional, response time is within 30 minutes.
In terms of support, it is usually quite impressive. I usually get support in a matter of minutes or seconds, depending on the priority of the ticket.
I believe the scalability of ClearPass is rated as ten out of ten.
Everything will be handled when you add new users because all configurations are deployed from the beginning.
In our environment, ClearPass handles up to 100,000 users, which is better than some other NAC solutions like Fortinox that scale up to 25,000.
We have never had any challenge based on a customer who has 1,000 devices versus a customer who has 30,000 devices; the feel is the same.
Its infrastructure scales automatically in the background, eliminating concerns about capacity or backend upgrades.
It has a centralized cloud-based architecture, so we do not have to worry about other considerations such as local infrastructure or purchasing additional equipment.
I have experienced more than three years without zero downtime with Aruba ClearPass.
There are issues with some versions, especially in integrating with AD and SSL configurations over port sixty-three.
However, there are disadvantages when it is not on-premises, as every NAC suffers from it if it is not on-premises.
The product itself is available and its uptime is 100%.
In the four years that I used Portnox, if it crashed or the server crashed, that would not have been more than once.
If there is a version one and another version, the communication between the organization using it and Portnox should be firm so they can coordinate effectively.
The language and policy enforcement mechanisms are not clear, making it difficult to use the product effectively.
It is also better to improve threat intelligence for built-in threat detection and prevention.
A more streamlined menu of licensing options would be helpful.
Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
When I reach the technical support, they give solutions that do not help me much, so I try to search the internet for other users' experiences to find solutions.
I would definitely request a UI refresh that makes the dashboard more modern and surfaces critical logs so they are easier to access in a pinch.
Achieving the best price requires careful selection from a menu of licensing options.
We cannot mix in prices, and of course, prices are going higher.
Aruba ClearPass is a premium product with higher pricing, which seems unnecessary given its complexity.
If you compare Portnox with all other well-known standard products, it is the cheapest.
The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe.
You are charged according to the number of users.
In Aruba ClearPass, you can have control of all authentication in the company.
The ClearPass solution has reduced the amount of engineering time compared to previous solutions, making it more efficient for our purposes.
The most effective feature for us is the OnGuard feature.
It's notable how Portnox has improved operational efficiency.
It is a very robust application because three teams use that part: the network team, the security team, and the support people.
It is possible to find the MAC address in the switch, but in Portnox, it is very useful to see the status of those ports, and that increases our security.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Aruba ClearPass | 17.5% |
| Portnox | 7.6% |
| Other | 74.9% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 44 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 25 |
| Large Enterprise | 34 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 19 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 9 |
| Large Enterprise | 15 |
Aruba ClearPass provides robust authentication and policy enforcement with seamless integration capabilities, enhancing security for corporate networks. It handles guest access, BYOD management, and offers dynamic segmentation and extensive network visibility.
Aruba ClearPass supports diverse environments through integrated device profiling, enhancing network and user security. Its intuitive GUI simplifies management while dynamic segmentation offers tailored user experiences. Though highly functional, users seek improvements in interface intuitiveness and simplified configurations. Streamlined integration, better support, and clarity in licensing are also desired to enhance user experience. Deployed primarily for network access control and wireless management, Aruba ClearPass ensures secure corporate network access with identity authentication, policy enforcement, and detailed visibility.
What are the core features?In healthcare, Aruba ClearPass manages secure access for medical devices and personnel, ensuring compliance and confidentiality. Schools utilize it for managing student and guest network access, while enterprises integrate it for consistent security across corporate environments.
Portnox NAC is a cloud-native network access control solution built for today's hybrid, distributed enterprises. Get real-time visibility into every device on your network, enforce risk-based access policies automatically, and maintain continuous compliance — all without deploying a single on-premises appliance.
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About Portnox Security
Portnox is a cloud-native enterprise access control provider that helps organizations secure every identity - human and non-human - across networks, applications, and infrastructure. As identities, devices, and workloads multiply across modern environments, Portnox enables continuous access verification based on identity context, device posture, and risk signals. Its unified platform brings together passwordless authentication, access control, continuous policy enforcement, and automated response through a single policy engine.
Portnox gives security and IT teams real-time visibility into everything connecting and the ability to quickly restrict, quarantine, or revoke non-compliant access. Today, Portnox actively manages more than one million devices worldwide, secures 40 million authentication sessions, and blocks over one million unauthorized access attempts every day. Learn more at portnox.com.
CAPABILITIES:
• Discover and assess users, devices, and identities connecting to corporate resources
• Unify continuous zero trust access control on networks, applications, and infrastructure
• Enforce identity- and context-aware access policies
• Enable secure remote work without complexity
• Deliver passwordless authentication, device posture checks, and continuous access enforcement
• Control administrative access to routers, switches, firewalls, and other network devices
• Improve audit readiness with visibility, access logs, and policy-based compliance controls
BUILT FOR:
Portnox is designed for distributed organizations that need to manage access across employees, contractors, service accounts, managed devices, unmanaged devices, IoT, network infrastructure, SaaS applications, private applications, and AI agents. The platform helps reduce reliance on on-premises appliances, legacy VPNs, and fragmented access tools by centralizing access policy enforcement from a single cloud-native policy engine.
INTEGRATIONS:
Portnox integrates with the tools you already use (including Azure AD / Entra ID, Okta) and works with your existing network appliances, (such as Meraki, Fortinet, and more), and many other identity and network infrastructure tools.
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