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Aruba ClearPass vs UserLock comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st)
UserLock
Average Rating
10.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (29th), Access Management (27th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Aruba ClearPass and UserLock aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Aruba ClearPass is designed for Network Access Control (NAC) and holds a mindshare of 18.5%, down 24.5% compared to last year.
UserLock, on the other hand, focuses on Authentication Systems, holds 1.0% mindshare, up 0.9% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba ClearPass18.5%
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)19.4%
Fortinet FortiNAC14.5%
Other47.6%
Network Access Control (NAC)
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
UserLock1.0%
Microsoft Entra ID6.5%
Okta Platform4.8%
Other87.7%
Authentication Systems
 

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.
Bill H. - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology at City Of Keizer
Affordable, easy to use, and integrates well with Active Directory
The product and service are already great as it is but if I could add one feature, I guess it would be nice to have another factor of authentication (two additional factors) like your phone and a token for example, for when people forget their phone at home. It’s not that I mind not having two factors, but I do get that question from time to time from some of our users who think it would be really useful. From what I’ve heard, they’re working on it and it should be coming in the next version so that’s great news.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's policy management capabilities enable precise control over user access and device compliance."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba ClearPass is the ease of deployment and integration with other equipment in the network."
"The greatest feature in Aruba ClearPass, in my opinion, is its modularity and its openness to all vendors."
"I like the integration options with a multitude of other vendors and Aruba applications."
"A lot of the issues in Forescout are mitigated in Aruba ClearPass, it supports all the expected protocols."
"Providing granular control over which devices are permitted to join our corporate wireless network, as well as in-depth AAA (accounting, in particular) for TACACS+ sessions, is huge."
"The most valuable feature for us is its ability to provide clear authentication mechanisms to support multiple authentication requirements."
"It has an easy to learn web GUI and ​command lines.​"
"It is affordable, integrates easily with Active Directory, and is simple to install and maintain."
"We mainly implemented UserLock for multi-factor authentication, but the user login insights are also nice."
"UserLock was pretty easy to set up and simple to use, and the documentation covered everything."
"The most valuable features are two-factor authentication and real-time logon monitoring."
 

Cons

"The product's graphical user interface (GUI) could use an update and better integration between the guest management and policy management interfaces."
"Aruba needs to improve and the processes must be clear."
"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."
"Aruba ClearPass has fewer deployment scenarios and flexibility than Forescout."
"Licensing cost is extremely high."
"Aruba ClearPass could improve the complexity of the initial usage. It takes some time to be good at it. It's not simple to build and connect the rules to the network you want to deploy them on."
"The platform's API integration could be better. Additionally, its pricing could be affordable."
"In my opinion, the price of Aruba ClearPass could be better."
"I would like to see UserLock add the ability to automatically create a group policy in Active Directory."
"The product and service are already great as it is but if I could add one feature, I guess it would be nice to have another factor of authentication (two additional factors) like your phone and a token for example, for when people forget their phone at home."
"The product and service are already great as it is but if I could add one feature, I guess it would be nice to have another factor of authentication (two additional factors) like your phone and a token for example, for when people forget their phone at home."
"I would like to see UserLock add the ability to automatically create a group policy in Active Directory. That might streamline the setup process."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay an annual licensing fee for Aruba and there are no additional costs."
"The pricing is not bad and everything is included."
"The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. However, Cisco ISE was as expensive when we were comparing."
"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.​"
"Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."
"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 pricing model for Aruba ClearPass is complex. Customers only pay for the license fees, with no additional costs."
"You will be hard-pressed to find better pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Construction Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise33
No data available
 

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.
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Also Known As

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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
Barclays, US Department of Justice, National Bank of Kuwait, Turkish Aerospace, New York Albany School District, Regtransfers, University of Kent, Camden City School District, Oklahoma City Public Schools, Bank of Cyprus, Detran-PE: Pernambuco State Traffic Department
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: May 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.