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Forescout Platform vs Illumio 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

Forescout Platform
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (4th), IoT Security (2nd), Endpoint Compliance (4th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (15th)
Illumio
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Cloud and Data Center Security (7th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (15th), Microsegmentation Software (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. Forescout Platform is designed for Network Access Control (NAC) and holds a mindshare of 12.4%, down 13.3% compared to last year.
Illumio, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud and Data Center Security, holds 25.0% mindshare, up 22.1% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Cloud and Data Center Security
 

Featured Reviews

AmjadKhan1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Blocks users who don't follow the policies and enforces compliance
The solution has a compliance enforcement feature that sends non-compliant systems to quarantine. Forescout Platform is a good product that provides seamless integration with Cisco Juniper and other devices. We wanted Forescout Platform to integrate with our firewalls and some vulnerability patch management solutions. Forescout Platform is currently the best product and top-of-the-line NAC solution in the market. I always recommend this product to other companies as well. We have 365 subsidiary companies. I work in the head office, and I always recommend it. This solution will be purchased by other companies in the next financial year. Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten.
Alark Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Visual traffic interface aids in network micro-segmentation while a streamlined update option enhances process efficiency
The strongest aspect of Illumio is the visual traffic interface, which allows us to see all traffic that communicates with our servers and allied companies. We can write rules that can be embedded into the IP table, making it easy to handle. Illumio enables us to see network flows, traffic sources, and destinations. The policy generation and enforcement capabilities are valuable, allowing for selective enforcement. Illumio helps in audit purposes by saving data and showing blocked traffic, ensuring no outside traffic is allowed.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When users don't have the required updates, security patches, and antivirus, the tool blocks them from our network."
"Its feature that I have found most valuable is that it is very granular. You can configure granular controls just as you want those policies to be implemented. It gives you that flexibility to go granular in how you want your controls to be implemented. That's something I like about it."
"The most valuable features of the Forescout Platform are NAC for sharing, Network Access Control, and port sharing of the devices."
"The scalability is good."
"The most valuable feature is the blocking of USB devices."
"It allows for good detection of all the vendor products we have on-site."
"The valuable feature of the product stems from the fact that it is easy to implement."
"The most valuable features of ForeScout is the fact that it can do network access control either with 802.1x or without 802.1x."
"The Explorer allows you to know the traffic between source and destination."
"The product provides visibility into how the applications communicate and how the network protocols are being used."
"The strongest aspect of Illumio is the visual traffic interface, which allows us to see all traffic that communicates with our servers and allied companies."
"Customer support is excellent."
"The most valuable feature of Illumio Adaptive Security Platform is monitoring. When I have no requirement from the other application, I can use the web block traffic to build."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The tool helps with my company's security posture."
"It has helped us to understand internal network visibility and firewall policy implementation. We use the product to simplify firewall policy implementation."
 

Cons

"The initial setup is a bit complex."
"Logging would be one area for improvement. When we're troubleshooting, there are not a lot of clear things on Google that we can look up for ourselves. When we have an issue with it, we have to call the company to get the vendors involved. The logging of Forescout is horrible compared to other things that we've used."
"The licensing costs are quite high. With the amount of hardware we have, we need too many licenses to make the product effective and it's ultimately just too costly."
"The console is a fat client, and a web interface would be preferable."
"The solution does have a bit of complexity, and there's some complexity in the deployment. Users need to be trained before undertaking an initial setup."
"Forescout Platform sometimes returns false positives, so there's some fine-tuning to be done there."
"Regarding pricing, there is room for improvement to enhance competitiveness with other vendors and solutions."
"Other solutions have TACACS+, but Forescout does not. In the next release, I would like to see Forescout have accounting."
"The customer service is lagging a bit. It could be better."
"It requires a low-level re-architecting of the product."
"I would like to see better data security in the product."
"The interaction we've had with the support team hasn't been ideal. Technical support should be improved."
"There should be an option to upgrade from the console to the latest version instead of performing manual upgrades. This would be more helpful to streamline processes."
"I have not had the chance to experiment deeply with it."
"Illumio Adaptive Security Platform could improve by supporting more operating systems. For example, Cisco and Apache appliances."
"The solution is very basic and doesn't do anything other than the orchestration of layer four endpoint firewall rules."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"5,000 user licenses will cost you between seven and eight million dollars, compared to 20 million for Aruba."
"I would rate Forescout Platform's pricing as four out of five."
"The cost of licensing for this product is quite high, but this cost covers all the features of the solution so it is a single payment for the term that has been selected."
"Forescout Platform is on the expensive side."
"The tool's pricing is expensive but reasonable."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. We have paid for the license for five years. We have integration with Symantec AV for orchestration, and we have an additional license."
"The solution is not priced low. There are no hidden costs."
"We paid between $20,000 and $25,000 for a three-year license with maintenance."
"The product's pricing is around 10,000-15,000 USD. The pricing is on a yearly basis."
"There is a subscription needed to use Illumio Adaptive Security Platform and we pay every three years. Overall the solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Illumio Adaptive Security Platform?
The features that I have found most useful is the ability to centralize all the rules and then distribute them across various locations. However, I've encountered challenges related to tagging poli...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Illumio Adaptive Security Platform?
I do not have specific knowledge about pricing details as it is handled by upper management. I know that Illumio is the cheapest solution in the security area.
What needs improvement with Illumio Adaptive Security Platform?
There should be an option to upgrade from the console to the latest version instead of performing manual upgrades. This would be more helpful to streamline processes.
 

Also Known As

Forescout Platform, CounterACT for Endpoint Compliance, ForeScout CounterACT
Illumio Adaptive Security Platform, Illumio ASP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NHS Sussex, SAP, SEGA, Vistaprint, Miami Children's Hospital, Pioneer Investments, New York Law School, OmnicomGroup, Meritrust
Plantronics, NTT Innovation Institute Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: May 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.