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Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy vs Portnox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 15, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.7
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy enhances collaboration and security for Google apps, with ROI varying based on utilization strategies.
Sentiment score
4.1
Portnox enhances security and efficiency, reducing IT costs and workload through cloud-based management of device access and policies.
If I compare this to an on-premises environment using Cisco ISE or Aruba ClearPass, it would require phenomenally large teams for infrastructure management.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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.
IT Infrastructure Manager at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Most customers feel value immediately upon deployment.
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy support varies; some find it excellent while others face inefficiencies, affecting direct Google interaction.
Sentiment score
7.0
Portnox is praised for its attentive, responsive customer service, efficient problem-solving, and minimal downtime during updates.
The main area needing improvement is the technical knowledge of support staff.
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
For very high severity issues where the entire office is non-functional, response time is within 30 minutes.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
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.
Engineer at Applied Principles Limited
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy is praised for effective scalability and ease of management despite potential cost concerns.
Sentiment score
7.7
Portnox effectively scales to support thousands of endpoints, offering flexible and seamless cloud-based expansion to meet growing demands.
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.
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
They ensure the backend can support it and do the provisioning while maintaining headroom and elasticity.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I rate scalability a ten; you simply pay and you get more.
Network And Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy is praised for its reliability and stability, with minor issues mainly in virtual machines.
Sentiment score
7.4
Portnox is generally stable, with high user ratings, though on-premises versions and update issues impact reliability.
The product itself is available and its uptime is 100%.
Systems Analyst at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
In the four years that I used Portnox, if it crashed or the server crashed, that would not have been more than once.
Information Technology System Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
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.
Windows Server Administrator/ IT Support Officer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy needs better user-friendliness, integration, security, support, and cost-effectiveness for enhanced performance and usability.
Portnox users seek flexible pricing, better integration, and enhanced features to improve functionality and user experience across organizations.
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.
President at TrackerSoft
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.
IT Project Manager at Xpress technologies
When I'm doing filtering at times, it doesn't filter the items properly.
Systems Analyst at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy offers competitive pricing, with mixed reviews on cost-effectiveness compared to AWS and Oracle alternatives.
Portnox offers flexible, fair pricing with annual licenses, negotiable fees, and subscription-based options, appealing to larger organizations.
If you compare Portnox with all other well-known standard products, it is the cheapest.
IT Network Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe.
President at TrackerSoft
You are charged according to the number of users.
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Valuable Features

Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy provides scalable security, user-friendly access management, real-time collaboration, and seamless integration with minimal expertise needed.
Portnox offers agentless scalability, seamless integrations, and enhanced security, improving efficiency with intuitive UI and diverse device compatibility.
It's notable how Portnox has improved operational efficiency.
IT Network Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is a very robust application because three teams use that part: the network team, the security team, and the support people.
Windows Server Administrator/ IT Support Officer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
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.
Assistant System Engineer at Tata Consultancy
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud Identity-Aware...
Ranking in ZTNA
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Portnox
Ranking in ZTNA
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (5th), Passwordless Authentication (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the ZTNA category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy is 2.1%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portnox is 3.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ZTNA Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Portnox3.6%
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy2.1%
Other94.3%
ZTNA
 

Featured Reviews

UchechiSylvanus - PeerSpot reviewer
Team Lead, Process Improvement & RPA at Fidelity Bank Plc
A scalable product that offers an easy-to-use interface
Some of the product users feel that the solution's storage part should be increased, especially when compared to products like Yahoo, which is an old tool in the market that offers unlimited storage to users. Other platforms offer more storage sizes than Google. The storage part of the solution, especially the storage capability offered by Google Drive, needs to be increased. There are certain shortcomings with the product's stability where improvements are required.
Maurice Mwaura - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
Unified access control has improved compliance visibility and simplified passwordless access
There is work to be done when it comes to making the solution more seamless. For example, when a user is denied access, they would need a way to maybe self-resolve themselves, perhaps a way to generate a ticket on their own, something around resolutions. When it comes to users using the product, that is where good products are differentiated from products that are a bit of a challenge. Portnox has much to do in terms of their reporting. The generated reports need improvement. Things that other tools would say are normal are usually not present. For example, there is a page called NAS devices or NAS network that is able to show the switches that have been managed. Currently, there is no way of generating an easy report or an easy way of just generating something to tell the customer what they have been able to achieve so far. This is not done yet and is still very manual. I think there is work to be done there. More integrations around the various products being used would be beneficial. So far I have not encountered any major challenge. Where there was a challenge, I think support came in and helped us resolve. In fact, most of the challenges are not with the product; they are with the customer environment. I think that is just to update their documentation where they have come across a new vendor for easier integrations in the future.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Platform Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy?
There are different pricing plans depending on data volumes and services, but it's comparable to other providers. The value and benefits depend on what we're developing and the specific use case.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Platform Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy?
Google Cloud Platform Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy should improve stability.
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Platform Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy?
We use the solution for data engineering, data preparation, and AI.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox Clear?
Regarding hidden maintenance costs, I would say I have never encountered a challenge where Portnox was not able to work or where I told the customer to do any major infrastructural changes. Even be...
What needs improvement with Portnox Clear?
I used to have difficulty sometimes with VPN in Portnox, but in general, I am not sure about areas for improvement. I did not try the mobile application, and the documentation is important because ...
What is your primary use case for Portnox Clear?
From customer to customer, the use case for Portnox is different. Some customers ask for a network to protect their board and local network, while others want to allow employees to access via VPN a...
 

Also Known As

GCP Cloud IAP, Google Cloud Platform Cloud IAP, Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy, Google Identity-Aware Proxy, Google Identity Aware Proxy, Google Cloud Identity Aware Proxy
Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy vs. Portnox and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.