No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Portnox vs Sophos Network Access Control comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Portnox
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (7th), Passwordless Authentication (1st)
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 Portnox is 6.9%, up from 3.7% 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 (%)
Portnox6.9%
Sophos Network Access Control3.0%
Other90.1%
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
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

"The cloud-based feature is very nice. We use Meraki for our switching, and it is simple to point all of our networks and offices to Portnox. It is pretty seamless."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the agent features; I like the fact that you can take your device anywhere and still have that visibility from anywhere because it's agent-based."
"This product has helped us tremendously during the years in locating all kind of issues that we had on the network, very quickly, and I recommend it."
"The simplicity of the product is commendable."
"The cloud-based feature is very nice."
"For a network access control solution, Portnox is a very good solution."
"The product's initial setup phase was straightforward."
"The solution has a valuable reporting feature."
"There is good documentation that helps to deploy a new wireless access point and a controller in a very easy way."
"Sophos Network Access Control has many valuable features: for access controls, MAC binding is available, the authentication page is useful, and continuous device assessments have a positive impact on our network security management."
"Sophos' technical support is great, very fast and responsive, and they always know how to fix the problem."
"The wifi control is fantastic and makes it very easy to administer."
"Web protection, URL filtering, and application filtering are the most valuable features of Sophos Network Access Control."
"The return on our investment was huge, mostly due to the time saved in managing thousands of physical endpoints."
"The system right now covers all my needs and it's very comfortable to work with."
"The initial setup is very easy."
 

Cons

"The Wi-Fi integration could be done better from their end. If there is an improvement, it should be around having more functions on the integration with the Wi-Fi controller I used, which was a UniFi controller, also on-prem."
"In Portnox, the area that has room for improvement is that older data is not fetching correctly."
"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."
"Allowing for a search of MAC addresses in the interface, whether they are authenticated on the network or not, would be beneficial. Currently, it only finds authenticated MAC addresses, which complicates troubleshooting when the same MAC address is used for different requests."
"One area for improvement in Portnox is the initial setup complexity and documentation for custom policy creation."
"As there are no agents in Portnox Clear, the customers of the product cannot download any agents on their devices, making them unsure if the product offers proper security."
"However, problems arise when the same MAC address is requested for a different project. Our current system only finds authenticated MAC addresses, making it difficult to troubleshoot when the same device is used for multiple purposes."
"Now, the way security is viewed, maybe including something like AI, to automate some of the things that are required to be done would be great."
"An area that could be improved is the information about licensing, which is fairly confusing at present."
"The solution could increase the integration with other platforms or other systems. This would be very useful."
"I'd like to see them include direct integration with Active Directory."
"I would like to be able to fully customize the reports."
"The solution could offer more useful documentation."
"Sophos Network Access Control needs improvement regarding its slow interface, loading time, and reporting."
"The user interface, in terms of managing the product, could be better."
"Endpoint and firewall synchronization is not as smooth as we are expecting from Sophos Network Access Control."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The vendor price is fair."
"The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe."
"The tool is more expensive than Fortinet."
"It's not cheap. It's not expensive. It's in the middle."
"Pricing is not cheap. It is based on licenses per port. After licensing is purchased, you only pay for support."
"The cost of Portnox Clear is reasonable."
"The licensing module should be reviewed to count the number of devices instead of port numbers of total switches. There is a case for this where not all ports for a switch are used by devices. Unused ports are calculated in the license, then the customer pays for license for those unused ports."
"Pricing is quite reasonable."
"I rate the price of Sophos Network Access Control a five out of ten."
"It provides a moderate pricing option for all of its features and benefits."
"It is quite expensive."
"Sophos Network Access Control is an expensive solution."
"Sophos Network Access Control is very cheap compared to other solutions like Cisco, Barracuda, and Palo Alto."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Access Control (NAC) solutions are best for your needs.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Healthcare Company
7%
Construction Company
7%
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 Business17
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox Clear?
My thoughts on the pricing are that they are usually very flexible. They work with the customer's budget. In terms of being cheap or expensive, that usually just depends on the customer. If a custo...
What needs improvement with Portnox Clear?
The area that has room for improvement that I had is actually the one that they fixed about two or three days ago regarding the session recording. As of now, I am yet to review and see any areas of...
What is your primary use case for Portnox Clear?
Some of the best features that I have experienced with Portnox is the integration with identity providers and the fact that they introduced ZTNA. Recently, they introduced session recording, which ...
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

Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
Rushmoor Borough Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Portnox vs. Sophos Network Access Control and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.