Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Portnox vs Sophos Network Access Control comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

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)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (11th), Passwordless Authentication (1st)
Sophos Network Access Control
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
10th
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 January 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Portnox is 5.5%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Network Access Control is 2.2%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Portnox5.5%
Sophos Network Access Control2.2%
Other92.3%
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

Reviewer921606 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Centralized access control has simplified operations but still needs more flexible on‑prem options
Portnox has design considerations that limit its applicability. If you are in a highly regulated industry with mandates requiring the solution to be completely on-premises, Portnox does not work at all. I do not think they position their products for those industries. Even for non-heavily regulated industries, if you want a self-sufficient system within your own premises, there are design constraints because at some point you must reach out to Portnox infrastructure in the cloud, and if that is unavailable, it suffers. For example, on deep-sea oil rigs without proper connectivity, it struggles. I am not sure they want to enter that particular business segment, as it may not align with their value proposition. I cannot blindly select this product and deploy it everywhere; I must make deliberate decisions first. Portnox could improve by reducing its heavy reliance on the cloud. While I do not think they want to eliminate this aspect, a complete solution for regulated entities would include some on-premises setup that is self-sufficient and does not depend on the cloud. This is the most important improvement. Second, Portnox already has a robust integration ecosystem with many vendors, but not all. Even when integration exists, the extent varies, particularly regarding vendor-specific attributes. I have never faced challenges because my security tools and stack have been standard: Cisco, Aruba access points, Cisco switches, and UniFi, all of which work well with them. However, there is room for deeper integration when compared to tools like Cisco ISE and Aruba ClearPass. Their offerings are clear, easy to onboard, and their day zero and day one onboarding activities are streamlined and straightforward. They share best practice checklists that make configuration simple.
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 of Portnox is excellent."
"The most important feature is that this solution is agentless. So, you don't have to install any agents on endpoints."
"I like the fact that you can take your device anywhere and still have that visibility from anywhere because it's agent-based."
"It's a stable product."
"I am impressed with the solution's voucher capability and authentication. The tool is integrated with Active Direct storage."
"Technical support was very helpful when we needed them."
"It's agentless, and it's scalable."
"It's easy to manage and troubleshoot thanks to the lightweight components."
"We have had interactions with the technical support team through the Xnet platform. It's good."
"The wifi control is fantastic and makes it very easy to administer."
"The pricing is very reasonable and you can negotiate on the price."
"I found all Sophos Network Access Control features valuable, but IP blocking is the most useful."
"Web protection, URL filtering, and application filtering are the most valuable features of Sophos Network Access Control."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"The installation is very straightforward."
"We get full visibility into the network as a product, which is one of the key features of the product because recently they have acquired another product called Secure Wave, which is integrated into Sophos Network Access Control and provides advanced capabilities for managed detection and remediation, MDR, a major plus for customers."
 

Cons

"Portnox can occasionally knock out a switch port, causing network downtime and requiring manual reset."
"It might be beneficial to improve the ease of integrating the product with firewalls."
"The support team is very limited. They don't have much support during Asia Pacific hours; the team sits in during the EMI and US hours."
"The integration between Portnox CORE and Portnox CLEAR can be better. These are two different systems, and there is no unique console for both devices. Portnox CORE is agentless, whereas Portnox CLEAR is not agentless."
"Portnox CORE can improve on support for unmanaged switches (or hubs) and other brands of network devices. These kinds of devices are still in use in organisations, especially SMEs who cannot afford to buy a managed switch."
"It could be a little cheaper."
"The product should consider more integration with vendors like Huawei. It should also improve visibility. The solution should offer a partner portal that can provide customers training on the in and out of the solution."
"Their filtering system tends to lag quite a bit, so when I'm doing filtering at times, it doesn't filter the items properly."
"Sophos Network Access Control requires a lot of resources to work, which is an area for improvement. Pricing could also be improved because it's costly."
"Continuous development in specific areas might be required."
"It would be beneficial to consider some improvements regarding the dashboard."
"Users are not controlled by role-based access; it's basically device-based control. The definition of role-based control is a little vague here because on the cloud level, it regulates access rather than tasks."
"It would be good if Sophos Network Access Control had better integration with other devices."
"I would like to be able to fully customize the reports."
"What needs to be improved on is the fact that Sophos consumes a lot of processor resources and, once it starts scanning, the RAM utilization is very high."
"One area in which the product could be improved is the user interface. While functional, it can be somewhat cluttered and unintuitive, especially for new users."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe."
"It's not cheap. It's not expensive. It's in the middle."
"The vendor price is fair."
"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."
"The tool is more expensive than Fortinet."
"The cost of Portnox Clear is reasonable."
"The solution is very expensive and I would rate it 10 out of 10."
"The users are not very happy with the new licensing option where there is only a subscription license. There is no perpetual license."
"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."
"I rate the price of Sophos Network Access Control a five out of ten."
"Sophos Network Access Control is an expensive solution."
"It is quite expensive."
"It provides a moderate pricing option for all of its features and benefits."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Access Control (NAC) solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise7
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?
I know that IT solutions are expensive. You are charged according to the number of users. For now, the organisation can afford it, but smaller organisations may not be, so Portnox can also consider...
What needs improvement with Portnox Clear?
The area Portnox needs to organise more training for its partners. They are doing well, but areas of knowledge gaps are still visible. There are times unexpected things happen with Portnox, like Po...
What is your primary use case for Portnox Clear?
My use case for Portnox is access control, specifically focused on access control.
What needs improvement with Sophos Network Access Control?
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 syn...
What is your primary use case for Sophos Network Access Control?
I am currently using the product as a customer. We are using Sophos Network Access Control solution for security purposes and security analysis only.
 

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: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.