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Portnox vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) 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 ZTNA
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (6th), Passwordless Authentication (1st)
Symantec Zero Trust Network...
Ranking in ZTNA
18th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.4
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Access Management (25th), ZTNA as a Service (22nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the ZTNA category, the mindshare of Portnox is 2.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is 2.2%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ZTNA Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Portnox2.3%
Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)2.2%
Other95.5%
ZTNA
 

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.
cto543714 - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Restricts access to applications but improvement is needed in integrations
Over the last year, I have been working with customers because it's changing and maturing. These things are rolled out in segments and chunks, not all at once. Additional internal work is often required to make it functional, such as properly configuring the active directory. This internal work can take up to three months. The process varies, and implementing Symantec ZTNA quickly is not realistic. I wouldn't recommend the tool to non-core customers because you won't get the support you need. I'd rate Symantec ZTNA a seven on a scale of one to ten. They're still integrating different pieces into their solution. The challenge with ZTNA is that different companies implement it slightly differently, with some features present in one product but missing in another. ZTNA is a tricky acronym that companies use, but when you look closely, you find that each vendor might only have some of the expected features.

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."
"The Vidahost feature is currently in action, and it appears to be providing valuable data insights."
"It's easy to manage and troubleshoot thanks to the lightweight components."
"Portnox helped to free up staff time and resources for other IT security priorities and IT work."
"The most important feature is that this solution is agentless. So, you don't have to install any agents on endpoints."
"The simplicity of the product is commendable."
"The minute people have issues on their network, we can see what is happening right away."
"One of the features I enjoyed the most about Portnox was the ability to dive in with proper details on an endpoint."
"The most valuable feature of this product is restricting and controlling what people have access to. If I want a contractor to connect to my network, I can give them access to only the specific things they need without giving them full VPN access to my entire network. That's the main benefit everyone gets from it. The value depends on how many users and applications you have and what you want to share."
 

Cons

"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."
"Portnox can occasionally knock out a switch port, causing network downtime and requiring manual reset."
"The Wi-Fi integration could be done better from their end."
"It would be good to integrate Portnox CORE with CLEAR."
"The licensing is based on a per-port price, even when you are not using all of the ports, and this is something that could be improved."
"I believe there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of integration."
"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."
"It might be beneficial to improve the ease of integrating the product with firewalls."
"For areas of improvement, the main issue is with integrations. The Symantec ZTNA comprises many products cobbled together on the back end. Sometimes, the integrations work well; sometimes, they don't. For example, if you want to use two-factor authentication, you need to integrate that into the solution. Or if you want to accept protocols other than web coming to your secure gateway, that's another integration. Supporting different devices like Macs, Samsung phones, or iPhones also requires more integrations. Ensuring all these integrations work properly is an ongoing process and a moving target."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 vendor price is fair."
"It's not cheap. It's not expensive. It's in the middle."
"The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe."
"Pricing is quite reasonable."
"The cost of Portnox Clear is reasonable."
"Portnox CORE's pricing is adequate and cheaper compared to other complex solutions. Its licensing costs are yearly and include support. Cost is calculated per device."
"Pricing varies depending on the situation. In competitive situations, it's usually priced competitively. Nobody pays the full MSRP. Typically, you negotiate and work with them on the pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Performing Arts
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise7
No data available
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?
Pricing varies depending on the situation. In competitive situations, it's usually priced competitively. Nobody pays the full MSRP. Typically, you negotiate and work with them on the pricing.
What needs improvement with Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?
For areas of improvement, the main issue is with integrations. The Symantec ZTNA comprises many products cobbled together on the back end. Sometimes, the integrations work well; sometimes, they don...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?
The solution helps to allow access only to what is explicitly needed. This means restricting access to specific applications rather than providing broad access to multiple resources, some of which ...
 

Also Known As

Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
Symantec Secure Access Cloud, Luminate.io, Luminate
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
NEX, AIG, Fiverr, Upwork
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