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Network access control · November 2026 Edition

HPE Aruba ClearPass vs Forescout

Zero of fourteen models named HPE Aruba ClearPass first on the direct prompt; zero named Forescout. HPE Aruba ClearPass was named by ten of the fourteen models and Forescout by twelve and HPE Aruba ClearPass carries 17 labels and Forescout 27, so the shares are not directly comparable.

HPE Aruba ClearPass

accepted challenger

Named in one category this edition.

Forescout

criticized challenger

Named in three categories this edition.

First-choice share2%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate0%30%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#5#6A position in a field of 10; printed, not drawn.
Labels1727A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, HPE Aruba ClearPass reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Portnox Cloud was named alongside these two in eleven of the fourteen direct answers. Portnox Cloud vs HPE Aruba ClearPass · Portnox Cloud vs Forescout · PacketFence vs HPE Aruba ClearPass

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the network access control page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
HPE Aruba ClearPassFirst choices, of fourteen modelsForescout
Direct002 against Forescout
Paraphrase113 against Forescout
Comparative11
Budget-constrained001 against Forescout
Scale-constrained002 against Forescout
Negative00
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, HPE Aruba ClearPass and Forescout were named in the same answer forty-two times, of the 53 answers naming HPE Aruba ClearPass and the 100 naming Forescout. In those answers Forescout took the first choice one time and HPE Aruba ClearPass eleven.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where HPE Aruba ClearPass and Forescout stood in it.
ModelDirectHAParaphraseHAComparativeHABudget-constrainedHAScale-constrainedHANegativeHA
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 miniHA
Gemini 3.5 FlashHAHA
Perplexity SonarHAHA
Grok 4.20HAHAHA
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 FlashHA
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 FlashHAHA
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5HAHA
GPT-6 LunaHAHA
Muse Glimmer 30BHA
HA HPE Aruba ClearPass ForescoutHA first choiceHA named as an alternativeHA argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, HPE Aruba ClearPass on the left and Forescout on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where HPE Aruba ClearPass and Forescout stood in it.

Neither was the first choice, one was named

6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
GPT-5.4 miniCisco Identity Services Engine alternatives: Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager, Cisco Access Manager, Forescout, InfoExpress EasyNAC, Portnox Cloud
Gemini 3.5 FlashPortnox Cloud alternatives: Cloudflare Access, Fortinet FortiNAC, HPE Aruba ClearPass, SecureW2 JoinNow, Twingate
Grok 4.20Portnox Cloud alternatives: Forescout, HPE Aruba ClearPass
Qwen 3.7 FlashPortnox CLEAR alternatives: Fortinet FortiNAC, HPE Aruba ClearPass
GPT-6 LunaPortnox Cloud alternatives: Cisco Identity Services Engine, FortiNAC, HPE Aruba ClearPass
Muse Glimmer 30BPortnox Cloud alternatives: Cisco Identity Services Engine, Fortinet FortiNAC, HPE Aruba ClearPass, OPSWAT MetaAccess, macmon NAC

Neither was named

8 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5Fortinet FortiNAC alternatives: Microsoft Entra, Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Perplexity SonarPortnox Cloud alternatives: Aruba ClearPass, Cisco Identity Services Engine
Mistral SmallOPSWAT MetaAccess, Portnox Cloud alternatives: NordLayer NAC
DeepSeek V4 FlashPortnox Cloud alternatives: Aruba ClearPass, Fortinet FortiNAC
Llama 4 MaverickPortnox Cloud alternatives: NordLayer NAC, OPSWAT MetaAccess, PacketFence
Kimi K2Portnox CLEAR alternatives: Aruba ClearPass
GLM 4.7 FlashXPortnox Cloud alternatives: Aruba ClearPass, FortiNAC, NordLayer NAC
MiniMax M2.5Portnox Cloud alternatives: NordLayer NAC, OPSWAT MetaAccess

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Level: the same share of first choices.
HPE Aruba ClearPass0%#– of 11
Forescout0%#10 of 11
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
HPE Aruba ClearPass2%#5 of 10
Forescout2%#6 of 10
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
HPE Aruba ClearPass leads by thirteen points.
HPE Aruba ClearPass13%#3 of 7
Forescout0%#5 of 7
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about HPE Aruba ClearPass

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of four in this category shown.

“I'd usually recommend HPE Aruba ClearPass as the default NAC choice” GPT-5.4 mini · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“For large enterprises: Start with Cisco ISE or Aruba ClearPass” Grok 4.20 · comparative prompt · first choice
“Best for Complex Environments (Incumbents) Recommendation: Cisco ISE or HPE Aruba ClearPass” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · alternative

What the models said about Forescout

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.

“Skip Cisco ISE, Aruba ClearPass, or Forescout unless you have specific needs” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · hard negative
“Forescout is highly regarded, though it's typically more suited for larger or more diverse environments” Mistral Small · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Some enterprise NAC platforms (e.g., legacy Cisco ISE or Forescout) can take months to deploy correctly.” Kimi K2 · scale prompt · soft negative
“For large enterprises with complex networks, Cisco ISE or Forescout remain strong choices.” MiniMax M2.5 · comparative prompt · first choice
“I'd suggest looking at Fortinet FortiNAC or Forescout” Claude Haiku 4.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Forescout is excellent for agentless visibility and control, though it's often positioned as more enterprise-oriented and can be pricier.” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · alternative
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.