PacketFence vs Aruba ClearPass
Zero of fourteen models named PacketFence first on the direct prompt; zero named Aruba ClearPass. PacketFence was named by thirteen of the fourteen models and Aruba ClearPass by fourteen and PacketFence carries 22 labels and Aruba ClearPass 27, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
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
PacketFenceFirst choices, of fourteen modelsAruba ClearPass
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, PacketFence and Aruba ClearPass were named in the same answer thirty-three times, of the 70 answers naming PacketFence and the 91 naming Aruba ClearPass. In those answers Aruba ClearPass took the first choice one time and PacketFence eight.
Every model, every framing
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | |||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | ||
| Mistral Small | | | | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | ||
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | |||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | |||||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | |||||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | ||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | |
PacketFence Aruba ClearPass first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, PacketFence on the left and Aruba ClearPass on the right.The direct prompt
Neither was the first choice, one was named
5 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Neither was named
9 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.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
PacketFence16%#2 of 11Aruba ClearPass2%#6 of 11PacketFence20%#2 of 10Aruba ClearPass2%#7 of 10Aruba ClearPass8%#4 of 7PacketFence3%#– of 7What the models said about PacketFence
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Self-hosting shifts licensing savings into implementation and support effort” Perplexity Sonar · direct prompt · soft negative
“Best Overall Open-Source Option: PacketFence ... If you have an in-house IT engineer comfortable with Linux, start with PacketFence.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Tightest budget, technical staff available: PacketFence self-hosted free + optional paid support. Best cost, higher operational effort.” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
“The best network access control solution for a company with a limited budget is PacketFence, as it is free to use” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about Aruba ClearPass
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“frequently mentioned as a solution to avoid due to its high cost and steep learning curve” Mistral Small · negative prompt · hard negative
“Skip Cisco ISE, Aruba ClearPass, or Forescout” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · hard negative
“Outdated or poorly maintained NAC products (e.g., older versions of Cisco ISE, Aruba ClearPass, or generic 802.1X setups without ongoing updates)” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“For most modern organizations, FortiNAC, Aruba ClearPass, or Palo Alto Prisma Access offer the best balance of features and flexibility.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · comparative prompt · first choice
“Aruba ClearPass — Consistently praised for reliability and integration” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · first choice
“Best Overall Choice: Aruba ClearPass” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · first choice
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.