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Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Aruba ClearPass is highly rated for responsive, knowledgeable support, though minor improvements are suggested by some users.
Sentiment score
5.3
Cisco ISE support is valued for expertise but criticized for delays, reactive approach, and integration challenges.
Portnox is one level up, as their customer support is outstanding.
We have escalated questions to tech support, and I would rate the technical support an eight out of ten.
We have local support, so it's much easier.
I rate the technical support as one out of ten.
Sometimes it's challenging to identify which support team is responsible for certain issues, which is a significant concern.
 

Room For Improvement

Sentiment score
4.6
Aruba ClearPass needs a simpler interface, better integration, improved scalability, and user support, with reduced complexity and costs.
Sentiment score
4.4
Cisco ISE users face challenges with complexity, performance issues, integration, intuitive interface, documentation, and licensing concerns.
It is also better to improve threat intelligence for built-in threat detection and prevention.
A more streamlined menu of licensing options would be helpful.
ClearPass from Aruba is easier to understand compared to Cisco, which has more features but is more complicated.
Pricing can be more expensive compared to other vendors, and there is a significant price gap observed, which doesn't seem justified by some specific features.
Additionally, the product is vulnerable and has many bugs.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Aruba ClearPass is praised for its scalability, seamlessly integrating with systems and efficiently handling large user bases.
Sentiment score
7.1
Cisco ISE offers scalable solutions for diverse enterprises, supporting expansions with additional nodes or licenses for efficient endpoint management.
Aruba ClearPass is very scalable.
In our environment, ClearPass handles up to 100,000 users, which is better than some other NAC solutions like Fortinox that scale up to 25,000.
Once the policy is defined, scaling works automatically and is fast.
Factors like architecture, business nature, and legal limitations such as GDPR affect it.
 

Setup Cost

Sentiment score
4.5
Aruba ClearPass is costly yet valuable, with complex licensing, often seen as affordable long-term compared to alternatives like Cisco ISE.
Sentiment score
3.5
Cisco ISE's pricing model is complex and costly, with subscription expenses, though discounts benefit larger clients.
Achieving the best price requires careful selection from a menu of licensing options.
We cannot mix in prices, and of course, prices are going higher.
Pricing is licensing-based, involving a modular and staggered commercial model with separate licenses needed to suit specific requirements.
Compared to other solutions like HPE ClearPass, Cisco is more costly, and the conversation suggests a possible forty percent price gap compared to competitors.
Making large organizational costs significant.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.9
Aruba ClearPass is stable, reliable, handles high volumes well, despite minor integration issues with CPKN and LDAP.
Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco ISE is generally stable, though some face issues during updates; reliability improves with proper configuration and recent versions.
The stability of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is poor for certain use cases, like authentication.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is considered very reliable and stable.
 

Valuable Features

Sentiment score
7.8
Aruba ClearPass provides comprehensive network security, seamless integration, robust policy enforcement, and scalable access control with strong visibility and reporting.
Sentiment score
8.0
Cisco ISE offers robust security and ease of use, integrating AAA management with scalability and improved GUI, enhancing network control.
The ClearPass solution has reduced the amount of engineering time compared to previous solutions, making it more efficient for our purposes.
The solution is integrated with other Cisco devices and can offer automation for an organization, making deployments more dynamic and providing real-time visibility.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is very good at device administration.
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba ClearPass
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
83
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
141
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Aruba ClearPass is 25.0%, down from 26.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is 28.8%, down from 31.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Q&A Highlights

NC
Aug 17, 2021
 

Featured Reviews

SvenVenables - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use, multifeatured, and reliable policy management platform for identity authentication and new device onboarding
The only area that really needs improvement in Aruba ClearPass is the onboarding for doing TLS authentication. The biggest problem we've seen in our environment is Huawei not being able to get onto Google Play. No Huawei device can be onboarded via Aruba ClearPass easily. An additional feature we'd like to see in the next release of Aruba ClearPass is for its OnGuard function, its health check function. We'd like it to have the functionality for installing or copying files that are required for remediation on health checks. For example: if you're using Aruba ClearPass and you do a health check, if the client is missing a file or a particular product such as an antivirus product, we would like the opportunity to have the files copied or installed in the platform, because currently there are some limitations when you want to do remediation. If the client is missing a file and you want them to install a specific application, we have to provide an HTTP download so they can download the file for the remediation to work. What I would like to see is a bigger storage area in Aruba ClearPass so we can upload those files in the platform, rather than having those files in an external server for downloading, because we've had huge problems with doing remediation to locations that require an HTTP download. What we'd like is having the ability to put the applications on Aruba ClearPass directly, to make the remediation steps for clients when they're missing software, to get those directly from the platform, because currently, you can't put a big file onto Aruba ClearPass as there are size limitations.
Bill Masci - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps across a distributed network, giving you a central way of authenticating everybody
A lot of people tell you the hardware requirements for ISE are pretty substantial. If you're running a virtual environment, you're going to be dedicating quite a bit of resources to an ISE VM. That is something that could be worked on. The upgrade process is not very simple. It's pretty time-consuming. If you follow it step by step you're probably going to have a good time, but there are still a lot of things that could be a lot more user-friendly from an administrator's perspective. [They could be] easing a lot of the issues that people have. Instead of just saying the best practice is to migrate to new nodes [what would be helpful] would be to make that upgrade process easier. The UI is a lot nicer in 3.0. It's pretty slow, but for the most part, it's easy to find what you're looking for, especially things like RADIUS live logs, TACACS live logs. From a troubleshooting perspective, it's really nice finding stuff. For setting up policies, from that perspective, it could be a little bit better looking.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Aruba Clearpass or Cisco ISE?
Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely ...
What is the biggest difference between Aruba ClearPass and FortiNAC?
I've done quite a lot of work with ClearPass, and not a lot with FortiNAC/Bradford. ClearPass incorporates a number of different functions including ClearPass Guest for creating complex wireless g...
What do you like most about Aruba ClearPass?
If you are looking at the base installation, then it was a very straightforward process, which I would rate an eight or nine out of ten.
What are the main differences between Cisco ISE and Forescout Platform?
OK, so Cisco ISE uses 802.1X to secure switchports against unauthorized access. The drawback of this is that ISE cannot secure the port if a device does not support 802.1x. Cameras, badge readers, ...
How does Cisco ISE compare with Fortinet FortiNAC?
Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if someone plugs in with a device that is not allowed and will block it. The user exper...
What do you like most about Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine)?
Cisco ISE is a comprehensive solution that allows you to control access to network resources granularly based on policies.
 

Also Known As

Avenda eTIPS
Cisco ISE
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified School District, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities
Aegean Motorway, BC Hydro, Beachbody, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Cisco IT, Derby City Council, Global Banking Customer, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Houston Methodist, Linz AG, London Hydro, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Molina Healthcare, MST Systems, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Reykjavik University, Wildau University
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba ClearPass vs. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
823,875 professionals have used our research since 2012.