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

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Ranking in Cisco Security Portfolio
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
141
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st)
Cisco Secure Client (includ...
Ranking in Cisco Security Portfolio
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
71
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (4th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (4th), ZTNA as a Service (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Cisco Security Portfolio category, the mindshare of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is 22.9%, up from 18.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is 8.5%, down from 10.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cisco Security Portfolio
 

Featured Reviews

SunilkumarNaganuri - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced device administration hindered by complex deployment and security limitations
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) needs to improve the profiling preauthentication. They are very poor in asset classification and should focus on improving the preauthentication profiling, especially for NAC use cases. This will give them a roadmap for software-defined access (SDA) use cases and network segmentation. Threat detection capabilities are very weak. Additionally, the product is vulnerable and has many bugs.
VinaySingh - PeerSpot reviewer
Connect securely from any location with reliable and easy multifactor authentication
Whenever I am away from the office, I use Cisco Secure Client to connect to the office network, accessing the secure network to place calls to our secure servers that are built on-premise. It is used across our domain, including telecom and app networks, primarily for IT connectivity across the…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The return on investment we have seen is related to time in terms of troubleshooting. The logs, such as the security logs, inform us of the issues that people have had. ISE has been very instrumental in helping isolate those issues. We've seen a lot of cost savings because we don't have to pay an IT person to waste time doing something that should be instantaneous."
"The posture assessment is a valuable feature because of the ability to do assessments on the clients before they connect to the network."
"Our clients like Cisco ISE because they already use various Cisco solutions. It's easy for them to use this solution because they have an engineer with Cisco certifications."
"The most valuable feature is the visibility element, the ability for customers to be able to see what devices are actually on their network. Without a solution like ISE, they would have no idea what devices are connected to their network. It offers them the ability to authenticate devices via mobile."
"I have found that all of the features are valuable. It is very easy to deploy because we are able to port users directly from Active Directory (AD) and LDAP."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the policy sets."
"The most valuable thing in ISE is the adoption of EAP deep that came in [version] 2.7, so we can do authentication based on user and machine certificates in one authentication."
"The policy sets give us more granular groups for end-user access."
"It is easy to handle, you can have it on Windows, Mac, and Linux."
"I think Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is stable."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"It is an easy system to set up."
"The most valuable features are that it is really secure and very easy to use."
"Configuration policy, posture assessment, and other things can be done in great detail."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is its ease of use and simple interface. It's always available as long as I have a good network connection."
"The installation process is not difficult."
 

Cons

"The solution is not so user-friendly."
"The templates could be better. When you have to do certs, especially with X.500 certs, it isn't very intuitive."
"The solution could be more secure."
"Cisco ISE is complex. The deployment and design of networks with it is so complex. If it could change it would be better."
"Since we have started, we struggled a lot to implement this solution into our network, and we opened a case a couple of times. Up until this point, nothing else needs to be improved with this product."
"I would like to see integration with other vendors, and the RADIUS integration needs to be improved a little bit."
"We do tend to run into a lot of issues with ISE when it comes to bugs."
"Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) needs to improve the profiling preauthentication. They are very poor in asset classification and should focus on improving the preauthentication profiling, especially for NAC use cases."
"They can redesign the reset password, reset function, and user interface."
"The logout should be automized and it should have a reminder that you have logged in into a private network."
"One improvement could be ensuring better backward compatibility."
"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client can be improved by having better speed and reliability. However, the speed and reliability are already really good."
"We don't have the correct visibility to see the quantity of licenses we are consuming or not consuming."
"If they could simplify connections via other machines, like Linux or Mac OS X, it would be helpful."
"The setup is a bit difficult to handle on the server-side."
"Improvements could be made in terms of pricing and ease of setup."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are other cheaper options available."
"ISE has always been expensive compared to other products in terms of what it does on a user level."
"The licensing can be confusing, but it is still pretty good."
"The solution’s pricing is okay."
"It is fair."
"Pricing and licensing are not my expertise. As far as budgeting is concerned, we run an ELA with Cisco. It's a part of our ELA."
"There are three levels of pricing: basic, plus, and apex. Basic satisfied our needs."
"The technology is good, but to use some of the other features, and capabilities, they request that we purchase the Cisco DNA Center. As a result, the bundled price is a little high."
"We are in the North African region, and Cisco products are expensive for us. On a scale from one to ten with one being very affordable and ten being expensive, I'd rate the price at eight."
"The price is okay."
"The pricing depends on the requirement, so proper planning and an RF analysis help to properly size the solution and get the best pricing."
"I am using a paid version of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client."
"There is a license needed to use this solution. There are different licensing models available, such as a three-year license."
"It costs around 80,000 Indian rupees for a hundred licenses, so approximately $1,020 USD."
"I would rate the pricing for the license of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client around four to five out of ten. It's not the cheapest option, but it's also not overly expensive."
"The licensing costs are reasonable."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cisco Security Portfolio solutions are best for your needs.
832,723 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
28%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
51%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Government
4%
 

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 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 AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
The tool is user-friendly, robust and easy to use in any environment.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
Cisco Secure Client is a reasonable solution in terms of cost. I wouldn't be aware of the specific pricing details, as my sales team would handle that.
What needs improvement with Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
Creating a profile for the users might be good. Additionally, if user authentication has already been done on a device, such as a Microsoft Indian portal, maybe there could be connectivity directly...
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
MST, Molina Healthcare, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Arup, New South Wales Rural FireService
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
832,723 professionals have used our research since 2012.