Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Fortinet FortiToken comparison

The compared Cisco and Fortinet solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #2 in NAC , with an average rating of 7.9, and holds a 22.4% mindshare in the category. Fortinet is ranked #4 in AS , with an average rating of 8.8, and holds a 3.6% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

Read 145 Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reviews

15,135 Views
9,838 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiToken

Read 31 Fortinet FortiToken reviews

3,294 Views
2,833 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

Fortinet FortiToken

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Fortinet FortiToken based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC).

To learn more, read our detailed Network Access Control (NAC) Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Network Access Control (NAC)

January 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 880,901 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

7.1

Cisco Identity Services Engine enhances security, simplifies operations, and reduces costs while boosting productivity and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Sentiment score

3.8

Fortinet FortiToken offers investment returns through enhanced security, integration with firewalls, and flexible non-subscription token renewal.

Direct comparisons with Forescout reveal up to 30% to 40% difference in cost savings.

SunilkumarNaganuri

Service Line Manager (Service Operations Expert) - Network Access Control at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

We also save money because we increased security, stopped incidents, and reduced breaches and security breaches.

Mohamed Fouad

Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.7

Cisco ISE support is highly rated for knowledge and responsiveness but struggles with response times and communication challenges.

Sentiment score

6.7

Fortinet's customer service is generally good, with excellent technical support but some slow responses in certain regions.

I rate the technical support as one out of ten.

SunilkumarNaganuri

Service Line Manager (Service Operations Expert) - Network Access Control at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

Cisco support has pretty good teams for support and every time we had good answers and we could somehow solve the issues we had.

NicolasFigaro

Network and Technology Information Manager at Akkodis

TAC support from Cisco is a notable feature; it provides very professional support.

Mohamed Fouad

Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

Their resolution time is timely, and they provide solutions efficiently.

FahadZuberi

Presale lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

I am satisfied with their service.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.3

Cisco ISE supports smooth scalability for diverse enterprises, but virtualization and hardware challenges may require strategic solutions.

Sentiment score

8.2

Fortinet FortiToken is adaptable, scalable, and suited for mid-sized businesses, with high ratings in scalability across sectors.

You can run an all-in-one deployment and switch to distributed mode as your company grows, relying on Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) to support your scalability needs.

Mohamed Fouad

Cybersecurity Team Leader at EMAK For Integrated Solutions

Factors like architecture, business nature, and legal limitations such as GDPR affect it.

SunilkumarNaganuri

Service Line Manager (Service Operations Expert) - Network Access Control at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

However, you can have some latency issues depending on where your devices are.

NicolasFigaro

Network and Technology Information Manager at Akkodis

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

There is a need to scale more effectively to accommodate a larger number of users and bulk users.

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

Regarding Fortinet FortiToken's scalability, we can purchase licenses according to our needs.

Manikandan Kannan

Head of Technology at Techfruits

I would rate scalability for Fortinet FortiToken as nine and a half or ten.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Cisco ISE is stable and reliable, but large deployments may face challenges, requiring proper configuration and effective support.

Sentiment score

8.0

Fortinet FortiToken is highly reliable and stable, with minor occasional syncing and SMS issues reported by users.

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is considered very reliable and stable.

reviewer2590572

Solution Architect, Presales Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

The stability of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is poor for certain use cases, like authentication.

SunilkumarNaganuri

Service Line Manager (Service Operations Expert) - Network Access Control at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

Sometimes when we have upgrades or failovers with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), we had some minor issues.

NicolasFigaro

Network and Technology Information Manager at Akkodis

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

I would rate stability for Fortinet FortiToken as the best solution.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

FortiToken is stable, but there are some restrictions when it comes to supporting two-factor authentication in multi-factor environments.

FahadZuberi

Presale lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Room For Improvement

Cisco ISE is hindered by complexity, compatibility issues, costly licensing, and needs improvements in usability, support, and performance.

Fortinet FortiToken requires enhancements in usability, integration, reporting, multi-device support, pricing flexibility, and centralized management.

The whole setup works well with Cisco access points and Cisco switches, but when you have multiple vendors in the environment, such as HP switches or access points like Aruba, you'll find they will not work well with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE).

Jeremiah Ngure

Technical Services Lead at Telenet Solutions

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.

reviewer2590572

Solution Architect, Presales Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

They are very poor in asset classification and should focus on improving the preauthentication profiling, especially for NAC use cases.

SunilkumarNaganuri

Service Line Manager (Service Operations Expert) - Network Access Control at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

Any Fortinet FortiToken cannot be removed; if a box expires or loses support, it cannot be removed, and customers must purchase it from scratch.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

This would allow for broader distribution among a larger number of system admins and software engineers, which is currently not feasible with the existing hardware-only approach.

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

If I can receive it on email, it would be more flexible.

Alexandros Tzampazis

Network Administrator at a tech company with 1-10 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Setup Cost

Cisco ISE pricing is complex and costly, with strong vendor partnerships needed for discounts, favoring large enterprises over smaller businesses.

Fortinet FortiToken is competitively priced and integrates well with Fortinet products, appealing to budget-conscious enterprises.

Compared to other solutions like HPE ClearPass, Cisco is more costly, and the conversation suggests a possible forty percent price gap compared to competitors.

reviewer2590572

Solution Architect, Presales Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

The license costs can range between $50,000 to $100,000 per year for enterprises.

Jeremiah Ngure

Technical Services Lead at Telenet Solutions

Cloud solutions are expensive, while on-prem setups with shared environments are cheaper but not effective.

SunilkumarNaganuri

Service Line Manager (Service Operations Expert) - Network Access Control at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

Discounts are often provided to close deals, making it a cost-effective solution.

FahadZuberi

Presale lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

The pricing for FortiToken is not low; I regard it as medium-priced.

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Valuable Features

Cisco ISE excels in security, network access control, and integration, offering adaptability, scalability, and centralized management for organizations.

Fortinet FortiToken offers flexible, cost-effective two-factor authentication with easy installation, strong security, and user convenience via a mobile app.

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) offers authentication using RADIUS, enhancing network security by separating and segregating networks.

Jeremiah Ngure

Technical Services Lead at Telenet Solutions

There is value because it helps us secure the network and prevents certain things from happening which could cause financial loss.

John Ntambi

Ag Systems & Networks Head at UNBS

The adaptability of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) policy enforcement can fit to the site we have depending on which kind of devices we have on site and then the needs for authentication, granting access and then assigning each device into its correct network for segmentation.

NicolasFigaro

Network and Technology Information Manager at Akkodis

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

The main use case of FortiToken is that it is a hardware-based solution, providing secure two-factor authentication for administrators.

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

Fortinet FortiToken provides very important security benefits because it is used to manage FortiGate from outside, exclusively with Fortinet FortiToken.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

It is very user-friendly and easily integrates with various firewalls, making it convenient to use within diverse environments.

FahadZuberi

Presale lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

145

Ranking in other categories

Network Access Control (NAC) (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (4th)

Fortinet FortiToken

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Authentication Systems (4th)

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Fortinet FortiToken aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is designed for Network Access Control (NAC) and holds a mindshare of 22.4%, down 28.3% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiToken, on the other hand, focuses on Authentication Systems, holds 3.6% mindshare, down 6.5% since last year.

Network Access Control (NAC) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)	22.4%
Aruba ClearPass	21.6%
Fortinet FortiNAC	16.1%
Other	39.9%

Network Access Control (NAC)

Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiToken	3.6%
Microsoft Entra ID	8.2%
Cisco Duo	5.3%
Other	82.9%

Authentication Systems

Featured Reviews

NicolasFigaro

Network and Technology Information Manager at Akkodis

Has improved authentication management and simplified visitor network access

The log capacity in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced because today natively on the ISE can only have a look at the logs from the day before. You cannot search into the oldest logs; you have to use another tool for that. This can be blocking if you don't have any log consolidation solution. To do a search for an issue or something that happened two days ago, you cannot search directly in there. The capacity of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced. Something between one week and one month for the log capacity would be nice.

Read full review

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Has strengthened user authentication and remains reliable despite recent license transfer limitations

I love to work with Fortinet FortiToken because it's easy to configure with any user and with FortiAuthenticator. We uploaded it and use it for any authentication with any user, with integration with any device. With FortiAuthenticator, we integrated it with any server, such as Active Directory, and use the token for VPN and other purposes. In the future, we ask customers to use it with FortiAuthenticator, not just the token, as it provides better integration capabilities. When we buy a specific Fortinet FortiToken, we use it on FortiGate only. Fortinet FortiToken provides very important security benefits because it is used to manage FortiGate from outside, exclusively with Fortinet FortiToken. Without Fortinet FortiToken, administrators cannot use or add admin privileges or manage it from outside, as this could lead to attacks or malicious activity.

Read full review

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Access Control (NAC) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

880,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	44
Midsize Enterprise	32
Large Enterprise	91

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	9

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 ...

See all answers

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, ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiToken?

The solution is simple and similar to Google Authenticator. It follows time-based authentication. We use it for hardware and software in one environment. The tool offers simple and fast authenticat...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiToken?

Fortinet FortiToken could be improved with flexibility to move it from device to device. With a license, replacement is not possible because Fortinet removed this option. Any Fortinet FortiToken ca...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiToken?

The use case for Fortinet FortiToken involves restrictions on token movement. From two or three months ago, Fortinet has not approved moving FortiToken between devices. Users are not allowed to rep...

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 24% of the time

Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 20% of the time

Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 8% of the time

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 3% of the time

Portnox vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Competitors

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 23% of the time

Cisco Duo vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 15% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 14% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 13% of the time

RSA SecurID vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiToken Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

January 2026

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

Download Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiToken

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiToken product report

Also Known As

Cisco ISE

No data available

Overview

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) offers comprehensive network access control and visibility, supporting features like 802.1X authentication, profiling, and posturing. It integrates with Microsoft and other Cisco products, facilitating robust security policies across distributed networks.

Cisco Identity Services Engine is a key player in network access control, offering centralized management and a user-friendly interface. It supports zero trust principles and provides strong authentication for wired and wireless networks. ISE's capabilities include granular security policies, enhanced device posturing, and seamless integration, bolstering security infrastructure. Users benefit from its dual authentication through EAP, simplifying access management across networks.

What are the key features of Cisco ISE?

802.1X Authentication: Supports network security for authorized device access.
Profiling: Identifies devices for accurate policy enforcement.
Posturing: Evaluates device compliance for access decisions.
TACACS: Streamlines network device authentication and authorization.
Guest Access: Provides secure access to visitors.
Microsoft Compatibility: Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft environments.

What benefits and ROI should be considered?

Security Enhancement: Offers strong network security policies.
Operational Efficiency: Centralized management improves operational aspects.
Improved Compliance: Ensures adherence to industry standards.
Scalability: Supports growing network demands effectively.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and education, Cisco ISE is pivotal for securing wired and wireless networks, implementing BYOD policies, and managing user access. Organizations leverage ISE for effective authentication and authorization, while maintaining compliance with industry security standards.

Cisco

As we've seen, passwords alone don't keep unwanted guests out of your network. Password-only authentication has led to security breaches, malware infections, and policy violations. With two-factor authentication, a password is used along with a security token and authentication server to provide far better security. Authorized employees can remotely access company resources safely using a variety of devices, ranging from lpatops to mobile phones.

Fortinet

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

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data

Buyer's Guide

Network Access Control (NAC)

January 2026

Download Free Report

Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: January 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

880,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.

We monitor all Network Access Control (NAC) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.