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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Ivanti NAC comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

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 Network Access Control (NAC)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
142
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
Ivanti NAC
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
13th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is 27.1%, down from 31.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ivanti NAC is 1.4%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

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.
Le Ban - PeerSpot reviewer
Affordable product with an easy initial setup process
Ivanti NAC's most valuable feature is reasonable pricing The product's performance needs improvement. We are doing the PoC of Ivanti NAC. I rate the platform's stability an eight out of ten. I rate Ivanti NAC's scalability an eight out of ten. We have 150 users for it. I contacted the…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"For guests we give them limited access to the internet when they come in so that access has been useful. Previously, we just used to give them the APN key which they would leave with. Now, we give them credentials to use that are for a limited period of time."
"Assisting a larger number of users in gaining access and guiding them through the process of getting on Cisco ISE has been seamless."
"I like the guest access feature, which has been important for us."
"Cisco ISE provides authentication for various applications. It can integrate with other applications to manage access, including Privileged Access Management for those applications. For a comprehensive environment, Cisco ISE should be able to integrate and provide asset management for an IT organization or any organization."
"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 biggest value of ISE is that it can get so granular with gaming systems, versus IoT and BYOD."
"Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is very good at device administration."
"The product is stable."
"Integration with other vendors is possible."
"Ivanti NAC's most valuable feature is reasonable pricing."
"The profiler option allows me to see every detail in a systematic manner from a switch. I can choose the switch and I can see the port NAC address and time."
 

Cons

"One of the issues that we used to have was with profiling because we're working with a service provider that uses a lot of bring your own devices."
"The support could be faster and the pricing could be reduced."
"Cisco could improve the GUIs on their hardware."
"The licensing scheme is complex and could use enhancement to provide more options."
"Compatibility and integration with other vendors is what needs to be improved in Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine)."
"The ISE software needs to be improved so that it is easier to administer."
"It would be helpful for us to know what needs to be deployed, configured, and what changes we need to make to our devices when we don't receive the specific login which is an indication of a lack of connection or incorrect configuration."
"It would be nice if it could be configured easily by default."
"The documentation needs to be improved. There are a lot of details that are missed which makes it confusing."
"At some point, the server got cached and we faced several issues that impacted our customers. We would like to have this resolved."
"The product's performance needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe I have paid around $1,000 in licensing fees. The license is annual."
"It has a fair price. It is better than it was before."
"I think licensing costs roughly $2,000 a year. ISE is more expensive than Network Access Control."
"The pricing is fair for what it does."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"It is difficult to measure security breaches, but since we have not been attacked so far, it has paid for itself over the years."
"The price is okay."
"This solution requires an annual license and it is a bit expensive than competitors."
"The product is cost-effective."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Access Control (NAC) solutions are best for your needs.
842,194 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 Pulse Policy Secure?
Ivanti NAC's most valuable feature is reasonable pricing.
What needs improvement with Pulse Policy Secure?
The product's performance needs improvement.
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
Pulse Policy Secure
 

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
Entegrus
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. Ivanti NAC and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,194 professionals have used our research since 2012.