Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs WSO2 Identity Server comparison

The compared Cisco and WSO2 solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #1 in NAC , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 24.5% mindshare in the category. WSO2 is ranked #12 in CIaA , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of WSO2 users who would recommend it.

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

Read 143 Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reviews

17,586 Views
11,255 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

WSO2 Identity Server

Read 11 WSO2 Identity Server reviews

854 Views
214 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

WSO2 Identity Server

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and WSO2 Identity Server based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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

To learn more, read our detailed Network Access Control (NAC) Report (Updated: August 2025).

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Network Access Control (NAC)

August 2025

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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...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

143

Ranking in other categories

Network Access Control (NAC) (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd)

WSO2 Identity Server

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (12th)

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and WSO2 Identity Server 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 24.5%, down 30.0% compared to last year.
WSO2 Identity Server, on the other hand, focuses on Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM), holds 1.5% mindshare, down 3.3% since last year.

Network Access Control (NAC) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)	24.5%
Aruba ClearPass	23.9%
Fortinet FortiNAC	18.0%
Other	33.599999999999994%

Network Access Control (NAC)

Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
WSO2 Identity Server	1.5%
Auth0	19.8%
Ping Identity Platform	11.9%
Other	66.8%

Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)

Featured Reviews

SunilkumarNaganuri

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

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.

Read full review

Ritesh_Shah

Senior Solution Architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Utilizing key management and seamless single sign-on integration for enhanced user profile management

WSO2 Identity Server's key management feature stands out as a particularly impactful feature for enhancing security. Additionally, from a user perspective, the self-user portal and user profile management capabilities are highly valuable. It allows users to manage their profiles, change passwords, and offers a self-care portal type of functionality. The single sign-on capability integrates seamlessly with various platforms, including Google, Facebook, LDAP, and Active Directory, which supports rapid product launches.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Having access and being able to add people or change authentication yourself is nice. In the past, we've used other group authentication services, and we always had to go to them and get permissions. Having that control is key."

"A lot of customers use a third party to manage their guest Wi-Fi. Cisco ISE presents the ability to bring that in-house so that customers can have full control over it, change the branding, and get extra telemetry from it and the user data. It works really well for our customers."

"It does a good job of establishing trust for each access request, no matter the source. It's also very effective at helping with the distributed network and at securing access."

"We have multiple metal devices from different places that use management, so we need to know who would be accessing all those devices and what changes are being done to those metal devices. With Cisco ISE we have visibility of all the changes happening on those devices."

"The solution is integrated with other Cisco devices and can offer automation for an organization, making deployments more dynamic and providing real-time visibility."

"The live logs and live sessions for troubleshooting are the most valuable features because they provide a detailed report of any issues."

"The user experience of the solution is great. It's a very transparent system."

"Cisco ISE integrates with everything else."

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pros

"I am completely satisfied with WSO2 Identity Server and would definitely recommend it to other companies."

"The solution gets the job done, and we don't have to do the main configuration."

"We use the solution for customer identity management, authenticating customers coming in through a web portal."

"Comprehensive ecosystem."

"The product provides easy integration between API manager and IT server components."

"The keystore feature has been most valuable for us."

"It's very easy to implement everything."

"Some of the valuable features of the solution are the easy integration with processes, such as Single Sign-On. Overall WSO2 is straightforward and does not need customization."

More WSO2 Identity Server pros

Cons

"There are still some bugs in ISE that need to be worked out."

"Cisco ISE integration with Cisco ACI is something that can be done in a less complex way. And the simplification in that area may help us do better."

"We face many bugs."

"There is room for improvement in its ability to allow end users to self-enroll their devices. Instead, you should be able to assign that permission by AD group, which is currently not available."

"In order to make it a ten, it should be more user-friendly. You need somebody who is knowledgeable about it to use it. It's not easy to use. We have to rely heavily on technical support."

"Some of the reporting could be improved."

"Cisco ISE requires a lot of time-consuming administration."

"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."

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) cons

"I found the initial setup to be very complex."

"The high availability architecture has to be improved."

"Sometimes working with the code is difficult because I search for documentation about the code and how to work with the code, which is where I believe they should improve, by providing some documentation on how to work with the code."

"The solution seems to be pretty outdated."

"The solution's licensing model could be more flexible, and pricing could be improved."

"The price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"The solution could improve its development from a user perspective."

"This solution does not have BPM workflows already integrated, we had to integrate the BPM module externally. They do not provide full-featured auditing and certification modules out of the box."

More WSO2 Identity Server cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is okay."

"ISE has always been expensive compared to other products in terms of what it does on a user level."

"The price is a bit on the high side."

"We are running Version 2.9 because Version 2.9 of the ISE has a persistent license — it's a one-time payment. The latest version (3.1) is only available if you do a yearly subscription."

"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."

"The solution’s pricing is okay."

"There are three levels of pricing: basic, plus, and apex. Basic satisfied our needs."

"Cisco has actually transitioned to a lot of subscription models, fees, and licenses."

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pricing and cost advice

"We have to take their support, but that is a minimal charge if I'm comparing it to other identity managers."

"They should bring in some good pricing models to host the marketplace."

"WSO2 Identity Server is not an expensive solution."

"I have found the solutions license is priced competitively compared to others."

"I rate the product price an eight out of ten. There is a need to pay more for the extra features provided by the solution."

"At this time we are working with the open-source version."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

14%

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

Transportation Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	43
Midsize Enterprise	31
Large Enterprise	90

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	5

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 WSO2 Identity Server?

The product provides easy integration between API manager and IT server components.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WSO2 Identity Server?

The pricing is currently the same as the API Manager, so it's not surprising. Since we used it primarily for SSO and the self portal, there were no additional pricing concerns.

See all answers

What needs improvement with WSO2 Identity Server?

Currently, all required features are supported. If new use cases for artificial intelligence arise, it could be beneficial to incorporate those. However, for our current projects, WSO2 Identity Ser...

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 23% of the time

Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 22% of the time

Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 9% of the time

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

Compared 5% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Competitors

Microsoft Entra ID vs WSO2 Identity Server

Compared 41% of the time

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs WSO2 Identity Server

Compared 24% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs WSO2 Identity Server

Compared 18% of the time

SailPoint Identity Security Cloud vs WSO2 Identity Server

Compared 17% of the time

More WSO2 Identity Server Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

September 2025

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

Download Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) product report

Buyer's Guide

WSO2 Identity Server

August 2025

Download WSO2 Identity Server 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

WSO2 Identity Server can be used to simplify identity and access management (IAM) related activities in the enterprise. The product is based on open standards and open source principles. WSO2 Identity Server comes with seamless, easy to use integration capabilities that help connect applications, user stores, directories and identity management systems.

WSO2

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

Nutanix, ELM, AlmavivA, BDigital, StubHub, M-creations, MedVision360

Buyer's Guide

Network Access Control (NAC)

August 2025

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