# PacketFence vs Cisco ISE: which do AI models recommend for NAC, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Network access control. Zero of fourteen models named PacketFence first on the direct prompt; zero named Cisco ISE. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/network/network-access-control/packetfence-vs-cisco-ise/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PacketFence | 15% | #2 of 10 | 0% | 10 | 8 of 14 |
| Cisco ISE | 2% | #5 of 10 | 51% | 35 | 13 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Mistral Small: neither first, one named (first choices: Portnox CLEAR) (alternatives: Cisco ISE, Fortinet FortiNAC)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither first, one named (first choices: Portnox Cloud) (alternatives: Cisco ISE, FortiNAC, HPE Aruba Networking ClearPass)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: Cloudflare One, Jamf Zero Trust) (alternatives: Fortinet FortiGate, Microsoft Entra ID)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: Aruba ClearPass) (alternatives: Cisco Identity Services Engine, FortiNAC, Portnox Cloud)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: Portnox Cloud) (alternatives: Fortinet FortiNAC, HPE Aruba ClearPass, macmon NAC)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Portnox Cloud) (alternatives: Forescout, Fortinet FortiNAC, HPE Aruba ClearPass)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither named (first choices: Portnox CLEAR) (alternatives: OPSWAT MetaAccess)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither named (first choices: Portnox CLEAR, Portnox Cloud) (alternatives: Aruba ClearPass, Fortinet FortiNAC)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: OPSWAT MetaAccess) (alternatives: Portnox Cloud)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: Portnox CLEAR) (alternatives: Cisco Identity Services Engine, HPE Aruba ClearPass)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Portnox CLEAR) (alternatives: FortiNAC)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither named (first choices: Portnox Cloud) (alternatives: HPE Aruba ClearPass, Ivanti Policy Secure)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named (first choices: Portnox Cloud) (alternatives: HPE Aruba ClearPass, Ivanti Policy Secure, OPSWAT MetaAccess)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither named (first choices: OPSWAT MetaAccess / MetaDefender NAC, Portnox CLEAR)

## What the models said about PacketFence

- "a well-configured open-source PacketFence or a modern zero-trust network access (ZTNA) solution beats any legacy appliance" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt, first choice)
- "PacketFence offers the best value as it provides enterprise-grade NAC features completely free" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, budget prompt, first choice)
- "I'd recommend starting with PacketFence (self-hosted) if you have some technical expertise" (Kimi K2, budget prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Cisco ISE

- "Avoid Cisco ISE unless you're already deeply committed to Cisco and have the operational maturity to manage its complexity." (Kimi K2, paraphrase prompt, hard negative)
- "What to Avoid - Cisco ISE and Aruba ClearPass – While excellent solutions, they are typically expensive and complex" (Kimi K2, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "Avoid Cisco/Aruba/Forescout – these are enterprise-priced" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "Cisco ISE is the enterprise standard for organizations that want policy depth, identity‑based segmentation, and tight Cisco ecosystem integration." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "Best low-budget enterprise option: Cisco ISE Essentials if you already use Cisco gear or want a mainstream enterprise NAC." (GPT-5.4 mini, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Choose Cisco ISE if you're deeply invested in Cisco and need the most feature-rich enterprise solution" (Kimi K2, comparative prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.