# Cisco ISE alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 222 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Cisco ISE holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/cisco-ise/alternatives/

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- Portnox Cloud: 61
- Cisco Identity Services Engine: 34
- PacketFence: 18
- Portnox CLEAR: 10
- OPSWAT MetaAccess: 7
- Aruba ClearPass: 6

## Network access control

**Small business**: 82 of 84 answers did not name Cisco ISE (Cisco ISE is #9 of 9 at 0%).

- Portnox Cloud: first choice in 38 of those 82
- PacketFence: first choice in 9 of those 82
- OPSWAT MetaAccess: first choice in 4 of those 82
- Portnox CLEAR: first choice in 4 of those 82
- Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 3 of those 82
- Foxpass: first choice in 2 of those 82
- SecureW2: first choice in 2 of those 82
- Ubiquiti UniFi: first choice in 2 of those 82

**Mid-market**: 72 of 84 answers did not name Cisco ISE (Cisco ISE is #5 of 10 at 2%).

- Portnox Cloud: first choice in 16 of those 72
- PacketFence: first choice in 9 of those 72
- Cisco Identity Services Engine: first choice in 8 of those 72
- Portnox CLEAR: first choice in 6 of those 72
- OPSWAT MetaAccess: first choice in 3 of those 72
- Aruba Central: first choice in 1 of those 72
- Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 1 of those 72
- Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager: first choice in 1 of those 72

**Enterprise**: 68 of 84 answers did not name Cisco ISE (Cisco ISE is #2 of 7 at 20%).

- Cisco Identity Services Engine: first choice in 26 of those 68
- Portnox Cloud: first choice in 7 of those 68
- HPE Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 3 of those 68
- Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 2 of those 68
- Cisco Identity Services Engine - ISE: first choice in 2 of those 68
- HPE Aruba Networking ClearPass Policy Manager: first choice in 2 of those 68
- Cisco: first choice in 1 of those 68
- Forescout: first choice in 1 of those 68

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.