# PacketFence alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 226 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where PacketFence 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/packetfence/alternatives/

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

- Portnox Cloud: 62
- Cisco Identity Services Engine: 33
- Cisco ISE: 16
- Portnox CLEAR: 11
- OPSWAT MetaAccess: 8
- Aruba ClearPass: 6

## Network access control

**Small business**: 68 of 84 answers did not name PacketFence (PacketFence is #2 of 9 at 16%).

- Portnox Cloud: first choice in 34 of those 68
- OPSWAT MetaAccess: first choice in 4 of those 68
- Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 3 of those 68
- Portnox CLEAR: first choice in 3 of those 68
- Foxpass: first choice in 2 of those 68
- SecureW2: first choice in 2 of those 68
- Ubiquiti UniFi: first choice in 2 of those 68
- macmon NAC: first choice in 2 of those 68

**Mid-market**: 75 of 84 answers did not name PacketFence (PacketFence is #2 of 10 at 15%).

- Portnox Cloud: first choice in 19 of those 75
- Cisco Identity Services Engine: first choice in 8 of those 75
- Portnox CLEAR: first choice in 8 of those 75
- Cisco ISE: first choice in 5 of those 75
- OPSWAT MetaAccess: first choice in 4 of those 75
- Aruba Central: first choice in 1 of those 75
- Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 1 of those 75
- Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager: first choice in 1 of those 75

**Enterprise**: 83 of 84 answers did not name PacketFence.

- Cisco Identity Services Engine: first choice in 25 of those 83
- Cisco ISE: first choice in 11 of those 83
- Portnox Cloud: first choice in 9 of those 83
- HPE Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 6 of those 83
- Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 2 of those 83
- Cisco Identity Services Engine - ISE: first choice in 2 of those 83
- HPE Aruba Networking ClearPass Policy Manager: first choice in 2 of those 83
- Portnox Cloud NAC: first choice in 2 of those 83

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