# Cisco Identity Services Engine alternatives: what AI models name instead, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. 176 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Cisco Identity Services Engine holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cisco-identity-services-engine/alternatives

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

- Portnox Cloud: 63
- PacketFence: 24
- Portnox CLEAR: 8
- NordLayer NAC: 6
- OPSWAT MetaAccess: 4
- Fortinet FortiNAC: 3

## Network access control

**Small business**: 80 of 84 answers did not name Cisco Identity Services Engine (Cisco Identity Services Engine is #11 of 11 at 0%).

- Portnox Cloud: first choice in 40 of those 80
- PacketFence: first choice in 11 of those 80
- NordLayer NAC: first choice in 4 of those 80
- Portnox CLEAR: first choice in 3 of those 80
- Foxpass: first choice in 2 of those 80
- OPSWAT MetaAccess: first choice in 2 of those 80
- Portnox Cloud NAC: first choice in 2 of those 80
- Twingate: first choice in 2 of those 80

**Mid-market**: 62 of 84 answers did not name Cisco Identity Services Engine (Cisco Identity Services Engine is #8 of 10 at 2%).

- Portnox Cloud: first choice in 18 of those 62
- PacketFence: first choice in 11 of those 62
- Fortinet FortiNAC: first choice in 3 of those 62
- Portnox CLEAR: first choice in 3 of those 62
- Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 2 of those 62
- NordLayer NAC: first choice in 2 of those 62
- OPSWAT MetaAccess: first choice in 2 of those 62
- Forescout: first choice in 1 of those 62

**Enterprise**: 34 of 84 answers did not name Cisco Identity Services Engine (Cisco Identity Services Engine is #1 of 7 at 39%).

- Portnox Cloud: first choice in 5 of those 34
- PacketFence: first choice in 2 of those 34
- Portnox CLEAR: first choice in 2 of those 34
- Arbiter Cloud NAC: first choice in 1 of those 34
- Cisco Identity Services Engine ISE: first choice in 1 of those 34
- Cisco Identity Services Engine – ISE: first choice in 1 of those 34
- Genian NAC: first choice in 1 of those 34
- HPE Aruba ClearPass: first choice in 1 of those 34

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