Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Reviews & Product Details

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is a comprehensive network access control (NAC) solution that serves as the cornerstone of a zero-trust security framework. It enables organizations to enforce security policies, manage endpoints, and ensure that only trusted users and devices can access network resources. By integrating intelligence from across the network stack, ISE provides real-time contextual information, allowing for precise control over who and what connects to the network. Key Features and Functionality: - Context-Aware Access Control: ISE gathers detailed information about users, devices, locations, and access methods to enforce policies that grant or restrict network access based on comprehensive contextual data. - Endpoint Compliance: The platform continuously assesses device posture to ensure compliance with security policies, preventing unpatched or non-compliant devices from posing risks to the network. - Automated Threat Containment: ISE can automatically identify and contain threats by leveraging network intelligence, effectively turning the network into a proactive defense mechanism. - Flexible Deployment Options: Supporting both on-premises and multi-cloud environments, ISE offers deployment flexibility to meet diverse organizational needs. - Integration with Security Ecosystem: ISE integrates seamlessly with other security solutions, enhancing overall security posture through coordinated policy enforcement and threat response. Primary Value and Problem Solved: Cisco ISE addresses the critical need for secure and efficient network access control in today's complex IT environments. By providing a centralized platform for policy enforcement and endpoint management, it reduces the risk of unauthorized access and potential security breaches. Organizations benefit from enhanced visibility into network activities, streamlined compliance with security policies, and the agility to adapt to evolving security threats. Ultimately, ISE empowers businesses to maintain a resilient security posture while supporting operational continuity and growth.

Seller

Cisco

Discussions

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Community

Solution Type

Best-of-Breed

Overview by

Ross Marchant

Value at a Glance

Averages based on real user reviews.

Perceived Cost

$$$$$

View More Pricing Information

Top-Rated Alternatives

View All Alternatives

User Insights

Average based on 63 real user reviews.

Perceived Cost

$$$$$

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Integrations

(4)

Integration information sourced from real user reviews.

G2 reviews are authentic and verified.

Here's how.

Yadel B.

Senior Network Engineer

Information Technology and Services

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

9/8/2026

Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores.

"Cisco ISE: Robust NAC with Best-in-Class Policies, Profiling, and Integrations"

5/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

Cisco ISE is one of the best Network Access Control solutions available. It’s robust and well maintained.

What I like most is the policy rule set. The way you can write rules is above everything else, and the overall workflow is better than any other NAC I’ve used.

Profiling is also among the best. It includes a lot of entries you can use to profile a device, and it lets you combine a huge number of conditions to do whatever you need.

802.1X is extremely mature and stable, and it supports basically every type of authentication that exists.

Guest access is another strong area: self-registration, portals, guest accounts—every workflow is helpful, impressive, and very mature compared with other solutions.

One area where it really stands out is BYOD. The BYOD workflow is excellent.

Another highlight is TrustSec/SGT. Although it’s Cisco-only, it’s one of the best microsegmentation solutions out there. The closest alternative I’ve seen is Arista’s new MSS solution. And when it integrates with Cisco Catalyst Center for a full software-defined solution, it becomes, in my view, the best solution currently on the market.

Its integration with other solutions via pxGrid is also amazing. We’ve integrated it with Firepower, Fortinet firewalls, and Nessus vulnerability scanning, and it worked without any problems.

TACACS is another advantage. Even though some GUI-based controllers are moving away from it, we use it for device administration on our FTD devices as well as some switches, and I can’t say enough about how good it is. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

The main thing I dislike about ISE is how complicated it can be. It’s very powerful, but at the same time it feels overly complex, so you really have to know what you’re doing to get it working properly.

Another issue for me is the licensing. Even though it’s better now with essentials, advantage, premier, etc., I still think it could be improved.

Finally, the price is a concern. It isn’t cheap, and it definitely sits on the expensive side. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) solving and how is that benefiting you?

The microsegmentation features using SGT, the BYOD workflows, and the mature 802.1X and MAB capabilities with posture assessments stand out to me. I also like the guest workflows with sponsored accounts, the network visibility it provides, and the integration using pxGrid for adaptive network access control. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Ilham P.

Senior Network Security Engineer

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

6/22/2026

"Powerful NAC Solution, Best Leveraged Within the Cisco Ecosystem"

4/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

As an implementer, centralized policy management is the biggest win — defining RADIUS, TACACS+, and 802.1x authorization rules in one place eliminates per-device configuration and makes policy audits straightforward. The deep Cisco ecosystem integration is equally valuable; pxGrid context sharing with Firepower means ISE pushes identity-aware decisions into the broader security stack automatically, something that would otherwise require significant manual correlation." Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

The most frustrating pain point is interoperability with non-Cisco network access devices. CoA and VSA behaviour becomes inconsistent when working with third-party switches and wireless controllers, necessitating significant workarounds and increasing deployment complexity in mixed-vendor environments.

The admin GUI is noticeably sluggish, particularly when navigating policy sets or loading live authentication logs on larger deployments. This slows down day-to-day troubleshooting and makes what should be quick configuration changes feel unnecessarily tedious.

The upgrade process is also a significant operational burden. ISE upgrades require careful sequencing across PAN, PSN, and MnT nodes, demand long maintenance windows, and carry real risk of service disruption if anything goes wrong mid-process. A more streamlined, rolling upgrade mechanism would greatly reduce the operational overhead. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) solving and how is that benefiting you?

Before ISE, most of our customers' network access was largely VLAN-based with minimal enforcement — any device could connect with little visibility into what it was or whether it was compliant. Cisco ISE solved this by enabling 802.1x-based network access control across wired and wireless infrastructure, automatically profiling endpoints to classify corporate, BYOD, and IoT devices without manual intervention, and enforcing posture compliance before granting access.

The result is significantly improved visibility into what's on the network and a much stronger security baseline — non-compliant or unrecognized devices are now quarantined automatically rather than left unchecked. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Eric Q.

Administrador de Seguridad TI

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4/21/2026

"Unify and automate network access with real visibility"

5/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

The ability to unify and automate network access through security postures, meeting predefined conditions, allows for real profiling and visibility to identify who and what connects to the company's network. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

Particularly, the solution features multiple and extensive configuration options or modules, which at first can be somewhat confusing during the platform management process. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Bisrateab G.

Cyber Security officer

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

9/19/2025

"3 years of hands-on experience as an administrator managing Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) ."

5/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

With 3 years of experience administering Cisco ISE, I find its biggest strengths are centralized access control, strong security enforcement, and clear visibility into network activity. It simplifies managing user, device, and guest access while integrating well with other security tools to strengthen overall network defense. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

The VPN gateway must be properly configured to prompt for and process password changes, since Cisco ISE only validates credentials against the identity source. If this setting is not enabled on the VPN device (such as ASA/FTD with AnyConnect), users won’t see a prompt to update expired passwords, even if Active Directory allows the change. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) solving and how is that benefiting you?

Cisco ISE solves the challenge of controlling who and what connects to the network by providing centralized authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA). It gives visibility into users and devices, enforces consistent security policies, and streamlines guest and BYOD access. For me as an admin, this means fewer security gaps, easier policy management, and stronger protection of critical resources without having to manage multiple disconnected tools. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Rajesh K.

Cloud security Engineer

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

7/17/2025

"Vulnerability enggine"

5/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

Dynamic and context-aware access policies based on user, device type, time, and location.

Profiling and posture assessment for both managed and unmanaged devices.

Centralized policy management that scales across large distributed networks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

Complexity in Configuration and Policy Design:

ISE has a steep learning curve. Setting up policies—especially for large environments with multiple identity sources and posture checks—can become complex and time-consuming. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Gamil R.

Computer and Collaboration Eng

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

9/9/2024

"Long Successful Journey"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

All-in-One Solution

Central Control

Compatibility and scalability

Support (Either by Cisco TAC, Community, Wep,...) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

High Cost.

Complexity for beginners.

Changing the Schema especially for the Licensing. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

ANSHUMAN T.

Technical Lead

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

9/10/2023

"A Comprehensive Cisco ISE Review"

5/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

I like Cisco ISE for its network access control capabilities, centralized policy management, and integration with multivendor support. It helps enhance network security. It can be worked as a Radius server. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

First, I would say it's a complex setup. It is very costly. And it is not user-friendly. A new user needs to take time to understand the setup. In some cases, Cisco ISE may require significant hardware resources to run efficiently. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Ezequiel P.

Presales Engineer Security

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

1/26/2024

"Network Security Orchestrator"

5/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

Cisco ISE is Orchestrator of our network, concentrate all users and mitigate attacks & have multiples features. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

Maybe many releases and change of license Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Prashant B.

Network Security Engineer

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

2/10/2023

"Cisco ISE with Zero Trust Approach"

4/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

Cisco ISE is an excellent product in terms of security and service. It has a dot1x feature, which makes it zero trust at an extreme level. Cisco ISE is very useful for network administrators and security engineers to protect their environment. the part I like.

1. dot1x pre-authentication in both wire and wireless.

2. granular policies to control endpoint.

3. complete visibility of endpoint discovery. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

Cisco ISE is a good product, but there are some flaws that just need to be addressed,

1. Licensing is very costly

2. You need to upgrade all of your infrastructure.

3. Requires dedicated resources for ISE

4. Automation and integration with some more products. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) solving and how is that benefiting you?

1. ISE resolves Pre-authentication, which means Zero Trust, which is very useful for Banking and the financial environment.

2. Endpoint network access with compliance helps more to protect the network environment in all types of network lines: wired, wireless, and VPN. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

J S.

Site Reliability Engineer III

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

1/11/2023

"Dynamic Network Security"

5/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

Cisco ISE is very useful for our firm as it provides a very good and dynamic (automatic) segregation of endpoints connections to their right vlan connection and also the right access to be provided for an endpoint device. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

At the moment the process of IOS upgrade as it is not as straightforward as the other IOS devices that we are using in the firm such as Switches and Routers. If Cisco can improve this to be more simple then that will make our life easier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.