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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs MetaAccess comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
144
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (4th)
MetaAccess
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
21st
Average Rating
0.0
Reviews Sentiment
2.9
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is 18.4%, down from 24.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MetaAccess is 0.8%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)18.4%
MetaAccess0.8%
Other80.8%
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

NF
Network and Technology Information Manager at Akkodis
Has improved authentication management and simplified visitor network access
The log capacity in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced because today natively on the ISE can only have a look at the logs from the day before. You cannot search into the oldest logs; you have to use another tool for that. This can be blocking if you don't have any log consolidation solution. To do a search for an issue or something that happened two days ago, you cannot search directly in there. The capacity of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced. Something between one week and one month for the log capacity would be nice.
JD
Delivery Lead at altisec
Positive support experience and affordability boost overall satisfaction
The OESIS framework platform has been developed by OPSWAT itself. They license it to other OEMs for posture assessment, and they are pioneers in this particular field. The rest of the features are the same when compared head-to-head because all NAC works seamlessly. The advantage is this supports a virtualized environment, so you don't need to depend on hardware, allowing you to go live at any point in time. When discussing policy enforcement, it has predefined templates and objects that help draft a policy easily, reducing the need to define variables and create a policy from scratch. For instance, if I want to allow a certain network range, I just need to put out the network range, and they have that policy enforcer to help define the policy precisely. OPSWAT has an integrated solution for threat detection and response capability. If you are opting for threat detection, it will scan your endpoint, which is something no one else is doing. It does take some time for the scanning, but if you want your endpoint to get scanned for threats first, OPSWAT can do that. Regarding reporting tools and real-time monitoring capability, you get a detailed report of compliance as well as non-compliance systems, which is comprehensive.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is network access control for the users coming into the network, which allows us to know who is in the network at any given time."
"For me, the TACACS feature is the most valuable. I have also used Cisco ISE with LDAP, not with Active Directory. That works for me because I prefer LDAP versus Active Directory."
"In terms of scalability, you need to factor in your licenses. With a virtual platform, the scalability is more than sufficient. We have over one thousand users."
"For customers, it's great. It has a GUI, so the customers themselves can edit ACLs or even modify the policies. It's also an all-in-one solution with RADIUS and TACACS."
"The most valuable feature is the ASDM - the user interface makes it very easy to configure the firewall."
"If you deploy it with the correct policies, it's a wonderful product."
"Typically, the installation is pretty simple."
"The best feature of the Cisco ISE platform is that it is compatible with Microsoft products."
"OPSWAT has an integrated solution for threat detection and response capability; if you are opting for threat detection, it will scan your endpoint, which is something no one else is doing."
 

Cons

"The installation is not straightforward, it took us approximately one month."
"Compatibility with other vendors is what needs to be improved in Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine). We should be able to use it with other vendors, for all specifications."
"Cisco ISE requires a lot of time-consuming administration."
"A lot of people tell you the hardware requirements for ISE are pretty substantial."
"There are always some things that I would request."
"I'd like to see an easier way to upgrade to larger versions, as well as more best practices that are easier to locate on their support page."
"This product doesn't work in isolation."
"The user interface could be more user-friendly."
"The only limitation is that customization is pretty limited."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing and licensing are not my expertise. As far as budgeting is concerned, we run an ELA with Cisco. It's a part of our ELA."
"Over the years, licensing has been confusing and complicated because there are so many different licenses for each different product and each different iteration of the product."
"The price of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is expensive and we are thinking about changing to FortiGate."
"Licensing is a disaster. It's a mess and I hope they fix it soon."
"The price of the solution is price fair for the features you receive."
"I don't know too much about the actual pricing on it. The licensing part is pretty straightforward. It's a lot more simple than some of the other Cisco licensing models. In that aspect, it's great."
"I believe I have paid around $1,000 in licensing fees. The license is annual."
"It is difficult to measure security breaches, but since we have not been attacked so far, it has paid for itself over the years."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise91
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Aruba Clearpass or Cisco ISE?
Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely ...
What are the main differences between Cisco ISE and Forescout Platform?
OK, so Cisco ISE uses 802.1X to secure switchports against unauthorized access. The drawback of this is that ISE cannot secure the port if a device does not support 802.1x. Cameras, badge readers, ...
How does Cisco ISE compare with Fortinet FortiNAC?
Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if someone plugs in with a device that is not allowed and will block it. The user exper...
What needs improvement with MetaAccess?
The only limitation is that customization is pretty limited. We have predefined templates available, but the granular customization is restricted. I am speaking with respect to the Indian customer ...
What is your primary use case for MetaAccess?
The MetaAccess product is primarily for providing secure network access, functioning as a Network Access Control (NAC). It first performs a posture assessment to check whether your endpoint is comp...
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
OPSWAT MetaAccess
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, BC Hydro, Beachbody, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Cisco IT, Derby City Council, Global Banking Customer, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Houston Methodist, Linz AG, London Hydro, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Molina Healthcare, MST Systems, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Reykjavik University, Wildau University
Juniper Networks, Expert Global Solutions (EGS), PCWizrd,
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: July 2026.
908,858 professionals have used our research since 2012.