Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs ForgeRock 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...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
145
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (4th)
ForgeRock
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (15th), Access Management (14th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ForgeRock aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is designed for Network Access Control (NAC) and holds a mindshare of 22.4%, down 28.3% compared to last year.
ForgeRock, on the other hand, focuses on Access Management, holds 6.0% mindshare, up 5.9% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)22.4%
Aruba ClearPass21.6%
Fortinet FortiNAC16.1%
Other39.9%
Network Access Control (NAC)
Access Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ForgeRock6.0%
Microsoft Entra ID17.4%
Okta Platform9.3%
Other67.3%
Access Management
 

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.
Ahmet Murat Ülker - PeerSpot reviewer
Devops Engineer and Trainer at a tech vendor with 1-10 employees
Easy to use, but customizations can be complicated to handle
I would suggest others use the product after asking them to consider their use cases. SSO may be a use case for some, and using the product as an IDM tool may be a use case. At the moment, my company is not deploying all the components of ForgeRock itself. My company uses ForgeRock for OAuth 2.0. For example, my company is not deploying the IDM and identity gateway components. You should consider your use case and select the required components for that use case. My company does not use the SSO features of the tool. My company uses SSO to access ForgeRock's AM Console for individual users. My company does not use single sign on features of the product and instead, we use Auth0. I rate the tool a seven or eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In terms of features, I think they've done a lot of improvement on the graphical user interface — it looks really good right now."
"The product is useful for device administration."
"Cisco ISE now competes with any other product in the space because of its centralized and unified highly secure access control with ISE."
"Cisco ISE's integration with other external identity servers like Duende is very simple and easy."
"Typically, the installation is pretty simple."
"Using this solution gives us the ability to allow proper access to the network."
"The ability to integrate our Cisco AnyConnect connections to the active directory has been great."
"The valuable feature of the solution lies in its integration capabilities with other applications."
"In terms of the tool's operational efficiency, ForgeRock Access Management is used in a lot of environments, different regions, and in different stages of production environments."
"The solution integrates well and it is important for them to keep up with the current trends in the market quickly enough, and they have been doing a good job at it."
"Easy to customize and adaptable to any environment."
"The product is easy to use in a development environment."
"We create and define the permissions and configurations for the users."
"The solution is very scalable. We have a lot of users that have been increasing over the years that we have been using it. We have approximately 20,000 users."
"The product is easy to set up."
"It works very well, especially in Identity and Access Management. It helps detect anomalies in user behavior patterns."
 

Cons

"It would be ideal if Cisco could provide some short training videos or documentation to customers to help them understand how to use the product."
"Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be improved by allowing us to switch back to the legacy license, as the new license model is more complicated, and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) does not provide a legacy-based license."
"One of the issues that we used to have was with profiling because we're working with a service provider that uses a lot of bring your own devices."
"The initial setup process is complex since there are so many big components."
"I would like the product to include support for OSVS version three."
"The tracking mechanism in Cisco ISE is relatively costly, especially its vendor-specific protocol."
"Sometimes, there are instances when Cisco ISE simply fails to function without any apparent reason, and regardless of the investigation we undertake, the logs indicate that everything is functioning properly, making it somewhat inexplicable."
"It is too complex. It should be easy to use. We are not such a big team. We only have three engineers to work with this, and we don't use all of the functionality of the product. Its range of functionality is too wide for us, and this is the reason why we are thinking of switching to a more simple product. We have shortlisted a Microsoft solution. We have a big footprint for Microsoft products, especially in security. As a global strategy, we try to leverage to the maximum what is possible around Microsoft."
"Automatic Deployment needs improvement. it could be made easier."
"The solution could improve by adding more advertising and marketing."
"Lacks simplified documentation within the tool that requires use of a separate portal."
"The solution's documentation is not very good, and they do not give more details."
"The product's support services in the French language are not free."
"The solution's deployment should be made easier."
"It should be a little bit easier to implement. It is user-friendly, but there is always scope for improvement."
"ForgeRock is an open source solution and is available to everyone but it is not freeware. If you need support, you need a subscription for ForgeRock. Many of its functionalities need to be built up with the help of a consultant."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is price fair for the features you receive."
"I think the price is okay."
"If you go directly with Cisco for the implementation it's very, very expensive."
"The Essentials licensing is reasonable, but I would like the Premier version to be perpetual instead of a subscription."
"There are three levels of pricing: basic, plus, and apex. Basic satisfied our needs."
"That's where things got a bit more complicated. Previously, it was a one-time purchase and we just had to renew support. These days, there's a subscription model, which is supposed to be easier and cheaper as well, but it's more pricey"
"Licensing has got much simpler since Cisco moved to the DNA model because we just have the three tiers, but it could always stand to be improved upon."
"It has a fair price. It is better than it was before."
"It's a bit pricey and could be more competitive."
"Its price is comparable to other products in the market."
"ForgeRock is an expensive solution."
"ForgeRock's pricing is more competitive than other products."
"The pricing of the solution is fair but I do not have the full details."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis, but it also depends on the contract that you have with the vendor. They have multiple types of contracts. There are additional costs to the standard licensing fees. If you need some of the features, you have to pay more."
"We have multiple clients we are looking at right now. We are at a very small number, however, the idea and the goal is to grow. We are looking at about $100,000 and $50,000 a minimum a month cost. That'd be minimum maybe in a couple of years."
"The license is purchased annually per user. However, you can negotiate if you are signing for a longer period of time. When comparing this solution to others on the market it is priced fair, it is not at the top of the price range or at the bottom end."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Access Control (NAC) solutions are best for your needs.
879,425 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise91
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise13
 

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 do you like most about ForgeRock?
The most valuable features of ForgeRock are social login and data protection.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ForgeRock?
Our company was considering switching back to Keycloak from ForgeRock, so as to not pay any license fees. ForgeRock also supports M-PIN and biometric features that Keycloak does not provide. My com...
What needs improvement with ForgeRock?
In the past, I saw that Splunk was integrated with a testing portal, and then it was integrated with Slack. I don't think ForgeRock directly supports integrations with Slack, making it an area wher...
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
ForgeRock Identity Platform, ForgeRock OpenIDM
 

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
Geico, Thomson Reuters, Salesforce, McKesson, Trinet, SKY, BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Capgemini, North Western University
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: December 2025.
879,425 professionals have used our research since 2012.