We performed a comparison between Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) vs Fortinet FortiAuthenticator based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Fortinet FortiAuthenticator has an edge in this comparison because it received higher marks in the ease of deployment and pricing categories, and users are more impressed with its features.
"It works as a good RADIUS server. It has lots of features. It works with all the proprietary Cisco AB pairs and features."
"At the moment, ISE seems to integrate very well with a number of other technologies."
"The initial setup was easy. It took around one month. We did the installation part within half an hour to two hours but we found a couple of issues so we raised a case and once everything was resolved it was a month in total."
"TACACS and .1X security are the most valuable features. TACACS acts for user control, so no one can authenticate to our network devices, and .1X is to validate that unauthorized devices are plugged into our network."
"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."
"The most important feature for us is visibility in terms of user connections. It's the ability to see what devices are online for a particular user that helps a lot with our troubleshooting."
"The integration with Active Directory is the most valuable feature for us."
"Among the most valuable features is TACACS."
"Features the addition and removal of access as needed for the VPN."
"The logs have great detail that make it easier to evaluate and control the security environment."
"The implementation has significantly improved access management within our organization."
"Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is an easy-to-use solution."
"Enables easy integration, allowing for 2FA with our VPN."
"We have not had issues with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator. It is stable."
"FortiAuthenticator is easy to use."
"The product enables SSO."
"There should be an easier way to do the upgrades. There are a lot of steps to get to the next version from the previous version which ends up being a bit of the headache with the upgrade."
"I don't like the fact that we can see the logs only for 24 hours. Maybe that happens because of the way we set it up."
"The installation is not straightforward, it took us approximately one month."
"The compliance and posture don't always work. They should make it more stable. With each upgrade, we lose some functionality. We have to wait for another upgrade."
"The licensing documentation needs to be better."
"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."
"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."
"We face many bugs."
"It can not use SQL to query FortiAnalyzer directly."
"The technical support team is bad."
"No SMS gateway from the ISP"
"The hardware aspect of the solution could be improved. We are not really able to understand the hardware capabilities of the device."
"The GUI has some shortcomings and can be made better. The GUI is not great."
"For improvement, Fortinet needs to ensure that they provide quick support to users...Fortinet sometimes needs to respond to users facing issues within an hour."
"I would like to see some email options for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator."
"I would like to see more security features in reference to identity login or identity identification."
More Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) Pricing and Cost Advice →
Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is ranked 1st in Network Access Control (NAC) with 135 reviews while Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is ranked 5th in Single Sign-On (SSO) with 52 reviews. Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is rated 8.2, while Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) writes "Gives us that extra ability to assist the end user and make sure that we are making them happy". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator writes "A reasonably priced solution that can be scaled toward different functionalities and offers flexible SMS messaging". Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is most compared with Aruba ClearPass, Fortinet FortiNAC, Forescout Platform, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security, whereas Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is most compared with Fortinet FortiToken, Fortinet FortiNAC, Microsoft Entra ID, Cisco Duo and CyberArk Privileged Access Manager.
We monitor all Network Access Control (NAC) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.