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AWS IAM Identity Center vs Cisco Duo 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.9
AWS IAM Identity Center enhances security, compliance, efficiency, and cost management through centralized access control and streamlined processes.
Sentiment score
6.4
Cisco Duo enhances security and efficiency, saving time and reducing costs, leading to improved productivity and lower cyber premiums.
The return on investment includes operational efficiency gains, security risk reduction, compliance with regulations, improved user experience, productivity benefits, reduced overhead, and better security posture.
DevOps Engineer | Cloud Architect & Automation Specialist | Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible, AWS EKS at Phoenix Marketing & Advertising
We have achieved significant time efficiencies with AWS IAM Identity Center.
Director of Engineering at Infosys
We were able to implement zero trust extremely quickly because of the platform and its ongoing developments, including Cisco Duo Network Gateway, which enabled that transition to zero trust extremely quickly.
Global Associate Director, Services at a leisure / travel company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Not having MFA means you cannot put a price tag on that because you will be hit with ransomware immediately.
Director at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I think Cisco Duo offers a good return on investment for startups, newer organizations, or those utilizing cloud-based applications.
Identity and Access Management Principal at Mobily
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.9
AWS IAM Identity Center documentation is detailed; users appreciate support plans, though some miss visuals and live chat.
Sentiment score
6.7
Cisco Duo's support is praised for prompt responses and knowledgeable staff, despite occasional variability in expertise and escalation challenges.
AWS provides immediate solutions and assistance whenever needed, especially if issues arise that cannot be handled internally.
Director of Engineering at Infosys
They are prompt, keep you updated, and provide excellent assistance.
AWS DevOps Engineer at CTB Solutions
AWS offers better assistance plans for their services.
Strategist | Webops and Blockchain at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
They got back to us quickly, were nice, and gave us what we needed.
Infrastructure Engineer at a government with 501-1,000 employees
I would rate their support 10 out of 10.
Senior Network Engineer Specialist at Zenith Comp Co.,Ltd.
I would rate support for Cisco Duo a 10, as I have never had a negative experience.
Information Technology Contractor at Insight global
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
AWS IAM Identity Center efficiently manages growth, offers scalability, and integrates well for enterprises despite permission management challenges.
Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Duo provides effortless scalability and integration for organizations, supporting large-scale growth with no performance concerns.
AWS Identity Center successfully supports scalable deployments, allowing additional resources as the company grows.
AWS Cloud Engineer at BINO-K
The scalability of AWS IAM Identity Center is excellent.
AWS DevOps Engineer at CTB Solutions
It can handle both a small number of users and a bigger number of users efficiently.
AWS Certification Full Stack Cloud Engineer at Social Economic Accelerator LabSocial
In my last contracting position, it was a large one for a major worldwide airline that had hundreds of thousands of devices that could use Cisco Duo, and it scaled very well.
Information Technology Contractor at Insight global
You would not need many more engineers to manage Cisco Duo even if we scale up to 500 employees because it is so simple to manage.
Manager, Customer Success at SRC.SI sistemske integracije d.o.o.
Cisco Duo is scalable for organizational growth.
Technical Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
AWS IAM Identity Center is highly reliable with 99.96% uptime, stable performance, and smooth integration despite occasional page refresh issues.
Sentiment score
8.1
Cisco Duo is highly stable and reliable, with minimal downtime and quick resolutions to minor user-related issues.
There can be issues if there is an outage on AWS's side, which could prevent logging in because your region might be down, affecting the Identity Center's availability.
Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global
It offers 99.96% uptime.
AWS DevOps Engineer at CTB Solutions
Stability-wise, it is functioning well without any outages or crashes.
AWS Certification Full Stack Cloud Engineer at Social Economic Accelerator LabSocial
We have not had any Cisco Duo outages across all the companies I have worked for that utilize Cisco Duo.
Senior Engineer at Frontline Fighter Ltd
The stability has been excellent.
Manager, Customer Success at SRC.SI sistemske integracije d.o.o.
I did not notice any downtime or crashes with Cisco Duo.
CTO at Red IT Solutions
 

Room For Improvement

AWS IAM Identity Center needs UI, integration, and automation improvements for better user management, security, and onboarding experiences.
Cisco Duo could improve integrations, cost effectiveness, offline support, UI, authentication speed, compatibility, customization, and administration features.
Having a lot of users on one instance is hard to configure, so I hope for more flexibility and ease in configuration.
AWS Certification Full Stack Cloud Engineer at Social Economic Accelerator LabSocial
Enhancements could include automation tools or a centralized dashboard for managing roles and policies across multiple accounts, simplifying the process.
DevOps Engineer | Cloud Architect & Automation Specialist | Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible, AWS EKS at Phoenix Marketing & Advertising
When configuring it with third-party tools, like Active Directory, the naming convention of permission sets requires careful attention, which can be confusing.
Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global
If you don't have internet access, you can't access your computer, only local access is available.
Security and Network Team Lead
It lacks some dynamic identity management features compared to other products such as SailPoint.
Senior Iam Associate at Cognizant
Cisco should allow easier integration with third-party equipment because Cisco's own equipment is expensive.
Procurement Officer at Emerging Systems
 

Setup Cost

AWS IAM Identity Center is cost-effective with free basic functionality, though premium features may incur additional charges.
Cisco Duo is seen as straightforward for budgeting, offers flexible licensing, and justifies its premium with comprehensive features.
AWS IAM Identity Center is available as a free service by default.
AWS Cloud Engineer at BINO-K
It is not that expensive, rated at three out of ten for costs.
Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global
Pricing for AWS IAM Identity Center is very affordable, rated at two out of ten with one being cheap.
AWS DevOps Engineer at CTB Solutions
The pricing is acceptable to them.
Vice President at Next Info Tech Solutions Inc
Their website lists $3 per month per user for the Essential license.
Senior Network Engineer Specialist at Zenith Comp Co.,Ltd.
One of my customers recently received a billing statement charging 3,600 US dollars for 100 users for one year.
Sr. Network Security Engineer at Topnet Internet Services Provider. Riyadh, Saudi A
 

Valuable Features

AWS IAM Identity Center streamlines role management, enhances security with MFA, and simplifies access control and policy configuration.
Cisco Duo offers simple multi-factor authentication, seamless integration, and quick setup, enhancing security and user management efficiency.
It provides the least privilege-based access control, which limits users to only the operations they need to perform without interfering with unrelated configurations.
Sr DevOps Engineer at HTC Global
These features allow for excellent micro-level control over resources, ensuring specific permissions are granted.
Strategist | Webops and Blockchain at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Its valuable features include granular access control, allowing precise control over who can access specific AWS resources and under what conditions using JSON-based policies.
DevOps Engineer | Cloud Architect & Automation Specialist | Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible, AWS EKS at Phoenix Marketing & Advertising
From a management perspective, I appreciate that we can enroll or control devices on the back end for people who get a new phone and forget to handle Cisco Duo properly and need to add a new device.
Network Engineer at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees
Our company benefits from all those features of Cisco Duo with confidence, and we feel very secure with it in terms of authentication of our logins.
Vice President at Next Info Tech Solutions Inc
The benefit of having a complete passwordless environment in our organization is that it's gotten people away from using the sticky note under their keyboard - which is a huge problem.
Director, Technology at Deer Creek High School
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS IAM Identity Center
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (7th)
Cisco Duo
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
121
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (2nd), Access Management (5th), ZTNA as a Service (3rd), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of AWS IAM Identity Center is 2.1%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Duo is 3.2%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Duo3.2%
AWS IAM Identity Center2.1%
Other94.7%
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

MO
Web developer at King of CMS Consulting
Centralized access control has improved team collaboration but still needs a simpler onboarding
One of the best features AWS IAM Identity Center offers is the permission set, which is one of the best. Then there are the temporary credentials via SSO, the multi-account governance, and the centralized identity management. Those are good features that I believe assist developers, and another feature I can say is one of the best is the improved security with temporary credentials. The feature I find myself relying on the most day-to-day would be the centralized identity management and multi-account governance. It allows me to check what other developers are doing and since I am the admin, I can also revoke the access they have to the AWS accounts.
Charles Slaustas - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Contractor at Insight global
Supports seamless authentication for users across multiple organizations and personal portals
The features I use in Cisco Duo include Duo Pushes to confirm my identity to the device, and eventually as MFA security was increased, I actually had to use exchange passcodes. Sometimes, I have to go into the site and get into Cisco Duo to retrieve the passcode, and many of them have been two-factor, where the sites send a passcode that I have to enter into Cisco Duo. It has been more of the latter. I have not seen issues with lagging or crashing on Cisco Duo's end; it was usually on the client end, often because someone set up a bad upgrade or there were connection issues with the Cisco Duo cloud through the administrative site.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise58
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS IAM Identity Center?
AWS provides the lowest pricing among other service providers like Azure, Google, Oracle. It is cost-effective, and they use a pay-as-you-go model.
What needs improvement with AWS IAM Identity Center?
I think AWS IAM Identity Center can be improved by making it beginner-friendly. It was very hard for me to navigate initially because the UI was very complicated. I had to do a lot of research and ...
What is your primary use case for AWS IAM Identity Center?
My main use case for AWS IAM Identity Center is hosting and redirecting web services that I want to use as localhost, but then I have to reroute it. What I did was create a permission set and use i...
How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?
We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Cisco Duo shows that it is a cost above our Entra costs, which we are always reviewing. The benefits outweigh the cost in terms of its ...
What needs improvement with Duo Security?
I believe Cisco Duo needs to be improved on the delay process because there is a delay when we send a Duo Push or when we are signing into any applications. We can work on making it faster and spee...
 

Also Known As

AWS Single Sign On, AWS SSO
Duo Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Cisco Duo and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.