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Cisco Duo vs CyberArk Identity comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

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
7.4
Cisco Duo enhances security, boosts staff morale, saves costs, and improves operations, despite perceived productivity impacts.
Sentiment score
5.2
CyberArk Identity offers time and cost savings, enhancing protection and enabling strategic focus, though financial impact opinions vary.
I think Cisco Duo offers a good return on investment for startups, newer organizations, or those utilizing cloud-based applications.
I have not seen ROI with Cisco Duo; probably the opposite, because it impedes productivity time to be able to get into the system.
From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Cisco Duo is the security and the ease of setting it up.
I have seen over 30% return on investment due to the improvement in operational efficiencies through automation, which enhances productivity.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Duo's support is highly rated for expertise and solutions, but some users note delays and improvement needs.
Sentiment score
6.9
CyberArk Identity's support is praised for expertise and quick resolution, despite some concerns about response times and product knowledge.
They got back to us quickly, were nice, and gave us what we needed.
Other support sections have failed miserably because of the lack of response time.
I would rate the technical service and customer support of Cisco Duo a ten out of ten.
They resolved the problem immediately after I reported it, on the same day, within one hour.
They respond immediately when requests are raised, and they are always available for priority one tickets.
They charge reasonable money for the features they provide.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Cisco Duo is scalable, easily integrates across sites, and supports thousands of users without disruptions, adapting to various applications.
Sentiment score
7.2
CyberArk Identity offers scalable and adaptable solutions, but some users face challenges with extensive architectural scaling and performance when scaled.
I believe Cisco Duo is very scalable because it is cloud-based.
We started out with just the basics, getting a token, and then we changed to push, and now, we have added the offline mode.
It scales easily because it is just tied into our identity provider, and it grows along with that.
We can use it on different phones and computers, demonstrating its scalability.
CyberArk Identity is scalable, especially for organizations that are in a cloud environment or organizations using Okta, which is a similar platform.
CyberArk Identity is definitely a scalable solution; it all depends on the money that you have, as with anything else.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
Cisco Duo is highly stable and reliable, with minimal downtime and quick issue resolution, maintaining productivity efficiently.
Sentiment score
7.7
CyberArk Identity is highly reliable, stable, with rare incidents and no downtime, boasting a 99.9% Service Level Agreement.
When there is a bigger problem, we get notifications from Cisco Duo saying, 'Hey, we have a problem,' and that has helped us.
It is very reliable, easy to use, and I don't have too many issues with it.
There has been no downtime, crashes, or performance issues with Cisco Duo.
We no longer have our data infiltrated by unauthorized persons, and tracking actions within the system has become very easy.
When you have it in the cloud, you have CyberArk every time you need it.
With a stable network, due to the redundant data centers across the globe, it is a lot easier to use as a SaaS solution.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Duo needs telephony credit, integration, deployment, and user interface improvements, plus better licensing, documentation, and older app compatibility.
CyberArk Identity requires enhancements in integration, scalability, usability, and support, focusing on mobile management, interface, and multifactor authentication.
Cisco should allow easier integration with third-party equipment because Cisco's own equipment is expensive.
There needs to be consideration for how to launch Cisco Duo with a handheld device that is not native, where you can install the application.
There has to be a way to make the whole process of push notifications easier, so that when I have my phone with me, I do not have to do anything.
Integration or deployment is extremely difficult for CyberArk Identity.
There's a need to enhance network performance.
For CyberArk Identity, you need knowledge of their scripting language to pull different sets of reports.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Duo's pricing is competitive, flexible, straightforward, and suited for large enterprises, with premium support and moderate setup costs.
Enterprise buyers find CyberArk Identity's pricing expensive but justified by comprehensive features and unmatched service for large organizations.
The approximate cost is around eighty dollars per user.
Licensing is straightforward and convenient for higher education because student populations are included.
I am pleased that the prices remained stable after Cisco acquired the solution.
Regarding pricing, it can be quite a lot for small companies.
The pricing is acceptable.
If I am not going fully cloud, there are additional resources I will need to purchase, such as spinning more VMs or acquiring an HSM device to encrypt the vault.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Duo is praised for its versatile multi-factor authentication, integration, user-friendly interface, and adaptability to hybrid environments.
CyberArk Identity enhances security and operational efficiency with SSO, MFA, and privileged access control, favored by enterprises.
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.
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.
A valuable feature of the solution is its hybrid structure, which involves proxy agents running on-premises while other services are on the cloud.
It impacts zero trust security strategies. It prevents lateral movements in the organization.
It is the most powerful access management system.
Being able to integrate CyberArk Identity with Microsoft Defender is valuable.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Duo
Ranking in Authentication Systems
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (4th), ZTNA as a Service (7th), Cisco Security Portfolio (4th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)
CyberArk Identity
Ranking in Authentication Systems
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (9th), Authorization Software (3rd), Enterprise Password Managers (8th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (9th), Access Management (5th), Active Directory Management (6th), Cloud Resource Access Management (3rd), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 8.5%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CyberArk Identity is 2.2%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Duo8.5%
CyberArk Identity2.2%
Other89.3%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Thomas Botts - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing security policies effectively with seamless authentication
The feature of Cisco Duo that I prefer the most is the policies, being able to control what we need to within the policies. You can get pretty granular. There isn't a lot of training that goes on in school districts. Email is an easy way where many people give out their credentials, so the level of protection is something that we definitely need in a school district. Cisco Duo's strong security authentication system has been easy when logging in, although the teachers don't appreciate it as much. We have it configured so users essentially just hit accept. If it sees any sort of built-in risk, then it steps up authentication. It's pretty easy. I appreciate it. I've encountered advantages with Cisco Duo in that it has stopped significant pushback from teachers. It has prevented credential sharing and unauthorized access. We've seen a huge decrease since we've rolled it out across the entire district.
Julio Montero - PeerSpot reviewer
Access management system provides strong security and effortless user authentication
The solution can be deployed on cloud or on-premises. CyberArk is more on the cloud than on local hardware. The deployment is initially quite difficult. That said, when you are doing the implementation of CyberArk, there are so many tutorials that make the learning process very easy. The only complaint could be the language barrier. It's difficult if you don't have a very good level of English. Otherwise, it is very easy. You can have it set up within three months without much difficulty. It's hard to get started, however, once you get going, it gets easier. A full deployment takes half a year or less. There is some maintenance necessary. A company is constantly hiring and letting go of employees. The access is always changing, so access must always be adjusted. Or, if we need another law of filter, we would need to add those, or even take them away. That's another aspect of maintenance.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise36
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

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 do you like most about Duo Security?
They are users who, as mentioned before, utilize RDPAP and MDPAP. It includes functionalities related to finance, specifically in single sign-on.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?
My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Cisco Duo is honestly above my pay grade. I don't know any of that.
What do you like most about CyberArk Identity?
The integration capabilities, ability to integrate CyberArk into the overall IBB strategy of our current clients.
What needs improvement with CyberArk Identity?
One area for improvement is the complexity of learning how to use the software for new users. It requires training.
 

Also Known As

Duo Security
Idaptive
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
MLB, Citi, Pfizer, SulAmerica, GE Capital, Shiseido
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Duo vs. CyberArk Identity and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.