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Cisco Duo vs Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs RSA Adaptive Authentication 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 9.3%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 7.4%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Adaptive Authentication is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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.
Yonas Abebe - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration capabilities simplify authentication and migration challenges need addressing
The integration capabilities of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator are very interesting, as it can be integrated with third-party devices easily and is straightforward to configure. The integration with FortiToken is outstanding, adding a layer of security for authentication. In addition, it can be used by integrating with zero trust single access, enhancing overall security measures.
Directorc4e7 - PeerSpot reviewer
We need better ease of use; the product is overly complicated
There are many use cases that we have defined based on our business needs Ingestion of logs and raising alert space on those logs are the most valuable features. The product is basically unusable. We need better ease of use; it's overly complicated. It has taken years to implement. We used RSA…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Duo Security provides a high level of certainty regarding the identity of the individual performing an action. Whether it's logging into a system, using VPN, or utilizing Autopay, establishing that trust is crucial. I can't imagine any security company, organization, or IT team that wouldn't prioritize having multifactor authentication enabled when accessing critical systems."
"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."
"The integration with Azure Active Directory and the AWS cloud is amazing, as most products nowadays require the creation of a customized integration. With Duo Security, it was more like native integration, and it took me five minutes to register."
"Cisco is the perfect product for our current size, and I don't think we'll have problems with scalability as we grow."
"Multifactor authentication and secure two-factor authentication are the most valuable features. It's been around for a while, but now it's becoming an enforced behavior as opposed to something that you used to do as optional."
"I like the set time that users can log into devices during the day and how many times they can do so. I also like the ability to restrict the regions from which the user can get in. Users outside of our country or even the town cannot log in."
"By deploying Duo, we have virtually eliminated the risk of direct deposit redirection as a result of credentials that have been compromised via phishing."
"I appreciate the simple login feature of Cisco Duo; being able to log into your actual page and then having all your apps there is convenient."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy. It is also easy to deploy."
"The product’s most valuable feature is integration with FortiGate, FortiToken, FortiTalk, and multi-factor authentication."
"The integration into tools, including CI/CD pipelines, is easy and handy."
"We use multi-factor authentication for enhancing security."
"I work a lot with Fortinet products and I call the support often. They are very quick to respond and the support is very good."
"The most valuable features are the performance and ease of use."
"We use this product for SSL two-factor authentication and FortiToken management."
"The first valuable feature is being able to see everything on one platform. This includes logs and authentication failure."
"Our customer are seeing value from the product, as they experience cost reductions. They can stop fraud from their customers, then their customers can have a better experience from their services."
"Risk Engine’s risk score, eFN, GeoIP, and device binding all coming together in the Policy Rules to decide when to escalate to MFA."
"The capability to manage your business policy related to security when required without vendor involvement."
"Ingestion of logs and raising alert space on those logs are the most valuable features."
"The most valuable feature is the stock tokens. That works the best for us."
 

Cons

"Most of my colleagues from other companies use the Microsoft MFA solution because it's included in Office 365. Few people are considering Cisco Duo. That's the primary problem in our area. It's a solution mostly adopted by Cisco users."
"I wish that the support would be a little bit more prompt and a little bit more flexible because there are certain things that they will do and certain things they won't do."
"We have had instances where Duo Security stops working on a user's device, which we have fixed by uninstalling and then reinstalling it."
"Duo has some issues that we're trying to work through. For example, if I install it on a WordPress site and another admin needs to log in, they can't because Duo hasn't been set up for them. It doesn't appear that I can add permissions on a user-by-user basis. It's not obvious."
"To improve Cisco Duo, the biggest consideration is the licensing standpoint; the most common issue I've found is customers not setting up the Active Directory sync properly, leading to inflated licensing usage when they try to delete inactive users that are still being charged."
"While two-factor authentication with mobile devices provides a high level of security, it's still not foolproof, as someone could potentially steal your phone. It would be beneficial to have information about the authentication location."
"Cisco Duo is a modern product that does not support older applications, lacking backward compatibility. It should work on supporting legacy applications and legacy approaches."
"I would appreciate seeing Cisco Duo improved with a tighter integration with Active Directory to secure not just Remote Desktop to a server, but all the remote levels of connection that you can make to a server."
"No SMS gateway from the ISP"
"We've had some issues with integration."
"It can not use SQL to query FortiAnalyzer directly."
"They could expand FortiAuthenticator's capabilities to accommodate a broader range of environments."
"I would like to see some email options for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator."
"I don't have any issues with this solution, but it may need a better, more user-friendly interface or better design of the platform."
"I would like to see more security features in reference to identity login or identity identification."
"FortiAuthenticator's interface could be better."
"Better filters when searching for events. The current features for current filters when searching fraud events are not very comprehensive. You can only filter by certain fields in the transaction."
"I would like to see a more adaptive type of solution, something that we could use on our web pages..."
"Reporting modules is one of the major areas that can be improved further."
"The product is basically unusable. We need better ease of use; it's overly complicated."
"RSA Adaptive Authentication lacks a mechanism to verify the identity of a new user in the Enrollment event workflow."
"It has taken years to implement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Duo Security is free."
"The pricing is pretty competitive. It's pretty cheap. Anybody can adopt it."
"It's a bit confusing because we're on a three-year plan with a certain number of licenses, and we've gone over that number. They told us that when we renew, they will add all these licenses. We've expanded quickly, so everyone's kind of scared because no one knows what the bill is with the long pricing cycle."
"Price wise, it's not cheap, but it's not expensive at all either. It's in the middle."
"Their pricing model is a little bit weird. Currently, there is no price advantage in signing up for yearly contracts. There are no additional costs to the standard licensing costs."
"The cost was reasonable. Licensing was pretty straightforward for a change."
"I haven't seen any information on the pricing in four years, so I can't comment on that."
"You pay per user when using this solution and the pricing is fair."
"The cost of the license could be less expensive. The license is paid on a yearly basis."
"We pay for licensing on a yearly basis."
"It is usually cheap. Without a license, you can use some basic features. You can buy a 20-year license and implement the solution once."
"I rate its pricing a three to five out of ten."
"I price of the solution is expensive."
"The platform provides a user-based pricing model rather than a subscription pricing model."
"The licensing structure is cost-effective for us compared to some of the other solutions that have recurring monthly costs."
"When we buy the Fortinet FortiAuthenticator device there is a comparison between price and security."
"You may need to opt for second best if funding is low and the number of users is huge. However, the pricing is able to be negotiated if your user figures are huge."
"The pricing is $50 per head, yearly."
"Customers need to deploy the solution in a very expensive infrastructure. RSA should should think about a less expensive infrastructure for customers because the solution costs around $100,000, and the infrastructure needed to support that solution may be even more expensive than that price."
"Keep the proxy service layer on premises. That consumes SaaS security services on the back-end."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
44%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 Du...
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, spe...
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 a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is not overly expensive compared to other Fortinet subscriptions. However, it would be be...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Initially, we deployed Fortinet FortiAuthenticator on VMware and faced challenges when migrating to an OpenStack envi...
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Also Known As

Duo Security
FortiAuthenticator
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
ADP, Ameritas, Partners Healthcare
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Authentication Systems. Updated: June 2025.
860,825 professionals have used our research since 2012.