Cisco Duo vs Fortinet FortiToken comparison

Cisco and Fortinet are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.7, while Fortinet is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.8. Cisco holds a 6.0% mindshare in AS, compared to Fortinet’s 4.0% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Cisco Duo

Read 85 Cisco Duo reviews

6,393 Views
4,795 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiToken

Read 31 Fortinet FortiToken reviews

3,268 Views
2,810 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

Fortinet FortiToken

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Cisco Duo and Fortinet FortiToken compete in the security solutions category. Cisco Duo seems to have the upper hand in user satisfaction for its comprehensive features and superior support.

Features: Cisco Duo is recognized for its seamless integration, flexibility, and advanced authentication capabilities. Fortinet FortiToken excels with high-level encryption, token-based protection, and strong security. Cisco Duo scores higher on ease of use and adaptability, while FortiToken focuses on robust security.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Duo could benefit from additional customization options, enhanced reporting tools, and greater adaptability. Fortinet FortiToken needs improvements in token synchronization reliability, mobile compatibility, and overall usability enhancements.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Duo is praised for its straightforward deployment process and exceptional customer support. Fortinet FortiToken users report a steeper learning curve but value the detailed setup guides. Cisco Duo offers prompt responses and helpful assistance, whereas FortiToken's support is efficient but less accessible.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Duo has a higher initial setup cost but delivers ROI through enhanced security and productivity gains. Fortinet FortiToken is affordable, with straightforward pricing, offering good value for basic security needs. Cisco Duo provides long-term ROI with comprehensive features, while FortiToken attracts users with its economical pricing.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Duo vs. Fortinet FortiToken Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Fortinet FortiToken

December 2025

Download the complete report

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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

6.7

Cisco Duo enhances security, reduces breaches, boosts morale, and lowers costs, despite integration challenges for larger enterprises.

Sentiment score

3.8

Fortinet FortiToken offers investment returns through enhanced security, integration with firewalls, and flexible non-subscription token renewal.

I think Cisco Duo offers a good return on investment for startups, newer organizations, or those utilizing cloud-based applications.

Chandan Tripathi

Identity and Access Management Principal at Mobily

I have not seen ROI with Cisco Duo; probably the opposite, because it impedes productivity time to be able to get into the system.

Roger Gough

Network Engineer at West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, Inc.

From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Cisco Duo is the security and the ease of setting it up.

Chris Kincaid

Chief Technology Officer at University of Redlands

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Duo report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.1

Cisco Duo's customer service is praised for expertise and reliability, though some experience delays and difficulty contacting experts.

Sentiment score

6.7

Fortinet's customer service is generally good, with excellent technical support but some slow responses in certain regions.

They got back to us quickly, were nice, and gave us what we needed.

reviewer2718387

Infrastructure Engineer at a government with 501-1,000 employees

I would rate their support 10 out of 10.

Thatchapon Wongsri

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.

Charles Slaustas

Information Technology Contractor at Insight global

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Duo report

Their resolution time is timely, and they provide solutions efficiently.

FahadZuberi

Presale lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

I am satisfied with their service.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

8.1

Cisco Duo is a scalable, cloud-based solution integrating smoothly with systems, supporting growth without performance limits or licensing issues.

Sentiment score

8.2

Fortinet FortiToken is adaptable, scalable, and suited for mid-sized businesses, with high ratings in scalability across sectors.

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.

Charles Slaustas

Information Technology Contractor at Insight global

I believe Cisco Duo is very scalable because it is cloud-based.

Chandan Tripathi

Identity and Access Management Principal at Mobily

We started out with just the basics, getting a token, and then we changed to push, and now, we have added the offline mode.

Roger Gough

Network Engineer at West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Duo report

There is a need to scale more effectively to accommodate a larger number of users and bulk users.

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

Regarding Fortinet FortiToken's scalability, we can purchase licenses according to our needs.

Manikandan Kannan

Head of Technology at Techfruits

I would rate scalability for Fortinet FortiToken as nine and a half or ten.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.3

Cisco Duo is exceptionally stable and reliable, with seamless integration and quick issue resolution, maintaining high performance.

Sentiment score

8.0

Fortinet FortiToken is highly reliable and stable, with minor occasional syncing and SMS issues reported by users.

We have not had any Cisco Duo outages across all the companies I have worked for that utilize Cisco Duo.

Dawid Viljoen

Senior Engineer at a legal firm with 1-10 employees

When there is a bigger problem, we get notifications from Cisco Duo saying, 'Hey, we have a problem,' and that has helped us.

Roger Gough

Network Engineer at West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, Inc.

We have never experienced any downtime.

Ebbinghans Reaport

Vice President at Next Info Tech Solutions Inc

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Duo report

I would rate stability for Fortinet FortiToken as the best solution.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

FortiToken is stable, but there are some restrictions when it comes to supporting two-factor authentication in multi-factor environments.

FahadZuberi

Presale lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Room For Improvement

Cisco Duo needs better integration, simpler authentication, improved documentation, faster updates, easier deployment, and reduced telephony credit reliance.

Fortinet FortiToken requires enhancements in usability, integration, reporting, multi-device support, pricing flexibility, and centralized management.

If you don't have internet access, you can't access your computer, only local access is available.

Boaz Avinery

Security and Network Team Lead

Cisco should allow easier integration with third-party equipment because Cisco's own equipment is expensive.

Wajid Khattak

Procurement Officer at Emerging Systems

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.

reviewer2718303

Director, Customer Success at a tech consulting company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Duo report

Any Fortinet FortiToken cannot be removed; if a box expires or loses support, it cannot be removed, and customers must purchase it from scratch.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

This would allow for broader distribution among a larger number of system admins and software engineers, which is currently not feasible with the existing hardware-only approach.

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

If I can receive it on email, it would be more flexible.

Alexandros Tzampazis

Network Administrator at a tech company with 1-10 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Setup Cost

Cisco Duo is viewed as affordable with flexible licensing, though some find its pricing structure confusing, especially in long-term contracts.

Fortinet FortiToken is competitively priced and integrates well with Fortinet products, appealing to budget-conscious enterprises.

The pricing is acceptable to them.

Ebbinghans Reaport

Vice President at Next Info Tech Solutions Inc

Their website lists $3 per month per user for the Essential license.

Thatchapon Wongsri

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.

MUHAMMAD ASHER

Sr. Network Security Engineer at Topnet Internet Services Provider. Riyadh, Saudi A

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Duo report

Discounts are often provided to close deals, making it a cost-effective solution.

FahadZuberi

Presale lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

The pricing for FortiToken is not low; I regard it as medium-priced.

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Valuable Features

Cisco Duo enhances security with diverse authentication, seamless integration, ease of use, and robust two-factor authentication for remote access.

Fortinet FortiToken offers flexible, cost-effective two-factor authentication with easy installation, strong security, and user convenience via a mobile app.

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.

Charles R

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.

Ebbinghans Reaport

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.

ScottPaul

Director, Technology at Deer Creek High School

For more quotes and insights, download the Cisco Duo report

The main use case of FortiToken is that it is a hardware-based solution, providing secure two-factor authentication for administrators.

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

Fortinet FortiToken provides very important security benefits because it is used to manage FortiGate from outside, exclusively with Fortinet FortiToken.

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

It is very user-friendly and easily integrates with various firewalls, making it convenient to use within diverse environments.

FahadZuberi

Presale lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Fortinet FortiToken report

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Duo

Ranking in Authentication Systems

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (3rd), Access Management (4th), ZTNA as a Service (5th), Cisco Security Portfolio (3rd), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st), AI Data Analysis (5th)

Fortinet FortiToken

Ranking in Authentication Systems

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 6.0%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiToken is 4.0%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Duo	6.0%
Fortinet FortiToken	4.0%
Other	90.0%

Authentication Systems

Featured Reviews

Charles Slaustas

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.

Read full review

Ahmed Auf

Cybersecurity SNB Technical Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Has strengthened user authentication and remains reliable despite recent license transfer limitations

I love to work with Fortinet FortiToken because it's easy to configure with any user and with FortiAuthenticator. We uploaded it and use it for any authentication with any user, with integration with any device. With FortiAuthenticator, we integrated it with any server, such as Active Directory, and use the token for VPN and other purposes. In the future, we ask customers to use it with FortiAuthenticator, not just the token, as it provides better integration capabilities. When we buy a specific Fortinet FortiToken, we use it on FortiGate only. Fortinet FortiToken provides very important security benefits because it is used to manage FortiGate from outside, exclusively with Fortinet FortiToken. Without Fortinet FortiToken, administrators cannot use or add admin privileges or manage it from outside, as this could lead to attacks or malicious activity.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	38

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	9

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing reveals that one of the most powerful features is the licensing model and the price. According to the pricing, it is really fantastic to get th...

See all answers

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiToken?

The solution is simple and similar to Google Authenticator. It follows time-based authentication. We use it for hardware and software in one environment. The tool offers simple and fast authenticat...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiToken?

Fortinet FortiToken could be improved with flexibility to move it from device to device. With a license, replacement is not possible because Fortinet removed this option. Any Fortinet FortiToken ca...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiToken?

The use case for Fortinet FortiToken involves restrictions on token movement. From two or three months ago, Fortinet has not approved moving FortiToken between devices. Users are not allowed to rep...

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Comparisons

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Cisco Duo

Compared 9% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs Cisco Duo

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco Duo

Compared 6% of the time

RSA SecurID vs Cisco Duo

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 23% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 15% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 14% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 5% of the time

RSA SecurID vs Fortinet FortiToken

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortinet FortiToken Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

December 2025

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiToken

December 2025

Download Fortinet FortiToken product report

Also Known As

Duo Security

No data available

Overview

Cisco Duo is a cloud-based identity security platform safeguarding critical resources for any user and device worldwide. Known for its ease of use, Duo offers seamless protection across multi-cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.

Cisco Duo is designed to secure access with identity-first protection and provides extensive visibility throughout an organization's identity ecosystem. Offering multi-factor authentication, Duo facilitates easy integration and management, allowing teams to protect data effectively on VPNs, applications, and networks. Its single-pane management improves security processes while enhancing trust, making it suitable for diverse IT infrastructures.

What are the key features of Cisco Duo?

Multi-factor Authentication: Strengthens user verification with multiple methods.
Push Notifications: Simplifies authentication with quick approvals.
Single Sign-On: Enhances convenience by allowing one set of credentials.
VPN Access: Secures remote connections with reliable authentication.
User Activity Visibility: Offers comprehensive insights into access patterns.

Which benefits and ROI should users consider?

Quick Deployment: Facilitates rapid integration within existing systems.
Effective Management: Streamlines IT operations with centralized control.
Regulatory Compliance: Aids in meeting industry standards for data protection.
Enhanced Trust: Strengthens security posture across networks.
User-friendly Approach: Simplifies authentication for non-technical users.

In industries like education and finance, Cisco Duo is widely employed to secure multi-factor authentication across platforms such as email, databases, and servers. Its integration capabilities with Microsoft 365, Active Directory, and VPNs like AnyConnect are instrumental in verifying user identities using mobile apps or OTPs, catering effectively to both remote and on-premise environments.

Cisco

As we've seen, passwords alone don't keep unwanted guests out of your network. Password-only authentication has led to security breaches, malware infections, and policy violations. With two-factor authentication, a password is used along with a security token and authentication server to provide far better security. Authorized employees can remotely access company resources safely using a variety of devices, ranging from lpatops to mobile phones.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Fortinet FortiToken

December 2025

Free Report: Cisco Duo vs. Fortinet FortiToken

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