Cisco Duo vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

Cisco and Microsoft are both solutions in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.9, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7. Additionally, 94% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Cisco Duo

Read 57 Cisco Duo reviews

3,719 Views
2,698 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Microsoft Entra ID

Read 192 Microsoft Entra ID reviews

14,768 Views
10,683 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

Microsoft Entra ID

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 23, 2024

Cisco Duo and Microsoft Entra ID are advanced security platforms designed for identity and access management. Cisco Duo shows stronger satisfaction with pricing and support while Microsoft Entra ID offers a more comprehensive feature set.

Features: Cisco Duo includes robust multi-factor authentication, ease of integration with various applications, and strong device visibility. Microsoft Entra ID offers seamless single sign-on experience, extensive support for hybrid environments, and deeper integration within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Duo needs improvement in its reporting functionality, flexibility of its authentication methods, and better customer training resources. Microsoft Entra ID requires enhanced compatibility with non-Microsoft software, more intuitive configuration options, and better mobile device management support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Duo is favored for its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer support. Microsoft Entra ID, despite a more complex deployment, is appreciated for detailed documentation and consistent support from the Microsoft team.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Duo offers competitive pricing with significant reported ROI due to cost-effective security enhancements. Microsoft Entra ID, though having a higher initial setup cost, delivers substantial ROI through extensive integration capabilities and an advanced feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Duo vs. Microsoft Entra ID Report (Updated: September 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Microsoft Entra ID

September 2024

Download the complete report

Helped 801,314 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Duo

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

2nd

Ranking in Authentication Systems

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

ZTNA as a Service (4th), Cisco Security Portfolio (7th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st)

Microsoft Entra ID

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

1st

Ranking in Authentication Systems

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

192

Ranking in other categories

Identity Management (IM) (1st), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (4th)

Featured Reviews

reviewer1895520

MSP Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Jun 26, 2022

Easy to use and gives our customers multi-factor identification on-prem and in the cloud

The ease of use and the ease of management of all the users have been key for us. The setting up of devices in Duo has been really easy as well. It's better than all the other ones I've worked with. Another important feature is that Duo considers all resources to be external because even the internal ones look like external ones, and people click on stuff and get caught. It's very important to be more cautious than ever. Also, the single pane of glass management works very well. That feature is very important because we have a lot of admins who have to manage Duo, and it's much easier when it's a single pane of glass. That single pane is also great because it's easy to enroll new devices.

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Jay Ved

Director of IT at MLSListings, Inc.

Nov 28, 2023

Syncs with our on-prem AD, gives security insights, and saves time

Certain aspects of the user interface can be rather clunky and slow. It can sometimes be circular in terms of clicking a link for a risky user sign-in and seeing what the risky login attempts were. It takes you in a circle back to where you started, so drilling down into details, especially if you are not in it every day and it is one of many tools that you use, can be difficult. It can be difficult to track down the source of an issue. There should be better integration or support for FSMO roles and cross-tenant force management. If you want to enable it, it is tricky when you add Entra ID into the mix for domain sync or directory sync.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"The ability for users to authenticate via phone, from any random phone number, has been very helpful for managing a distributed workforce. Using it across a distributed network for securing access to our applications is big for us."

"Documentation is the most valuable feature, and if you ever have to reach out to them with a question, their support is also fantastic."

"We get fewer threats to remediate due to the two-factor authentication, which does not allow as many threats through."

"The most valuable feature of Duo Security is the ability for the user to easily approve access. The application prompts the user, and they can see the location and the IP address. This makes it easy for the user to approve it and go through the process of logging in to the VPN."

"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."

"If you have to log in to something, you must go to Duo Security to confirm that you're who you are on your phone."

"Duo has allowed us to add an additional layer of security to our organization and to establish trust for every access request and secures our environment."

More Cisco Duo pros

"https://www.itcentralstation.com/product_reviews/microsoft-bi-review-52460-by-amanda-zhou"

"It certainly centralizes usernames, and it certainly centralizes credentials. Companies have different tolerances for synchronizing those credentials versus redirecting to on-prem. The use case of maturing into the cloud helps from a SaaS adoption standpoint, and it also tends to be the jumping-off point for larger organizations to start doing PaaS and infrastructure as a service. So, platform as a service and infrastructure as a service kind of dovetail off the Active Directory synchronization piece and the email and SharePoint. It becomes a natural step for people, who wouldn't normally do infrastructure as a service, because they're already exposed to this, and they have already set up their email and SharePoint there. All of the components are there."

"The best thing about Microsoft Entra ID is the ease of setup."

"If a company has hundreds of users that already exist in the cloud, and it now wants to enable those same users to be present in third-party applications that their business uses, like Atlassian or GoToMeeting, the provisioning technology can assist in achieving that."

"I like Entra's ability to integrate the Active Directory with third-party solutions. It's straightforward. I like the ability to define third-party systems and make the AD the primary identity provider."

"Azure is the leading market solution because of its history, features, and maturity."

"When logging on to Azure AD it's pretty quick."

"It's something we have to deal with every day. It is present. If you're in a domain environment, you'll need it to log in. If you work in a Microsoft-centric environment, you can't avoid it."

More Microsoft Entra ID pros

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 would like to see some features simplified, such as securing, configuring, and implementing Microsoft Remote Desktop. Other than that, the solution was rock solid throughout my time administering it."

"Duo Security could be improved with the addition of more applications."

"Its documentation must be in French because we are a French-speaking country. They should also provide more training documentation. Its management interface should also be improved. They should also improve its update period. If I compare its update period with other products such as Palo Alto firewalls, this solution is really slow in updates."

"One area that might be improved is that setting up SMS texting is not as easy as using the app, even though it does support it."

"Certain customers can not use this product because it is cloud-based."

"I wouldn't mind seeing some options for remembering a device for a short period of time or a specific login, particularly for administrative engineering staff, as we may be logging in to four or five different services."

"The dashboard needs to be improved."

More Cisco Duo cons

"My only pain point in this solution is creating group membership for devices."

"The security policy of Azure Active Directory should be based on a matrix so that we can easily visualize which users have access to what."

"I think the solution can improve by making the consumption of that data easier for our customers."

"The solution has not saved costs. While we’ve eliminated some tools, there are some other features that we are dependent on as admin, which are not yet integrated with Azure AD."

"Better integration with external governance products would be a welcome addition to Azure AD."

"I would like to be able to authenticate Wi-Fi users using the Azure ID"

"Customers want to know exactly where they are spending their money, allowing them to assess and potentially save money in those specific areas."

"The product takes at least ten minutes to activate privilege identity management roles."

More Microsoft Entra ID cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing is very good because it does not cost a lot of money. It's affordable for all-sized customers, including enterprises. There is an additional cost for premium support."

"You pay per user when using this solution and the pricing is fair."

"The pricing was a lot more than what we were paying for our previous solution."

"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."

"I rate the product pricing a seven out of ten."

"Duo Security is free."

"From a business perspective, it is a little bit costly. The licensing is on a per-user basis."

"I believe the licensing model is excellent as it offers flexibility to our customers, allowing them to adopt a crawl, walk, or run approach."

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

"Azure AD comes with Office 365, so we are just paying for the Office 365 license."

"Microsoft Authenticator is included in the package when we purchase a license from Microsoft."

"We are a non-profit organization, so we get good prices from Microsoft for their products. It is working well, but it could be cheaper. For the type of organization we are, it would be good if they could give a little bit more and be more generous like Google, which has completely free services. Microsoft has free versions or web services called Office 365 E1, which is free for use, but we want to have it with more qualified clients."

"The solution costs us 60,000 Rupees annually, just over $700, and there are no additional costs."

"The price of the solution's license is good."

"Microsoft Azure AD has P1 or P2 licensing options, and it depends on the customer's needs. To use Conditional Access, you need to have the P1 license, and to use the PIN features, you need the P2 license."

"Entra has P1 and P2 licenses that are bundled with lots of applications."

"Pricing-wise, they offer a stepladder approach. You can start with the lowest level features, then start increasing based on new requirements."

More Microsoft Entra ID pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

27%

Manufacturing Company

Government

University

Educational Organization

29%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

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 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?

I rate the product pricing a seven out of ten.

See all answers

What do you like most about Azure Active Directory?

It is very simple. The Active Directory functions are very easy for us. Its integration with anything is very easy. We can easily do third-party multifactor authentication.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?

The pricing is expensive. It's in US dollars. I'd rate the affordability of pricing six out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?

We'd like to be able to link to non-Mircosft products, like Linux. There isn't much open source that links up with Azure. Most open source, however, can link up with AWS.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiToken vs Cisco Duo

Compared 15% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 14% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs Cisco Duo

Compared 8% of the time

UserLock vs Cisco Duo

Compared 7% of the time

RSA Authentication Manager vs Cisco Duo

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 11% of the time

Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 9% of the time

Okta Workforce Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 8% of the time

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiToken vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Entra ID Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

September 2024

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID

August 2024

Download Microsoft Entra ID product report

Also Known As

Duo Security

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator

Learn More

Cisco

Microsoft

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Cisco

Microsoft

Overview

Cisco Duo is a cloud-based access management platform that secures access to all applications, for any user and device, from anywhere. It’s designed to be easy to use and deploy while providing identity protection and endpoint visibility.

Duo verifies users' identities with strong passwordless authentication and industry-leading multi-factor authentication. Paired with deep insights into your users’ devices, Duo gives you the policies and control you need to limit access based on endpoint or user risk. Users get a consistent login experience with Duo's single sign-on that delivers centralized access to both on-premises and cloud applications.

With Duo, you can protect against compromised credentials and risky devices, as well as unwanted access to your applications and data. This combination of user and device trust builds a strong foundation for a zero trust security model.

Microsoft Entra ID is used for extending on-premises Active Directory to the cloud, managing application access, enabling multi-factor authentication, and single sign-on. It facilitates policy enforcement and secure access, ensuring centralized identity management across cloud and on-premises resources.

Organizations utilize Microsoft Entra ID for robust user and group management, identity synchronization, and conditional access. Its seamless integration with third-party apps, scalability, and support for remote work make it a preferred choice. The admin center streamlines identity and access tasks, enhancing efficiency and security with features like privileged identity management and audit logs.

What are the key features of Microsoft Entra ID?

Single Sign-On: Simplifies user access to multiple applications with one login.
Multifactor Authentication: Enhances security by requiring additional verification.
Conditional Access: Establishes policies that determine how users' access cloud apps.
Integration: Easily integrates with various third-party applications.
User Identity Protection: Safeguards user identities from threats.
Privileged Identity Management: Manages elevated access to sensitive resources.
Audit Logs: Provides thorough activity logs for oversight and compliance.

What benefits should users look for in Microsoft Entra ID reviews?

Enhanced Security: Offers strong multifactor authentication and identity protection.
Administrative Efficiency: Simplifies identity and access management tasks.
Scalability: Supports growing user bases and remote work environments.
Integration Capabilities: Compatible with numerous third-party applications.
User-Friendly Interface: Makes managing user identities straightforward.

Microsoft Entra ID implementation varies across industries. Tech firms leverage it for secure, scalable access management, while healthcare organizations utilize its identity protection features to safeguard patient data. Educational institutions adopt Entra ID for streamlined user management and policy enforcement, ensuring secure access for students and staff across on-premises and cloud resources.

Sample Customers

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Microsoft Entra ID

September 2024

Free Report: Cisco Duo vs. Microsoft Entra ID

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Duo vs. Microsoft Entra ID and other solutions. Updated: September 2024.

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