Cisco Duo vs Secret Double Octopus comparison

Cisco and Secret Double Octopus are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 9.0, while Secret Double Octopus is ranked #24. Cisco holds a 9.6% mindshare in AS, compared to Secret Double Octopus’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Secret Double Octopus users who would recommend it.

Cisco Duo

Read 74 Cisco Duo reviews

6,026 Views
2,476 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Secret Double Octopus

Read 1 Secret Double Octopus review

429 Views
224 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

Secret Double Octopus

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Duo and Secret Double Octopus based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Authentication Systems.

To learn more, read our detailed Authentication Systems Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

June 2025

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Helped 856,873 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Duo

Ranking in Authentication Systems

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (2nd), ZTNA as a Service (6th), Cisco Security Portfolio (3rd), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)

Secret Double Octopus

Ranking in Authentication Systems

24th

Average Rating

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Passwordless Authentication (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 9.6%, down from 11.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Secret Double Octopus is 0.5%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems

Featured Reviews

Chandan Tripathi

Identity and Access Management Principal at Mobily

Starts quickly with quick deployment but needs more support for older applications

Cisco Duo ( /products/cisco-duo-reviews ) is quick to deploy and easy to start. A valuable feature of the solution is its hybrid structure, which involves proxy agents running on-premises while other services are on the cloud. This setup makes it scalable, as the deployment section is in the cloud, allowing the installation of agents according to needs.

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Gaurav Gaurav

Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

A solution with good capabilities across a wide range of platforms that comes with a useful mobile application, but upgrades cause issues

We have noticed that patches and upgrades cause issues with how the application functions, due to the lack of stability of the product. However, we would recommend the solution because it has good capabilities, across a wide range of platforms, and the mobile application allows for use via Bluetooth, so users don't have to be connected to the internet. I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The two-factor authentication is valuable because that is the use case for which we are using it."

"Duo features benefit my company by making logins more secure and simpler. Everything is in one box, so we don't have multiple servers trying to do the same thing."

"The app has greater stability than rival solutions such as Google Authenticator, and Duo Push authentication is a valuable feature."

"The push notifications and the integrations they offer are valuable. Their mobile app is very useful. It is very easy to use."

"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."

"The most valuable aspect is the authentication and the SSO."

"I love Duo Security's push notifications. It's simple, fast, and secure. From the user's perspective, the solution is seamless. The security aspect is great."

"Cisco is the perfect product for our current size, and I don't think we'll have problems with scalability as we grow."

More Cisco Duo pros

"This solution has a mobile application, which comes with multi-factor authentication; allowing for more flexible usage, without having to sacrifice system security."

Cons

"The only thing I can think of to improve for tech support is to have a dedicated engineer but then I would get an engineer that has priorities in one area or another and maybe not the scope I need."

"Improving Cisco Duo might involve alerting us about telephony credits when people receive texts. We hit zero at one point, and we were running around in circles without any idea until I discovered it. That's my only complaint."

"When you come to the push in Duo Security, there are some integrations where you have to use the code instead of the push functionality."

"General announcements when new features come out with Cisco Duo should be broadcasted to customers who are using it, which might bring more accessibility to their documents so users can be more in tune with updates."

"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."

"I'm not a big fan of relicensing products every year or two years, but that's the model at the moment. I prefer to go back to licensing perpetually or permanent licensing."

"Duo Security should better organize its tile feature to organize applications better."

"Cisco Duo can be improved by exploring a way to make it a more seamless integration and by deploying an in-house server."

More Cisco Duo cons

"The product suffers from frequent disturbances in service, that have impacted our end users when we deploy software updates."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"With regard to pricing, for a small business buying a one off, it's pretty expensive. If it's an enterprise that has thousands of employees, however, it's really nothing to protect your data because if your network goes down or it's breached, you're losing millions of dollars every minute. When it comes to a large enterprise, it's priced where it should be because you're talking business to business. You're not talking business to consumer."

"From a reseller perspective, it's still challenging to explain the whole license strategy to a client, so we really have to be ahead of that for all the true forward conversations."

"Duo Security is free."

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

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

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

"The product’s pricing is reasonable."

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Manufacturing Company

26%

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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...

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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.

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

I find the pricing of Cisco Duo to be reasonable.

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Comparisons

Microsoft Entra ID vs Cisco Duo

Compared 15% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 15% of the time

Fortinet FortiToken vs Cisco Duo

Compared 13% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs Cisco Duo

Compared 8% of the time

Thales Authenticators vs Cisco Duo

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

Microsoft Entra ID vs Secret Double Octopus

Compared 27% of the time

HYPR vs Secret Double Octopus

Compared 25% of the time

More Secret Double Octopus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

June 2025

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

June 2025

Download Secret Double Octopus product report

Also Known As

Duo Security

Octopus Authenticator

Overview

Cisco Duo is a cloud-based identity security tool offering easy and wide-ranging access protection for users and devices worldwide. It assures identity-first security with clear visibility across multi-cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.

Cisco Duo provides robust multi-factor authentication and seamless integration capabilities with existing infrastructures. Appreciated for its stability and speed, it supports distributed workforces by securing VPN access, corporate networks, and cloud services. Duo’s comprehensive identity ecosystem supports easy deployment and management through a single-pane-of-glass management interface. It seamlessly merges with popular platforms like Active Directory and Office 365 across diverse hardware.

What are Cisco Duo’s Essential Features?

Multi-Factor Authentication: Offers secure access with options like push notifications and hardware tokens.
Seamless Integration: Easily fits with existing systems and third-party applications.
User-Friendly Management: Provides centralized control with a single-pane-of-glass interface.
Wide Compatibility: Supports broad applications and devices, enhancing security management.
Stable and Fast: Reliable speed and intuitive interaction for users across platforms.

What Benefits and ROI Can Cisco Duo Users Expect?

Enhanced Security: Increases protection with versatile MFA options for critical resources.
Ease of Use: Simplifies deployment and management with intuitive interfaces.
Scalability: Adapts to growing needs with broad compatibility and integration support.
Support for Distributed Workforces: Ensures secure remote access for teams anywhere.

Cisco Duo finds extensive applications across education, finance, retail, and government sectors by fortifying network and application access security. Organizations leverage it for its MFA capabilities, integrating with ERP systems, ensuring protected connectivity with VPN and cloud-based services, crucial in maintaining secure and efficient operations.

Cisco

Secret Double Octopus (SDO) is the most widely deployed workforce Passwordless MFA solution today. It offers the most non-disruptive and comprehensive way for enterprises to gain the benefits of truly secure authentication.

SDO is the only passwordless MFA provider that enables organizations to achieve passwordless benefits incrementally, with options that range from extending existing MFA solutions to desktops to implementing full end-to-end passwordless MFA across all use cases end users encounter.

SDO is FIDO-certified and makes access frictionless and passwordless secure for desktop end users, administrative users, remote workers and legacy app users.

https://doubleoctopus.com/

Secret Double Octopus

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

United Technologies (UTC), American Family Association, ASL Airlines France, BNP Paribas, A Fortune 50 Bank, Bingham County Idaho, Britannia Financial Services, Carolina Behavioral Health Alliance LLC, European Commission, County of Midland Michigan, JRM Construction Management, Greer Commission of Public Works, Poste Italiane, Kennedy Wilson Europe, Key Mechanical, Marker Therapeutics Inc, Mediawan, Ministero Dell'interno, FairPrice, NTUC Health, Mercatus, TBC, Techni-Photo, Tinsa Group, Yates Law, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Z-Medica Corporation, A Member of the 5 largest US law firms.

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

June 2025

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