Cisco Duo vs Symantec Advanced Authentication comparison

Cisco and Broadcom are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8, while Broadcom is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.0. Cisco holds a 5.3% mindshare in AS, compared to Broadcom’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 77% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Cisco Duo

Read 86 Cisco Duo reviews

6,543 Views
4,711 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Symantec Advanced Authentic...

Read 9 Symantec Advanced Authentication reviews

594 Views
582 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

Symantec Advanced Authentic...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Symantec Advanced Authentication and Cisco Duo are both utilized for secure access and authentication management. Users are happier with the feature set and integration capabilities of Cisco Duo, though Symantec Advanced Authentication scores better in deployment and customer service.

What features are offered by Symantec Advanced Authentication in comparison to Cisco Duo?

Symantec Advanced Authentication provides a robust set of features tailored for enterprise-level secure access, including flexibility, customization, and high-security controls. Cisco Duo is noted for its ease of use, wide range of integration capabilities, and comprehensive features that cater to various business sizes, making it more appealing to users.

What areas of improvement can be found in Symantec Advanced Authentication in comparison to Cisco Duo?

Symantec Advanced Authentication users frequently mention the product's complexity, steep learning curve, and need for better user interface design. Cisco Duo reviews highlight the pricing structure, limited customer support responsiveness, and areas for improved reporting capabilities.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of Symantec Advanced Authentication in comparison to Cisco Duo?

Symantec Advanced Authentication requires a more intricate setup process but benefits from excellent customer service support throughout deployment. Cisco Duo is praised for its swift and hassle-free deployment but receives mixed reviews regarding customer service responsiveness.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with Symantec Advanced Authentication in comparison to Cisco Duo?

Symantec Advanced Authentication users mention higher setup costs but recognize its ROI through high security and functionality for complex needs. Cisco Duo, while noted to have more competitive initial pricing, demonstrates strong ROI through its user-friendly interface and efficiency, making it worthwhile despite a few concerns over its tiered pricing model.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Duo vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication

December 2025

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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:

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 (3rd), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st)

Symantec Advanced Authentic...

Ranking in Authentication Systems

17th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

8.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 5.3%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Authentication is 1.3%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Duo	5.3%
Symantec Advanced Authentication	1.3%
Other	93.4%

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.

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Umair (Abu Mohaymin) Akhlaque

Group CEO at Flexsolutions

Ensures robust security features and ease of deployment, although it may lack some of the more modern authentication options

There has been a need for aggressive development to modernize the product and align it with contemporary security requirements. While the rebranding has been a step forward, further enhancements are essential to meet the evolving demands of the market. It lacks features such as ActiveSync Exchange security, and it doesn't offer alternatives like password-less authentication via biometrics or patches. While Symantec mainly relies on traditional token-based or password-based methods, newer authentication methods are missing from its repertoire. Support services often lack promptness and depth of knowledge, leaving customers waiting for weeks to resolve issues. In the realm of multifactor authentication, swift resolution of problems is critical, as any slowdown or interruption can significantly impact operations. Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation.

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

"At the moment, the ease of use is what is the best feature for me. Once it has been set up and the security can hoc to my mobile device, it's very simple to use my single sign-on, get prompted for a Duo Security, push, go to my phone, accept the push, and I'm done. It's a very simple process."

"The most appealing feature of Cisco Duo is the phone notification system that simply pops up on your phone."

"For me and my customers, the best feature is that it's very easy to integrate with the existing infrastructure. It takes a few minutes to configure it."

"Cisco Duo is rock solid in terms of stability and reliability."

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

"My total rating for Cisco Duo is ten out of ten."

More Cisco Duo pros

"Rules on Risk Authentication are very good."

"One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability."

"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it's a strong authentication solution that's able to integrate with applications."

"It tells us exactly what we want in terms of authentication to various applications and provides protection for users who access them."

Cons

"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."

"The technical engineers in the first line of support should improve their knowledge."

"The product price needs improvement."

"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."

"They can make authentication easier. It should be done in a shorter time. Sometimes, it can take a bit more time to get the answer on your phone. You have to wait a bit longer to get the SMS code and other things. There can be some internet or connection issues. They should make it faster because sometimes, it's urgent, and you need to access something as soon as possible."

"There was an issue related to integration with third parties."

"Often, people do not receive expiration messages, and sometimes, for security reasons, accounts get disabled without notifying the end user, so they mistakenly think something has gone wrong when it really just needs to be re-enabled on the external system."

"It took me a while to figure it out. I went to every user and forced them to set it up. I might have done it the long way."

More Cisco Duo cons

"Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation."

"We have seen quite a few issues with bugginess. It is indeed pretty buggy and we have had to install some fixes."

"This solution could be improved with risk-based authentication. I think that this product has everything that most customers are looking for, but modern technology has people looking for security tools with risk-based authentication, which they have a separate tool for. If they could integrate this, it would improve Symantec Advanced Authentication. They have to look at what's newly trending and how things are moving forward, and then adapt and adopt those features. Symantec's technical support should also be improved, in terms of response time."

"Advanced Authentication talks about the Device ID. But how the device ID is captured, I want to know more about that."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"I haven't seen any information on the pricing in four years, so I can't comment on that."

"During testing we are allowed a certain number of licenses for free."

"My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been good, with no issues. I am pleased that the prices remained stable after Cisco acquired the solution."

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

"Our licensing fee is currently on an annual basis."

"I am not aware of the pricing. There are two departments, and I don't have any information about them."

"The pricing is pretty competitive. It's pretty cheap. Anybody can adopt it."

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

"The price is reasonable."

"There are eventually going to be implementation costs. Sometimes you're required to have custom code developments there, so that has to be part of the implementation price."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	40

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Large Enterprise	7

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 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 needs improvement with Duo Security?

One downside of Cisco Duo is the expense, as there are clients that can afford only the basic package, which does not include Geo-fencing, leaving them unable to pay for the more expensive level, w...

See all answers

What do you like most about Symantec Advanced Authentication?

One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Advanced Authentication?

The price is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Symantec Advanced Authentication?

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Cisco Duo

Compared 8% of the time

Fortinet FortiToken vs Cisco Duo

Compared 6% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs Cisco Duo

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco Duo

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

Thales Authenticators vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 22% of the time

RSA Adaptive Authentication vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 22% of the time

CyberArk Certificate Manager vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 21% of the time

RSA Authentication Manager vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 18% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 18% of the time

More Symantec Advanced Authentication Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

January 2026

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Symantec Advanced Authentication

January 2026

Download Symantec Advanced Authentication product report

Also Known As

Duo Security

CA Advanced Authentication, CA Strong Authentication, CA Risk Authentication, Arcot WebFort, Arcot RiskFort

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

CA Advanced Authentication provides a secure, user-convenient and cost-effective way to protect online and mobile applications. The solution consists of two components: CA Risk Authentication allows the enterprise to silently and transparently collect data and assess risk based on device identification, location and user behavior, among other factors, and CA Strong Authentication provides a wide variety of software-based, two-factor authentication credentials and technology to make passwords more secure. Together they enable an intelligent, layered security approach to protect user identities and organizational data.

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Broadcom

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Global bank, Large Filipino Bank and SK Infosec

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication

December 2025

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