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Cisco Duo vs Symantec Advanced Authentication comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
6.9
Number of Reviews
158
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (3rd), Access Management (4th), ZTNA as a Service (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st), AI Data Analysis (3rd)
Symantec Advanced Authentic...
Ranking in Authentication Systems
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 3.8%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Authentication is 1.4%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Duo3.8%
Symantec Advanced Authentication1.4%
Other94.8%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Charles Slaustas - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Umair (Abu Mohaymin) Akhlaque - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"For me, the biggest return on investment when using Cisco Duo is my time."
"Cisco Duo's authentication means people cannot get into our network without the second step."
"Compared to Cisco, the general support I experience is fantastic; I have no complaints about it."
"Right now, I do not think there is anything about Cisco Duo that I would improve; I have been happy with everything so far."
"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."
"By deploying Duo, we have virtually eliminated the risk of direct deposit redirection as a result of credentials that have been compromised via phishing."
"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."
"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."
"It tells us exactly what we want in terms of authentication to various applications and provides protection for users who access them."
"It actually increases our revenue and the customer base."
"One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability."
"Symantec Advanced Authentication can be useful for wherever you require a strong authentication."
"The most valuable feature is that we get a wide range of authentication methods and authentication integrators, so different platforms can get service authentication with transparency to the final user while providing strong authentication forms and connectors."
"Rules on Risk Authentication are very good."
"Ease of deployment: no need to keep up with physical devices for multi-factor authentication; no software to deploy on end-user computers requiring administrative rights."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it's a strong authentication solution that's able to integrate with applications."
 

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."
"I do not think Cisco Duo is the best option on the market thus far."
"The price of Cisco Duo could be better."
"Cisco Duo could be improved by building the agent with the many agents we already use, such as Cisco AMP and Cisco Secure Client, which would simplify our environment by eliminating the need for a third agent for secure applications."
"Cisco Duo is definitely not doing things that others are not doing, so there is no unique selling proposition."
"If I could improve Cisco Duo, I would suggest providing some notification back that the Cisco Duo system was not able to reach the remote device, because I was left in a situation where I did not know if it was actually my cell phone or something was wrong with Cisco Duo."
"We had a lot of trouble configuring the password reset function, and as a result we now have a second channel that bypasses Duo to allow users to reset their password."
"The cost will become expensive for large user accounts."
"Arcot itself is based on a browser technology. This means that the office ID is effectively stored as a cookie in the browser."
"They definitely need to automate a few processes like the Wiley process."
"Advanced Authentication talks about the Device ID. But how the device ID is captured, I want to know more about that."
"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."
"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."
"Symantec has very bad support, so I have no words for it. It's one of the worst support experiences I've ever had."
"Sometimes getting this set up does take a bit longer. It's not always install, next, next, next, finish."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Cisco Duo has been great. We've been there for 10 years. While we haven't gone through the setup part for a while, licensing is straightforward and convenient for higher education because student populations are included. So, we don't have to pay extra for it. We just pay for our knowledge workers, which has been great, and the cost is reasonable."
"Cisco has the most expensive products because market leaders tend to charge a lot."
"The pricing was a lot more than what we were paying for our previous solution."
"I believe the licensing model is excellent as it offers flexibility to our customers, allowing them to adopt a crawl, walk, or run approach."
"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."
"It falls in line with everything else."
"The pricing is pretty competitive. It's pretty cheap. Anybody can adopt it."
"Its price is reasonable. It is not highly expensive."
"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."
"The price is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Construction Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business63
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise79
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Large Enterprise7
 

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?
It is a little bit expensive, but with security, we cannot compromise on it.
What needs improvement with Duo Security?
To improve Cisco Duo, we have some third-party hardware, and for integrations with that, we need more user-friendly integrations since third-party integration can present a lot of compatibility iss...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Global bank, Large Filipino Bank and SK Infosec
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Duo vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,701 professionals have used our research since 2012.