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Cisco Duo vs Fortinet FortiAuthenticator comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
5.9
Cisco Duo enhances security, lowers costs, boosts productivity, and improves compliance with multifactor authentication and streamlined processes.
Sentiment score
5.0
FortiAuthenticator improves security with two-factor authentication, reduces breaches and costs, and achieves varied ROI within a year.
We were able to implement zero trust extremely quickly because of the platform and its ongoing developments, including Cisco Duo Network Gateway, which enabled that transition to zero trust extremely quickly.
Global Associate Director, Services at a leisure / travel company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Not having MFA means you cannot put a price tag on that because you will be hit with ransomware immediately.
Director at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The biggest return on investment was the ease of use for the end users to have that secondary authentication when logging into the critical systems.
Manager, Data Center at a real estate/law firm with 11-50 employees
It enhances security by ensuring only the right person can access systems, even if their login credentials are compromised.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
Cisco Duo's support is praised for reliability and knowledge, but improvements in response times for complex issues are desired.
Sentiment score
6.8
Users appreciate Fortinet FortiAuthenticator support for its quick, knowledgeable service, despite occasional slow first-level responses and efficiency declines.
They got back to us quickly, were nice, and gave us what we needed.
Infrastructure Engineer at a government with 501-1,000 employees
I would rate their support 10 out of 10.
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.
Information Technology Contractor at Insight global
At times, some technical staff lack knowledge, which delays issue resolution.
DevOps Engineer at YASH Technologies
Customer service and support are excellent.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
Technical support from Fortinet deserves a rating of 10.
Infrastructure Manager at Scandinavian Highlands Holding A/S
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Duo offers scalable, cloud-based solutions with flexible licensing, seamlessly accommodating global organizational growth and diverse user needs.
Sentiment score
7.8
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is scalable for various company sizes, offering flexible management options, despite minor implementation challenges.
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.
Information Technology Contractor at Insight global
You would not need many more engineers to manage Cisco Duo even if we scale up to 500 employees because it is so simple to manage.
Manager, Customer Success at SRC.SI sistemske integracije d.o.o.
Cisco Duo is scalable for organizational growth.
Technical Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The scalability of FortiAuthenticator is good, and I would rate it an eight on a scale of one to ten.
IT Manager at PTECH
I find Fortinet FortiAuthenticator to be highly scalable, and I would rate it an eight out of ten for scalability.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator should be sufficiently scalable.
Network Engineer at Coop Money
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Cisco Duo is reliable and stable, with minimal downtime, proactive notifications, and quick resolution of minor issues.
Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is stable and reliable, but issues can occur with large users or new software updates.
We have not had any Cisco Duo outages across all the companies I have worked for that utilize Cisco Duo.
Senior Engineer at Frontline Fighter Ltd
The stability has been excellent.
Manager, Customer Success at SRC.SI sistemske integracije d.o.o.
I did not notice any downtime or crashes with Cisco Duo.
CTO at Red IT Solutions
It remains stable even when the number of concurrent users increases.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
I experienced no reliability or downtime issues.
Technical Business Development Manager at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Duo users seek intuitive setup, better integration, MFA customization, improved analytics, cost reduction, faster authentication, and enhanced compatibility.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator requires UI, integration, automation improvements, plus lower pricing and enhanced support, security, and customization features.
If you don't have internet access, you can't access your computer, only local access is available.
Security and Network Team Lead
It lacks some dynamic identity management features compared to other products such as SailPoint.
Senior Iam Associate at Cognizant
Not only has the product been very good and we have done fewer support cases, but I think support overall has been very fast.
Network Engineer at a university with 10,001+ employees
For example, authentication for wireless users expires after 24 hours, requiring re-authentication daily.
Head of computer systems at Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology(IIST)
For example, Cisco Duo is on the cloud, so we cannot compete with that part if a user requires a cloud-based two-factor authentication solution.
Presales Consultant
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator was primarily missing the ability to scale to web applications.
Technical Business Development Manager at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Duo's pricing is seen as both affordable and costly, with flexible licensing and strong security benefits for enterprises.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator offers competitive pricing and flexible licensing, although recent price increases may impact its affordability.
The pricing is acceptable to them.
Vice President at Next Info Tech Solutions Inc
Their website lists $3 per month per user for the Essential license.
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.
Sr. Network Security Engineer at Topnet Internet Services Provider. Riyadh, Saudi A
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is not overly expensive compared to other Fortinet subscriptions.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
Overall, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is an inexpensive solution compared to some other security solutions, providing a simple but effective fix.
Technical Business Development Manager at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Duo offers robust security features and user-friendly integration, enhancing IT environments with ease of use and visibility.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator enhances security with 2FA, SSO, and seamless integration, offering user-friendly management and extensive protocol support.
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.
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.
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.
Director, Technology at Deer Creek High School
The integration with FortiToken is outstanding, adding a layer of security for authentication.
Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC
We use multi-factor authentication for enhancing security.
DevOps Engineer at YASH Technologies
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator can be used from anywhere in the world, and the authenticator services function globally.
Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Duo
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
5th
Ranking in Authentication Systems
2nd
Ranking in Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
160
Ranking in other categories
Access Management (5th), ZTNA as a Service (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st), AI Data Analysis (3rd)
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
10th
Ranking in Authentication Systems
5th
Ranking in Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 3.2%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 3.8%, down from 5.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Duo3.2%
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator3.8%
Other93.0%
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

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.
reviewer2848395 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Business Development Manager at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
Multi-factor security has improved device protection but still needs broader application coverage
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator could be improved in its cost structure. Although it is not expensive, other solutions offer more value for less money. Cisco Duo provides better value in this regard and connects to web applications much more easily, scaling effectively in that sense. While I have never used Cisco Duo to secure other devices in IoT environments, I know Cisco Duo is capable of doing so, whereas Fortinet FortiAuthenticator cannot. Additionally, Cisco Duo is also cheaper. These are the main reasons why we switched away from Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, as it was very limited compared to other solutions available. Fortinet FortiAuthenticator was primarily missing the ability to scale to web applications.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions are best for your needs.
915,325 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise79
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise11
 

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?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Cisco Duo indicates that the main setup cost for us has been the time and effort required to integrate Duo with existing applications, auth...
What needs improvement with Duo Security?
Cisco Duo is generally easy to use, but there are a few areas where it could be improved. The initial setup and configuration can require some technical knowledge, especially when integrating Duo w...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet can make Fortinet FortiAuthenticator better by having a cloud version of it. Currently, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is only available for on-premises, and it is an on-premises solution. It...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is primarily used for authenticating admin users, including remote admin use cases. Remote admin use cases utilize Fortinet FortiAuthenticator to securely authenticate a...
 

Also Known As

Duo Security
FortiAuthenticator
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Duo vs. Fortinet FortiAuthenticator and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,325 professionals have used our research since 2012.