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F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Sponsored
Ranking in Access Management
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
163
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (5th), Authentication Systems (2nd), ZTNA as a Service (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st), AI Data Analysis (7th)
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...
Ranking in Access Management
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (20th), Network Access Control (NAC) (11th), SSL VPN (8th), Remote Access (16th)
Symantec Zero Trust Network...
Ranking in Access Management
32nd
Average Rating
0.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.4
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA as a Service (22nd), ZTNA (27th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Access Management category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 3.1%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 2.6%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is 1.7%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Access Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Duo3.1%
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)2.6%
Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)1.7%
Other92.6%
Access Management
 

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.
SÜ
Senior Cyber Security Consultant at KoçSistem
Has provided reliable policy controls and secure web access for large enterprises
I consider Cloudflare when evaluating centralized access control features; Cloudflare utilizes multi-factor authentication and full API support, while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) needs to enhance its API support. I recommend F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) for large companies such as Tüpraş and Ford. Tüpraş is one of the biggest companies in Turkey, along with other customers such as Tofaş, Euroko, Koç Holding, and more. For on-premises deployment, I would rate it a 10. For cloud deployment, I would rate it a seven. I primarily use it on-premises. I rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) eight out of ten.
cto543714 - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Restricts access to applications but improvement is needed in integrations
Over the last year, I have been working with customers because it's changing and maturing. These things are rolled out in segments and chunks, not all at once. Additional internal work is often required to make it functional, such as properly configuring the active directory. This internal work can take up to three months. The process varies, and implementing Symantec ZTNA quickly is not realistic. I wouldn't recommend the tool to non-core customers because you won't get the support you need. I'd rate Symantec ZTNA a seven on a scale of one to ten. They're still integrating different pieces into their solution. The challenge with ZTNA is that different companies implement it slightly differently, with some features present in one product but missing in another. ZTNA is a tricky acronym that companies use, but when you look closely, you find that each vendor might only have some of the expected features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I appreciate the simple login feature of Cisco Duo; being able to log into your actual page and then having all your apps there is convenient."
"Cisco Duo just works; that is the best feature."
"From the front end, it's very fast and it hasn't missed a beat, so to say."
"Cisco Duo has improved my operational efficiency and reduced costs in areas such as authentication, IT support, and security operations, as the ability to use App Push eliminated the need for text messages and additional costs for messaging, also lowering IT support costs because of the simplicity for the end-user experience."
"Since we onboarded it, since we started using Cisco Duo, we have never had any operational glitch."
"Multifactor authentication is the most valuable feature."
"The stability and good performance of the MFA are notable since it responds within seconds, and perhaps the algorithm is good when compared to other providers' MFA algorithms."
"The biggest benefit of Cisco Duo for my customers is the license because they count licenses for the user—one user can use many applications integrated with Cisco Duo."
"Stickiness is the most valuable feature of the product."
"I recommend F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) to others due to its reliability, and it is perceived as critical to security infrastructure."
"The product is stable, I haven't noticed any bugs or glitches, and I haven't seen it crash or freeze, so it seems to be reliable and the performance is good."
"The most valuable feature is the virtual IP creation. It's our most frequently used feature."
"F5 is great for handling complex issues, and most of our big customers, including banks and insurance companies, like it because it's such a robust platform that enables them to do almost anything."
"The F5 Access Policy Manager is something that I have experience with and I am happy with it."
"The portal access was very good."
"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) provides excellent WAF and bot defense solutions."
"The most valuable feature of this product is restricting and controlling what people have access to. If I want a contractor to connect to my network, I can give them access to only the specific things they need without giving them full VPN access to my entire network. That's the main benefit everyone gets from it. The value depends on how many users and applications you have and what you want to share."
 

Cons

"I think Cisco Duo can be improved."
"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."
"An improvement for Cisco Duo would be a simplification of the licensing model since it's quite complicated to know what's included or not, especially now as it's part of Cisco Secure User Suite, and there are many modifications happening regarding the licensing."
"Duo Security could be improved with the addition of more applications."
"I think Cisco Duo could improve the dashboard to make logging in and credential management more visible."
"Cisco Duo is a fully cloud-based solution. It would be beneficial if Cisco provided a fully on-premise solution."
"We found it difficult to integrate it into our broader product family of Microsoft tools and other applications used across our organization."
"Duo Security could improve by being more compatible with other vendors."
"The initial setup was not easy."
"Integrating identity providers and single sign-on solutions can simplify user authentication and access control."
"If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great."
"The main improvement needed for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is to integrate into the cloud-delivered services from F5."
"The operational deployment is not great and can be improved."
"We do not have knowledgeable support teams locally."
"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) does not have a direction for SaaS."
"The solution’s GUI looks very old."
"For areas of improvement, the main issue is with integrations. The Symantec ZTNA comprises many products cobbled together on the back end. Sometimes, the integrations work well; sometimes, they don't. For example, if you want to use two-factor authentication, you need to integrate that into the solution. Or if you want to accept protocols other than web coming to your secure gateway, that's another integration. Supporting different devices like Macs, Samsung phones, or iPhones also requires more integrations. Ensuring all these integrations work properly is an ongoing process and a moving target."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Our licensing fee is currently on an annual basis."
"It is affordable for what's coming to the table with it, but in this day and age, the cost is looked at under a microscope, and companies need to very finely define what is needed versus what is critical. In some cases, it might not be cost-effective for a company to have it. In a lot of other cases, it is the cost of doing business."
"Price wise, it's not cheap, but it's not expensive at all either. It's in the middle."
"I only need the solution for IT staff, which makes it relatively cheap. If I deployed it for the whole company, it would be costly, so it depends on the number of users. Duo Security is affordable compared to other products in the segment."
"The pricing is pretty competitive. It's pretty cheap. Anybody can adopt it."
"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."
"It has a fair pricing model. I know they have different tiers, but it would be nice to have different types of licenses for certain groups of users in our organization. That way, we wouldn't have to lump everybody into one group. That would be also one complaint."
"The tool is a little bit expensive."
"The product is very expensive."
"Recently, they have simplified the licensing"
"Pricing varies depending on the situation. In competitive situations, it's usually priced competitively. Nobody pays the full MSRP. Typically, you negotiate and work with them on the pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
14%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise82
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise9
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 Du...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?
Regarding the pricing, what actually happened was that we got the product purchased through our HQ, so the costing as...
What needs improvement with Duo Security?
I do not have a straight answer for how Cisco Duo can be improved at this time. With the implementation that we are g...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability, akin to purchas...
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is not user-friendly and operates slowly. Additional features for architecture ...
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
I am using F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) along with Bot Management, API Gateway, API Security, and F5 Cloud. ...
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Also Known As

Duo Security
F5 Access Policy Manager
Symantec Secure Access Cloud, Luminate.io, Luminate
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
NEX, AIG, Fiverr, Upwork
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Okta, One Identity and others in Access Management. Updated: October 2026.
920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.