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Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

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
5.7
Cisco Duo enhances security, reduces costs, streamlines processes, and supports remote work, offering significant ROI and peace of mind.
Sentiment score
5.0
FortiAuthenticator improves security with two-factor authentication, reduces breaches and costs, and achieves varied ROI within a year.
Sentiment score
4.4
Microsoft Active Directory enhances efficiency and access control, providing value through centralized management despite lacking direct ROI calculation.
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
The solution is really time-saving since I don't need to create users in each server or system manually, and user access control is streamlined.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Cisco Duo support is praised for quick responses and knowledgeable staff, with generally positive user experiences and varied ratings.
Sentiment score
6.8
Users appreciate Fortinet FortiAuthenticator support for its quick, knowledgeable service, despite occasional slow first-level responses and efficiency declines.
Sentiment score
5.5
Microsoft Active Directory support is inconsistent, with varying response quality, reliance on online resources, and better service via premium options.
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
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
The technical support team is proficient and has all necessary resources to support all types of requirements.
Assistant Manager-Networks at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Support documents are available on the internet in every language.
Owner at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
If you purchase retail, the support will be more difficult because they will assess the priority or rating from the customer.
IT Operations & Security at veris
Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
Cisco Duo offers scalable and flexible solutions, easily expanding with organizations' growth through cloud infrastructure and simple licensing.
Sentiment score
7.8
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is scalable for various company sizes, offering flexible management options, despite minor implementation challenges.
Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Active Directory is scalable and integrates well, but faces challenges at larger scales, suggesting hybrid solutions.
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
Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Cisco Duo offers strong reliability, high performance, seamless integration, and consistently high stability ratings for authentication tasks.
Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is stable and reliable, but issues can occur with large users or new software updates.
Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Active Directory is praised for its stability and reliability, with minor issues not significantly affecting performance.
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
If you meet the installation requirements from Microsoft, it will be very stable.
IT Operations & Security at veris
With multiple domain controllers, stability is ensured.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
I've been working with Microsoft Active Directory for over 3 years, and we've had no problems.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Duo needs better integration, navigation, support, customization, detailed reporting, lower pricing, and reduced authentication delays for user satisfaction.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator requires UI, integration, automation improvements, plus lower pricing and enhanced support, security, and customization features.
Microsoft Active Directory needs improvements in usability, integration, security updates, synchronization, setup, reporting, support, scalability, and email group sync.
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
Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.
Information Technology Specialist at stelios@biolandenergy.com
Sometimes, it can be overly complicated, and when you apply Group Policy in an Active Directory environment, sometimes those settings apply and sometimes they don't.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Duo offers flexible pricing and licensing, balancing security benefits with cost-effectiveness for enterprises, despite varying opinions.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator offers competitive pricing and flexible licensing, although recent price increases may impact its affordability.
Microsoft Active Directory pricing varies by region and model; Azure offers cost-effective solutions for large enterprises despite perceived expense.
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
For the cloud solution in our region, the pricing of Microsoft Active Directory is very high.
Network & Security Section Head/Digital Transformation at a government with 201-500 employees
I consider Microsoft Active Directory expensive because if you buy this thing bundled with the Windows Directory Server, you get five user licenses for about a thousand euros, or a little bit less than this.
Owner at Syntlogo GmbH
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing with Microsoft Active Directory is straightforward; you just buy the server and then have to buy the user CALs.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Duo offers strong multi-factor authentication and easy integration, enhancing security and efficiency across diverse platforms and environments.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator enhances security with 2FA, SSO, and seamless integration, offering user-friendly management and extensive protocol support.
Microsoft Active Directory simplifies management with integration, group policies, and scalable operations across on-premises and cloud environments.
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
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
The main benefits that end users receive from Fortinet FortiAuthenticator include more security for their applications, for their systems, and for all their network devices that they are logging into.
Presales Consultant
To assess the impact of Microsoft Active Directory's centralized domain management on security protocols and access permissions, Microsoft Active Directory itself has constraints with security because when we have a solution such as SSO or Single Sign-On, which makes it easier for users to log in, some parts have security openings.
IT Operations & Security at veris
One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
I can control all the devices in my domain by just changing the group policies in one place.
Information Technology Specialist at stelios@biolandenergy.com
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Duo
Sponsored
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
176
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (2nd), Access Management (5th), ZTNA as a Service (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st), AI Data Analysis (7th)
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (5th), Identity Management (IM) (15th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)
Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Active Directory Management (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 3.2%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 3.7%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 2.6%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Duo3.2%
Microsoft Active Directory2.6%
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator3.7%
Other90.5%
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.
Eko Kurniawan - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Operations & Security at veris
Has simplified credential management and improved secure access control across departments
The features I find most useful in Microsoft Active Directory are especially for the Single Sign-On. This is very useful for users, particularly if they have plenty of applications, such as tablet applications. When they log in to their computer, the application will automatically log in with their credentials. They don't need to remember another user and password to log in to the application because it's already maintained with Microsoft Active Directory using Single Sign-On. To assess the impact of Microsoft Active Directory's centralized domain management on security protocols and access permissions, Microsoft Active Directory itself has constraints with security because when we have a solution such as SSO or Single Sign-On, which makes it easier for users to log in, some parts have security openings. When their computer is compromised with a threat, malware, or other cyber threats, it becomes easier to enter the application without login permission.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business66
Midsize Enterprise29
Large Enterprise93
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise20
 

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 Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
My experience with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator's pricing found the pricing to be good. There are better solutions...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator could be improved in its cost structure. Although it is not expensive, other solutions of...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator was implemented as a multi-factor authentication solution to serve as a second barrier fo...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Active Directory?
The best way to protect this is to use Microsoft Defender. For Microsoft support for Microsoft Active Directory, I wo...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
My main use cases for Microsoft Active Directory are to manage user access and credentials.
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Active Directory?
Regarding Microsoft Active Directory's integration with third-party applications, it depends on the requirements....
 

Also Known As

Duo Security
FortiAuthenticator
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs. Microsoft Active Directory and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,523 professionals have used our research since 2012.