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Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Symantec Siteminder 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:
 

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)
Symantec Siteminder
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Web Access Management (1st), Access Management (15th)
 

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 Symantec Siteminder is 3.7%, up from 2.5% 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 FortiAuthenticator3.7%
Symantec Siteminder3.7%
Other89.4%
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.
Muzi Lubisi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior technical Consultant at CA Africa
Improved user experience with seamless integration and easy installation
The feature that I mostly valued is the ease of installation on different systems, especially on Windows. Additionally, it is very beneficial for deploying single sign-on sessions between different windows on a web browser, provided I am connected to the right identity provider. That seamless integration significantly improves user experience and efficiency.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I love Duo Security's push notifications. It's simple, fast, and secure. From the user's perspective, the solution is seamless. The security aspect is great."
"The benefit of the features of Cisco Duo is that it secures our environment; nobody can access or join the network without it, and Cisco Duo will recognize and ensure that only people who are allowed in our environment can access our devices."
"With Cisco Duo it's checking if you are allowed to submit a request to access this, doing a complete check of you before you access, instead of being just a simple MFA that only asks if you can go in or not."
"The features I value most about Cisco Duo are the push notification and the ability to select how I want to authenticate, and I primarily use the push method."
"The multi-factor authentication process and the geo-locking features are great."
"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."
"Multifactor authentication is the most valuable feature."
"Cisco Duo's integration is smooth and very quick."
"The response from Fortinet is very fast."
"This was a regulation we needed to fill and it worked at a good price."
"FortiAuthenticator has made our operations secure."
"It reduces the need for network administrator intervention by allowing the user to perform their own registration and resolve their own password problems and issues."
"We have not had issues with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator. It is stable."
"The integration into tools, including CI/CD pipelines, is easy and handy."
"This is a very important product if a company wants to use a VPN."
"The most valuable feature I find in FortiAuthenticator is web filtering."
"Federation is valuable, for sure, because we have a lot of third-party vendors that we need to integrate with, and this is a turnkey solution in some ways."
"I liked the debugging part. There are only two files (trace file and log file) that you need to look into while performing debugging, and the logs give you the exact info on where and what needs to be fixed."
"It's quite scalable."
"A valuable feature of Siteminder is the way it handles bulk traffic. The features it has, in terms of routing the traffic and load balancing, are good."
"You can quickly deploy the entire product with a basic config within couple of hours."
"SiteMinder is an industry leading solution as everyone is using it."
"Symantec Siteminder Is both scalable and stable."
"SSO is a very robust application."
 

Cons

"Most of my colleagues from other companies use the Microsoft MFA solution because it's included in Office 365. Few people are considering Cisco Duo. That's the primary problem in our area. It's a solution mostly adopted by Cisco users."
"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."
"Cisco Duo is not MSP ready by default."
"General announcements when new features come out with Cisco Duo should be broadcasted to customers who are using it, which might bring more accessibility to their documents so users can be more in tune with updates."
"We were considering purchasing other products, like AMP for Endpoints, and it was not properly integrated with the firewall function. It might be better now with SecureX."
"The new smart license model doesn't always work. It's very complicated."
"For a non-prepared, non-technical user, it could be tricky and quite complex."
"I think Cisco Duo could be improved by including email authentication, as there is currently only SMS, SMS push, and code generation, but having email authentication could be beneficial when you don't have a phone."
"Integration with FortiGate could be more fluid."
"It can not use SQL to query FortiAnalyzer directly."
"There are some protocols, such as SHA and SHA-2, that are not supported."
"One of our clients has faced a lot of issues with FortiAuthenticator. For example, one of the devices restarted by itself, and the database was corrupted."
"We would like to see Linux-based operating systems be able to integrate with FortiAuthenticator to get two-factor authentication running on them. as well. This is a shortcoming that I have faced a few times already."
"I would like to see support for more credential authentication protocols."
"The product must provide full support for third-party FIDO security keys."
"One thing I dislike is that if you have the software authenticator on a mobile device and that device is lost, it's difficult to remove."
"The installation process was complex. There are a lot of different moving pieces, and the main complaint is that it's hard to automate any of it."
"With the other ones, we’ve had problems, and they don’t really match our business needs."
"Some of the features need to be improved. For example, the Federation feature."
"We installed one version and there is a bug in it; from a customer perspective I would want that particular issue to be fixed rather than getting an answer that the bug will be fixed in the next version."
"In future releases, I would like to see maybe more capabilities with some more modern authentication."
"Yes it can be complex, I think that's one area we have already given feedback to the product management, that is a little complex to get the set up and get it going and the upgrade process is very complex."
"It seems that when there's a new version, patch, or service pack, we find bugs."
"We are finding some compatibility issues. We're still working with CA on them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"Duo Security's pricing is good, fair, and very comparable to today's market."
"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."
"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."
"It falls in line with everything else."
"The cost was reasonable. Licensing was pretty straightforward for a change."
"Cisco's licensing is always a bit complicated to understand, but the price is fair. It could be more expensive than others, but the way they integrate everything, it has a fair price."
"The pricing is fair."
"I price of the solution is expensive."
"When we buy the Fortinet FortiAuthenticator device there is a comparison between price and security."
"The licensing structure is cost-effective for us compared to some of the other solutions that have recurring monthly costs."
"The solution is not very expensive."
"I rate the price of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator a three out of five."
"The customers need to pay for licenses, and some pay on a yearly basis while others pay on a three-yearly or five-yearly basis. Also, it is not an expensive solution."
"The product could be more competitively priced."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"The price is quite comparable to the other enterprise-level solutions in that market."
"Siteminder is a little costly. You pay for licensing, and they offer packages, so if you have less users, then you have to buy different products at different prices. If you have more of a user base, then the package is different. They also include other features—for example, if you have a database and you're using Siteminder, then it's good to use a Semantic-specific database, but if you are using less, then you have to purchase the database separately. Whereas if you are going for a bigger license, then it comes within the package. It depends on which plan you are using."
"I recommend conducting a PoC on every available product before choose one."
"Symantec Siteminder is expensive; they could definitely do better on the price."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"CA solutions are generally expensive but for the customer the ROI is big."
"The licensing is fair for this solution."
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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%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing 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 Business8
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise69
 

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 Symantec Siteminder?
Symantec Siteminder needs to have adaptive authentication and multi-factor authentication as integrated features. Cur...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Siteminder?
I deploy and support Symantec Siteminder ( /products/symantec-siteminder-reviews ). I have been a partner and reseller.
 

Also Known As

Duo Security
FortiAuthenticator
SiteMinder, CA SSO, Layer7 SiteMinder
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
British Telecom, CoreBlox, DBS, HMS, Itera ASA and Simeo
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs. Symantec Siteminder and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,665 professionals have used our research since 2012.