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Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Thales Authenticators comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 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 Authentication Systems
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
176
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (5th), 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 Authentication Systems
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (10th), Identity Management (IM) (15th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (2nd)
Thales Authenticators
Ranking in Authentication Systems
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 3.7%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 3.1%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Thales Authenticators is 1.9%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Duo3.7%
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator3.1%
Thales Authenticators1.9%
Other91.3%
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.
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.
Gustavo Merighi - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation and Telecommunications Analyst at Grupo Energisa
Has an easy-to-use management interface and a straightforward initial setup process
Our primary use cases include multifactor authentication for VPN connections and access to security tools like jump servers and firewalls. We also use it to enhance security measures in an enterprise environment The most valuable feature is the YAML 2.0 integration. It has an easy-to-use…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Regarding the stability and reliability of Cisco Duo, it is very good."
"The best feature Cisco Duo offers is a very easy-to-use web interface."
"It has definitely reduced embedding. We found a lot of problems with attackers being able to compromise accounts. Now, when they try to access accounts, they are not able to do so because there is an added layer of protection. Once we know that a username and password are compromised, we just reset the password to protect the company."
"Looking back at my initial investment in Cisco Duo versus the total value it has delivered over time, I see that it has paid more than what we invested, so we are getting a good return and a good service with improved security."
"The UI of Cisco Duo is easy to use, especially the web backend, and it's really intuitive and easy to set up."
"Since implementing Cisco Duo, it has greatly improved our operational efficiency."
"I rate it highly because it's something that can grow with you, whether you have very little security or a lot of security, whether it's already Cisco or not, and whether you have a mixed mess that you're trying to put into some kind of order."
"The multi-factor authentication process and the geo-locking features are great."
"The most important feature is the security capability because it provides a substantial amount of security for admin-related activities."
"The solution is an integral part of our security for our email network, and like I said, we'll begin using it for other cloud applications."
"The solution's most valuable aspect is that it is easy to install and the user experience is very good."
"Using this product strengthens enterprise security."
"We have a perpetual license for 2FA."
"I appreciate its ability to provide multi-factor authentication, but it's primarily focused on this function."
"FortiAuthenticator has created a straightforward easy-to-use product."
"The biggest advantages of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator are that it's easy to deploy, easy to manage, and the GUI is a very strong interface."
"The technical support services are good."
"The solution has helped our organization by allowing all users to connect securely."
"I like how the solution allows me to support different types of hardware tokens and integrate with OTP."
"We use this solution to log into virtual machines like VMware and VMware Horizon."
"The solution is scalable and stable."
"The most valuable feature of SafeNet Authentication Manager is authentication."
 

Cons

"I think Cisco Duo can be improved by integrating it more with developer tools; there is not a lot in terms of developer tooling with respect to authenticating to command line toolsets."
"There are limitations because Cisco Duo does not support Hotmail accounts, which many people use to log in to their systems."
"An enhancement they might make is if they can log it to Splunk since they're big into Splunk. Instead of me having to go into that portal to look at things when someone is trying to log in and they forgot their password, I can look in and tell them they forgot their password or didn't respond to the prompt. That would be an improvement."
"The new smart license model doesn't always work. It's very complicated."
"To improve Cisco Duo, the biggest consideration is the licensing standpoint; the most common issue I've found is customers not setting up the Active Directory sync properly, leading to inflated licensing usage when they try to delete inactive users that are still being charged."
"Cisco Duo could be improved, possibly by adding features for the healthcare space. If you're selling something to a healthcare provider, there needs to be consideration for how to launch Cisco Duo with a handheld device that is not native, where you can install the application."
"It is easy to use when logging in, but at times, there's a delay in getting the pop-up on a phone, requiring users to occasionally retry authentication depending on backend services."
"I did utilize an open-source GitHub repository that Cisco Duo had for the logs for sending off to Syslogs, but I believe that was no longer in support."
"Integration with FortiGate could be more fluid."
"The hardware aspect of the solution could be improved. We are not really able to understand the hardware capabilities of the device."
"Initially, we deployed Fortinet FortiAuthenticator on VMware and faced challenges when migrating to an OpenStack environment, which required reconfiguration. I recommend Fortinet make its images migratable between environments."
"I would like to see more security features in reference to identity login or identity identification."
"If you can't authenticate to protect transactions, and the security is weak, it's a problem."
"Fortinet FortiAuthenticator's initial setup process could be easier."
"The user interface and clustering are areas with shortcomings that need improvement."
"I would like to see some email options for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator."
"I'd like to see integration with other platforms."
"The scalability could improve, we have a lot of downtimes two years ago; this was in the cloud environment, because we purchased SafeNet Authentication Manager as a cloud service, and sometimes it was down for two or three hours."
"The problem with SafeNet is that it's not integrated with Microsoft 365."
"The stability could improve."
"The product could be improved by adding more features for sending tokens via SMS or phone calls."
"The solution should allow for support of multi-tenant architecture."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price wise, it's not cheap, but it's not expensive at all either. It's in the middle."
"Our licensing fee is currently on an annual basis."
"During testing we are allowed a certain number of licenses for free."
"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."
"Price-wise, the solution has been very, very reasonable...Licensing is the last thing I think about Duo Security because it's so easy, and I had no problems with it."
"I rate the product pricing a seven out of ten."
"With regard to pricing, for a small business buying a one off, it's pretty expensive. If it's an enterprise that has thousands of employees, however, it's really nothing to protect your data because if your network goes down or it's breached, you're losing millions of dollars every minute. When it comes to a large enterprise, it's priced where it should be because you're talking business to business. You're not talking business to consumer."
"The cost was reasonable. Licensing was pretty straightforward for a change."
"The pricing is fair."
"The platform provides a user-based pricing model rather than a subscription pricing model."
"Between paying them to help with the configuration, the box itself, and the support, it came to like $12,500, including a three-year service agreement."
"The product has affordable pricing compared to other vendors."
"The cost of the license could be less expensive. The license is paid on a yearly basis."
"I would rate the pricing a four out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. It is not that costly. It is cheap, easy to manage, easy to install, and easy to configure."
"I would start off with a VM including the base license and scale according to the number of users you need to authenticate."
"The product could be more competitively priced."
"Thales is more expensive than its competitors."
"There is an annual licensing fee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction 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
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 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...
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Also Known As

Duo Security
FortiAuthenticator
Gemalto Ezio, Ezio, Gemalto Authenticators, SafeNet Authentication Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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