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Google Authenticator vs RSA Adaptive Authentication 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 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)
Google Authenticator
Ranking in Authentication Systems
14th
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (3rd)
RSA Adaptive Authentication
Ranking in Authentication Systems
24th
Average Rating
6.8
Number of Reviews
6
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 Google Authenticator is 0.9%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Adaptive Authentication is 1.4%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Duo3.7%
Google Authenticator0.9%
RSA Adaptive Authentication1.4%
Other94.0%
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.
Balogun Peter - PeerSpot reviewer
Digital Magazine Manager at OMC System
Strong security has protected my online accounts and keeps my access safe across platforms
In my opinion, the best feature Google Authenticator offers is the way it generates the code every one minute or thereabout, and the code keeps changing, which enhances security. I am very sure nobody can have access to my accounts without Google Authenticator. Google Authenticator has impacted my organization positively as I have first-hand assurance that nobody is breaking into any of our accounts or websites, and it saves a lot. It gives you that assurance; it makes you feel very safe. The security is top notch, and it is even amazing that it works without the internet. What is really measurable is that we do not get our things compromised now. It is more secure; it provides comfortability knowing that my account is safe, and I feel more secure.
Directorc4e7 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Cyber Security at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
We need better ease of use; the product is overly complicated
There are many use cases that we have defined based on our business needs Ingestion of logs and raising alert space on those logs are the most valuable features. The product is basically unusable. We need better ease of use; it's overly complicated. It has taken years to implement. We used RSA…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco Duo has improved my operational efficiency and reduced costs by better managing authentication for our clients and helping to reduce potential compromises and brute force attacks."
"I believe Cisco Duo is worth the investment, offering a good return on investment, as it is expensive but works very well without any downtime or high maintenance, and the support is also good."
"The best part about Cisco Duo is that it is easy to use and relatively very straightforward, with multiple options available."
"The most valuable feature is the ability for users to connect securely to the office using the VPN."
"Duo is a very consistent product and flexible in how it can be deployed and has good support."
"Being able to just use a thumbprint makes it very fast."
"I would assess the stability and reliability of Cisco Duo as excellent because once we got it working, we have never had an issue."
"With respect to our users feeling safe, secure, supported, and included, Duo Security is among the best solutions that we have ever used."
"Google Authenticator has positively impacted my organization by improving security and productivity."
"Google Authenticator has helped save money, save time, and maintain reputation because of the security it provides."
"The security is top notch, and it is even amazing that it works without the internet."
"Ingestion of logs and raising alert space on those logs are the most valuable features."
"It has reduced false positives greatly in our fraud detection ability."
"Risk Engine’s risk score, eFN, GeoIP, and device binding all coming together in the Policy Rules to decide when to escalate to MFA."
"Our customer are seeing value from the product, as they experience cost reductions. They can stop fraud from their customers, then their customers can have a better experience from their services."
"The most valuable feature is the stock tokens. That works the best for us."
"Once we started adopting these products, we've seen the fraud losses go down considerably."
"One of the most valuable features is the fraud detection capability with minimal friction in the customer experience."
"The capability to manage your business policy related to security when required without vendor involvement."
 

Cons

"Its documentation must be in French because we are a French-speaking country. They should also provide more training documentation. Its management interface should also be improved. They should also improve its update period. If I compare its update period with other products such as Palo Alto firewalls, this solution is really slow in updates."
"Cisco Duo is a modern product that does not support older applications, lacking backward compatibility. It should work on supporting legacy applications and legacy approaches."
"Integration with a product such as Microsoft Sentinel would be great. As the product continually improves, I'm unsure if this feature is available."
"When you come to the push in Duo Security, there are some integrations where you have to use the code instead of the push functionality."
"I think the prices of Cisco Duo are quite fair, but the main problem is that Microsoft Authenticator is built-in with Microsoft 365, so everyone is switching to that and not using Cisco Duo because it is a standalone product that costs extra, despite the price being fair."
"We have had instances where Duo Security stops working on a user's device, which we have fixed by uninstalling and then reinstalling it."
"Technical support could be improved. I don't think all support should have to go through an agreement."
"Technical support seems to be lacking. It takes a long time for them to come back to the customer."
"I deduct one mark due to the lack of a backup and restore option."
"It has taken years to implement."
"It's an okay solution. It's just old technology and it's time to move on."
"Better filters when searching for events. The current features for current filters when searching fraud events are not very comprehensive. You can only filter by certain fields in the transaction."
"Reporting modules is one of the major areas that can be improved further."
"I would like to see a more adaptive type of solution, something that we could use on our web pages..."
"The product is basically unusable. We need better ease of use; it's overly complicated."
"RSA Adaptive Authentication lacks a mechanism to verify the identity of a new user in the Enrollment event workflow."
"I think I would like to see them use more of our data, and give us more ability to control or configure how the protection patterns work for a specific business, and also provide more transparency into the methodology."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I haven't seen it in a while, but it's at par with everything else licensing-wise."
"Our licensing fee is currently on an annual basis."
"Cisco has the most expensive products because market leaders tend to charge a lot."
"The cost was reasonable. Licensing was pretty straightforward for a change."
"I am not aware of the pricing. There are two departments, and I don't have any information about them."
"Duo Security is free."
"Overall, the pricing is fair. Customers can wrap it into their Enterprise Agreement, making it easier for them to solve their issues."
"Price wise, it's not cheap, but it's not expensive at all either. It's in the middle."
Information not available
"Customers need to deploy the solution in a very expensive infrastructure. RSA should should think about a less expensive infrastructure for customers because the solution costs around $100,000, and the infrastructure needed to support that solution may be even more expensive than that price."
"The pricing is $50 per head, yearly."
"Keep the proxy service layer on premises. That consumes SaaS security services on the back-end."
"You may need to opt for second best if funding is low and the number of users is huge. However, the pricing is able to be negotiated if your user figures are huge."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
21%
Construction Company
16%
Government
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Construction Company
15%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business66
Midsize Enterprise29
Large Enterprise93
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
 

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 Google Authenticator?
Google Authenticator is the best; everything is okay regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing.
What needs improvement with Google Authenticator?
There is always room for improvement, and I just want to see Google Authenticator keep getting better. But for now, I...
What is your primary use case for Google Authenticator?
My main use case for Google Authenticator is for security purposes, to safeguard my different accounts or application...
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Also Known As

Duo Security
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Information Not Available
ADP, Ameritas, Partners Healthcare
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Authenticator vs. RSA Adaptive Authentication and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,523 professionals have used our research since 2012.