Cisco Duo vs RSA Authentication Manager comparison

Cisco and RSA are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8, while RSA is ranked #16. Cisco holds a 5.0% mindshare in AS, compared to RSA’s 2.4% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of RSA users who would recommend it.

Cisco Duo

Read 113 Cisco Duo reviews

7,041 Views
4,858 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

RSA Authentication Manager

Read 12 RSA Authentication Manager reviews

1,223 Views
1,199 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

RSA Authentication Manager

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

RSA Authentication Manager and Cisco Duo are both prominent products in the identity and access management sector. Cisco Duo stands out with its extensive feature set, justifying its higher cost based on the results of the comparisons in each section.

What features are offered by RSA Authentication Manager in comparison to Cisco Duo?

RSA Authentication Manager offers comprehensive security policies, flexibility, and robust support. Cisco Duo provides seamless integration, a range of authentication methods, and a user-friendly experience. The broader feature set of Cisco Duo gives it a competitive edge.

What areas of improvement can be found in RSA Authentication Manager in comparison to Cisco Duo?

RSA Authentication Manager has a steep learning curve, outdated interfaces, and complexity. Cisco Duo faces occasional integration issues and a desire for more diverse authentication options. The complexity of RSA is a more pressing concern than Duo's minor integration hiccups.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of RSA Authentication Manager in comparison to Cisco Duo?

RSA Authentication Manager's deployment is challenging and time-consuming, yet it has responsive and knowledgeable customer service. Cisco Duo is recognized for its straightforward deployment process and effective customer support, making it a preferable option for setup and reliability in support.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with RSA Authentication Manager in comparison to Cisco Duo?

RSA Authentication Manager is viewed favorably for its cost-effectiveness and satisfactory return on investment. Cisco Duo, despite its higher price, delivers greater overall value due to its superior features and ease of use. Cisco Duo's higher cost is justified by its enhanced capabilities, leading to stronger user satisfaction.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Duo vs. RSA Authentication Manager Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. RSA Authentication Manager

February 2026

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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

Ranking in Authentication Systems

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

113

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (3rd), Access Management (4th), ZTNA as a Service (4th), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st)

RSA Authentication Manager

Ranking in Authentication Systems

16th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 5.0%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Authentication Manager is 2.4%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Duo	5.0%
RSA Authentication Manager	2.4%
Other	92.6%

Authentication Systems

Featured Reviews

Charles Slaustas

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.

Read full review

Uwe Schomäcker

VP Business Development at SDVG

Enhancing security with seamless single sign-on and Microsoft integration

We use RSA Authentication Manager for web applications and internal applications. We have a number of applications connected to it, serving over thirty thousand clients. It is integrated into everything from our standard login to Windows in the morning, as well as our applications Due to its…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We're working remotely. It helps us keep people more safe. Its adoption has been fine. I like the fact that you can bypass it if you need to because there are situations where the internet doesn't work, etc."

"Cisco Duo has benefited our company overall by giving us the ability to have multi-factor authentication."

"Cisco Duo benefits the company by increasing the security footprint, and it is easy to manage users, disable users, or bypass if needed in case of an emergency."

"Regarding the valuable features, I would say that Duo Security is easy to use, has speed, and is dependable."

"Cisco Duo has strengthened the ability to defend against both phishing and identity-based attacks."

"The feature of Cisco Duo that I prefer the most is the policies, being able to control what we need to within the policies."

"The experience of deploying Cisco Duo is great; it is fast and not too complex in my opinion, as you can integrate basically anything into Duo, so I would say the experience is overall very great as an administrator."

"The most appealing feature of Cisco Duo is the phone notification system that simply pops up on your phone."

More Cisco Duo pros

"The single sign-on feature is the most important."

"RSA Authentication Manager is the best available solution."

"RSA Authentication Manager is a robust solution that provides comprehensive protection for both on-premise and cloud-based applications."

"The most valuable feature is the provision part. The mapping and the logging is also very good. In addition, the troubleshooting, from a console point of view, is easy for administration and on the provisioning and logging part."

"It is a stable solution. I would rate the stability a nine out of ten."

"I have found RSA Authentication Manager to be scalable."

"The most valuable feature is the SecurID."

"It is a good solution for token identification."

More RSA Authentication Manager pros

Cons

"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."

"It could be a little bit more intuitive when it comes to the sign-up process. I know they send out an email, but sometimes our users get a little confused. It could be an end-user problem, but Cisco could work on that a little."

"The only time I really had some negative feedback for them was about the UI of their mobile app, but they improved it in the last version. It is good on the functionality side, but their pricing model is a little bit weird. Currently, there is no price advantage in signing up for yearly contracts. If you are on a monthly term or a yearly contract, you basically pay the same price, and that is very unusual. Normally, there is a discount when someone signs up for the 12-month system."

"We had some trouble with the password reset function."

"We already have Active Directory enabled in our routers and switches. However, if we could do two-factor authentication, then it could go a long way since no one's getting into them unless you want them to."

"Often, people do not receive expiration messages, and sometimes, for security reasons, accounts get disabled without notifying the end user, so they mistakenly think something has gone wrong when it really just needs to be re-enabled on the external system."

"While two-factor authentication with mobile devices provides a high level of security, it's still not foolproof, as someone could potentially steal your phone. It would be beneficial to have information about the authentication location."

"Cisco Duo could be improved by building the agent with the many agents we already use, such as Cisco AMP and Cisco Secure Client, which would simplify our environment by eliminating the need for a third agent for secure applications."

More Cisco Duo cons

"The product's capabilities to protect cloud environments need improvement."

"Our major problem is the authentication via Microsoft, via Microsoft cloud systems. This is our major aim, to be a valued product for the future. The biggest problem is to work against cheap cloud systems. Cloud identification is our main problem at this time."

"We have encountered issue when trying to expand this particular solution for a large set of users across the country."

"There is room for improvement in the RSA support."

"We are not planning on using the solution in the future."

"RSA Authentication Manager is perfect. We do not see current missing products or enhancements yet emphasize the importance of a continuous development roadmap."

"We found technical support was not very responsive to our requests for assistance."

"Enhancing the user interface and expanding their marketing efforts in regions like Nigeria and West Africa could be beneficial."

More RSA Authentication Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It falls in line with everything else."

"You pay per user when using this solution and the pricing is fair."

"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 product’s pricing is reasonable."

"The cost was reasonable. Licensing was pretty straightforward for a change."

"Our licensing fee is currently on an annual basis."

"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."

"From a reseller perspective, it's still challenging to explain the whole license strategy to a client, so we really have to be ahead of that for all the true forward conversations."

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is a little bit complicated because sometimes resellers are able to make prices that are too low. Our price, with a discount, is typically not as high as some of our competitors."

"The solution is costly."

"As a new customer, the minimum cost would be four dollars, but you have room for negotiation, potentially bringing it down to as low as three dollars."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	41
Midsize Enterprise	23
Large Enterprise	53

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	7

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 Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?

The pricing of Cisco Duo is quite reasonable compared to other products.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Duo Security?

One downside of Cisco Duo is the expense, as there are clients that can afford only the basic package, which does not include Geo-fencing, leaving them unable to pay for the more expensive level, w...

See all answers

What needs improvement with RSA Authentication Manager?

RSA Authentication Manager is perfect. We do not see current missing products or enhancements yet emphasize the importance of a continuous development roadmap.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for RSA Authentication Manager?

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering RSA Authentication Manager?

RSA Authentication Manager is the best available solution. However, for other companies, it might seem expensive. It's important for RSA to keep developing new features and maintain a robust roadma...

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Cisco Duo

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiToken vs Cisco Duo

Compared 6% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs Cisco Duo

Compared 4% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Cisco Duo

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

Microsoft Entra ID vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 7% of the time

RSA SecurID vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 7% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

SecurEnvoy SecurAccess vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

More RSA Authentication Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

February 2026

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

January 2026

Download RSA Authentication Manager product report

Also Known As

Duo Security

ACE/Server

Overview

Cisco Duo is a cloud-based identity security platform safeguarding critical resources for any user and device worldwide. Known for its ease of use, Duo offers seamless protection across multi-cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.

Cisco Duo is designed to secure access with identity-first protection and provides extensive visibility throughout an organization's identity ecosystem. Offering multi-factor authentication, Duo facilitates easy integration and management, allowing teams to protect data effectively on VPNs, applications, and networks. Its single-pane management improves security processes while enhancing trust, making it suitable for diverse IT infrastructures.

What are the key features of Cisco Duo?

Multi-factor Authentication: Strengthens user verification with multiple methods.
Push Notifications: Simplifies authentication with quick approvals.
Single Sign-On: Enhances convenience by allowing one set of credentials.
VPN Access: Secures remote connections with reliable authentication.
User Activity Visibility: Offers comprehensive insights into access patterns.

Which benefits and ROI should users consider?

Quick Deployment: Facilitates rapid integration within existing systems.
Effective Management: Streamlines IT operations with centralized control.
Regulatory Compliance: Aids in meeting industry standards for data protection.
Enhanced Trust: Strengthens security posture across networks.
User-friendly Approach: Simplifies authentication for non-technical users.

In industries like education and finance, Cisco Duo is widely employed to secure multi-factor authentication across platforms such as email, databases, and servers. Its integration capabilities with Microsoft 365, Active Directory, and VPNs like AnyConnect are instrumental in verifying user identities using mobile apps or OTPs, catering effectively to both remote and on-premise environments.

Cisco

RSA Authentication Manager is the platform behind RSA SecurID that allows for centralized management of the RSA SecurID environment including authentication methods, users, applications, and agents across multiple physical sites. It verifies authentication requests and centrally administers authentication policies for organizations' end users.

RSA

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Tiera, Fred Loya, BRE Leasing, ADP, BlueFort Security, New Hanover County

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. RSA Authentication Manager

February 2026

Free Report: Cisco Duo vs. RSA Authentication Manager

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