Cisco Duo vs RSA Authentication Manager comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Cisco and RSA are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.9, while RSA is ranked #13. Cisco holds a 3.7% mindshare in AS, compared to RSA’s 2.5% 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 162 Cisco Duo reviews

15,169 Views
7,585 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

RSA Authentication Manager

Read 12 RSA Authentication Manager reviews

2,935 Views
2,730 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

RSA Authentication Manager

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

RSA Authentication Manager and Cisco Duo are both key players in user authentication solutions. Cisco Duo holds an advantage with a broader range of features and flexibility favored by users.

Features: RSA Authentication Manager provides strong multifactor authentication, extensive integration capabilities with legacy systems, and secure token delivery. Meanwhile, Cisco Duo features robust mobile support, a cloud-based model, and seamless integration with cloud applications, which enhances its usability in modern IT environments.

Room for Improvement: RSA Authentication Manager's reliance on on-premise deployment could benefit from faster initial setup. Improvement in scalability would help its adaptability to cloud environments. Its customer support system could be enhanced for quicker resolution times. Cisco Duo could add more detailed reporting features. Enhancements in handling complex legacy system integrations and offering a more expansive selection of user interface languages would improve its accessibility globally.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: RSA Authentication Manager, with its on-premise requirements, involves a longer setup time but delivers reliable customer service post-installation. Cisco Duo offers a rapid deployment process, requiring fewer resources due to its cloud-based structure, alongside responsive and ongoing support, appealing to IT departments with varying infrastructure needs.

Pricing and ROI: RSA Authentication Manager's large initial setup cost is offset by good ROI for organizations with significant legacy systems integration. Contrarily, Cisco Duo's flexible subscription-based pricing model supports dynamic businesses seeking lower upfront costs and quicker ROI, making it attractive for those preferring flexible spending plans.

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

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. RSA Authentication Manager

September 2026

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Helped 918,957 peers since 2012

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

6.9

Number of Reviews

162

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 (3rd)

RSA Authentication Manager

Ranking in Authentication Systems

13th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 3.7%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Authentication Manager is 2.5%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Duo	3.7%
RSA Authentication Manager	2.5%
Other	93.8%

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

"It's a great solution for securing access to the applications and network because we can integrate the solution with all types of applications."

"It has definitely decreased our security risk."

"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."

"It is a great system regarding multi-factor authentication, specifically after we did the integration with Active Directory, allowing us to manage the users who use the VPN, our main gateway for VPN Cisco ASA Secure, with full administration."

"The ease of deploying Cisco Duo Security and onboarding has greatly benefited our customers."

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

"Cisco Duo has improved our operational efficiency and reduced costs in areas such as authentication, IT support, and security operations by enhancing our security workflows; pretty much everyone is using MFA at work, making it easy for us to see who is actually accessing our network and computers."

"It's easy to use for the security part, and it helps to improve our security posture."

More Cisco Duo pros

"RSA Authentication Manager is the best available solution."

"RSA Authentication Manager Appliance is almost like Plug 'n' Play, so it's an excellent experience."

"Easy setup, deployment, and integration in different infrastructures, including virtual ones."

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

"In 2005 we started with a managed authentication service for three small companies with each having approx. 250 users, and now we have 25 large enterprises/government departments with over 150,000 authenticating users and an uptime of nearly 100% over the last five years."

"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."

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

More RSA Authentication Manager pros

Cons

"Cisco Duo is a fully cloud-based solution. It would be beneficial if Cisco provided a fully on-premise solution."

"There could be improvements made to the dashboards and more integration with the rest of the Cisco ecosystem."

"Cisco Duo is doing exactly what we need it to do, so I cannot really give a suggestion for areas that could be improved since we do not use everything that it currently offers."

"From an administrative standpoint, I'd love to see it be a little better at remembering a device and location so that I don't have to continually authenticate. That's pretty much it."

"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."

"At the moment, I believe that more integration between Cisco Duo Identity Intelligence and the classic Cisco Duo console can be improved, since it is still a separate platform, and when I click on Identity Intelligence, I have to open a new window and log in again."

"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."

"End-users find it more annoying than anything else."

More Cisco Duo cons

"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."

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

"The reporting needs to be improved, and they should be delivered by email."

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

"My observation over the years is that the system upgrades can be complicated and must be well planned out to address 'what if' issues, including backing off upgrades if necessary."

"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 are seeing a lot of difficult issues in terms of RSA, especially the cloud-based two-factor authentication process."

More RSA Authentication Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"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."

"The product’s pricing is reasonable."

"It's a bit confusing because we're on a three-year plan with a certain number of licenses, and we've gone over that number. They told us that when we renew, they will add all these licenses. We've expanded quickly, so everyone's kind of scared because no one knows what the bill is with the long pricing cycle."

"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."

"It was very reasonable."

"It is affordable for what's coming to the table with it, but in this day and age, the cost is looked at under a microscope, and companies need to very finely define what is needed versus what is critical. In some cases, it might not be cost-effective for a company to have it. In a lot of other cases, it is the cost of doing business."

"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."

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

Outsourcing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

11%

Construction Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	64
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	81

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?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Cisco Duo indicates that the main setup cost for us has been the time and effort required to integrate Duo with existing applications, auth...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Duo Security?

Cisco Duo is generally easy to use, but there are a few areas where it could be improved. The initial setup and configuration can require some technical knowledge, especially when integrating Duo 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

Microsoft Entra ID vs Cisco Duo

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 6% of the time

Okta Platform vs Cisco Duo

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco Duo

Compared 3% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs Cisco Duo

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

Certificate Lifecycle Manager vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 7% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 7% of the time

Symantec Advanced Authentication vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

More RSA Authentication Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

October 2026

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

September 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 provides robust security for authentication needs, offering features like multifactor authentication and decentralized administration. It supports both on-premises and cloud environments, integrating seamlessly with Microsoft products.

RSA Authentication Manager is designed to enhance security through comprehensive multifactor authentication and advanced security administration. The integration capabilities with Microsoft products allow for versatile deployment in both cloud and on-premises environments. Known for its reliable performance, it offers simple setup and token deployment, making it highly adaptable for organizations looking for efficient management and mapping solutions. Despite some challenges with reporting and cloud integration, strategic improvements can address these issues. Enhancements in mobile authentication, pricing, and cloud management consoles have been suggested by users. In industries requiring stringent security, RSA's features like Fortinet VPN integration and adaptability for global file transfers make it a preferred choice.

What are the key features of RSA Authentication Manager?

Multifactor Authentication: Provides comprehensive multifactor authentication to enhance security.
Security Administration: Offers effective decentralized administration for seamless management.
Integration Capabilities: Strong integration with Microsoft products and support for VPNs.
Token Deployment: Facilitates easy self-service token deployment for administrators.
Mapping and Logging: Advanced capabilities for efficient security management.

What benefits can users expect?

Reliable Performance: Ensures stable and consistent operations across environments.
Easy Setup: Simplified setup process enhances usability and deployment speed.
Flexible Management Roles: Advanced troubleshooting and role management for effective operation.
Comprehensive Reporting: Built-in reporting tools for detailed insights and analysis.
Integration Flexibility: Seamless integration with legacy systems and custom applications.

RSA Authentication Manager is extensively used in authentication for applications requiring enhanced security measures. It supports improved protection for Cisco VPN connections and file transfers through robust APIs, offering two-factor authentication. Organizations have incorporated it extensively for web and internal application security, demonstrating its widespread application connectivity. Solutions like Fortinet VPN integration further define its capability in providing authentication support globally, serving thousands of organizations effectively.

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

September 2026

Free Report: Cisco Duo vs. RSA Authentication Manager

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