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Cisco Duo vs Fortinet FortiAuthenticator comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Duo delivers cost savings through enhanced security, improved morale, reduced premiums, and streamlined protection for hybrid and remote work.
Sentiment score
6.3
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator enhances security and compliance, offering quick ROI through two-factor authentication, reducing breaches and compliance costs.
It enhances security by ensuring only the right person can access systems, even if their login credentials are compromised.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Duo's customer service is responsive and helpful, but users suggest improvements in response time and support accessibility.
Sentiment score
7.3
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator's support is responsive and knowledgeable, but complex issues may face initial delays.
However, the response time could be faster.
Customer service and support are excellent.
At times, some technical staff lack knowledge, which delays issue resolution.
When we send a ticket to Fortinet, they go into research mode as if they are hearing the problem for the first time.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Cisco Duo offers scalable cloud-based authentication, integrating effortlessly for organizations of all sizes with reliable and flexible features.
Sentiment score
7.8
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator excels in scalability for medium to large enterprises, with adaptable licenses and both virtual and physical options.
The scalability of FortiAuthenticator is good, and I would rate it an eight on a scale of one to ten.
I find Fortinet FortiAuthenticator to be highly scalable, and I would rate it an eight out of ten for scalability.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Cisco Duo is highly rated for stability, seamless integration, minimal disruptions, and swift resolution of occasional issues, enhancing user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is praised for stability, but larger user bases may face reliability issues, affecting performance and authentication.
It remains stable even when the number of concurrent users increases.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Duo requires enhancements in integrations, usability, customization, and support, along with streamlined processes and diverse deployment options.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator needs interface updates, better documentation, improved integration, scalability, automation, and support with attention to pricing.
For example, authentication for wireless users expires after 24 hours, requiring re-authentication daily.
I recommend Fortinet make its images migratable between environments.
I would like to see more integration and inclusion of features for ransomware protection directly within the FortiAuthenticator without requiring additional devices.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Duo offers competitive, flexible user-based pricing with scalable options, free trials, and simpler licensing for diverse business needs.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator offers flexible, competitive licensing with optional costs, balancing features and market conditions effectively for affordability.
The setup cost is reasonable, estimated at around six euros per month.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is not overly expensive compared to other Fortinet subscriptions.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Duo offers robust multi-factor authentication, easy integration, and seamless security management for hybrid work and distributed networks.
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator enhances security and efficiency with two-factor authentication, SSO integration, user management, and cost-effective robust protocols.
The integration with FortiToken is outstanding, adding a layer of security for authentication.
We use multi-factor authentication for enhancing security.
The most valuable feature I find in FortiAuthenticator is web filtering.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Duo
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
2nd
Ranking in Authentication Systems
2nd
Ranking in Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA as a Service (6th), Cisco Security Portfolio (7th)
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
6th
Ranking in Authentication Systems
4th
Ranking in Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 6.6%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is 7.8%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

RyanDeppe - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps reduce the risk of a breach and is easy to deploy and onboard
For our customers, Duo Security is a significant advantage because it provides them with a straightforward method to implement MFA across their entire environment. Moreover, once we delve into the more advanced features of Duo Security, it enables us as a partner to engage in ongoing discussions regarding security strategies with our customers. Initially, we may only introduce them to MFA during the onboarding process. However, as their security strategy evolves, we can leverage Duo to perform additional tasks such as risk-based assessments and deployments, thereby assisting in the development of their security measures. Duo Security helps secure our infrastructure. It serves as our gateway layer of protection, allowing us to understand who is logging in and why. We conduct risk-based assessments on each user to determine whether their actions are appropriate or not. Duo Security is not a comprehensive security solution, but it is undoubtedly a crucial component, a critical layer of security. This aspect resonates with our customers consistently. Their ability to reduce the risk of a breach is of utmost importance. It serves as the primary line of defense. Currently, credential gathering and leaks are widespread in the market. By implementing an MFA solution like Duo Security, we can effectively prevent these issues. When we put a stop to credential harvesting, it becomes much harder for attackers to infiltrate and navigate our network. Therefore, Duo Security acts as an excellent first line of defense. User authentication and device verification are the methods through which we envision our customers navigating in order to prevent identity-based attacks. Initially, when we employ Duo Security, it is a straightforward implementation of multi-factor authentication. As we progress, we enhance security measures by incorporating device risk assessment and potentially even regional assessment. This includes considerations such as whether the login is being attempted from a specific IP address. These gradual enhancements contribute to the establishment of an additional layer of protection. Thus, it is not necessary to implement a completely disruptive strategy right from the start. Instead, it is possible to gradually adopt and integrate this approach, following a crawl, walk, or run methodology. The Duo Security self-service portal helps free up our customers' IT staff time, allowing them to focus on other projects. As a Cisco partner, we have received feedback from our customers that the portal is highly interactive, enabling them to easily navigate and resolve issues. After setting up their Duo environment, we rarely receive callbacks for assistance, as the portal is intuitive and empowers users to handle everything they need on their own. The appealing aspect of Duo Security is its ability to establish trust for every access request, regardless of its origin. It is a cloud-based solution with excellent API integrations. It doesn't matter where or how a user logs in; Duo will be there to protect the user, whether it's through MFA, risk assessment, or similar methods. It is extremely beneficial to our customers that Duo Security considers all resources as external. Our customers frequently inquire about a zero-trust model, and this is a key component of it. Unfortunately, I would love to say that there is a simple solution for zero trust where we can just deploy this solution and be done with it. But that's not the case. It requires a layered approach, and that's what we convey to our customers. Duo Security is definitely a part of that. Duo Security has helped improve our customers' cybersecurity resilience. Internally, it protects our users from accessing sales operations-based environments. Additionally, our customers use it regularly to protect business-critical applications.
Yonas Abebe - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration capabilities simplify authentication and migration challenges need addressing
The integration capabilities of Fortinet FortiAuthenticator are very interesting, as it can be integrated with third-party devices easily and is straightforward to configure. The integration with FortiToken is outstanding, adding a layer of security for authentication. In addition, it can be used by integrating with zero trust single access, enhancing overall security measures.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
24%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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...
What do you like most about Duo Security?
They are users who, as mentioned before, utilize RDPAP and MDPAP. It includes functionalities related to finance, specifically in single sign-on.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?
The setup cost is reasonable, estimated at around six euros per month.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is not overly expensive compared to other Fortinet subscriptions. However, it would be beneficial if the licensing allowed for more flexibility to cover additional users.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAuthenticator?
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 mi...
 

Also Known As

Duo Security
FortiAuthenticator
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Duo vs. Fortinet FortiAuthenticator and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.