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Cisco Duo vs Fortinet FortiToken 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Duo
Ranking in Authentication Systems
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (2nd), ZTNA as a Service (6th), Cisco Security Portfolio (7th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st)
Fortinet FortiToken
Ranking in Authentication Systems
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 10.1%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiToken is 6.5%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems
 

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.
Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates secure 2FA for admins, facilitates OTP generation, and enhances security
One suggestion is to develop a more user-friendly solution that is cost-effective so that a hardware-based solution can be provided to all users using VPN services or any configuration service requiring confidentiality. This would allow for broader distribution among a larger number of system admins and software engineers, which is currently not feasible with the existing hardware-only approach.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"By deploying Duo, we have virtually eliminated the risk of direct deposit redirection as a result of credentials that have been compromised via phishing."
"The two-factor login is great. I receive a message and just have to press okay."
"Duo offers dual-factor authentication for our logins. I put in my credentials and hit go. Then I get an alert on my Apple watch, and I approve it. That part is just phenomenal."
"Regarding the valuable features, I would say that Duo Security is easy to use, has speed, and is dependable."
"It's simple. It's reliable. I haven't had any issues with it."
"My overall rating for the solution is ten out of ten."
"It was a simple way of providing two-factor authentication for remote access when we hit the COVID pandemic. It was very easy and quick to get it going."
"The push notifications and the integrations they offer are valuable. Their mobile app is very useful. It is very easy to use."
"FortiToken is available in a soft or hard token factor, so there's some flexibility in that. Beyond that, I would say it is a stable solution that has worked for us."
"Overall, I rate the FortiToken solution as nine out of ten. I would definitely recommend it due to its effectiveness in enhancing security."
"Its ease of use is most valuable. It is simple to use and can be deployed out-of-the-box. It is quite a mature product with all the required features."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its mobile application. It is particularly beneficial as it eliminates the need for hardware management."
"The product provides secure access to our internal server."
"The tool's support is the best."
"FortiToken is integrated with FortiClient solution for users working from home, providing an additional layer of security by sending OTPs for authentication."
"Fortinet FortiToken is used for double factor authentication."
 

Cons

"Most of my colleagues from other companies use the Microsoft MFA solution because it's included in Office 365. Few people are considering Cisco Duo. That's the primary problem in our area. It's a solution mostly adopted by Cisco users."
"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."
"Duo Security should have more customized use cases. For example, if a client needs to have more customization, it would be better to connect directly with Duo's R&D to try to discuss the issues together in order to add customizations."
"The only thing I can think of to improve for tech support is to have a dedicated engineer but then I would get an engineer that has priorities in one area or another and maybe not the scope I need."
"More automation and device insights would be helpful in achieving a seamless single pane of glass. Having the additional capability to streamline processes would also make things better."
"Technical support could be improved. I don't think all support should have to go through an agreement."
"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."
"I would appreciate it if Duo Security could improve its integrations with Windows Hello."
"The solution could be more user-friendly."
"Maybe the price could be improved, and the integration could be better. But the integration is different from the authenticator side."
"I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten. The migration issue definitely brings it down a bit."
"I would like to see if FortiToken can integrate with Office 365 mail to support the same two-factor authentication experience that I have with ESET. With ESET, when a user logs in, they are easily directed to the ESET authentication page, where they are prompted to enter their OTP after supplying their username and password. I understand from support that FortiToken cannot do this with email integration. That's why I opted for ESET."
"We can only use the tool with the FortiToken Mobile app."
"The solution comes with two firewalls as a bundle. In that bundle, most of the individual users can be assigned to mobile users. However, in cases of technical difficulties, users may accidentally remove the mobile application. In normal scenarios, we get back to the activation key and assign it again."
"The solution works well. We have nothing to complain about."
"They could enhance synchronization with mobile applications, and addressing minor issues with authentication could further improve user experience."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price wise, it's not cheap, but it's not expensive at all either. It's in the middle."
"Duo Security's pricing is good, fair, and very comparable to today's market."
"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."
"Overall, the pricing is fair. Customers can wrap it into their Enterprise Agreement, making it easier for them to solve their issues."
"The pricing is pretty competitive. It's pretty cheap. Anybody can adopt it."
"The pricing was a lot more than what we were paying for our previous solution."
"During testing we are allowed a certain number of licenses for free."
"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."
"From an Indian perspective, it's definitely costlier."
"It is included as part of our firewall license."
"The solution’s price is good."
"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."
"I would rate the pricing as an eight out of ten. We purchased the solution at a reasonable price in 2019."
"Overall, it's cheaper than other solutions. Of course, we evaluated it five years back, and I haven't checked to see its current market position, but one reason we adopted FortiToken is its lower cost of ownership relative to other solutions we evaluated."
"The platform's licensing cost is reasonable for our organization."
"Although the platform is relatively expensive, it offers significant value. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
24%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
University
7%
 

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 do you like most about Fortinet FortiToken?
The solution is simple and similar to Google Authenticator. It follows time-based authentication. We use it for hardware and software in one environment. The tool offers simple and fast authenticat...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiToken?
I am using FortiToken for logging into the Fortinet hardware. I have four FortiGate hardware units. I am connected through a simulator on FortiToken.
 

Also Known As

Duo Security
No data available
 

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 FortiToken and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.