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 8.7, while RSA is ranked #15. Cisco holds a 4.2% mindshare in AS, compared to RSA’s 2.3% 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 118 Cisco Duo reviews

8,973 Views
5,474 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

RSA Authentication Manager

Read 12 RSA Authentication Manager reviews

1,559 Views
1,481 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

RSA Authentication Manager

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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RSA Authentication Manager has a steep learning curve, outdated interfaces, and complexity.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: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. RSA Authentication Manager

April 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

7.0

Number of Reviews

118

Ranking in other categories

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

RSA Authentication Manager

Ranking in Authentication Systems

15th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 4.2%, down from 9.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Authentication Manager is 2.3%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Duo	4.2%
RSA Authentication Manager	2.3%
Other	93.5%

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

"The UI of Cisco Duo is easy to use, especially the web backend, and it's really intuitive and easy to set up."

"I love Duo Security's push notifications. It's simple, fast, and secure. From the user's perspective, the solution is seamless. The security aspect is great."

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

"Duo is a cloud-based product and it is a good product to maintain the security for the VPN."

"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."

"I lead an IT organization that has a significant amount of technical debt, and we're not in a zero-trust architecture yet. I'm pushing in that direction. Duo helps me considerably with my identity in an environment where I don't have zero trust. It's helping me bridge the gap until I can build a zero trust architecture."

"Cisco Duo seems very scalable—in my experience, I started with a small-medium business, and in my last contracting position, it was a large one for a major worldwide airline that had hundreds of thousands of devices that could use Cisco Duo, and it scaled very well."

"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 approve it, and that part is just phenomenal."

More Cisco Duo pros

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

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

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

"The most valuable feature is the SecurID."

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

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

"It stands out as a comprehensive and adaptable solution that excels in both on-premises and cloud-based authentication, offers strong security with multi-layered authentication, and boasts a well-maintained product with reliable performance."

"The technical support has been great; their service is perfect."

More RSA Authentication Manager pros

Cons

"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."

"Integration with a product such as Microsoft Sentinel would be great."

"General announcements when new features come out with Cisco Duo should be broadcasted to customers who are using it, which might bring more accessibility to their documents so users can be more in tune with updates."

"We use Yubikey for pushing it to the phones. Yubikeys can get expensive because people tend to lose those for some reason. Fifty dollars a device is pretty high."

"There is another issue with removing the application from your computer. It is difficult to remove the application on Windows."

"An enhancement they might make is if they can log it to Splunk since they're big into Splunk. Instead of me having to go into that portal to look at things when someone is trying to log in and they forgot their password, I can look in and tell them they forgot their password or didn't respond to the prompt. That would be an improvement."

"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."

"There was an issue related to integration with third parties."

More Cisco Duo cons

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Our major problem is the authentication via Microsoft, via Microsoft cloud systems."

More RSA Authentication Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"During testing we are allowed a certain number of licenses for free."

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

"The product’s pricing is reasonable."

"It's very simple. Its price is fair. We use the hardware tokens as well. You get what you pay for. In terms of licensing, Cisco has very complicated products, but Duo Security was surprisingly easy."

"Duo Security is free."

"My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been good, with no issues. I am pleased that the prices remained stable after Cisco acquired the solution."

"The pricing was a lot more than what we were paying for our previous solution."

"The pricing is pretty competitive. It's pretty cheap. Anybody can adopt it."

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."

"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."

"The solution is costly."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	42
Midsize Enterprise	24
Large Enterprise	57

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?

I cannot speak to the financial planning of the organization, but I can confirm that Cisco Duo falls within the security budget that has been allocated to us.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Duo Security?

Areas that have room for improvement in Cisco Duo include pricing, as Cisco is quite expensive, and the fact that Cisco Duo relies heavily on external identity providers such as Active Directory or...

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 8% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiToken vs Cisco Duo

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco Duo

Compared 4% of the time

Symantec VIP Access Manager vs Cisco Duo

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 7% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiToken vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

Symantec Advanced Authentication vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

More RSA Authentication Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

April 2026

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

March 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

April 2026

Free Report: Cisco Duo vs. RSA Authentication Manager

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