Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Duo
Score 9.4 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Duo is a two-factor authentication system (2FA), acquired by Cisco in October 2018. It provides single sign-on (SSO) and endpoint visibility, as well as access controls and policy controlled adaptive authentication.
$3
per month per user
Microsoft Entra ID
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Microsoft Azure Active Directory or Azure AD) is a cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) solution supporting restricted access to applications with Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) built-in, single sign-on (SSO), B2B collaboration controls, self-service password, and integration with Microsoft productivity and cloud storage (Office 365, OneDrive, etc) as well as 3rd party services.
$6
per user/per month
Pricing
Cisco DuoMicrosoft Entra ID
Editions & Modules
Duo Essentials
$3
per month per user
Duo Advantage
$6
per month per user
Duo Premier
$9
per month per user
Premium P1
$6.00
per user/per month
Premium P2
$9.00
per user/per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco DuoMicrosoft Entra ID
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco DuoMicrosoft Entra ID
Considered Both Products
Cisco Duo
Chose Cisco Duo
General user support, setting up new devices, migrating users (who have a new phone) is painless. It also provides options, so if push notifications don't work, or just because a users has a preference, you can receive phone call authentication - great feature which means you …
Chose Cisco Duo
Cisco Secure Access by Duo, against WatchGuard AuthPoint, is a broader tool with more applicability across applications to my knowledge. I also find it to be faster, and simpler for users to understand. For example, with Authpoint, the tokens that appear and "count down" seem …
Chose Cisco Duo
We looked at user Azure AD MFA but ultimately went with DUO because of their level of experience and the installation services. After using both, I don't really have an issue with either one and would be happy with either product to support and to trust in the security.
Chose Cisco Duo
Okta does offer similar solutions to Duo / Cisco Secure Access, by Duo, but Okta has a higher price-point from our initial investigations into which provider to use. The support that we received from Duo was top-notch and the ease of use really helped to decide which solution …
Chose Cisco Duo
Quite well. Ease of use and ability to integrate with multiple platforms is very strong.
Chose Cisco Duo
Authy is a 2FA like Duo but I was not impressed with the web interface and their 2FA app. It did not stack up to the options that Duo offered as a software. Azure AD works differently your company has to be fully associated with Azure in order for it to work on windows, it …
Chose Cisco Duo
At the time of purchasing, Azure MFA was not supported well for the applications we use. As this was quite some time ago, we will do a review probably next year to see if Azure MFA could be the successor (and cheaper) to Duo Security.
Microsoft Entra ID
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID makes it so easy and seamless to manage an environment full of Microsoft apps, that it didn't make much sense to deploy another option. If we were heavily invested in the Google platform, then it might make sense to use a Google offering for SSO.
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
Duo offers MFA for windows login. i believe Microsoft Entra ID doesn't at this time
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
I have been part of teams that have used both Oracle as well as Okta Identity Cloud. I think Azure AD falls between the two in performance and functionality. I think Oracle has been completed outdated as the UI is very clunky and old fashioned and seems like we are still stuck …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cisco DuoMicrosoft Entra ID
Identity Management
Comparison of Identity Management features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Duo
-
Ratings
Microsoft Entra ID
8.6
86 Ratings
7% above category average
ID-Management Access Control00 Ratings8.884 Ratings
ID Management Single-Sign On (SSO)00 Ratings9.085 Ratings
Multi-Factor Authentication00 Ratings9.185 Ratings
Password Management00 Ratings8.281 Ratings
Account Provisioning and De-provisioning00 Ratings8.480 Ratings
ID Management Workflow Automation00 Ratings8.262 Ratings
ID Risk Management00 Ratings8.564 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco DuoMicrosoft Entra ID
Small Businesses
WatchGuard AuthPoint
WatchGuard AuthPoint
Score 9.0 out of 10
Dashlane
Dashlane
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
WatchGuard AuthPoint
WatchGuard AuthPoint
Score 9.0 out of 10
RSA Access Manager (Discontinued)
RSA Access Manager (Discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM Cloud App ID
IBM Cloud App ID
Score 9.4 out of 10
RSA Access Manager (Discontinued)
RSA Access Manager (Discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco DuoMicrosoft Entra ID
Likelihood to Recommend
9.6
(135 ratings)
8.8
(91 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(10 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
9.5
(76 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Availability
9.9
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.4
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.6
(91 ratings)
8.8
(18 ratings)
Online Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.7
(10 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.6
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.7
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.7
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco DuoMicrosoft Entra ID
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Cisco Duo is extremely well-suited for someone wanting to add MFA to an on-premise Active Directory environment. Some of the other vendors in this space do provide this feature, but they do not natively support it. One of the top competitors in this space requires signing up with another third-party service to make this integration possible. Less moving parts for something as crucial as this is a huge benefit and having only one vendor to point fingers at makes troubleshooting much simpler.
Read full review
Microsoft
It is well suited for creating and updating and deleting employee attributes through Azure AD provisioning. But there can be some scenarios such as installation of provisioning agent documentation can be improved with proper screenshots. This will help consultants better in further implementations in future. The integration perspective is good but still the documentation available has scope of improvement.
Read full review
Pros
Cisco
  • Speed - it's fast with almost no delay between triggering the MFA request and receiving the notification on an iPhone
  • Security - in addition to the added MFA layer, a simple, 4-digit passcode can be added to the authentication request
  • Ease of use - it doesn't scare users. It's simple to install, configure, and use.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Microsoft Entra ID's biometric authentication improves security and streamlines user access through facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, which are reliable and practical.
  • Users can easily confirm their identities using biometrics, smart cards, or PINs, increasing security without disrupting business operations.
  • Microsoft Entra ID provides us with a thorough security comprehension by allowing us to effectively manage user identities, regulate access entitlements, and track authentication events.
Read full review
Cons
Cisco
  • If you need to integrate some legacy applications to Cisco Secure Access by Duo, it's not easy.
  • If you want to have more detailed information and reports, you need to pay more for the licensing. The basic option is not enough.
  • A constraint could be that each employee has to install it on their personal smartphone, which some don't like. But, there is an alternative using SMS, although sometimes it takes too long to receive the message.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Support has been less responsive than we'd like. Sometimes, responses/callbacks can take days.
  • There seem to be some credential conflicts with users who had "personal" accounts in the past using the same email address.
  • Would like more options for chat-based troubleshooting, rather than phone or email.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
There are a lot of competing solutions on the market; however, Duo "just works", and there is little to no learning curve for the new members to be acclimated to it. As long as that continues I see it as the preferred option moving forward
Read full review
Microsoft
It has been an essential tool and we have had very few problems using it. Nothing comes close that I have seen, though given how well it has worked out for us I really don't look very hard. The value is extremely high when you consider you get Microsoft Entra ID and the rest of the Microsoft 365 platform for one price.
Read full review
Usability
Cisco
La interfaz es intuitiva y fácil de navegar, lo que permite a los usuarios administrar sus dispositivos y acceder a las políticas sin problemas. La integración con las aplicaciones SSO y SaaS facilita aún más el proceso de acceso, mejorando la experiencia del usuario.
Read full review
Microsoft
Easy rollout across organizations, accessible from any device securely, and easy integration with Microsoft products and its services. Microsoft technical consulting services and team helps an organization to connect all dots which make Organization IT professionals' life easier. Easy to use hence adaption is faster and no major training needs to conduct for users.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
In the last 5+ years we've been using Duo, there may have been 1 outage that impacted us. We do receive periodic notifications of issues but, for the most part, they impact carriers or functionality that we either don't use, or do not care about.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco
We do not see any degradation of performance of the protected applications. There are occasional lags in receiving the push but no show stooppers.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
Since it’s a reputable company, I have received technical support when needed and I trust that if anything else happens I can contact them with any issues. I haven’t experienced bad customer service and I totally feel supported while using this authentication method. No complains so far and the high rating!
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft has offered Azure Active Directory as a solution for a couple of decades now, so they have seen and anticipated almost any issue that an organization may face and can therefore help. The cloud offering of Azure Active Directory offers some additional "self healing" or monitoring services that can minimize the need for a service call. However, as with most large companies supporting a fast growing market, there may be some gaps in service knowledge (and particularly processing) from the front line / tier one staff as they follow a corporate script at first contact.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Cisco
There was no in person training but checking the box was the only way I could complete all of the questions.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Cisco
This was not organized training but the videos that Duo provides to teach you how to install a particular integration are top notch.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Cisco
Implementation was straight forward and you can isolate different scenarios in order to test new application setup or add to an existing setup. Gui interface is pretty easy to understand and follow. I had no experience with Duo and still manage to easily set up new policies and rules.
Read full review
Microsoft
Make sure you use a good partner. Our implementation was a bit longer and more problematic than we expected. Our partner got it done, but, in my opinion, some of their inexperience and staffing issues were evident.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
Our school is based in Microsoft 365. Azure has a product built into their licensing (provided you have purchased the appropriate level or the add-on product.) The MFA in Azure is a work in process and doesn't offer broad integration options as Duo does. We didn't look into any other commercial products.
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft seems to be the better service for cloud identity syncing and is still a leader in this realm. Their service is reliable, and we use it with all of our clients. Compared to Okta, the cost is more affordable and they include a lot of services in the Microsoft licensing plans. This makes it the better option for most cases.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
The features are getting addresses per requirements and their value for Money. The proposed ROI and actual ROI build confidence.
Read full review
Scalability
Cisco
So far, the only limits we've encountered were tied to our imagination. Duo's strong list of supported integrations is amazing.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Microsoft Professional Services' technical knowledge is appreciable as consultants design the solution as per customer requirements. Mapping of features per user specifications and assisting Customer IT engineers to implement so they can manage and administer the services.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Very positive ROI given it is inexpensive for a small group and helps us secure our most valuable IT assets.
  • Lack of extreme policy granularity results in higher administrative overhead, as there is no middle ground (i.e. MFA every time or not at all).
Read full review
Microsoft
  • I believe that the reduction in requests for lost access passwords has been considerably reduced by 20%.
  • There has been an increase in the productivity of each user who has used Entra ID; what these types of programs do is act as a motivator for users so that they can work more comfortably and avoid procrastinating.
Read full review
ScreenShots