Cisco Duo vs Symantec Advanced Authentication comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Cisco and Broadcom are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.9, while Broadcom is ranked #22. Cisco holds a 3.7% mindshare in AS, compared to Broadcom’s 1.4% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 77% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Cisco Duo

Read 161 Cisco Duo reviews

15,169 Views
7,585 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Symantec Advanced Authentic...

Read 9 Symantec Advanced Authentication reviews

1,754 Views
1,684 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

Symantec Advanced Authentic...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Symantec Advanced Authentication and Cisco Duo are both utilized for secure access and authentication management. Users are happier with the feature set and integration capabilities of Cisco Duo, though Symantec Advanced Authentication scores better in deployment and customer service.

What features are offered by Symantec Advanced Authentication in comparison to Cisco Duo?

Symantec Advanced Authentication provides a robust set of features tailored for enterprise-level secure access, including flexibility, customization, and high-security controls. Cisco Duo is noted for its ease of use, wide range of integration capabilities, and comprehensive features that cater to various business sizes, making it more appealing to users.

What areas of improvement can be found in Symantec Advanced Authentication in comparison to Cisco Duo?

Symantec Advanced Authentication users frequently mention the product's complexity, steep learning curve, and need for better user interface design. Cisco Duo reviews highlight the pricing structure, limited customer support responsiveness, and areas for improved reporting capabilities.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of Symantec Advanced Authentication in comparison to Cisco Duo?

Symantec Advanced Authentication requires a more intricate setup process but benefits from excellent customer service support throughout deployment. Cisco Duo is praised for its swift and hassle-free deployment but receives mixed reviews regarding customer service responsiveness.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with Symantec Advanced Authentication in comparison to Cisco Duo?

Symantec Advanced Authentication users mention higher setup costs but recognize its ROI through high security and functionality for complex needs. Cisco Duo, while noted to have more competitive initial pricing, demonstrates strong ROI through its user-friendly interface and efficiency, making it worthwhile despite a few concerns over its tiered pricing model.

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

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication

September 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 917,433 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

161

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)

Symantec Advanced Authentic...

Ranking in Authentication Systems

22nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

8.7

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 Symantec Advanced Authentication is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Duo	3.7%
Symantec Advanced Authentication	1.4%
Other	94.9%

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

Umair (Abu Mohaymin) Akhlaque

Group CEO at Flexsolutions

Ensures robust security features and ease of deployment, although it may lack some of the more modern authentication options

There has been a need for aggressive development to modernize the product and align it with contemporary security requirements. While the rebranding has been a step forward, further enhancements are essential to meet the evolving demands of the market. It lacks features such as ActiveSync Exchange security, and it doesn't offer alternatives like password-less authentication via biometrics or patches. While Symantec mainly relies on traditional token-based or password-based methods, newer authentication methods are missing from its repertoire. Support services often lack promptness and depth of knowledge, leaving customers waiting for weeks to resolve issues. In the realm of multifactor authentication, swift resolution of problems is critical, as any slowdown or interruption can significantly impact operations. Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation.

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

"Duo Security improved my organization by helping us secure all access points within the company infrastructure."

"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's easy to deploy. It's easy to manage. It's easy to integrate with other applications."

"Cisco Duo scales very well with the growing needs of my company; during COVID, when we had a higher number of users, there were no problems at all."

"The ability for users to authenticate via phone, from any random phone number, has been very helpful for managing a distributed workforce. Using it across a distributed network for securing access to our applications is big for us."

"It's pretty easy for users to figure it out."

"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 feature I like the most about Cisco Duo is two-factor authentication, as it helps me to defend against phishing attacks and provides security for my organization."

More Cisco Duo pros

"CA products are the best fit with our backend systems."

"One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability."

"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it's a strong authentication solution that's able to integrate with applications."

"Symantec Advanced Authentication can be useful for wherever you require a strong authentication."

"It actually increases our revenue and the customer base."

"It tells us exactly what we want in terms of authentication to various applications and provides protection for users who access them."

"Rules on Risk Authentication are very good."

"It allows us to assure our customers that we are protecting their data."

More Symantec Advanced Authentication pros

Cons

"The product price needs improvement."

"There is a little bit of apprehension for some users thinking, well, "How do I know this app is not collecting personal information from my personal device?""

"Compared to other vendors, Cisco Duo is on the pricey end."

"The new smart license model doesn't always work. It's very complicated."

"I think Cisco Duo can be improved by integrating it more with developer tools; there is not a lot in terms of developer tooling with respect to authenticating to command line toolsets."

"Duo Security could be improved with the addition of more applications."

"Smart Licensing needs improvement. It's terrible. We have problems with it every year and we need to involve support to fix it."

"I am not certain how Cisco Duo has helped me evolve in my IAM strategy from simple authentication to a more comprehensive identity security platform."

More Cisco Duo cons

"We have seen quite a few issues with bugginess. It is indeed pretty buggy and we have had to install some fixes."

"Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation."

"The initial setup of the tenant is a big cost element of the service and we were doing multiple tenants for our customer."

"This solution could be improved with risk-based authentication. I think that this product has everything that most customers are looking for, but modern technology has people looking for security tools with risk-based authentication, which they have a separate tool for. If they could integrate this, it would improve Symantec Advanced Authentication. They have to look at what's newly trending and how things are moving forward, and then adapt and adopt those features. Symantec's technical support should also be improved, in terms of response time."

"Symantec has very bad support, so I have no words for it. It's one of the worst support experiences I've ever had."

"It needs faster implementation on the cloud for our customers."

"Advanced Authentication talks about the Device ID. But how the device ID is captured, I want to know more about that."

"Sometimes getting this set up does take a bit longer. It's not always install, next, next, next, finish."

More Symantec Advanced Authentication cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"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."

"You pay per user when using this solution and the pricing is fair."

"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."

"I rate the product pricing a seven out of ten."

"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."

"Its price is reasonable. It is not highly expensive."

"My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Cisco Duo has been great. We've been there for 10 years. While we haven't gone through the setup part for a while, licensing is straightforward and convenient for higher education because student populations are included. So, we don't have to pay extra for it. We just pay for our knowledge workers, which has been great, and the cost is reasonable."

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

"There are eventually going to be implementation costs. Sometimes you're required to have custom code developments there, so that has to be part of the implementation price."

"The price is reasonable."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Authentication Systems solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Construction Company

17%

Outsourcing Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	64
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	79

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
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

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

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

Auth0 Platform vs Cisco Duo

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

RSA Authentication Manager vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 13% of the time

RSA Adaptive Authentication vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 6% of the time

Symantec VIP Access Manager vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 6% of the time

Thales Authenticators vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 3% of the time

More Symantec Advanced Authentication Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

October 2026

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Symantec Advanced Authentication

September 2026

Download Symantec Advanced Authentication product report

Also Known As

Duo Security

CA Advanced Authentication, CA Strong Authentication, CA Risk Authentication, Arcot WebFort, Arcot RiskFort

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

Symantec Advanced Authentication provides robust security solutions aimed at safeguarding digital identities through multifactor authentication, ensuring secure access control for businesses.

With increasing cyber threats, businesses need reliable authentication systems. Symantec Advanced Authentication delivers enhanced security protocols, blending risk-based authentication with seamless user experiences. It supports a range of authentication methods and integrates effortlessly into existing systems, offering scalable security options.

What are the key features of Symantec Advanced Authentication?

Risk-Based Authentication: Evaluates risks in real-time to adjust security measures dynamically.
Multifactor Authentication: Supports various means like biometrics, tokens, and smart cards for secure login processes.
Cloud and On-premise Options: Flexible deployment choices to suit different IT environments.
Integration Capabilities: Easily integrates with existing IT infrastructure for seamless operation.

What benefits can users expect from reviews?

Enhanced Security: Reliable protection against unauthorized access.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs without compromising on performance.
Flexibility: Multiple authentication options catering to different user preferences.
Cost Efficiency: Reduction in potential security-related financial losses.

Symantec Advanced Authentication is utilized in healthcare, finance, and other industries to secure sensitive information. In healthcare, it enables compliance with regulations by safeguarding patient data. Financial institutions leverage it to protect client information and ensure secure transactions. Its versatility makes it an ideal choice for industries requiring strict security protocols.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Global bank, Large Filipino Bank and SK Infosec

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication

September 2026

Free Report: Cisco Duo vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Duo vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Cisco Duo vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication report.

See our list of best Authentication Systems vendors.

We monitor all Authentication Systems reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.