Our main use cases for Cisco Duo are for our own internal systems and applications that we're using, finance related and sales related.
Vice President at Next Info Tech Solutions Inc
Secure logins and device updates have boosted our confidence in online access
Pros and Cons
- "The feature of Cisco Duo that I value the most is that it's easy to use; it monitors all our devices to ensure everything is updated before we're given access to those applications."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Simplicity in doing our secured authentication
What is most valuable?
The feature of Cisco Duo that I value the most is that it's easy to use. It monitors all our devices to ensure everything is updated before we're given access to those applications. Our company benefits from all those features of Cisco Duo with confidence, and we feel very secure with it in terms of authentication of our logins.
What needs improvement?
As for improving Cisco Duo, we're quite happy with it, so there isn't much negative feedback. I would mention that there's nothing specific I would want to see enhanced in Cisco Duo. We're very satisfied with it, and there haven't been any requests from the team for enhancements or future features. Everyone has been very happy with it.
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Duo
March 2026
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884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Duo for 5 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
As for the stability and reliability of the solution, we have never had any issues. We have never experienced any downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco Duo scales very with the growing needs of our company; it's very easy for us to upgrade or add licenses or do additional deployments for our new employees or new hires. If there are new devices coming in, it's very easy to implement.
How are customer service and support?
Regarding customer service and technical support for Cisco Duo, we don't have issues with that because we're quite skilled with it.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before choosing Cisco Duo, I didn't consider any other solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment of Cisco Duo is a very simple process for us.
What about the implementation team?
For our strategy for deployment of Cisco Duo, I let our IT work on it, but we were able to roll it out easily, probably in around two or three days, we were done with our deployment.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return on investment for us when using this platform is the reduced time for us to give support, plus the confidence that we have, knowing that all our authentications or logins are secured.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with the pricing, the setup costs, and the licensing of the solution is quick and easy. There isn't much of an issue there. Even when we resell this to our customers, they're satisfied with it. The pricing is acceptable to them.
What other advice do I have?
My experience with Duo's strong security authentication system has been very easy to use. The process to log into our systems using Cisco Duo is just a two-step process for us, making it much easier to access these systems.
I evaluate the benefit of having a complete passwordless environment in my company through the convenience and ease of use of these devices or Cisco Duo into our devices and applications. I have encountered no challenges with Cisco Duo so far. It gave our IT no issues or problems.
Regarding the feature called Advanced Identity Threat Detection and Response in Cisco Duo, we haven't used it yet. My impression of Cisco Identity and Intelligence capability to detect and respond to identity-based risks effectively is that Cisco has been at the forefront for security. They have lots of data information especially with the network, wherein most of our customers are using Cisco. They get all the intelligence from there.
I have not yet used Duo's Conversational AI Interface for admin tasks. Regarding whether there could be more in the AI area in Cisco Duo, not really at this point. In our use case, we're not yet ready for that.
I would rate Cisco Duo around 8 or 9 out of 10.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Last updated: Oct 21, 2025
Flag as inappropriateSoftware Engineer at ING
Strong authentication has met strict security needs and protects our organization from phishing
Pros and Cons
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
My main use case with Cisco Duo is for two-factor authentication. I need Cisco Duo authentication in my company because I have no different option to use a different solution not related to Cisco due to a limitation of a product like Cisco ISE that will not be able to use a different mechanism than Cisco Duo authenticator. I have to use Cisco Duo authentication to have two-factor authentication and fulfill security requirements in the company.
What is most valuable?
The feature I like the most about Cisco Duo is two-factor authentication. Cisco Duo helps me to defend against phishing attacks and provides security for my organization.
What needs improvement?
I really have no idea how Cisco Duo can be improved. I do not see any features that I would like to have that are not currently implemented.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Duo for about half a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not noticed any stability or reliability issues such as downtime or crashes.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think Cisco Duo will scale with the growing needs of the organization. It will be growing because every company and every regulation requires two-factor authentication, and we have to use it by one vendor or another. I think a solution such as that will be growing in the future.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I mainly used the Microsoft solution because we have merged a lot of products with Microsoft, and using DevOps, Azure, and other services is naturally how we use Microsoft authentication for many things. However, if we cannot do it in some scope, we have to find out how to do it in a specific section.
How was the initial setup?
With the deployment of Cisco Duo, I can do it with instructions. I am not an expert, but I am something between beginner and intermediate.
What was our ROI?
I cannot say that I have seen a return on investment from having Cisco Duo. I have experienced only a security benefit.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with the pricing and licensing and setup costs is that I think it is fair because licensing depends on the user that uses it and consumes those tokens.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I had to reduce a lot of Microsoft Azure Authenticator, but for some reason, it is not supported in some products of Cisco. We have to divide it so that Cisco Duo also covers those needs.
What other advice do I have?
I do not use Cisco Identity Intelligence. I have not noticed any increase in phishing attacks recently, but I work in a financial company where the security is critical. If something can happen one time per 25 years, it is very risky and has to be mitigated somehow. I have implemented Cisco Duo end-to-end phishing resistance with proximity verification for both. I did deploy Cisco Duo Directory to manage the user identity and am using it as a standalone identity provider. I do not think I discovered any new functionalities that I did not think of in the beginning. I did not really face any challenges doing that. I would rate this review a 10 out of 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Feb 11, 2026
Flag as inappropriateBuyer's Guide
Cisco Duo
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Duo. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Technical Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Strong authentication has simplified remote access and identity management for guests and staff
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "The pricing for Cisco Duo is kind of okay, but most of the time, your competitor is someone like Microsoft who gives it out for free with their offering, making it tough to argue with customers why they should spend additional dollars to also get Duo to improve their setup, but I think the pricing is fair."
What is our primary use case?
The main use case for Cisco Duo is MFA, which means multifactor authentication using the app and using keys like YubiKeys for various devices, such as RDP and remote access, but I would say remote access is the most prominent use case.
What is most valuable?
Right now, the feature I appreciate most about Cisco Duo is the Duo Directory, which is exciting because it became an IDP.
It is exciting that with Cisco Duo, I can offload guest users and contractors to Duo, so they do not have to exist in the customer environment from their AD, which is a nice way to accommodate guests and contractors needing access to applications.
I express how I appreciate Cisco Identity Intelligence to customers using the Duo Advantage license and always try to push them to at least take a look because it is essentially free with the Duo product.
I have multiple MFA vendors in our portfolio, and I try to position Cisco Duo because I think it is a really good product, but we also try to position other solutions depending on what the customer wants and where they think we can go together.
I deployed Duo Directory to manage user identities, and I think it is great because it is never a standalone provider; it always acts as an additional provider or broker functionality to be the front door and decide to go this way or go to the other IDP.
Once Cisco Duo is set up and running, it just keeps running.
What needs improvement?
I think Cisco Duo can be improved with more YubiKey support with all applications, especially for Windows login.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Duo for three to four years, since the beginning of 2020.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I did not notice any problem with stability and reliability; it was always available with not much downtime needed.
Sometimes if I have problems, I obviously have to create a TAC case to ask for help, but most of the time, I would say it is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think Cisco Duo is scalable for organizational growth, as we have some customers using it who then onboarded new users and even bought companies and onboarded them; it is highly flexible and I did not feel any slowdown anywhere.
How was the initial setup?
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.
What was our ROI?
I think Cisco Duo helped reduce the overall authentication-related cost for the company indirectly, as there is less work to do for the admins, because once it is set up, users understand the app, know how to use it, and rarely have problems, so if new devices need registering, they can do it themselves, depending on the setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing for Cisco Duo is kind of okay, but most of the time, your competitor is someone like Microsoft who gives it out for free with their offering, making it tough to argue with customers why they should spend additional dollars to also get Duo to improve their setup, but I think the pricing is fair.
What other advice do I have?
I am mostly part of the deployment and with the customers; I am not on the operational side of things, so I cannot really share about phishing attacks, but I mean, Cisco Duo allows phishing-resistant MFA, which is why I try to push my customers to use it, so I would argue, hopefully not.
That is why I try to push my customers to actually use proximity verification and use passkeys to strengthen security, which was mentioned in my previous answer.
I think there is a return on investment for the support team, where they can help validate customer requests and also through self-service portals, but I do not have any numbers regarding return on investment.
I would give Cisco Duo as a solution a rating of 10 because it is great.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Last updated: Feb 10, 2026
Flag as inappropriateCdo at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Security has improved and remote access works smoothly for all employees
Pros and Cons
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
Our main use cases for Cisco Duo are to support all employees that need to connect remotely, which is the primary case we're using, and we also use it for some technical parts, like connecting our Meraki to Cisco Duo for the IT.
What is most valuable?
What I appreciate most about Cisco Duo is how simple it is to use; you connect it to the email address and phone number, and you are able to push everything to the client. You can watch the log for a quick response to see if it's working or not, and check what went wrong in the log during the morning or something, and even push something to everyone if needed, so there are many valuable aspects which is very good.
The benefits of Cisco Duo for my company include how easy and simple it is to use; Cisco Duo is so easy to maintain and everything grows quickly with the number of users you add into it. You can even add new applications for verification, and it's policy in our company to have two-factor authentication, which we use in combination with that.
What needs improvement?
I cannot think of a specific feature that should be focused on for improvement, but perhaps addressing the trouble we have when people are changing phones would help. When a new phone is obtained, and Cisco Duo needs to be installed, it is easy to go into Cisco Duo and find the user to push verification, so perhaps doing this through Active Directory could make it easier, but that also raises questions about security.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Duo for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would describe the stability and reliability of Cisco Duo as excellent because we almost never have troubles with it; the issues we face are with other systems, not Cisco Duo.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
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.
How are customer service and support?
I would describe my experience with the customer service and technical support of Cisco Duo as excellent service, and I could totally recommend using Cisco Duo, so it's 100%.
I would rate the customer service and technical support of Cisco Duo a 10, for sure.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before choosing Cisco Duo, we considered Authenticator, which is similar, but I found Cisco Duo easier to implement because we have everything from Cisco, including firewalls and other essential technologies, making it the best choice for our environment.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment process for Cisco Duo is easygoing; I would say it's very easygoing.
I think it took about two days to implement Cisco Duo; as I mentioned, if you connect it to Active Directory, it's straightforward, especially the first time, as you pick everything up from Active Directory and only need to go into Cisco Duo later when people change phones or something similar, requiring verification to see how many users are pending or have not used it.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return on investment for me when using Cisco Duo is security; that's the main point.
Cisco Duo has helped my company reduce its overall authentication-related costs.
I cannot provide an approximate percentage of how much it has helped reduce because, as I mentioned, if people don't use it, they don't get access.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think the pricing of Cisco Duo is fair because we hired a number of users during COVID when we had many people working remotely, and the costs increased; if I remember correctly, Cisco offered something during COVID that gave us a lower price, so I find the pricing fair.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We thought about Authenticator, and our choice ultimately was Cisco Duo.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to other companies considering Cisco Duo is not to wait; start using it and implementing it. I would rate this review a 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Feb 10, 2026
Flag as inappropriateHead of Information Security at Bank of Palestine PLC
Strong authentication has secured remote agents and improves visibility into device risks
Pros and Cons
- "My advice to others looking into using Cisco Duo is that it is a great product, and I recommend it for everyone, specifically for those using Cisco Secure Client."
- "Cisco Duo can be improved because people have their own personal mobile devices."
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Cisco Duo is to integrate with Active Directory, and I am using it for two-factor authentication.
How has it helped my organization?
Cisco Duo has positively impacted my organization by securing our agents using the VPN.
Cisco Duo has helped secure our agents with the VPN, ensuring they must make approvals through mobile devices to verify the person's identity.
What is most valuable?
The best features Cisco Duo offers are device discovery, which identifies whether a device is iOS or Android.
The device discovery feature helps me in my day-to-day work by assisting with our monthly check since the Android and iOS discovery capabilities identify devices without updates for specific versions. When I export the users, I can see those device versions.
What needs improvement?
Cisco Duo can be improved because people have their own personal mobile devices.
I chose a rating of nine out of ten for Cisco Duo because we missed the Duo Desktop integration, as it is not working as well as the Duo Desktop agent.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Duo for more than five years.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Cisco Duo is that it is a great product, and I recommend it for everyone, specifically for those using Cisco Secure Client.
I am currently using Cisco Identity Intelligence, and it has helped improve my visibility into identity risk and strengthen my defenses against identity-based threats.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Feb 9, 2026
Flag as inappropriateHead of Network And Security at BLUEPRINT BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY
Strengthened secure remote access through reliable multi-factor authentication
Pros and Cons
- "The deployment and installation process for Cisco Duo is quite straightforward, which is an advantage."
- "With Cisco Duo, you have to do that, and customers complain about that process. At some point, you need to be technically savvy to understand how to use Cisco Duo."
What is our primary use case?
I use Cisco Duo for multi-factor authentication, remote access, and remote access authentication. I use Cisco Duo primarily for the multi-factor authenticator for remote access.
What is most valuable?
Cisco Duo is beneficial for me in terms of security.
What needs improvement?
I don't have much detail about the integration of comprehensive identity security into the Duo IAM solution, but my complaint is that it's not as seamless as a product like Zscaler for remote access. It's not as seamless.
It's difficult for me to summarize the room for improvement as I'm on the enterprise network side, not really security. My response will be based on user experience, not detailed technical aspects of the network with respect to security. I use ZIA and Zscaler for remote access connection, and Zscaler is seamless. I don't need to do anything; it does the identification of my system. As far as my system is issued by the company, I don't need to do any multi-layer authentication. It authenticates seamlessly. With Cisco Duo, you have to do that, and customers complain about that process. At some point, you need to be technically savvy to understand how to use Cisco Duo.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Duo for two or three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I've heard customers complain about latency in network usage.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco Duo is very scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate the technical support of the product as a nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The deployment and installation process for Cisco Duo is quite straightforward, which is an advantage.
What was our ROI?
I do not track any ROI or return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think Cisco Duo is quite affordable; it's not really so expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The major difference between Zscaler and Cisco is that for Zscaler, there's a component called ZIA that has a Zero Trust aspect. The identity comes with the system issued, so you don't need any multi-factor authenticator per se. Your identity is matched back end to know that you are the one, and you don't need to do another level of multi-factor authentication, which users complain of being cumbersome.
I use ZIA and Zscaler for remote access connection, and Zscaler is seamless.
What other advice do I have?
I am still working with Cisco products, and I still have the same portfolio. I don't work with the Cisco Secure Access product as I'm more focused on the enterprise infrastructure of routers, switches, SD-WAN, and data center. However, it's part of what I do, though not much of a call with respect to security, but it's something I'm interested in. I need to know what it does and if I can propose it to my clients.
I know Cisco Duo and have used it. It's not really a feature I handle regarding Cisco Duo's unified identity intelligence facilitating the understanding of user behavior. The security team handles that, and I don't have much visibility; it's purely transparent to me. However, I've heard them talk about it, and it really helps them to understand user behavior, mobility, and what they do on the network.
I would rate this review an overall eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Last updated: Nov 18, 2025
Flag as inappropriateIdentity and Access Management Principal at Mobily
Starts quickly with quick deployment but needs more support for older applications
Pros and Cons
- "Cisco Duo is quick to deploy and easy to start."
- "Cisco Duo is a modern product that does not support older applications, lacking backward compatibility. It should work on supporting legacy applications and legacy approaches."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Cisco Duo is quick to deploy and easy to start. A valuable feature of the solution is its hybrid structure, which involves proxy agents running on-premises while other services are on the cloud. This setup makes it scalable, as the deployment section is in the cloud, allowing the installation of agents according to needs.
What needs improvement?
Cisco Duo is a modern product that does not support older applications, lacking backward compatibility. It should work on supporting legacy applications and legacy approaches.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have experience working with Cisco Duo for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I find Cisco Duo to be quite stable. I would rate its stability around eight to ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I believe Cisco Duo is very scalable because it is cloud-based. It allows for the installation of multiple agents as needed, making it highly scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I find Cisco's technical support to be good but not excellent. I would rate it at eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Deploying Cisco Duo takes a few hours. The deployment section is cloud-based. After installing the agent and connecting, it can be operational within a few hours.
What was our ROI?
I think Cisco Duo offers a good return on investment for startups, newer organizations, or those utilizing cloud-based applications. However, for very large organizations with numerous use cases or older applications, the ROI may be less favorable due to its lack of customization.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I find the pricing of Cisco Duo to be reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
Cisco Duo is not very customizable but is suitable for newer or smaller organizations. For older or larger organizations, the ROI might be less due to the lack of customization. Overall, I would rate the solution seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Implementer
System Administrator at La Maestra
Ensures secure access for remote users with strong authentication
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is pretty secure."
- "The feature I like the most about Cisco Duo is that it allows us to authenticate users before they can connect to our network from outside of our company."
- "My experience with Cisco Duo's strong security authentication system is that sometimes there are difficulties, and sometimes users just won't be able to log in. We have to reset their password so they can use Duo."
- "My experience with Cisco Duo's strong security authentication system is that sometimes there are difficulties, and sometimes users just won't be able to log in. We have to reset their password so they can use Duo."
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Cisco Duo is to handle remote users.
How has it helped my organization?
As a healthcare association, Cisco Duo helps keep our patients' data secure since we can authenticate the users who are supposed to be accessing our network.
What is most valuable?
The feature I like the most about Cisco Duo is that it allows us to authenticate users before they can connect to our network from outside of our company.
The solution is pretty secure.
What needs improvement?
My experience with Cisco Duo's strong security authentication system is that sometimes there are difficulties, and sometimes users just won't be able to log in. We have to reset their password so they can use Duo.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Duo for a year and a half.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I assess the stability and reliability of Cisco Duo as very reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution scales very well with the growing aspects of our organization.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has been very helpful.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did not use any other solution before using Duo.
How was the initial setup?
I wasn't part of the initial setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't handle the licensing aspect of the solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not consider any other solutions before selecting Cisco Duo.
What other advice do I have?
We did not purchase Dueo on AWS Marketplace.
My advice for other organizations considering Cisco Duo is to maintain the security and integrity of your network by considering using two-factor authentication for all users who have access to it.
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Cisco Duo overall as a ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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