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Cisco Duo vs Delinea Authentication Service comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
7.1
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (3rd), Access Management (4th), ZTNA as a Service (4th), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st)
Delinea Authentication Service
Ranking in Authentication Systems
17th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Active Directory Bridge (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 5.0%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Delinea Authentication Service is 0.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Duo5.0%
Delinea Authentication Service0.5%
Other94.5%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Charles Slaustas - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Francesco Panacea - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at Deloitte Risk Advisory
Offers a reliable platform for securing administrative access and reduces cloud maintenance overhead
I have not found many drawbacks in Delinea Authentication Service, but perhaps they could focus more on the development of the platform for all of the products. I mean, rather than having Secret Server and Privilege Manager as silos, they could have a unique platform. In future updates of this solution, I would like to see features that other PAM vendors are adding, such as machine identities, AI, agentic security, and perhaps certificate security for Delinea. Delinea integrates with third-party tools by having some out-of-the-box connectors, but not for all. Adding more connectors could be an evolution for the next product. Responsiveness could be another area of improvement. They are pretty much slow to respond or perhaps I don't get the answers I want.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"All features of the solution are effective, particularly those involved in identifying vulnerabilities and updates."
"The most valuable feature of Duo Security is the ability for the user to easily approve access. The application prompts the user, and they can see the location and the IP address. This makes it easy for the user to approve it and go through the process of logging in to the VPN."
"What I appreciate the most is that you can push a notification with your phone and log in to your computer."
"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 most appealing feature of Cisco Duo is the phone notification system that simply pops up on your phone."
"The most valuable feature is the ability for users to connect securely to the office using the VPN."
"The multi-factor authentication process and the geo-locking features are great."
"Multifactor authentication is the most valuable feature."
"The best feature of Delinea Authentication Service, in my opinion, is that Delinea is a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for PAM solutions, particularly with Secret Server, which we used, and also the Privilege Manager."
 

Cons

"They could just continue to add more integrations."
"The technical engineers in the first line of support should improve their knowledge."
"It took me a while to figure it out. I went to every user and forced them to set it up. I might have done it the long way."
"I'm unsure how to disable the ping notification sound on my phone when using Cisco Duo. I don't know how to silence it."
"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."
"Cisco Duo can be improved by exploring a way to make it a more seamless integration and by deploying an in-house server."
"I believe there are two new features. I am interested in adding auto-admin services and incorporating icons for easier navigation. This could contribute to a new business idea platform. I have seen the features, and they make things easier, resolving issues from before. The platform has been updated, and there's now another link in my platform for media access. When it comes to improvements, the UI can be more user-friendly, and there is room for easier navigation. Perhaps there could be enhancements in customization. I haven't faced issues in storage or backup, but I am open to improvements in customization functionality. It's not my environment, but I see possibilities for improvement in the deployment of funds. The addition of new features is appreciated, and for customization, it could provide more freedom for users."
"Duo has some issues that we're trying to work through. For example, if I install it on a WordPress site and another admin needs to log in, they can't because Duo hasn't been set up for them. It doesn't appear that I can add permissions on a user-by-user basis. It's not obvious."
"Responsiveness could be another area of improvement. They are pretty much slow to respond or perhaps I don't get the answers I want."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Duo Security is free."
"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."
"I believe the licensing model is excellent as it offers flexibility to our customers, allowing them to adopt a crawl, walk, or run approach."
"I am not aware of the pricing. There are two departments, and I don't have any information about them."
"Cisco has the most expensive products because market leaders tend to charge a lot."
"The pricing is pretty competitive. It's pretty cheap. Anybody can adopt it."
"With regard to pricing, for a small business buying a one off, it's pretty expensive. If it's an enterprise that has thousands of employees, however, it's really nothing to protect your data because if your network goes down or it's breached, you're losing millions of dollars every minute. When it comes to a large enterprise, it's priced where it should be because you're talking business to business. You're not talking business to consumer."
"Price-wise, the solution has been very, very reasonable...Licensing is the last thing I think about Duo Security because it's so easy, and I had no problems with it."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise40
No data available
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?
The pricing of Cisco Duo is quite reasonable compared to other products.
What needs improvement with Duo Security?
One downside of Cisco Duo is the expense, as there are clients that can afford only the basic package, which does not include Geo-fencing, leaving them unable to pay for the more expensive level, w...
What needs improvement with Delinea Authentication Service?
I have not found many drawbacks in Delinea Authentication Service, but perhaps they could focus more on the development of the platform for all of the products. I mean, rather than having Secret Se...
What is your primary use case for Delinea Authentication Service?
I use the product to secure the system administrators' access to the crown jewels of the customer.
 

Also Known As

Duo Security
Centrify Authentication Service
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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