Cisco Duo vs NetFoundry Platform comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Cisco and NetFoundry are both solutions in the ZTNA as a Service category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.9, while NetFoundry is ranked #23. Cisco holds a 2.5% mindshare in ZaaS, compared to NetFoundry’s 2.1% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetFoundry users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Cisco Duo and NetFoundry Platform are both key players in network security and application connectivity. Cisco Duo is noted for its ease of use and strong customer support, whereas NetFoundry is favored for its superior security features.

Features: Cisco Duo offers comprehensive multi-factor authentication, ensuring efficient access security. It is also known for its easy integration capabilities and user-friendly interface. NetFoundry delivers application segmentation and adopts a zero-trust network architecture. It provides advanced network access control and scalability options across distributed environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Duo offers straightforward deployment backed by exceptional customer service, facilitating a quick setup. NetFoundry, while involving a more complex initial setup, benefits from responsive customer service and allows for flexible network customization.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Duo has a transparent and competitive pricing structure, offering a faster ROI. NetFoundry, although having higher initial costs, justifies this with its advanced security features and long-term adaptability, making it a suitable choice for those prioritizing top-tier security.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Duo vs. NetFoundry Platform Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. NetFoundry Platform

September 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

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the ZTNA as a Service category, the mindshare of iboss is 3.4%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Duo is 2.5%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetFoundry Platform is 2.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

ZTNA as a Service Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Duo	2.5%
iboss	3.4%
NetFoundry Platform	2.1%
Other	92.0%

ZTNA as a Service

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula

Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.

Read full review

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.

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Sureshot

Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Easy to set up, stable, and helpful for integrating the systems that require a fast and reliable connection

They can provide hardware for specific use cases because some of the NetFoundry solutions don't have the hardware. Currently, they're more into software, but some of the clients want a single brand instead of having multiple vendors. So, if they can offer hardware as well, it would be good. If they have a firewall capability, that would be good. Currently, because they don't have a firewall, we are required to put another layer of control on top of their solution. A built-in firewall would be quite good. Their technical support can be improved. There should be a better handover of a case from one support person to another.

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

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

"I would say iboss is a very good product; its scalability is very good, and it's seamless for the user."

"Its initial setup was straightforward."

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."

"Granular setup, which was able to set different levels of filters using the OUs in the AD."

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"The main advantage of iboss is its cloud-based security centralized policy management, which helps organizations protect users working from different locations, secure access to cloud applications, and reduce security risks."

"The iboss system is highly reliable. The false positive rates are small compared to some other systems we've experienced through other partner agencies who use competing solutions."

More iboss pros

"Cisco is the perfect product for our current size, and I don't think we'll have problems with scalability as we grow."

"Compared to Cisco, the general support I experience is fantastic; I have no complaints about it."

"Duo Security just adds another layer; it's a great addition to the security of any network infrastructure."

"The authentication process is very smooth and secure."

"Looking back at my initial investment in Cisco Duo versus the total value it has delivered over time, I see that it has paid more than what we invested, so we are getting a good return and a good service with improved security."

"Duo features benefit my company by making logins more secure and simpler. Everything is in one box, so we don't have multiple servers trying to do the same thing."

"The ease of deploying Cisco Duo Security and onboarding has greatly benefited our customers."

"The deployment and installation process for Cisco Duo is quite straightforward, which is an advantage."

More Cisco Duo pros

"It is quite stable; we don't have a problem, and in terms of reliability, we haven't encountered or heard of any issues from our customers."

"The price is very reasonable compared to others and the cloud service is free."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is in the cloud."

"The Network as a Service that they offer is most valuable."

Cons

"The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices; it is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents, and that is where in 2025 we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform."

"Their on-premise hardware's network interface is capped at one gigabit, which is sort of a problem. If you stand a filter up where all traffic flows through that, according to them, in order to go above a gigabit, you have to have multiple devices, which in today's IT seems a little bit silly. They could easily put in an SFP port into their device that could accommodate 10 gigs or at least offer a box."

"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."

"Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device and filtering did not always work correctly."

"SSL decryption: We had issues with learners using apps instead of using web browsers. This type of encryption is tough for any appliance in a BYOD environment."

"For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil."

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."

"It is stable, but due to growth, it can sometimes be less stable than wanted."

More iboss cons

"I think Cisco Duo can be improved. I found the onboarding was very difficult, even for engineers who have been using similar solutions before."

"The only time I really had some negative feedback for them was about the UI of their mobile app, but they improved it in the last version. It is good on the functionality side, but their pricing model is a little bit weird. Currently, there is no price advantage in signing up for yearly contracts. If you are on a monthly term or a yearly contract, you basically pay the same price, and that is very unusual. Normally, there is a discount when someone signs up for the 12-month system."

"The customer service is okay. However, the response time could be faster."

"Cisco Duo is a really good product and I am very happy with it, but sometimes we have to authenticate multiple times, which may be part of our administration."

"Cisco Duo did not help reduce the cost of the overall authentication method that we have in our company; instead, it increased, obviously."

"Removing the need for a password would be a positive change as well as the ability to cover all the different enterprise applications. They don't have coverage for everything."

"There are limitations because Cisco Duo does not support Hotmail accounts, which many people use to log in to their systems."

"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."

More Cisco Duo cons

"The solution could provide internet access control."

"If they have a firewall capability, that would be good. Currently, because they don't have a firewall, we are required to put another layer of control on top of their solution. A built-in firewall would be quite good."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"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."

"Cisco has the most expensive products because market leaders tend to charge a lot."

"The licensing is very good because it does not cost a lot of money. It's affordable for all-sized customers, including enterprises. There is an additional cost for premium support."

"Overall, the pricing is fair. Customers can wrap it into their Enterprise Agreement, making it easier for them to solve their issues."

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

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

"I am not aware of the pricing. There are two departments, and I don't have any information about them."

"The product’s pricing is reasonable."

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

"I don't have the cost, but in terms of its management viability, it is acceptable for most of our clients. It seems quite fair."

"The price is very reasonable compared to others and the cloud service is free."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

17%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	15

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	64
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	82

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

iboss could be improved by making the dashboard more user-friendly, providing more detailed real-time alerts, and imp...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iboss?

iboss is primarily used for cloud security, helping to protect users when they access websites and cloud applications...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

The pricing and licensing for iboss were reasonable for the security features. The setup costs were manageable, thoug...

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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 Du...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?

Regarding the pricing, what actually happened was that we got the product purchased through our HQ, so the costing as...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Duo Security?

I do not have a straight answer for how Cisco Duo can be improved at this time. With the implementation that we are g...

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

October 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

October 2026

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

ZTNA as a Service

October 2026

Download NetFoundry Platform product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

Duo Security

NetFoundry Edge Router

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

iboss

Demo not available

Cisco

NetFoundry

Overview

iboss is the Zero Trust SASE platform that gives organizations complete visibility and governance over their AI, data, and applications through one unified platform, one console, one policy engine, and one data lake.

Your endpoints may already stop malware. Your data and application activity can still be invisible. iboss decrypts and understands every connection, then turns that signal into answers security leaders can act on.

The platform leads with three capabilities in this order: AI Security and Visibility, Data Security and Visibility, and App Visibility and Control. Zero Trust Network Access, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN sit underneath as the access fabric that carries those three. Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

- AI Security and Visibility: conversation capture, shadow-AI discovery, AI DLP, and agent governance across Claude, Co-Work, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok, and emerging services.

- Data Security and Visibility: full SSL/TLS decryption, deep content inspection, MIP label compliance, and one-click compliance reporting.

- App Visibility and Control: signatureless CASB, dual risk scoring, in-app controls, and SSPM for major SaaS.

- Containerized Zero Trust SASE: dedicated containers, isolated SSL keys, one console, one policy engine, one data lake.

- Access fabric: ZTNA, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN under the same platform.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

- Complete visibility over AI, data, and applications from one platform instead of separate point tools.

- Encrypted traffic is inspected by default so data decisions use content and context together.

- Shadow SaaS and new web tools appear as they are used, with enforceable controls in one console.

- Native data sovereignty through dedicated containers, in-region inspection, and per-customer SSL key custody.

- Scale proven in published materials: 10M+ users, 100+ countries, 150B+ transactions, 2.5B+ threats blocked.

Economic buyers are CISOs, CIOs, and VPs of Security. Champions include security architects, network and infrastructure leaders, SecOps, and GRC. Primary segments: enterprise and business, financial services, government (including FedRAMP Gov Cloud), healthcare, manufacturing, legal and professional services, retail and hospitality, and MSP/MSSP partners. Education, including K-12, is one vertical among these.

iboss

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

NetFoundry is the leader in Zero Trust Workload Connectivity, trusted to securely connect enterprise’s most critical workloads, within and across any environment.

As the only identity-first fabric for every AI, API, site, container, and machine interaction, NetFoundry customers deploy their workloads with greater speed, security and scalability.

Its Identity-First Reachability™ eliminates the reachable attack surface that attackers exploit and defenders struggle to secure, by removing open inbound ports, VPNs and firewall rule changes. By design, it enables security to adapt to the environment, not force the environment to adapt to security, so teams can secure one workload at a time without the high cost of firewall management or redesigning the network.

Customers use NetFoundry to:

Govern AI agent, model and tool access to cut risks, costs, and time to deploy.
Stop lateral movement through microsegmentation
Protect difficult to patch assets and crown jewel systems with a compensating control
Securely connect any system (IT/OT/IoT) or API wherever it operates

Founded by the inventors and maintainers of OpenZiti, the world’s most widely used open source Zero Trust platform, NetFoundry secures billions of sessions for critical infrastructure on three continents and supports Fortune 10 companies across regulated industries including healthcare, financial services, and energy.

NetFoundry

Sample Customers

Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

Information Not Available

Ominimo, Rhapsody, TZ, LVT, CERM, Digibee

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. NetFoundry Platform

September 2026

Free Report: Cisco Duo vs. NetFoundry Platform

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