Cisco Duo vs Okta Workforce Identity comparison

Cisco and Okta are both solutions in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.5, while Okta is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3. Additionally, 95% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Okta users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

We compared Okta Workforce Identity and Duo Security across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:

Ease of Deployment: Users had mixed experiences with Okta Workforce Identity's setup, with some finding it straightforward while others found it more complex and needed assistance. Deployment time ranged from a few days to a couple of months. In contrast, Duo Security's setup was described as straightforward, easy, and quick. Deployment time varied from a few hours to weeks or months.

Features: Okta Workforce Identity is highly regarded for its user-friendly interface, ability to handle large-scale operations, and seamless integration with various systems. In contrast, Duo Security is commended for its robust two-factor authentication, straightforwardness, and compatibility with different software platforms.

Room for Improvement: Okta Workforce Identity could improve in password vaulting management, licensing and features clarity, user interface intuitiveness, and integration with major cloud providers. Meanwhile, Duo Security could enhance compatibility with other vendors, user management system intuitiveness, and offer password-free login options.

Pricing: Okta Workforce Identity is often seen as having a high setup cost, which some users feel is not worth the benefits it offers. In contrast, Duo Security provides affordable and flexible licensing choices, making it accessible to many customers.

ROI: Okta Workforce Identity provides significant benefits in terms of time savings and simplified tasks, resulting in a high return on investment. On the other hand, Duo Security offers advantages such as enhanced employee retention, heightened security, and cost savings achieved through consolidation.

Service and Support: The feedback for Okta Workforce Identity's customer service is varied, with some users finding it positive and helpful, while others have described it as strange and unpleasant. In contrast, Duo Security's customer service is highly acclaimed, with users valuing their quick and supportive assistance.

Comparison Results: Okta Workforce Identity and Duo Security both offer valuable features for securing access to applications and networks. Okta Workforce Identity is praised for its ease of use, straightforwardness, and integration capabilities. However, it has room for improvement in areas such as password vaulting management and customer support. On the other hand, Duo Security is commended for its two-factor authentication and user-friendly interface. It could benefit from enhancements in areas such as compatibility with other vendors and user-specific permissions. Pricing for both products is considered fair, but Okta Workforce Identity is seen as expensive by some.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Duo vs. Okta Workforce Identity Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Okta Workforce Identity

August 2025

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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

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford

Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water

It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless

One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured

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Thomas Botts

Senior Network Engineer at a educational organization with 1-10 employees

Managing security policies effectively with seamless authentication

The feature of Cisco Duo that I prefer the most is the policies, being able to control what we need to within the policies. You can get pretty granular. There isn't a lot of training that goes on in school districts. Email is an easy way where many people give out their credentials, so the level of protection is something that we definitely need in a school district. Cisco Duo's strong security authentication system has been easy when logging in, although the teachers don't appreciate it as much. We have it configured so users essentially just hit accept. If it sees any sort of built-in risk, then it steps up authentication. It's pretty easy. I appreciate it. I've encountered advantages with Cisco Duo in that it has stopped significant pushback from teachers. It has prevented credential sharing and unauthorized access. We've seen a huge decrease since we've rolled it out across the entire district.

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Tor Nordhagen

Executive Director at Semaphore

Extremely easy to work with, simple to set up, and reasonably priced

The drawback of this solution is that in our shops, many staff members sometimes have to be borrowed from one shop to another and the solution does not really support having multiple roles. The user experience we would like to have when a person works in shop A which pays their salary is that they should have access to pretty much everything. Maybe you have somebody who is a manager in that shop A, he should be able to order new wear, he should be able to change the pricing, he should be able to empty the cash registry, and ship it to the bank. But when for instance, in COVID, people had to fill in for people in shops where a lot of people were sick, then they had to actually use user accounts of people that work in shop B. If you were employed in shop A, you could not work in shop B without borrowing somebody else's user ID and password. Which is really bad. We haven't been able to work around that and Okta Workforce Identity does not have a solution for it. We are now piloting their identity governance solution. Obviously, it's easy to give somebody access, give them an account, and give them roles, but it's hard to maintain that. For example, if you moved from, say working in a shop to working in a warehouse. But why do you still have all this shop access? The solution has until now not had anything to really support the process of taking away access. But now we are in a better release program of Okta's identity governance solution. Although it's very basic, the solution has started on a journey, but identity governance is something that Okta Workforce Identity really needs to improve. The ability or the options in the solution for changing the look and feel are not good enough because in our partner portal, essentially what they have is an ugly admin interface. The admin interface is good enough for us technical people because that's all we need. We work with the product and we're able to see the data but when it comes to presenting the service portal, Okta Workforce Identity does not have any capabilities really for making it look pretty. To add branding and different graphical user interface elements than Okta basic for essentially delegated admin for the business-to-business portal is horrifying because you're essentially using the tech admin. The only option we had and used, was to take the tech admin console and strip it. so that a vendor that has some goods that are sold in the shops, when they want to add a user on their side, say a driver or a packer on their side who should know how much they've packed in a truck to come to our warehouse, then the user interface that this vendor is using, these functional people will then have to use an extremely basic user interface.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The console is cloud-based, which is something I really appreciate."

"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."

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

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device. It operates on the network side and is not device-based. This feature was one of the main reasons why we stayed with them for so long."

"I would definitely recommend iboss for web filtering purposes to other organizations or individuals."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

"We chose iboss for both zero trust and proxy (SWG) because their SWG was superior."

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

More iboss pros

"The UI of Cisco Duo is easy to use, especially the web backend, and it's really intuitive and easy to set up."

"Duo Security provides a high level of certainty regarding the identity of the individual performing an action. Whether it's logging into a system, using VPN, or utilizing Autopay, establishing that trust is crucial. I can't imagine any security company, organization, or IT team that wouldn't prioritize having multifactor authentication enabled when accessing critical systems."

"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."

"My total rating for Cisco Duo is ten out of ten."

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

"It has continuously evolved by introducing new solutions and products to address emerging security threats in our industry, demonstrating its commitment to staying ahead of evolving security challenges."

"Since Duo Security provides a single place to log in for our SaaS applications, we don't have to manage user accounts and remember passwords for each specific application."

"Cisco Duo has benefited our company overall by giving us the ability to have multi-factor authentication."

More Cisco Duo pros

"The solution so far has been very stable."

"We face no challenges in integrating the product with our legacy systems."

"It's reliable and it does what it is advertised to do."

"The most useful features of Okta for my organization are identity and access management, single sign-on, and the flexibility for hybrid setups."

"The provisioning functionality has been the most valuable. This solution has good performance, fast integration and is very responsive."

"It is flexible and easy to install."

"The tool provides a single place of contact for managing users. We only need to manage users in Okta Workforce Identity, eliminating the need to duplicate efforts across different systems. For example, if a user needs to be decommissioned, we don't have to go through all the systems and cloud services; we delete the user in one place. This process is automated with our HR system for both organizations, simplifying user lifecycle management."

"It has a wide range of MFA options. I prefer "Okta Verify" out of them all."

More Okta Workforce Identity pros

Cons

"Its pricing could be better."

"The area I would like to see improvement in is the ability with in the reporter to navigate directly to the content the user is traversing. It is kind of there, but it's not perfect. Quite frequently, I receive links that lead me to pages with error messages."

"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."

"Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern."

"I am currently doing a PoC of the zero trust aspect of it. Compared to other similar solutions, it is hard to get around each feature. It takes a while to get used to it."

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc. It is easy to gain access if, for example, hackers obtain my username and password."

"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."

More iboss cons

"I would appreciate it if Duo Security could improve its integrations with Windows Hello."

"More automation and device insights would be helpful in achieving a seamless single pane of glass. Having the additional capability to streamline processes would also make things better."

"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."

"I'm not a big fan of relicensing products every year or two years, but that's the model at the moment. I prefer to go back to licensing perpetually or permanent licensing."

"I would appreciate seeing Cisco Duo improved with a tighter integration with Active Directory to secure not just Remote Desktop to a server, but all the remote levels of connection that you can make to a server."

"Cisco Duo could be improved if there were a way to make two-factor authentication quicker."

"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."

"There might be a little slowness, but that could be my connection."

More Cisco Duo cons

"The solution can be quite expensive."

"We have experienced some challenges in integrating this solution with Scope and Cognito."

"They should focus on improving them to provide top-notch team access management while still offering those typical features."

"This user integration with the Okta integration network could be simplified."

"Okta Workforce Identity could improve the way passwords are reset and how it interfaces with Microsoft."

"The pricing could be improved."

"Okta should have at least a local peering partner for countries that align with or comply with GDPR, so there are no compliance or audit questions."

"Okta could improve by making their learning materials more user-friendly."

More Okta Workforce Identity cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

"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."

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

"It falls in line with everything else."

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

"My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been good, with no issues. I am pleased that the prices remained stable after Cisco acquired the solution."

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

"From a reseller perspective, it's still challenging to explain the whole license strategy to a client, so we really have to be ahead of that for all the true forward conversations."

"I haven't seen any information on the pricing in four years, so I can't comment on that."

"I only need the solution for IT staff, which makes it relatively cheap. If I deployed it for the whole company, it would be costly, so it depends on the number of users. Duo Security is affordable compared to other products in the segment."

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

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is reasonable."

"The cost per user for this solution is really high and could be reduced."

"The price of Okta Workforce Identity is competitively priced. We pay annually for the use of the solution."

"The product is expensive compared to other vendors."

"Price-wise, Okta Workforce Identity is a cheap solution. The overall cost depends on the license since you can negotiate with Okta or any of Okta's partners only if you opt for many licenses."

"The solution's pricing model could be better for SMBs."

"The price of this product could be lower."

"The price of the solution is good."

More Okta Workforce Identity pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

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

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What is your primary use case for iboss?

Previously when I used iboss, we did the POC for iboss for ExxonMobil. Four or five people wanted to move from our ol...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern. There are cheaper alte...

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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 do you like most about Duo Security?

They are users who, as mentioned before, utilize RDPAP and MDPAP. It includes functionalities related to finance, spe...

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

My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Cisco Duo is honestly above my pay grade. I don't know a...

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What do you like most about Okta Workforce Identity?

Okta has introduced the Universal Directory. It has custom attribute capability and user permissions to read/write on...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Okta Workforce Identity?

Pricing for Okta is reasonably not that much, however, I don't have access to the commercial aspect.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Okta Workforce Identity?

Areas for improvement with Okta Workforce Identity would be in the governance place; for me, it is light. Okta is mos...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

August 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

August 2025

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Okta Workforce Identity

August 2025

Download Okta Workforce Identity product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

Duo Security

No data available

Overview

iboss offers a comprehensive security platform designed for diverse use cases such as web filtering, data loss protection, corporate proxy services, and URL filtering.

iboss integrates advanced features to address dynamic security needs, leveraging its strength in SASE, ZTNA, AI initiatives, and cloud integration, while ensuring seamless operations for remote work. It excels in historical forensics, malware protection, and flexible cloud deployments. Users benefit from comprehensive traffic scanning, robust malware detection, and PaaS capabilities that reduce hardware management. An intuitive admin console ensures efficient management with content filtering and low false positives. SSL decryption enhances security, while DLP protects data in AI conversations. Deployment is rapid and scalable, allowing effortless integration with emerging technologies.

What features does iboss offer?

Granular Web Filtering: Provides precise control over web content access.
Traffic Scanning: Monitors data through multiple ports for security breaches.
Malware Detection: Ensures superior protection against malware threats.
PaaS Capabilities: Eliminates need for hardware management.
SSL Decryption: Enhances data protection by decrypting secure connections.
DLP Capabilities: Safeguards data during AI interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts quickly to growing demands and emerging tech integration.
Rapid Deployment: Reduces time to implement security measures.
User-Friendly Admin Console: Facilitates efficient operations management.
Low False Positives: Increases accuracy of threat detection systems.

iboss finds significant application in sectors such as education, where web filtering for K-12 is crucial, and in corporate environments requiring robust proxy services and URL filtering for network security. Its adaptability is essential in scenarios demanding flexible, decentralized security frameworks, particularly for remote work setups.

iboss

Cisco Duo is a cloud-based identity security tool offering easy and wide-ranging access protection for users and devices worldwide. It assures identity-first security with clear visibility across multi-cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.

Cisco Duo provides robust multi-factor authentication and seamless integration capabilities with existing infrastructures. Appreciated for its stability and speed, it supports distributed workforces by securing VPN access, corporate networks, and cloud services. Duo’s comprehensive identity ecosystem supports easy deployment and management through a single-pane-of-glass management interface. It seamlessly merges with popular platforms like Active Directory and Office 365 across diverse hardware.

What are Cisco Duo’s Essential Features?

Multi-Factor Authentication: Offers secure access with options like push notifications and hardware tokens.
Seamless Integration: Easily fits with existing systems and third-party applications.
User-Friendly Management: Provides centralized control with a single-pane-of-glass interface.
Wide Compatibility: Supports broad applications and devices, enhancing security management.
Stable and Fast: Reliable speed and intuitive interaction for users across platforms.

What Benefits and ROI Can Cisco Duo Users Expect?

Enhanced Security: Increases protection with versatile MFA options for critical resources.
Ease of Use: Simplifies deployment and management with intuitive interfaces.
Scalability: Adapts to growing needs with broad compatibility and integration support.
Support for Distributed Workforces: Ensures secure remote access for teams anywhere.

Cisco Duo finds extensive applications across education, finance, retail, and government sectors by fortifying network and application access security. Organizations leverage it for its MFA capabilities, integrating with ERP systems, ensuring protected connectivity with VPN and cloud-based services, crucial in maintaining secure and efficient operations.

Cisco

Okta Workforce Identity is a comprehensive identity and access management (IAM) solution designed to enhance security and streamline user experiences for businesses of all sizes. As a cloud-based platform, it offers a suite of tools that simplify user authentication, authorization, and management across a variety of applications and services.

Core Features

Single Sign-On (SSO): Enables users to access multiple applications with a single set of credentials, enhancing convenience and reducing password fatigue.
Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Provides robust security by requiring additional verification factors, which can adapt based on the user's location, device, and behavior.
Lifecycle Management: Automates user account creation, updating, and deactivation, ensuring access rights are current and compliant with company policies.
Universal Directory: A centralized directory service that supports user and group management across various applications, simplifying administrative tasks.
API Access Management: Safeguards APIs by implementing policies that control how and when they can be accessed, which is crucial for protecting sensitive data.

PeerSpot users often praise Okta Workforce Identity for its ease of use and robust security features. IT professionals appreciate the streamlined integration with numerous applications and the flexibility in configuring access policies. Business executives value the enhanced security posture and the ability to enforce compliance across their digital assets.

For IT professionals, Okta Workforce Identity offers a scalable and efficient solution to manage user identities and access rights. The ability to automate routine tasks like user provisioning and deactivation significantly reduces administrative overhead, allowing IT teams to focus on more strategic initiatives. Furthermore, the platform's comprehensive reporting capabilities aid in monitoring and auditing access, which is critical for maintaining security and compliance.

Business executives will find that Okta Workforce Identity aligns with broader organizational goals of operational efficiency and risk management. Its intuitive user experience minimizes disruptions to workforce productivity, while advanced security features like adaptive MFA help mitigate the risk of data breaches. The platform's cloud-based nature ensures scalability and agility, enabling businesses to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and workforce dynamics.

Okta Workforce Identity stands out as a versatile and secure IAM solution, adept at meeting the complex needs of modern enterprises. Its combination of user-friendly features and robust security measures makes it a top choice for organizations aiming to streamline their identity management processes while bolstering their cybersecurity defenses.

Okta

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

Information Not Available

FedEx, Zoom, Takeda, Lululemon Athletica, GrunHub, jetBlue, McKensson, Bain & Company, Engie, Peloton, Sonos, T-Mobile, Hewlett Packard, MGM Resorts, Ally Financial, Priceline, Albertsons, Itercom, Classy, FICO, Kensho, Live Nation, Drata, Rotary, and others.

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. Okta Workforce Identity

August 2025

Free Report: Cisco Duo vs. Okta Workforce Identity

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Duo vs. Okta Workforce Identity and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.

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