Cisco Duo vs One Identity Defender comparison

Cisco and One Identity are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8, while One Identity is ranked #29. Cisco holds a 5.3% mindshare in AS, compared to One Identity’s 1.4% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of One Identity users who would recommend it.

Cisco Duo

Read 86 Cisco Duo reviews

6,543 Views
4,711 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

One Identity Defender

Read 3 One Identity Defender reviews

516 Views
501 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

One Identity Defender

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Cisco Duo and One Identity Defender are prominent security solutions competing in authentication and access management. Based on user feedback, Cisco Duo has the upper hand in ease of use and quick deployment, while One Identity Defender is notable for its robust and customizable features.

What features are offered by Cisco Duo in comparison to One Identity Defender?

Cisco Duo offers straightforward two-factor authentication setup, seamless integration with existing systems, and user-friendly interfaces. One Identity Defender provides extensive security protocols, customizable policies, and support for various authentication methods.

What areas of improvement can be found in Cisco Duo in comparison to One Identity Defender?

Cisco Duo could benefit from enhanced reporting, better backup options, and expanded feature sets. One Identity Defender needs a more intuitive setup process, improved technical documentation, and a streamlined user experience.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of Cisco Duo in comparison to One Identity Defender?

Cisco Duo is noted for its smooth and quick deployment process supported by responsive customer service. One Identity Defender features a more involved setup but benefits from detailed support channels, requiring a deeper initial investment of time.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with Cisco Duo in comparison to One Identity Defender?

Cisco Duo is highlighted for its competitive pricing and favorable ROI due to its user-friendly nature and minimal overhead costs. One Identity Defender, while perceived as costlier, is justified by users for its advanced features and long-term security benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Duo vs. One Identity Defender Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. One Identity Defender

December 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

Cisco Duo

Ranking in Authentication Systems

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (3rd), Access Management (4th), ZTNA as a Service (3rd), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st)

One Identity Defender

Ranking in Authentication Systems

29th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 5.3%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of One Identity Defender is 1.4%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Duo	5.3%
One Identity Defender	1.4%
Other	93.3%

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.

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Maksym Tkachenko

Sales Engineer at Bakotech

Good compatibility, responsive support, and a nice interface

The solution works very well. The initial setup is pretty easy. It is stable and pretty reliable in general. We find that the product scales very well. Technical support is responsive. The interface is good. It is compatible with other products. It has everything we need right now. The login…

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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 feature of Cisco Duo that I prefer the most is the policies, being able to control what we need to within the policies."

"I lead an IT organization that has a significant amount of technical debt, and we're not in a zero-trust architecture yet. I'm pushing in that direction. Duo helps me considerably with my identity in an environment where I don't have zero trust. It's helping me bridge the gap until I can build a zero trust architecture."

"The anti-phishing feature is the most valuable."

"The solution is pretty secure."

"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."

"I appreciate the simple login feature of Cisco Duo; being able to log into your actual page and then having all your apps there is convenient."

"What I most appreciate about Cisco Duo is the ease of use."

"My impression of Cisco's identity intelligence capability to detect and respond to identity-based risks effectively is that it's a great product."

More Cisco Duo pros

"One Identity Defender has good network protection."

"We find that the product scales very well."

"It's very fast, and it's easy to use because it's integrated with Active Directory."

Cons

"I would like to see Duo Security increase the time that the users have to log into the devices. The maximum time interval is 50 minutes at the moment, and I would like it to be 60 minutes. When you try to log into a device and have to authenticate yourself, sometimes it's not very pleasant. It's not the best thing particularly if you have to do this every 50 minutes, which is the maximum time that Duo gives. This makes it difficult to use and does not save time."

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

"General announcements when new features come out with Cisco Duo should be broadcasted to customers who are using it, which might bring more accessibility to their documents so users can be more in tune with updates."

"Often, people do not receive expiration messages, and sometimes, for security reasons, accounts get disabled without notifying the end user, so they mistakenly think something has gone wrong when it really just needs to be re-enabled on the external system."

"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."

"Technical support could be improved. I don't think all support should have to go through an agreement."

"Conversational AI in Cisco Duo is limited in its current application."

"I wouldn't mind seeing some options for remembering a device for a short period of time or a specific login, particularly for administrative engineering staff, as we may be logging in to four or five different services."

More Cisco Duo cons

"We have some clients that are wanting to protect their Apache web servers with One Identity Defender but all the research I have done says cannot be done. It can only be oriented to an IIS server. One Identity Defender should have more integration with more types of web servers."

"Maybe it could provide support for more web applications. It seems more focused on IIS web applications."

"The login capabilities could be better."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Cisco's licensing is always a bit complicated to understand, but the price is fair. It could be more expensive than others, but the way they integrate everything, it has a fair price."

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

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

"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."

"Duo Security is free."

"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."

"Our licensing fee is currently on an annual basis."

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	40

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...

See all answers

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

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing reveals that one of the most powerful features is the licensing model and the price. According to the pricing, it is really fantastic to get th...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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Comparisons

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Cisco Duo

Compared 8% of the time

Fortinet FortiToken vs Cisco Duo

Compared 6% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs Cisco Duo

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco Duo

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

Microsoft Entra ID vs One Identity Defender

Compared 34% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs One Identity Defender

Compared 22% of the time

Starling Two-Factor Authentication vs One Identity Defender

Compared 13% of the time

Imprivata Confirm ID vs One Identity Defender

Compared 10% of the time

More One Identity Defender Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

January 2026

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

January 2026

Download One Identity Defender product report

Also Known As

Duo Security

No data available

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

Defender enhances security by requiring two-factor authentication to gain access to your network resources. Defender uses your current identity store within Microsoft Active Directory (AD) to enable two-factor authentication.

One Identity

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Bakersfield Police Department, Village of Westmont, Illinois

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. One Identity Defender

December 2025

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