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 5.0% mindshare in AS, compared to One Identity’s 1.5% 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 89 Cisco Duo reviews

7,041 Views
4,858 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

One Identity Defender

Read 3 One Identity Defender reviews

599 Views
581 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

One Identity Defender

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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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: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo vs. One Identity Defender

February 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

Cisco Duo

Ranking in Authentication Systems

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

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)

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 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 One Identity Defender is 1.5%, 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	5.0%
One Identity Defender	1.5%
Other	93.5%

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

"Cisco Duo scales with the growing needs of our organization by making it easy to acquire more licensing, especially with an enterprise agreement, which allows built-in growth and minimizes worries about licensing as we expand."

"Multifactor authentication is the most valuable feature."

"The push notifications and the integrations they offer are valuable. Their mobile app is very useful. It is very easy to use."

"Regarding the valuable features, I would say that Duo Security is easy to use, has speed, and is dependable."

"It was a simple way of providing two-factor authentication for remote access when we hit the COVID pandemic. It was very easy and quick to get it going."

"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."

"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."

"Cisco Duo is rock solid in terms of stability and reliability."

More Cisco Duo pros

"We find that the product scales very well."

"One Identity Defender has good network protection."

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

Cons

"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'm unsure how to disable the ping notification sound on my phone when using Cisco Duo. I don't know how to silence it."

"The product price needs improvement."

"Cisco Duo is stable, but occasionally there are emails about incidents that affect some services temporarily."

"There is another issue with removing the application from your computer. It is difficult to remove the application on Windows."

"When you come to the push in Duo Security, there are some integrations where you have to use the code instead of the push functionality."

"We were considering purchasing other products, like AMP for Endpoints, and it was not properly integrated with the firewall function. It might be better now with SecureX."

"Regarding the stability and reliability of the Cisco Duo solution, we have experienced some outages over the last few years that are significant because people can't log in."

More Cisco Duo cons

"The login capabilities could be better."

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

"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."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product’s pricing is reasonable."

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

"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."

"It's very simple. Its price is fair. We use the hardware tokens as well. You get what you pay for. In terms of licensing, Cisco has very complicated products, but Duo Security was surprisingly easy."

"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."

"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."

"The pricing was a lot more than what we were paying for our previous solution."

"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."

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

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	34
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...

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

The pricing of Cisco Duo is quite reasonable compared to other products.

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...

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Comparisons

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Cisco Duo

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiToken vs Cisco Duo

Compared 6% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs Cisco Duo

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco Duo

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Duo Competitors

Microsoft Entra ID vs One Identity Defender

Compared 30% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs One Identity Defender

Compared 18% of the time

Starling Two-Factor Authentication vs One Identity Defender

Compared 15% of the time

Imprivata Confirm ID vs One Identity Defender

Compared 12% 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

February 2026

Free Report: Cisco Duo vs. One Identity Defender

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