Cisco Duo vs Secret Double Octopus comparison

Cisco and Secret Double Octopus are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8, while Secret Double Octopus is ranked #33. Cisco holds a 5.0% mindshare in AS, compared to Secret Double Octopus’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Secret Double Octopus users who would recommend it.

Cisco Duo

Read 89 Cisco Duo reviews

7,041 Views
4,858 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Secret Double Octopus

Read 1 Secret Double Octopus review

530 Views
445 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Duo

Secret Double Octopus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Duo and Secret Double Octopus based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Authentication Systems.

To learn more, read our detailed Authentication Systems Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

January 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 881,733 peers since 2012

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)

Secret Double Octopus

Ranking in Authentication Systems

33rd

Average Rating

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Passwordless Authentication (9th)

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 Secret Double Octopus is 0.7%, up from 0.6% 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%
Secret Double Octopus	0.7%
Other	94.3%

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.

Read full review

Gaurav Gaurav

Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

A solution with good capabilities across a wide range of platforms that comes with a useful mobile application, but upgrades cause issues

We have noticed that patches and upgrades cause issues with how the application functions, due to the lack of stability of the product. However, we would recommend the solution because it has good capabilities, across a wide range of platforms, and the mobile application allows for use via Bluetooth, so users don't have to be connected to the internet. I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

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

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

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

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

"I like the set time that users can log into devices during the day and how many times they can do so. I also like the ability to restrict the regions from which the user can get in. Users outside of our country or even the town cannot log in."

"Multifactor authentication is the most valuable feature."

"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."

"Documentation is the most valuable feature, and if you ever have to reach out to them with a question, their support is also fantastic."

"The most appealing feature of Cisco Duo is the phone notification system that simply pops up on your phone."

More Cisco Duo pros

"This solution has a mobile application, which comes with multi-factor authentication; allowing for more flexible usage, without having to sacrifice system security."

Cons

"We have users who move throughout the world, and their levels of connectivity change. It can be a challenge, if someone is in Bahrain, to authenticate via Duo."

"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."

"Smart Licensing needs improvement. It's terrible. We have problems with it every year and we need to involve support to fix it."

"From an administrative standpoint, I'd love to see it be a little better at remembering a device and location so that I don't have to continually authenticate. That's pretty much it."

"Most of my colleagues from other companies use the Microsoft MFA solution because it's included in Office 365. Few people are considering Cisco Duo. That's the primary problem in our area. It's a solution mostly adopted by Cisco users."

"There was an issue related to integration with third parties."

"There is always room for improvement."

"The product could be more intuitive on the app."

More Cisco Duo cons

"The product suffers from frequent disturbances in service, that have impacted our end users when we deploy software updates."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

"I believe the licensing model is excellent as it offers flexibility to our customers, allowing them to adopt a crawl, walk, or run approach."

"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."

"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."

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

"Price wise, it's not cheap, but it's not expensive at all either. It's in the middle."

"It was very reasonable."

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

Information not available

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Authentication Systems solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

23%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Hospitality Company

12%

Educational Organization

10%

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

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 Secret Double Octopus

Compared 27% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs Secret Double Octopus

Compared 17% of the time

HYPR vs Secret Double Octopus

Compared 15% of the time

Thales Authenticators vs Secret Double Octopus

Compared 14% of the time

More Secret Double Octopus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

February 2026

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

January 2026

Download Secret Double Octopus product report

Also Known As

Duo Security

Octopus Authenticator

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

Secret Double Octopus (SDO) is the most widely deployed workforce Passwordless MFA solution today. It offers the most non-disruptive and comprehensive way for enterprises to gain the benefits of truly secure authentication.

SDO is the only passwordless MFA provider that enables organizations to achieve passwordless benefits incrementally, with options that range from extending existing MFA solutions to desktops to implementing full end-to-end passwordless MFA across all use cases end users encounter.

SDO is FIDO-certified and makes access frictionless and passwordless secure for desktop end users, administrative users, remote workers and legacy app users.

https://doubleoctopus.com/

Secret Double Octopus

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

United Technologies (UTC), American Family Association, ASL Airlines France, BNP Paribas, A Fortune 50 Bank, Bingham County Idaho, Britannia Financial Services, Carolina Behavioral Health Alliance LLC, European Commission, County of Midland Michigan, JRM Construction Management, Greer Commission of Public Works, Poste Italiane, Kennedy Wilson Europe, Key Mechanical, Marker Therapeutics Inc, Mediawan, Ministero Dell'interno, FairPrice, NTUC Health, Mercatus, TBC, Techni-Photo, Tinsa Group, Yates Law, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Z-Medica Corporation, A Member of the 5 largest US law firms.

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

January 2026

Download Free Report

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Authentication Systems. Updated: January 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our list of best Authentication Systems vendors.

We monitor all Authentication Systems reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.