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Cisco Duo vs Symantec VIP Access Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
Ranking in Access Management
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (4th), ZTNA as a Service (3rd), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (1st)
Symantec VIP Access Manager
Ranking in Authentication Systems
12th
Ranking in Access Management
17th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 4.3%, down from 9.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec VIP Access Manager is 2.2%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Duo4.3%
Symantec VIP Access Manager2.2%
Other93.5%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Charles Slaustas - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Berk Onur - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Consultant at Cyberwise
With its mobile application, this tool offers a convenient and user-friendly experience to its users
To improve the tool, I think that the solution should consider integrations with other cybersecurity and IT technologies, such as Privileged Access Management and Site Integration. Additionally, the implementation of second-factor authentication via Symantec VIP Access Manager, CyberArk, and Delinea, among other technologies, could be best for the product. While the existing technology is okay, improving the integration capabilities for Symantec VIP Access Manager would benefit the product. I would like to see the solution meet the integration needs at our company. While many cybersecurity solutions can function independently, they often lack integration with our systems due to missed integration points. Improving the solution's integration feature would be beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The biggest return on investment for me when using Cisco Duo is gaining time, as I don't have to look at ten different MFA apps, and I know it will work."
"The experience of deploying Cisco Duo is great; it is fast and not too complex in my opinion, as you can integrate basically anything into Duo, so I would say the experience is overall very great as an administrator."
"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."
"From the front end, it's very fast and it hasn't missed a beat, so to say."
"Cisco Duo has benefited our company overall by giving us the ability to have multi-factor authentication."
"I appreciate the features that Cisco Duo offers."
"It has definitely decreased our security risk."
"Compared to Cisco, the general support I experience is fantastic; I have no complaints about it."
"Integration with Citrix Access Gateway, Microsoft Office 365 and Single Sign-On (through Symantec Validation and ID Protection Access Manager) has increased the productivity of the employees for accessing resources."
"The two-factor authentication is most definitely valuable and moves us closer to being able to check off those important boxes for compliance."
"Cloud-based service and management."
"It is easy to use."
"The tool has been very stable, in my experience. Also, I haven't faced any issues or problems with integration or connectivity."
"After the initial integration, the overall support calls dropped, and customer satisfaction for VPN increased."
"If you're looking for a fairly lightweight client that works very well for remote access purposes, I think Symantec is definitely a good product."
"The ease of integrating into an existing authentication system."
 

Cons

"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."
"Cisco Duo could be improved by building the agent with the many agents we already use, such as Cisco AMP and Cisco Secure Client, which would simplify our environment by eliminating the need for a third agent for secure applications."
"One area that might be improved is that setting up SMS texting is not as easy as using the app, even though it does support it."
"I rate it a nine because there is still a specific feature regarding Cisco Duo Desktop that must be enabled and optimized better than the current situation."
"I evaluate the stability and reliability of the solution as somewhat tricky. Cisco Duo Access Gateway is mostly VM-based, and while I'm not sure whether there is an on-premises hardware-based solution, having this VM-based solution can be buggy."
"There could be improvements made to the dashboards and more integration with the rest of the Cisco ecosystem."
"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, which I do not feel justifies the double price of that upper tier version."
"There might be a little slowness, but that could be my connection."
"In the next release, I would like the ability to work offline with remote access."
"Geofencing needs improvement."
"Every time that I have a new phone or computer, it takes a little longer to deploy it."
"It is challenging to use when installing a new version."
"There are some shortcomings on the reporting side, such as how many connections you can get per month."
"Technical support is one of the worst problems."
"At times, the relay server could not contact Symantec; it would fail open and allow access without a passcode."
"I would like to see the solution meet the integration needs at our company...Improving the solution's integration feature would be beneficial."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"I haven't seen any information on the pricing in four years, so I can't comment on that."
"I haven't seen it in a while, but it's at par with everything else licensing-wise."
"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."
"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."
"Price-wise, the solution has been very, very reasonable...Licensing is the last thing I think about Duo Security because it's so easy, and I had no problems with it."
"Cisco has the most expensive products because market leaders tend to charge a lot."
"Licensing and pricing seems very fair."
"I can say that the solution is worth the money."
"There is a one-time setup fee plus the licenses are provided as per the number of users. For SMS and voice calls, the costs are separate."
"There are additional costs for maintenance."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise58
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Cisco Duo shows that it is a cost above our Entra costs, which we are always reviewing. The benefits outweigh the cost in terms of its ...
What needs improvement with Duo Security?
I believe Cisco Duo needs to be improved on the delay process because there is a delay when we send a Duo Push or when we are signing into any applications. We can work on making it faster and spee...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

Duo Security
Symantec VIP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Maine Medical Center, Aria S.p.A
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Duo vs. Symantec VIP Access Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.