No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Ping Identity Platform vs Symantec Advanced Authentication comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Ping Identity Platform
Ranking in Authentication Systems
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (7th), Data Governance (18th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (9th), Access Management (7th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (3rd), Directory Servers (1st)
Symantec Advanced Authentic...
Ranking in Authentication Systems
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Ping Identity Platform is 2.9%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Authentication is 1.4%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Ping Identity Platform2.9%
Symantec Advanced Authentication1.4%
Other95.7%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

AmitRathod - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Analyst at Toll Holdings Limited
Single sign-on has simplified access while adaptive authentication protects complex user journeys
Regarding areas for improvement in Ping Identity Platform, there is not much. In terms of licensing and implementation costs, it has premium pricing, and it has a very complex implementation. It provides greater feasibility, but it takes a very long time in terms of complete building. There is a very limited number of legacy support, which can pose potential difficulties in integrating with certain older or legacy systems. Additionally, issue troubleshooting can be difficult at times. Sometimes issues can be difficult to diagnose and require extensive technical expertise. There is also a very steep learning curve for administrative purposes and potential difficulties with offline authentication scenarios.
Umair (Abu Mohaymin) Akhlaque - PeerSpot reviewer
Group CEO at Flexsolutions
Ensures robust security features and ease of deployment, although it may lack some of the more modern authentication options
There has been a need for aggressive development to modernize the product and align it with contemporary security requirements. While the rebranding has been a step forward, further enhancements are essential to meet the evolving demands of the market. It lacks features such as ActiveSync Exchange security, and it doesn't offer alternatives like password-less authentication via biometrics or patches. While Symantec mainly relies on traditional token-based or password-based methods, newer authentication methods are missing from its repertoire. Support services often lack promptness and depth of knowledge, leaving customers waiting for weeks to resolve issues. In the realm of multifactor authentication, swift resolution of problems is critical, as any slowdown or interruption can significantly impact operations. Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's most valuable features include its cloud-based capabilities for handling cloud applications and providing authentication and authorization through OIDC and SAML. It also supports integrations needed for both local and internal applications, including legacy applications requiring web server access."
"It is a scalable solution...It is a stable solution."
"Ping Identity Platform demonstrates strong stability, as it is not prone to bugs, with the development team consistently fixing issues, making it highly recommended by many clients."
"It is a very stable solution."
"Overall, I see PingFederate as a stable product and I do not see any bugs at the moment."
"It's convenient for users to log in through Ping using the Kerberos adapter because it doesn't require them to authenticate again."
"The solution is stable. We haven't experienced any bugs or glitches."
"It gets a mobility portal in place in conjunction with Office 365. It provides very good possibilities and it's much better than other technology that we have used before which was unstable and slower."
"It actually increases our revenue and the customer base."
"Ease of deployment: no need to keep up with physical devices for multi-factor authentication; no software to deploy on end-user computers requiring administrative rights."
"Being able to issue a soft token, but still having fairly strong security, is a big factor for us."
"Symantec Advanced Authentication can be useful for wherever you require a strong authentication."
"It allows us to assure our customers that we are protecting their data."
"It tells us exactly what we want in terms of authentication to various applications and provides protection for users who access them."
"One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it's a strong authentication solution that's able to integrate with applications."
 

Cons

"PingID should put a little more effort into making a pretty self-explanatory deck about their tech features and the services they offer."
"Currently, the main integration is SAML-based, but other integration methodologies need to be supported."
"PingAccess can only have one token provider, and you cannot enable two different token providers simultaneously."
"We have encountered instances where it is not easy to do authentication."
"They could use some bio-certification. It's just more user-friendly and more convenient than entering the one time passes. That would be an improvement."
"They could enhance the product's device tracking for better zero-trust security would be beneficial. Currently, it tracks IPs well but lacks detailed device information, which is crucial from a security standpoint."
"It has a long way to go until it is a cloud-based solution."
"I think that the connection with like Microsoft Word, especially for Office 365, is a weak point that could be improved."
"Symantec has very bad support, so I have no words for it. It's one of the worst support experiences I've ever had."
"Advanced Authentication talks about the Device ID. But how the device ID is captured, I want to know more about that."
"We have seen quite a few issues with bugginess. It is indeed pretty buggy and we have had to install some fixes."
"They definitely need to automate a few processes like the Wiley process."
"This solution could be improved with risk-based authentication. I think that this product has everything that most customers are looking for, but modern technology has people looking for security tools with risk-based authentication, which they have a separate tool for. If they could integrate this, it would improve Symantec Advanced Authentication. They have to look at what's newly trending and how things are moving forward, and then adapt and adopt those features. Symantec's technical support should also be improved, in terms of response time."
"Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation."
"Sometimes getting this set up does take a bit longer. It's not always install, next, next, next, finish."
"It needs faster implementation on the cloud for our customers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"PingID's pricing is pretty competitive."
"PingID pricing is a ten out of ten because it's a little bit cheaper than other tools, such as Okta and ForgeRock, and supports multiple tools."
"Compared to some SaaS-based solutions, the platform is relatively cost-effective."
"The tool is quite affordable."
"The pricing is neither too expensive nor too cheap."
"Ping offers flexible pricing that's not standardized."
"Ping Identity Platform is not an expensive solution."
"Ping Identity Platform is not very expensive."
"There are eventually going to be implementation costs. Sometimes you're required to have custom code developments there, so that has to be part of the implementation price."
"The price is reasonable."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Authentication Systems solutions are best for your needs.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Construction Company
17%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise22
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PingFederate?
Regarding pricing for Ping Identity Platform, I would rate it eight out of ten.
What needs improvement with PingAccess?
The areas where I think PingFederate needs room for improvement include that the most significant area I would recommend is that things such as redirects still do not have majority of the applicati...
What is your primary use case for PingAccess?
The main use case for PingFederate is that we are maintaining the centralized single sign-on with DuroSengel and Carabras as the two main instances to review. If any application is hosted outside o...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Ping Identity (ID), PingFederate, PingAccess, PingOne, PingDataGovernance, PingDirectory, OpenDJ
CA Advanced Authentication, CA Strong Authentication, CA Risk Authentication, Arcot WebFort, Arcot RiskFort
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Equinix, Land O'Lakes, CDPHP, Box, International SOS, Opower, VSP, Chevron, Truist, Academy of Art University, Northern Air Cargo, Repsol
Global bank, Large Filipino Bank and SK Infosec
Find out what your peers are saying about Ping Identity Platform vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.