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Okta vs Cisco Duo

A side-by-side comparison across pricing, deployment, integrations, compliance, and iam / sso-specific features. Descriptive comparison only — no recommendations.

4 min read Data verified: May 2026 Identity & Access Management
Okta
IAM / SSO
SSO ($2/user/mo), Adaptive SSO ($5), MFA ($3), Adaptive MFA ($6), Lifecycle… Management ($4), Identity Governance ($9); enterprise bundles negotiated
Paid
Visit official site →
Cisco Duo
MFA
Duo Free (up to 10 users, MFA basics), Duo Essentials ($3/user/mo), Duo… Advantage ($6), Duo Premier ($9)
Freemium
Visit official site →
$ Pricing & plans
5 dimensions
Pricing model
SSO ($2/user/mo), Adaptive SSO ($5), MFA ($3), Adaptive MFA ($6), Lifecycle…
Management ($4), Identity Governance ($9); enterprise bundles negotiated
Duo Free (up to 10 users, MFA basics), Duo Essentials ($3/user/mo), Duo…
Advantage ($6), Duo Premier ($9)
Pricing tier
Paid
Freemium
Free tier / trial
Free tier
30-day free trial; Okta Developer Edition free for prototyping (limits apply)
Free tier
Duo Free permanently free up to 10 users; 30-day trial of all paid tiers
Volume discounts
Tiered breaks at 1,000, 5,000, 10,000+ users
multi-year commitments reduce per-user cost
Tiered at 100, 500, 1000+ users
multi-year and enterprise agreements reduce cost
Hidden costs
Adaptive features require higher-tier SKUs
some advanced features like Identity Governance and Privileged Access are separate products
Advanced features (Trusted Endpoints, Duo Network Gateway) in Advantage/Premier tiers only
↗ Deployment & integrations
3 dimensions
Deployment
Cloud-only SaaS
identity-as-a-service model
Cloud SaaS; on-prem Duo Authentication Proxy for legacy app/VPN/RDP integration
Typical deployment time
Weeks for typical mid-market deployment
months for complex enterprise with custom integrations and lifecycle workflows
Hours to days for typical SaaS app coverage
longer for legacy on-prem app integration via Duo Auth Proxy
Key integrations
7,500+ pre-built integrations in Okta Integration Network (OIN)
largest catalog among workforce IAM vendors; deep integrations with major SaaS, on-prem AD, HR systems
Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Okta, OneLogin, AWS, Salesforce, SAP, Splunk, ServiceNow
RADIUS for legacy apps; broad VPN coverage
🔐 IAM / SSO-specific evaluation
7 dimensions
Authentication methods
SAML 2.0, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, WS-Federation, RADIUS (via Okta Access Gateway)
SCIM 2.0 for provisioning
Push (Duo Mobile), TOTP, U2F/FIDO2 hardware keys, biometric (Touch ID, Windows…
Hello), SMS, voice, bypass codes
MFA methods
Okta Verify push, TOTP, FIDO2/WebAuthn (security keys, platform…
authenticators), SMS, voice, biometrics, third-party (Duo, RSA)
Duo Push (most-used method), FIDO2/WebAuthn passkeys, hardware tokens (YubiKey,…
Feitian), TOTP, SMS, phone callback, bypass codes
Adaptive / risk-based auth
Okta Adaptive MFA uses contextual signals (device, location, network, behavior)…
for risk-based step-up; requires Adaptive MFA SKU
Duo Risk-Based Authentication (Advantage+) uses device trust, location, network signals
Trusted Endpoints policy
Directory integrations
Active Directory, LDAP, HR-driven (Workday, BambooHR, UltiPro, SuccessFactors),…
Google Workspace; Universal Directory as system of record
Active Directory, Azure AD/Entra ID, LDAP via Duo Authentication Proxy
SCIM for automated user provisioning (Advantage+)
Lifecycle management (SCIM)
Okta Lifecycle Management automates provisioning/deprovisioning via SCIM 2.0
HR-driven joiner/mover/leaver workflows
SCIM-based user provisioning from Azure AD, Okta, Google
auto-deactivation on user removal
Privileged access
Okta Privileged Access (separately licensed) for server access; not full PAM platform
buyers needing deep PAM often pair Okta with CyberArk/BeyondTrust
Not a PAM platform
integrates with PAM solutions to add MFA at credential-checkout
Session monitoring
Session policies and re-authentication enforcement
full session recording is not a core Okta feature
Authentication logs and reports
session-level monitoring is not a core Duo feature (MFA is event-based)
✓ Compliance & certifications
1 dimension
Compliance certifications
FedRAMP High, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, CSA STAR, IRAP
FedRAMP Moderate, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR
◧ Positioning
3 dimensions
Target deployment
Mid-market to enterprise workforce identity, organizations wanting broad SaaS integration
Organizations of all sizes adding MFA, especially Cisco ecosystem customers
Strengths cited
Largest identity SaaS app catalog (7,500+ pre-built integrations), strong SCIM…
provisioning ecosystem, broadly recognized as a workforce identity leader, mature partner network
Easy deployment, strong UX, generous free tier (10 users), broad application…
coverage, recognized as 2026 Gartner Customers' Choice for User Authentication
Where it fits less well
Higher-tier features (Adaptive MFA, Lifecycle Management) require Identity Engine tier
has experienced publicly disclosed security incidents that have been addressed; pricing positioned at premium tier
Primarily MFA-focused
full identity lifecycle and SSO breadth require pairing with another IAM platform for some deployments
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Methodology Comparison data synthesized from publicly available vendor documentation, MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK Evaluations, AV-TEST results, Gartner Peer Insights, G2/Capterra/TrustRadius reviews, anonymized transaction data (Vendr, CostBench, CheckThat.ai), and publicly reported pricing as of May 2026. defend.network is independent and has no commercial relationship with the vendors compared.