Cisco Duo vs Google Authenticator
Eleven of fourteen models named Cisco Duo first on the direct prompt; zero named Google Authenticator. Cisco Duo was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Google Authenticator by thirteen and Cisco Duo carries 66 labels and Google Authenticator 32, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in six categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the multi-factor authentication page.
By framing
Cisco DuoFirst choices, of fourteen modelsGoogle Authenticator
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Cisco Duo and Google Authenticator were named in the same answer sixty-two times, of the 237 answers naming Cisco Duo and the 76 naming Google Authenticator. In those answers Google Authenticator took the first choice ten times and Cisco Duo twenty.
Every model, every framing
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | |||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | |||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | | |
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | ||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | |
Cisco Duo Google Authenticator first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Cisco Duo on the left and Google Authenticator on the right.The direct prompt
Cisco Duo first, Google Authenticator not the choice
11 of 14 modelsGoogle Authenticator was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Neither was the first choice, one was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Neither was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
Cisco Duo37%#1 of 10Google Authenticator7%#4 of 10Cisco Duo43%#1 of 11Google Authenticator6%#4 of 11Cisco Duo21%#2 of 8Google Authenticator0%#8 of 8What the models said about Cisco Duo
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Legacy or basic versions of popular solutions (e.g., older Duo...): These can still fall to AiTM phishing, session token theft, or prompt bombing.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Need fast rollout, minimal training, hybrid on-prem/cloud | Cisco Duo (broad protocol support, device trust, low admin overhead)” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Cisco Duo and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) are both highly recommended multi-factor authentication (MFA) tools” Mistral Small · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“The best MFA solution for a company with a limited budget is Duo Free or Google Authenticator for under 10 users.” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about Google Authenticator
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Avoid for mid-size: Pure consumer tools like Google Authenticator (too basic, no central management)” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · hard negative
“Google Authenticator is too basic” Grok 4.20 · direct prompt · hard negative
“TOTP authenticator apps – e.g., Google Authenticator, Authy. They are stronger than SMS/email, but the 6-digit codes can be phished in real time” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“For the absolute tightest budget, Google Authenticator (free) combined with strong password policies is the best starting point” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“If you are on a budget the free ones are Microsoft Authenticator and Google's Authenticator.” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · first choice
“Start with authenticator apps combined with your platform's built-in MFA features” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.