# Cisco Duo: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 81 judge labels across 6 categories by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cisco-duo

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Multi-factor authentication](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/multi-factor-authentication/index.md) | 43% | 1 | 2% | 66 |
| [Zero trust network access](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/zero-trust-network-access/index.md) | 2% | 7 | 0% | 5 |
| [Workforce identity and SSO](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/workforce-identity-and-sso/index.md) | 2% | 6 | 0% | 7 |
| [Customer identity and access management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/customer-identity-and-access-management/index.md) | 0% | 63 | 100% | 1 |
| [Network access control](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/network-access-control/index.md) | 0% | 36 | 0% | 1 |
| [Non-human identity management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/non-human-identity-management/index.md) | 0% | 85 | 0% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "Need fast rollout, minimal training, hybrid on-prem/cloud | Cisco Duo (broad protocol support, device trust, low admin overhead)" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, MFA)
- "Cisco Duo and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) are both highly recommended multi-factor authentication (MFA) tools" (Mistral Small, MFA)
- "The best MFA solution for a company with a limited budget is Duo Free or Google Authenticator for under 10 users." (Llama 4 Maverick, MFA)
- "I recommend Cisco Duo — it's widely regarded as the best MFA tool for small-to-mid-sized businesses" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, MFA)

## And against it

- "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, MFA)
- "Excellent MFA, but not a full CIAM replacement — only use for authentication, not profile management." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, CIAM)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Grok 4.20 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Mistral Small | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Kimi K2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Cisco Duo, from 189 of the 237 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- techrepublic.com: 99
- aimultiple.com: 84
- duo.com: 79
- g2.com: 61
- expertinsights.com: 50
- microsoft.com: 47
- mojoauth.com: 46
- okta.com: 46
- cisa.gov: 45
- encomputers.com: 42

### Pages cited

- https://techrepublic.com/article/best-multi-factor-authentication-solutions: 98
- https://aimultiple.com/mfa-solutions: 71
- https://expertinsights.com/identity-and-access-management/the-top-multi-factor-authentication-mfa-solutions-for-business: 44
- https://encomputers.com/2024/05/best-multi-factor-authentication-small-businesses: 42
- https://protectimus.com/blog/best-mfa-solutions: 37
- https://onelogin.com/learn/top-5-mfa-tools-for-iam-security: 34
- https://microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/identity-access/microsoft-entra-mfa-multi-factor-authentication: 32
- https://mojoauth.com/blog/top-mfa-tools-secure-identity.md: 30

## In its own words

What Cisco Duo's own pages state, read 2026-10-05. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: the industry leading solution for identity security with end-to-end phishing resistance, security-first IAM, multi-factor authentication (MFA) and more. (https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/duo/index.html)
- Free plan or trial: Start your free trial (https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/duo/index.html)
- Customers named: The School District of Philadelphia, George Sink, Washington County, Wisconsin, Cisco

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.