Cisco Duo vs. Zscaler Private Access

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Duo
Score 9.5 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Duo is a two-factor authentication system (2FA), acquired by Cisco in October 2018. It provides single sign-on (SSO) and endpoint visibility, as well as access controls and policy controlled adaptive authentication.
$3
per month per user
Zscaler Private Access
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Zscaler Private Access™ (ZPA) gives users secure access to private apps and OT devices while enabling zero trust connectivity for workloads.N/A
Pricing
Cisco DuoZscaler Private Access
Editions & Modules
Duo Essentials
$3
per month per user
Duo Advantage
$6
per month per user
Duo Premier
$9
per month per user
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco DuoZscaler Private Access
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco DuoZscaler Private Access
Features
Cisco DuoZscaler Private Access
Threat Intelligence
Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Duo
-
Ratings
Zscaler Private Access
10.0
Ratings
13% above category average
Network Analytics00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Automated Alerts and Reporting00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Zero Trust Security
Comparison of Zero Trust Security features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Duo
-
Ratings
Zscaler Private Access
10.0
Ratings
7% above category average
Continuous Verification00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Secure Web Gateways00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Network Flow Control00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Network Data Encryption00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Network Topology Mapping00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco DuoZscaler Private Access
Small Businesses
WatchGuard AuthPoint
WatchGuard AuthPoint
Score 9.1 out of 10
ThreatLocker
ThreatLocker
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
WatchGuard AuthPoint
WatchGuard AuthPoint
Score 9.1 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID
Score 8.7 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco DuoZscaler Private Access
Likelihood to Recommend
9.4
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.8
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.8
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco DuoZscaler Private Access
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco Duois is well suited in all kinds of scenarios where you need to ensure proper security measurements, I think. We can't just rely on our passwords only, as they can be easily stolen through phishing or data breaches thus keeping multi factor authentication is quite essential. I always prefer MFA or at least 2FA for any critical system.
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The tool is, for the most part, very intuitive. Most of our issues so far (working through them with our Resident Engineer) are the one-off applications. We are working on some exemptions to make them functional. Besides that, the team loves the tool and how it can provide better security than our previous tool.
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Pros
  • Speed - it's fast with almost no delay between triggering the MFA request and receiving the notification on an iPhone
  • Security - in addition to the added MFA layer, a simple, 4-digit passcode can be added to the authentication request
  • Ease of use - it doesn't scare users. It's simple to install, configure, and use.
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  • Allows strong cyber security corporate policies
  • Very reliable VPN application that operates at 100% efficiency
  • Very easy to be configured with friendly user interface
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Cons
  • Documentation is oftentimes missing key information for proper implementation. This is circumvented by reading third-party guides or contacting support for additional details.
  • They do not push Fail-Closed as much as I think they should. Fail-Open is fairly trivial to bypass and it should be made known to the customer during setup how much this will affect overall security.
  • More vendor integration is something that is always craved by administrators. There are so many third-parties to integrate with.
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  • Granularity and Complexity of Policy Enforcement
  • Application Segmentation and Listener Configuration - The way applications are defined and listened for is fundamental to ZPA, but can be a source of frustration, especially when dealing with legacy or non-HTTP protocols
  • The ZCC is the user's primary gateway, but its control over local system network behavior can sometimes clash with enterprise requirements.
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Likelihood to Renew
There are a lot of competing solutions on the market; however, Duo "just works", and there is little to no learning curve for the new members to be acclimated to it. As long as that continues I see it as the preferred option moving forward
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No answers on this topic
Usability
La interfaz es intuitiva y fácil de navegar, lo que permite a los usuarios administrar sus dispositivos y acceder a las políticas sin problemas. La integración con las aplicaciones SSO y SaaS facilita aún más el proceso de acceso, mejorando la experiencia del usuario.
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Few things stand out. The ease of access: It very convenient - one click to open add details and done. Packet capture: Can't talk enough about this feature. Troubleshooting private access is always problematic,but this feature helped a lot. One thing that can be improved is early warning about expiring authentication
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Reliability and Availability
In the last 5+ years we've been using Duo, there may have been 1 outage that impacted us. We do receive periodic notifications of issues but, for the most part, they impact carriers or functionality that we either don't use, or do not care about.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
We do not see any degradation of performance of the protected applications. There are occasional lags in receiving the push but no show stooppers.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Since it’s a reputable company, I have received technical support when needed and I trust that if anything else happens I can contact them with any issues. I haven’t experienced bad customer service and I totally feel supported while using this authentication method. No complains so far and the high rating!
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No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
There was no in person training but checking the box was the only way I could complete all of the questions.
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No answers on this topic
Online Training
This was not organized training but the videos that Duo provides to teach you how to install a particular integration are top notch.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Implementation was straight forward and you can isolate different scenarios in order to test new application setup or add to an existing setup. Gui interface is pretty easy to understand and follow. I had no experience with Duo and still manage to easily set up new policies and rules.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Ultimately we ended up going with Cisco Duo because we are a Cisco shop. All of our networking infrastructure, our phones, our wireless environment is Cisco based. It made logical sense to stay with a product that we already have a line of support with. With a smaller support / tech group we depend on outside Cisco support. That support is already here for us, so we stayed with a Cisco product.
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All of these tools are for different needs. Zscaler Private Access being for internal seems very simple as it really only allows filtering up to L4 whereas ZIA allows for filtering up to L7. ZDX often tries to give insight into the environment but since it only works with preconfigured items, that then means when a new problem shows up - ZDX isn't helpful troubleshooting postmortem. For the internal side of the house - Zscaler Private Access' strength is its simplicity to configure.
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Scalability
So far, the only limits we've encountered were tied to our imagination. Duo's strong list of supported integrations is amazing.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • It's one of those things that only costs money in the sense of you have to convince a leadership team to spend money to save money, right? Like a compromise is far more expensive than duo paying for duo. So specifically it's really just about trying to prevent problems. And so while it costs money and we don't have a direct return on investment that we can point out immediately, I would still always advocate for it just because it keeps security. Paying for security is cheaper than getting compromised essentially.
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  • Positive: We have now charged users internally for the service
  • Negative: Dealing with users who also have the Zscaler Client Connector for their company, can cause confusions
  • Negative: Enabling the Zscaler Internet Access entitlement has been a major headache for us because Zscaler Private Access users can't autheniticate through ZIA on a non corporate device.
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ScreenShots

Zscaler Private Access Screenshots

Screenshot of how ZPA provides access for all users while minimizing the attack surface, eliminating lateral movement, and stopping zero day threats. A cloud native service, ZPA can be deployed in just hours to replace legacy remote access tools like VPNs and VDIs.