IT AI Index
September 2026 Edition · The permanent record of this edition. The unqualified address always carries the latest edition.
Index › Identity and access › September 2026 Edition

Multi-factor authentication

Asked as “MFA solution”, and as “multi-factor authentication tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 53 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
Standing
Cisco Duo
Clear leader
42% of first choices, clear leader.
ShowinginAll 67 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.
Small businessCisco Duo45%Clear leaderStanding →Mid-marketCisco Duo42%Clear leaderThis pageEnterpriseMicrosoft Entra ID40%ContestedStanding →

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
01Cisco Duo42%2%60endorsed leader
02Microsoft Entra ID30%2%49endorsed leader
03Okta9%12%49accepted challenger
04Microsoft Authenticator6%6%18accepted challenger
05Google Authenticator4%32%22criticized challenger
06Ping Identity2%13%15accepted challenger
07Authy2%25%16criticized challenger
Show the two products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
09RSA SecurID0%17%12accepted challenger
08YubiKey0%0%29accepted challenger
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.
Head to head
Cisco Duo vs Microsoft Entra IDCisco Duo vs OktaMicrosoft Entra ID vs Okta

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative60%
Key
01Cisco Duo42%
02Microsoft Entra ID30%
03Okta9%
04Microsoft Authenticator6%
05Google Authenticator4%
06Ping Identity2%
07Authy2%
08YubiKey0%
09RSA SecurID0%

02What they warned about

Four of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, GLM 4.7 FlashX and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Google Authenticator
32%
7 of 22 labels negative · 6 of 12 models
“Applications like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator generate 6-digit codes ... they are vulnerable to **Adversary-in-the-Middle (AiTM) phishing**.” Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt
Okta
12%
6 of 49 labels negative · 4 of 12 models
“Cons: It is expensive, and sales negotiations/licensing can feel heavy for companies on the smaller end of the mid-market spectrum.” Gemini 3.5 Flash, direct prompt
Authy
25%
4 of 16 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 1 hard negative
“Be Cautious With: Authy (and similar Cloud-Backed Apps)... Authy’s master encryption key had been compromised.” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt
1Password
100%
2 of 2 labels negative · 2 of 12 models
“Use With Caution: Built-in MFA in Password Managers ... (Bitwarden, 1Password, Dashlane)” Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: twelve of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

61 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 597 links across 165 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page.

rippling.com
vendor site · Rippling29 answers · 32 citations · 8 models
expertinsights.com
vendor site · Expert Insights25 answers · 25 citations · 9 models
techrepublic.com
23 answers · 24 citations · 8 models
encomputers.com
19 answers · 19 citations · 9 models
miniorange.com
vendor site · miniOrange18 answers · 19 citations · 7 models
plivo.com
vendor site · Plivo15 answers · 15 citations · 6 models
startwithidentity.com
14 answers · 22 citations · 8 models
g2.com
14 answers · 17 citations · 8 models
duo.com
13 answers · 15 citations · 8 models
workos.com
vendor site · WorkOS12 answers · 14 citations · 8 models
aimultiple.com
12 answers · 13 citations · 8 models
decryptiondigest.com
12 answers · 12 citations · 6 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

rippling.com/blog/mfa-providers
26 answers · 7 models
expertinsights.com/identity-and-access-management/the-top-multi-factor-auth…
25 answers · 9 models
techrepublic.com/article/best-multi-factor-authentication-solutions
23 answers · 8 models
encomputers.com/2024/05/best-multi-factor-authentication-small-businesses
19 answers · 9 models
plivo.com/blog/best-multi-factor-authentication-solutions-for-business
15 answers · 6 models
miniorange.com/blog/mfa-providers
12 answers · 5 models
decryptiondigest.com/blog/enterprise-mfa-platform-comparison-2026-duo-okta-…
11 answers · 6 models
startwithidentity.com/rankings/best-mfa-for-enterprises
10 answers · 7 models
authx.com/blog/best-mfa-solutions
9 answers · 5 models
g2.com/discussions/what-is-the-most-affordable-mfa-solution-for-smbs
9 answers · 8 models

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ModelDirect“What is the best MFA solution for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which multi-factor authentication tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top MFA solutions and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best MFA solution for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a MFA solution. What should we look at?”Negative“Which MFA solutions should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choiceno first choiceHeldOkta
Three alternativesCisco Duo, Microsoft Entra ID, One Identity Defender
Authy, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator
Two alternativesTitan Keys, YubiKey
against: FreeRADIUS, Keycloakno first choicenothing named
GPT-5.4 miniMicrosoft Entra ID
One alternativeCisco Duo
against: OktaCisco DuoChanged
Two alternativesMicrosoft Entra ID, Okta
Microsoft Entra ID, Okta
One alternativeCisco Duo
Cisco Duo, Microsoft Entra IDno first choicenothing named
Gemini 3.5 FlashCisco Duo
Six alternativesClerk, Datawiza, Descope, Kinde, Microsoft Entra ID, WorkOS
against: OktaCisco Duo, Microsoft Entra IDChanged
One alternativeOkta
Cisco Duo, Microsoft Entra ID
Three alternativesOkta, Ping Identity, YubiKey
Google Workspace 2-Step Verification, Microsoft Entra ID
Two alternativesCisco Duo, YubiKey
Microsoft Entra ID
One alternativeCisco Duo
against: Oktaagainst: Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator
Perplexity SonarCisco Duo
Four alternativesDescope, Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, WorkOS
Cisco DuoHeld
Three alternativesJumpCloud, Microsoft Entra ID, Okta
Cisco Duo, Okta
Six alternativesAuth0, Microsoft Entra ID, Ping Identity, RSA SecurID, Twilio Verify, YubiKey
Cisco Duo
Two alternativesGoogle Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator
against: Microsoft Entra IDno first choicenothing named
Grok 4.1 FastCisco Duo
Two alternativesMicrosoft Entra ID, Okta
Cisco DuoHeld
Three alternativesMicrosoft Entra ID, Okta, Ping Identity
Cisco Duo, Okta
Two alternativesMicrosoft Entra ID, YubiKey
against: Authy, Google Authenticator, RSA SecurIDMicrosoft Entra ID
Two alternativesCisco Duo, Google Authenticator with Google Workspace MFA
no first choiceagainst: Authy, Google Authenticator
Mistral SmallOkta
Two alternativesCisco Duo, Microsoft Entra ID
Cisco DuoChanged
Two alternativesMicrosoft Authenticator, Okta
YubiKey
Four alternativesCisco Duo, Microsoft Authenticator, Okta, RSA SecurID
Cisco Duo, Microsoft Authenticator
One alternativeOneLogin
against: Google Authenticatorno first choiceagainst: Push-based MFA, SMS-based MFA
DeepSeek V4 FlashCisco Duo
Two alternativesMicrosoft Entra ID, Okta
Cisco Duo, Microsoft Entra IDChanged
Two alternativesOkta, YubiKey
Cisco Duo, Microsoft Entra ID, Okta
Four alternativesBeyond Identity, HYPR, RSA SecurID, YubiKey
Cisco Duo
Three alternativesAuthy, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) / Microsoft Authenticator
Microsoft Entra ID
Two alternativesCisco Duo, Okta
against: IBM Verify, Keycloak, Ping Identityagainst: Authy, Google Authenticator
Llama 4 MaverickCisco Duo, Okta
One alternativeMicrosoft Entra ID
Ping IdentityChanged
One alternativeCisco Duo
no first choiceCisco Duo, Google Authenticator
Two alternativesMicrosoft Authenticator, Microsoft Entra ID
no first choicenothing named
Qwen 3.7 FlashMicrosoft Entra ID, Okta
One alternativeCisco Duo
OktaChanged
Three alternativesAuth0, Microsoft Entra ID, YubiKey
against: Google Authenticatorno first choice
Five alternativesCisco Duo, Google Workspace 2-Step Verification, Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Ping Identity
Cisco Duo Access Gateway, Microsoft Entra ID
Two alternativesPlivo, privacyIDEA
Google Workforce Identity, Microsoft Entra ID
Two alternativesCisco Duo, Ping Identity
against: 1Password, Authy, Bitwarden, Cisco Duo, Dashlane, Okta
Kimi K2Cisco Duo
Three alternativesJumpCloud, Microsoft Entra ID, Okta
Cisco DuoHeld
Two alternativesMicrosoft Entra ID, Okta
Cisco Duo, Okta
Six alternativesBeyond Identity, HYPR, Microsoft Authenticator, Microsoft Entra ID, RSA SecurID, YubiKey
against: Google AuthenticatorCisco Duo, Microsoft Entra ID
Four alternativesAuthelia, Keycloak, Microsoft Authenticator, NordPass
Microsoft Entra ID
Two alternativesCisco Duo, Okta
nothing named
GLM 4.7 FlashXCisco Duo, Microsoft Entra IDagainst: 1Password, LastPass, Okta, Ping IdentityCisco DuoChanged
Two alternativesJumpCloud, Microsoft Entra ID
against: OktaCisco Duo
Eight alternativesAuth0, Beyond Identity, HYPR, Keycloak, Microsoft Authenticator, Okta, Rippling, YubiKey
Microsoft Entra ID
Six alternativesAuthelia, Authentik, Cisco Duo, Google Authenticator, Keycloak, Microsoft Authenticator
no first choicenothing named
MiniMax M2.5Okta
Three alternativesCisco Duo, Microsoft Entra ID, Rippling
Microsoft Entra IDChanged
Two alternativesCisco Duo, Okta
Cisco Duo, YubiKey
Four alternativesBeyond Identity, HYPR, Microsoft Authenticator, Okta
against: RSA SecurIDCisco Duo, Microsoft Authenticator
Three alternativesAuthy, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Entra ID
no first choicenothing named
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record
Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
PromptModelVersion stringTime (UTC)SearchedSourcesLatency
Direct recommendationClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 13:20no04 s
Direct recommendationGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 09:57yes35 s
Direct recommendationGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 11:01yes1927 s
Direct recommendationPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 13:07yes205 s
Direct recommendationGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 12:44yes2312 s
Direct recommendationMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 13:36yes1812 s
Direct recommendationDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 13:06yes917 s
Direct recommendationLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 10:55yes52 s
Direct recommendationQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 10:30no040 s
Direct recommendationKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 12:49yes1343 s
Direct recommendationGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 11:23yes27109 s
Direct recommendationMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 12:56yes625 s
ParaphraseClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 13:03no05 s
ParaphraseGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 11:45yes35 s
ParaphraseGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 12:23yes722 s
ParaphrasePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 11:58yes206 s
ParaphraseGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 13:03yes138 s
ParaphraseMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 11:51yes108 s
ParaphraseDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 13:50yes911 s
ParaphraseLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 11:44yes53 s
ParaphraseQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 13:30yes553 s
ParaphraseKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 12:19yes1020 s
ParaphraseGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 10:02yes12205 s
ParaphraseMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 11:09yes928 s
ComparativeClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 13:14yes96 s
ComparativeGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 11:43yes26 s
ComparativeGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 12:15yes1722 s
ComparativePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 13:20yes2010 s
ComparativeGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 11:56yes1411 s
ComparativeMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 10:30yes55 s
ComparativeDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 12:41yes1015 s
ComparativeLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 11:14yes52 s
ComparativeQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 12:07no035 s
ComparativeKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 09:54yes1041 s
ComparativeGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 10:26yes1530 s
ComparativeMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 13:48yes823 s
Budget constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 12:05no05 s
Budget constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 12:18yes37 s
Budget constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 12:30yes1326 s
Budget constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 12:06yes206 s
Budget constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 09:56yes189 s
Budget constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 12:26yes54 s
Budget constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 09:35yes1010 s
Budget constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 10:32yes52 s
Budget constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 10:02yes528 s
Budget constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 11:07yes819 s
Budget constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 10:23yes942 s
Budget constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 11:10yes530 s
Scale constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 13:34no08 s
Scale constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 10:08no08 s
Scale constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 13:06yes1131 s
Scale constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 11:16yes209 s
Scale constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 11:51yes1310 s
Scale constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 10:49no07 s
Scale constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 11:26yes1923 s
Scale constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 14:10yes52 s
Scale constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 09:40no038 s
Scale constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 11:15yes1555 s
Scale constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 11:23yes1054 s
Scale constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 10:15yes515 s
Negative framingClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-17 13:54no04 s
Negative framingGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-17 09:50yes25 s
Negative framingGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-17 12:01yes1216 s
Negative framingPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-17 09:47yes206 s
Negative framingGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-17 10:36yes199 s
Negative framingMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-17 11:27yes56 s
Negative framingDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-17 13:19yes2420 s
Negative framingLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-17 12:42yes53 s
Negative framingQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-17 13:49no037 s
Negative framingKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-17 13:11yes1029 s
Negative framingGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-17 12:05yes1437 s
Negative framingMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-17 10:12yes513 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings
Google Workspace read as Google Workspace 2-Step Verification
Google Workspace Security (BeyondCorp) read as Google Workspace 2-Step Verification
IBM read as IBM Verify
Microsoft Entra read as Microsoft Entra ID
Okta Workforce Identity read as Okta
Okta Workforce Identity Cloud read as Okta
Ping read as Ping Identity
RSA read as RSA SecurID
Unresolved, counted raw
2FAS
Aegis
Cisco Duo Access Gateway (Free Tier)
FIDO2/WebAuthn hardware keys
Feitian/EchoKey
FreeIPA
FreeRADIUS
Google Authenticator with Google Workspace MFA
Google Titan
Google Titan keys
Google Titanium Key
Google Workforce Identity
Hanko
Kanidm
LLDAP
One Identity Defender
Push-based MFA
Rauthy
SMS-based MFA
SoloKeys
Titan
Titan Keys
Vasco
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.

Also in identity and access

The other categories of this function, with the leader in each.
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