Cisco Duo vs Microsoft Authenticator
Nine of fourteen models named Cisco Duo first on the direct prompt; zero named Microsoft Authenticator. Cisco Duo was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Microsoft Authenticator by ten and Cisco Duo carries 63 labels and Microsoft Authenticator 21, 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 modelsMicrosoft Authenticator
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Cisco Duo and Microsoft Authenticator were named in the same answer forty-one times, of the 230 answers naming Cisco Duo and the 52 naming Microsoft Authenticator. In those answers Microsoft Authenticator took the first choice four times and Cisco Duo nineteen.
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 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| 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 Microsoft Authenticator first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Cisco Duo on the left and Microsoft Authenticator on the right.The direct prompt
Cisco Duo first, Microsoft Authenticator not the choice
9 of 14 modelsMicrosoft Authenticator was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Neither was the first choice, one was named
3 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Neither was named
2 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 Duo40%#1 of 10Microsoft Authenticator4%#5 of 10Cisco Duo47%#1 of 11Microsoft Authenticator2%#4 of 11Cisco Duo16%#3 of 6Microsoft Authenticator3%#– of 6What the models said about Cisco Duo
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“Duo and Okta are established options, though their pricing is typically quote-based rather than simple low-cost self-serve pricing” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · soft negative
“Push notifications (e.g., "Approve login?" on apps like Duo, Microsoft Authenticator push): Susceptible to MFA fatigue/bombing” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“Only use push notification systems (like Microsoft Authenticator or Duo) if they are configured to require Number Matching” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Best overall for mid-market B2B: Cisco Duo – MFA-first product with strong phishing-resistant auth (FIDO2/WebAuthn), device trust, and easy deployment.” MiniMax M2.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“Duo Security (Cisco) — it offers the best balance of security, ease of deployment, user experience, and pricing for mid-sized B2B companies.” MiniMax M2.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Choose Cisco Duo if you want best-in-class ease of deployment and user experience for core MFA with minimal IAM overhead.” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct prompt · first choice
What the models said about Microsoft 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.
“Only use push notification systems (like Microsoft Authenticator or Duo) if they are configured to require Number Matching” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“These aren't full enterprise MFA solutions on their own ... They lack central management, enforcement, or reporting.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · soft negative
“TOTP Authenticator Apps (Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator) ... are phishable.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“start with Microsoft Authenticator (if using M365) or Duo Free — both offer solid security with minimal cost” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“Microsoft\u2019s own guidance highlights Authenticator, FIDO2 security keys/passkeys, certificate-based auth, and Windows Hello for Business” GPT-5.4 mini · comparative prompt · alternative
“Using apps like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or Authy is completely free” Mistral Small · budget prompt · alternative
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.