Cisco Duo review: score, privacy and prices

0.90

out of 10not in the main ranking (too little published data)
Business VPN / ZTNA median 2.5

  • Business VPN / ZTNA
  • Jurisdiction:USA, 5 Eyes
  • Owner:Cisco Systems, Inc.
  • Data completeness47%
  • Checked2026-10-15
  • Free plan

In 10 seconds

Strongest against its segment

  • Price and fair terms3.3 vs 3.4
  • Security and protocols1.4 vs 1.8
  • Censorship bypass0.0 vs 0.5

Weakest against its segment

  • Network and streaming0.0 vs 2.8
  • Platforms and support1.1 vs 3.9
  • Privacy and jurisdiction0.0 vs 2.3
  • Jurisdiction in the 5 Eyes alliance

Compare Cisco Duo side by side with other VPNs

How the score adds up

Six sub-scores, each against the median of Business VPN / ZTNA services in the main ranking (None services). Open a line to see which published facts earned points and which were missing or not disclosed.

Cisco Duosegment median

  • Privacy and jurisdiction30% of the score · segment median 2.30.0
    What earned points
    • No-logs policy +2
    • Independent no-logs audit +3
    • No-logs confirmed in court +1
    • Warrant canary +1
    • Transparency report +1
    • Sign-up without email +1.5
    • Account number sign-up +0.5
    • Stores connection IP (penalty) −3
    • Public incident (penalty) −2
  • Security and protocols20% of the score · segment median 1.81.4
    What earned points
    • Kill switch +2
    • DNS leak protection +1.5
    • RAM-only servers +1
    • Post-quantum encryption +1
    • Perfect forward secrecy +0.5
    • Security audit +2
    • Open-source clients +1.5
    • 2FA +1
    • Multi-hop +1
    • Bug bounty +1
    • Only PPTP / L2TP (penalty) −2
  • Price and fair terms15% of the score · segment median 3.43.3
    What earned points
    • Free plan +1.5
    • Free trial +1
    • Trial without a card +1
    • Crypto payments +1
    • Cash payments +0.5
  • Censorship bypass15% of the score · segment median 0.50.0
    What earned points
    • Stealth / obfuscation +2
    • VLESS / Reality +1.5
    • Trojan +1
    • Hysteria2 +1
    • Shadowsocks +1
    • AmneziaWG +1
    • obfs4 +0.5
    • TUIC +0.5
    • NaiveProxy +0.5
    • Mirrors or Telegram channel +0.5
    • VoIP in the UAE (claimed) +0.5
    • Manual configs +0.5
  • Network and streaming10% of the score · segment median 2.80.0
    What earned points
    • 10 Gbps servers +1
    • Dedicated IP +0.5
    • Port forwarding +0.5
    • MENA locations +0.5
    • Torrenting allowed +1
  • Platforms and support10% of the score · segment median 3.91.1
    What earned points
    • Routers +1
    • Browser extensions +0.5
    • Split tunneling +1
    • Ad / tracker blocker +1
    • 24/7 live chat +2
    • live chat +0.5
    • Support on Telegram +0.5
    • Status page +0.5

Cisco Duo pricing

The cheapest way in is €2.58 a month, paid upfront for the longest term. After that term, Cisco Duo renews at its standard price. Market median across the main ranking: €3.13 a month.

Real cost over 1, 2 and 3 years

What you pay to keep Cisco Duo running: the first term, then renewals at the published renewal price. Where no renewal price is published, plans shorter than a year are counted as repeat payments at the current price; longer plans show a dash after their term. Converted to euros at the rates used in our data (1 USD = €0.86). The lowest cost for each period is marked.

Plan and first termFirst payment1 year2 years3 years
Duo Essentials, 1 mo €2.58 €30.96at the current price€61.92at the current price€92.88at the current price
Duo Advantage, 1 mo €5.16 €61.92at the current price€123.84at the current price€185.76at the current price
Duo Premier, 1 mo €7.74 €92.88at the current price€185.76at the current price€278.64at the current price

Compare Cisco Duo’s full cost with other VPNs, for any number of devices

All plans as published

PlanTermPrice for termPer month€ / monthRenewal priceRenewal term
Duo Free1 mo$0.00$0.00€0.00$0.001 mo
Duo Essentials1 mo$3.00$3.00€2.58——
Duo Advantage1 mo$6.00$6.00€5.16——
Duo Premier1 mo$9.00$9.00€7.74——

Refunds, trial and payment

Refund window
Not stated
Free trial
30 days, site (signup.duo.com)
Auto-renewal
Not stated
Payment methods
credit card (self-service); sales

Everything Cisco Duo publishes

Every fact we collected about Cisco Duo, as the provider and reviewers state it. Empty fields are left out; key fields we could not find say “Not stated”. “Partial”: only on some platforms, servers or plans.

Company
Legal entity
Cisco Systems, Inc. (copyright)
Registered in
USA
Address
not on pages read
Parent company
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Related brands
  • Cisco Secure Client
  • Cisco Identity Intelligence
  • Duo Passport
Surveillance alliance (5/9/14 Eyes)
5
Website languages
EN (no switcher seen)
Right-to-left languages
No
Currencies on the site
USD

Plans, prices and add-ons
Plans
  • Free
  • Essentials
  • Advantage
  • Premier
Billing terms
per user/month
Cheapest price a month
3 per user (Essentials); 9 per user for VPN-less access (Premier)
Monthly plan
3, per user, Essentials
Lifetime plan
No
Family plan
Not stated
Business price per user
  • Essentials $3
  • Advantage $6
  • Premier $9 /user/month
Business minimum seats
self-service in blocks of 10 (<100 users) / 25 (>100)
Other add-ons
ITDR/ISPM (Advantage+); device trust with EPP check (Premier)

Discounts and programmes
Discount shown
No
Sale running when checked
No
Student discount
Not stated

Limits and restrictions
Devices at once
Not stated
Features locked to higher plans
  • SSO/Directory Essentials+
  • ITDR Advantage+
  • VPN-less remote access Premier

Free plan
Free plan
Yes up to 10 users
Free data
Not stated
Free devices
up to 10 users
Ads in the free plan
No
Other free plan terms
MFA, integrations, authenticator app

Payment and subscription
Payment methods
credit card (self-service); sales
Bank card
Yes
PayPal
Not stated
Cryptocurrency
No
Cash
Not stated
Gift cards
Not stated
Auto-renewal by default
Not stated
Email needed to sign up
Yes
Account-number login
No
Identity check (KYC)
No
Money-back guarantee, days
Not stated

Free trial terms
Trial length
30 days
Where the trial is offered
site (signup.duo.com)
Instead of a trial
Duo Free up to 10 users
Card needed for the trial
Not stated

Server locations
Countries
Not stated
Servers
Not stated
Server countries
Not stated
Middle East and North Africa
Not stated
Virtual locations
Not stated
P2P servers
Not stated
Obfuscated servers
Not stated

Network features
RAM-only servers
Not stated
IPv6
Not stated
Dedicated IP
Not stated
Static IP
Not stated
Residential IP
Not stated
Double VPN / multi-hop
Not stated
Tor over VPN
Not stated
SOCKS5 proxy
No
Smart DNS
Not stated

Protocols and encryption
  • WireGuardNot stated
  • OpenVPN✕ No
  • IKEv2Not stated
  • L2TP/IPsecNo
  • SSTPNo
  • SoftEther✕ No
  • Own protocolNot stated
  • VLESS / Reality✕ No
  • VMess✕ No
  • Trojan✕ No
  • Shadowsocks✕ No
  • Hysteria2✕ No
  • TUIC✕ No
  • NaiveProxy✕ No
  • obfs4✕ No
  • AmneziaWG✕ No
  • PPTP✓ No
Perfect forward secrecy
Not stated
Post-quantum encryption
Not stated
Manual configuration files
Not stated
Open-source apps
No

Censorship and blocking
Obfuscation (stealth mode)
No
Countries it claims to work in
Not stated
Mirror sites or Telegram channel
No
Calls in the UAE
Not stated

Security
Kill switch
Not stated
DNS leak protection
Not stated
Split tunnelling
Not stated
Ad and malware blocker
No
Two-factor sign-in
Yes core product: MFA/passwordless
Security audits
Not stated
Bug bounty
Yes security response page exists

Privacy
No-logs policy
Not stated
Independent no-logs audit
Not stated
Transparency report
Not stated
Warrant canary
No
Anonymous sign-up
No

What the privacy policy says is collected

Yes: collected. No: not collected. Partial: kept briefly or only in part. Not stated: the policy does not say.

  • Email✕ Yes
  • Connection IPNot stated
  • Session timesNot stated
  • Device infodevice trust✕ Yes

Apps and devices
  • WindowsNot stated
  • macOSNot stated
  • LinuxNot stated
  • iOSDuo Mobile authenticator✓ Yes
  • AndroidDuo Mobile authenticator✓ Yes
  • Android TV✕ No
  • Fire TV✕ No
  • Apple TV✕ No
  • ChromebookNot stated
  • Smart TV✕ No
  • Routers✕ No
  • NAS✕ No
  • Raspberry Pi✕ No
  • Game consoles✕ No
Browser extensions
Not stated

Speed, streaming and gaming
10 Gbps servers
Not stated
Speed test in the app
No
Netflix
No
BBC iPlayer
No
Disney+
No
Prime Video
No
DAZN
No
beIN Sports
No
Shahid
No
OSN+
No
Gaming features
Not stated
Torrenting
Not stated

Support
Live chat
Not stated
Live chat 24/7
Not stated
Email / tickets
Yes duo.com/support
Phone
Not stated
Telegram
No
WhatsApp
No
Help articles
Yes
Server status page
Not stated
Uptime guarantee (SLA)
SLA published (duo.com/legal/sla)

For teams and business
SSO / SAML
Yes Essentials+
Admin panel
Yes
Zero-trust access (ZTNA)
Yes Premier Zero Trust access package, VPN-less
Identity providers
  • brokers existing identity sources
  • Duo Directory
  • Active Directory

What users say

Reviews never change our score. Ratings are smoothed: a source’s average across all VPNs counts as 50 extra reviews, so a few five-star reviews cannot outrank thousands.

  • App Store

    3.82 of 5, smoothed

    From 707 collected reviews (raw average 3.84; all VPNs 3.54). Last 90 days: 4.17 from 296.

Ratings shown on the platforms themselves: Trustpilot TrustScore 3.5 (0 reviews); App Store (US) 4.87 (2316064 ratings).

Reviews per month, last 12 months

  1. Oct ’251 reviews, average 5.0
  2. Nov ’252 reviews, average 5.0
  3. Jan ’262 reviews, average 4.5
  4. Mar ’265 reviews, average 2.6
  5. Apr ’262 reviews, average 3.0
  6. May ’2685 reviews, average 4.27
  7. Jun ’2689 reviews, average 4.25
  8. Jul ’2680 reviews, average 4.15
  9. Aug ’26121 reviews, average 4.26
  10. Sep ’2698 reviews, average 3.91
  11. Oct ’2641 reviews, average 4.34
Bar height: number of reviews collected that month. Full-colour bars: months with an average of 4 stars or more; pale bars: below 4.

37 Reddit and forum threads mention Cisco Duo (titles and search snippets only).

Latest reviews and related rankings

Latest reviews

Short excerpts with a link to the original. We do not reproduce reviews in full.

  • App Store · 5★ · 13 Oct 2026 · US

    Works every time

  • App Store · 5★ · 13 Oct 2026 · US

    Thank goodness for Duo

  • App Store · 5★ · 13 Oct 2026 · US

    easy

Rankings by user reviews

Reviews of similar VPNs

Questions about Cisco Duo

Answers built from what Cisco Duo publishes. Open a question to read the details.

Cisco Duo alternatives: similar VPNs ranked by our score

8 alternatives to Cisco Duo (0.90) from the same segment, by features, price and owner. Highest: Shieldoo (1.57).

Alternatives to Cisco Duo

8 alternatives
#ServiceScoreWhy it is hereFrom
1Shieldoo
Business VPN / ZTNA · Czechia Free plan
1.57similar featuressimilar features—
2Cisco AnyConnect / Secure Client
Business VPN / ZTNA · USA
1.24same ownersame owner—
3Cisco Secure Client (AnyConnect)
Business VPN / ZTNA · USA
1.24same ownersame owner—
4HMS Ewon (Talk2M / Cosy)
Business VPN / ZTNA · Sweden Free plan
1.09similar featuressimilar features—
5RingLink
Business VPN / ZTNA · jurisdiction not stated Free plan
1.05similar featuressimilar features—
6Phoenix Contact mGuard
Business VPN / ZTNA · Germany Free plan
0.83similar featuressimilar features—
7Microsoft Entra Private Access
Business VPN / ZTNA · USA
0.72similar featuressimilar features€4.30per month
8MORA VPN Zero-Con
Business VPN / ZTNA · Japan
0.70similar featuressimilar features€87.00per month

In our rankings

Cisco Duo appears on 4 topic pages. Its place on each:

Similar VPNs

Same owner

Also similar to Cisco Duo

Owner and jurisdiction

Tools for Cisco Duo

Sources and changes

Collected 2026-10-15. No changes recorded since the first import.

Website
https://duo.com
Pages checked
https://duo.com; https://duo.com/editions-and-pricing

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