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Cybersecurity · head to head

Cisco Duo vs Delinea

Cisco Duo logo

Cisco Duo

Cybersecurity

Trusted access for all users, all devices

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Delinea logo

Delinea

Cybersecurity

Privileged access management from the merged Thycotic and Centrify

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cisco Duo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Cisco Duo free tier limited to 10 users maximum; Delinea the Thycotic and Centrify lineages are integrated unevenly, so buying the full portfolio means running consoles and agents that do not share one administrative model as cleanly as the marketing suggests.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cisco Duo and Delinea actually diverge.

Attributes where Cisco Duo and Delinea differ
AttributeCisco DuoDelinea
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, Linux, macOS

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Cisco Duo

Nothing recorded that Delinea does not also cover.

Only in Delinea

  • Secret Server
  • Privileged session recording
  • Privilege Manager
  • Server PAM
  • Discovery
  • DevOps secrets
  • Behaviour analytics

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Cisco Duo

  • Eliminating phishing with passwordless authnot Delinea
  • Implementing zero trust with device trustnot Delinea
  • Protecting sessions from hijacking and theftnot Delinea
  • Managing compliance for regulated industriesnot Delinea

Delinea

  • An organisation whose cyber insurer now requires privileged credentials to be vaulted and rotatednot Cisco Duo
  • A mid-market IT team that abandoned a heavier PAM rollout and needs a vault that can be in production in weeksnot Cisco Duo
  • A company removing local administrator rights from every workstation after a ransomware incidentnot Cisco Duo
  • An audit finding that shared service account passwords are stored in a spreadsheet and used by contractorsnot Cisco Duo

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Cisco Duo

  • Free tier limited to 10 users maximum
  • Licenses must be purchased in 10-user increments (under 100 users) or 25-user increments (100+ users)
  • Pricing is per-user per-month with minimum purchase increments

Delinea

  • The Thycotic and Centrify lineages are integrated unevenly, so buying the full portfolio means running consoles and agents that do not share one administrative model as cleanly as the marketing suggests.
  • Modules are licensed separately by different units, per privileged user for the vault and per endpoint for privilege management, which makes total cost hard to model and easy to underestimate at scale.
  • Delinea does not publish rates, so buyers benchmark against third party and public sector listings; expect list prices to be negotiable by a wide margin, which means the first quote is not the price.
  • Thoma Bravo ownership since 2021 has coincided with firmer renewal pricing, and buyers with a single-vendor PAM estate have little leverage once credentials are inside the vault.
  • Migrating out of a privileged access vault is a genuinely hard project because every automated process that fetches a secret has to be repointed, so the switching cost is real and the vendor knows it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cisco Duo

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
    • Seamless integrations
    • Authenticator app
  • Essentials$3/month
    • All Free features
    • Duo Directory
    • Phishing-resistant MFA
  • Advantage$6/month
    • All Essentials features
    • Identity intelligence
    • Cisco Identity Intelligence (ISPM, ITDR)
  • Premier$9/month
    • All Advantage features
    • Complete device trust
    • VPN-less remote access

Delinea

On request
  • Secret Server$undefined/year
    • Priced per privileged user, tiered by edition
    • Cloud or on premises deployment
    • Session recording in higher editions
  • Privilege Manager$undefined/year
    • Priced per endpoint
    • Local admin rights removal and application elevation
    • Licensed separately from Secret Server
  • Server PAM$undefined/year
    • Priced per managed server or per privileged user
    • Just-in-time server access
    • Licensed separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Cisco Duo if

  • You want to start without paying.
Cisco Duo review

Choose Delinea if

  • You need secret server.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • You also want privileged session recording.
Delinea review

Questions people ask

Is Cisco Duo or Delinea better?
Neither clearly leads. Cisco Duo starts at Free and Delinea at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cisco Duo or Delinea?
Cisco Duo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cisco Duo and On request for Delinea.
Does Cisco Duo or Delinea run on more platforms?
Cisco Duo runs on Web. Delinea runs on Web, Windows, Linux, macOS.
Can I use Cisco Duo for free?
Yes. Cisco Duo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Delinea starts at On request.
What is Cisco Duo best used for?
Cisco Duo is most often used for eliminating phishing with passwordless auth, implementing zero trust with device trust, protecting sessions from hijacking and theft, managing compliance for regulated industries. Of those, eliminating phishing with passwordless auth and implementing zero trust with device trust are not what Delinea is typically brought in for.
What can Cisco Duo do that Delinea cannot?
Delinea covers Secret Server, Privileged session recording, Privilege Manager, Server PAM.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cisco Duo: How much does Cisco Duo cost?

Cisco Duo Free is $0/user/month (up to 10 users). Paid plans start at $3/user/month (Essentials), $6/user/month (Advantage), and $9/user/month (Premier). Billing is per-user per-month.

Source
Delinea: Is Delinea the same as Thycotic?

Delinea is the merged company formed from Thycotic and Centrify in 2021. Secret Server is the former Thycotic product; the server access products come from Centrify.

Cisco Duo: Is Cisco Duo free to try?

Yes, Duo Free offers multi-factor authentication and seamless integrations at $0/user/month for up to 10 users.

Source
Delinea: Is pricing published?

Not by Delinea. Public sector frameworks have listed Secret Server Cloud around 348 GBP per user per year, which is a reference point, not a quote.

Cisco Duo: What is the minimum purchase for Cisco Duo?

Organizations must buy licenses in 10-user increments for under 100 users, or 25-user increments for 100 or more users. Plans are modifiable at any time.

Source
Delinea: Does one licence cover endpoints and servers?

No. Secret Server, Privilege Manager and Server PAM are separately licensed on different units. Scope all three if your requirement spans them.

Cisco Duo: What does the Advantage plan add over Essentials?

Advantage ($6/user/month) adds identity intelligence, Cisco Identity Intelligence (ISPM, ITDR), Duo Passport, session theft protection, Active Directory Defense, and risk-based authentication.

Source
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