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Atlassian Crowd vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Atlassian Crowd
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
26th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Active Directory Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Atlassian Crowd is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 2.8%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Active Directory2.8%
Atlassian Crowd1.4%
Other95.8%
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

Grigoriy Kneller - PeerSpot reviewer
General Manager at HDI Systeme AG
Enhanced user management offering seamless single sign-on, scalability for large enterprises, and improved configurability through integration with various user sources and directories
For organizations using various Atlassian products and dealing with multiple user sources or directories, implementing Atlassian Crowd for single sign-on proves highly beneficial. This is especially true for companies that have instances of Atlassian product installations across different entities, each with its own Active Directory and user directory. Crowd significantly streamlines user and directory management, making it more efficient for larger enterprises. It is particularly advisable and recommended for big companies, especially those that have undergone acquisitions or mergers, as it enhances user management, transparency, and configurability. While it's incredibly useful for enterprise-level businesses, it may also be suitable for mid-sized companies with a substantial user base. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.
Eko Kurniawan - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Operations & Security at veris
Has simplified credential management and improved secure access control across departments
The features I find most useful in Microsoft Active Directory are especially for the Single Sign-On. This is very useful for users, particularly if they have plenty of applications, such as tablet applications. When they log in to their computer, the application will automatically log in with their credentials. They don't need to remember another user and password to log in to the application because it's already maintained with Microsoft Active Directory using Single Sign-On. To assess the impact of Microsoft Active Directory's centralized domain management on security protocols and access permissions, Microsoft Active Directory itself has constraints with security because when we have a solution such as SSO or Single Sign-On, which makes it easier for users to log in, some parts have security openings. When their computer is compromised with a threat, malware, or other cyber threats, it becomes easier to enter the application without login permission.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"If your budget allows, it is worth purchasing Crowd once you have at least 2 Atlassian products like Jira and Confluence."
"One standout feature is the capability to configure various authentication and authorization methods from diverse user directories."
"The most valuable features are predominantly in the directory and development spaces."
"Integrating third-party directories is very easy since Crowd offers well-described input fields so you know what information is needed."
"The solution’s management capability is very good. The tool is also very scalable. You can add any number of users that you want to operate. Moreover, you can easily organize the solution."
"The solution is the most reliable and easiest directory service in the world so we became Gold partners to fully support it."
"Having active deployment and well-configured systems helps me manage tasks and easily oversee thousands of users."
"Technical support is helpful."
"The solution's technical support is good."
"It's useful in bringing order to the system."
"The user-friendliness of Microsoft Active Directory is a valuable feature."
"The Solution's most important feature is that it can merge with a cloud-based active directory via Azure AD Connect."
 

Cons

"There's a need for effective group membership management, especially for corporate programs."
"It would be great if the UI would receive a complete re-design."
"Exporting users/group toward LDAP and retrieving LDAP attributes like photo profile."
"It makes you more efficient, but you have to optimize what you're doing before you get into the software."
"They should improve the solution's old computer cleanup tool."
"The DNS services could improve in Microsoft Active Directory."
"In the solution, assigning permissions is complex, making it difficult to grant them at a granular level or to multiple users without templates or alternative tools."
"Microsoft Active Directory fails to provide MFA. MFA, which is also known as multi-factor authentication on top of the password and username, is what I would like to see in the product's future releases."
"Active Directory's user experience is a little dated. Group policy management should be more customizable."
"There are no reporting features."
"I would like to see the integration with Mac and IOS products improved."
"There could be enough material to learn about the product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's pretty cheap. I would rate the price as three out of five."
"While it may seem affordable for larger enterprises, it tends to become more expensive as you move up the scale."
"The price of Microsoft Active Directory could improve. We pay annually for the solution."
"The solution is based on a licensing model."
"The license per user can probably be reduced."
"Active Directory is built-in into Microsoft Windows 10. I'm not an administrator and would not be involved in purchasing decisions for new versions of the software. I have only used the client portion of it, I do not know if there is a cost to using the solution."
"The product's premium support services are expensive."
"It's not overly expensive. It's considered a base function by Microsoft."
"Microsoft Active Directory is not an expensive solution."
"We purchase the license for the solution on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
University
11%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What needs improvement with Microsoft Active Directory?
The best way to protect this is to use Microsoft Defender. For Microsoft support for Microsoft Active Directory, I would rate it as eight. If I give it 10, it would be too perfect. Eight is fair. M...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
My main use cases for Microsoft Active Directory are to manage user access and credentials.
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Active Directory?
Regarding Microsoft Active Directory's integration with third-party applications, it depends on the requirements. It's not always linked or combined with Microsoft Active Directory. In my experienc...
 

Also Known As

Crowd
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NHL, Interspire, Appfire
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Atlassian Crowd vs. Microsoft Active Directory and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.