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Azure Web Application Firewall vs Microsoft Entra ID Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
3.9
Azure Web Application Firewall offers cost-efficiency through reduced administration, AI enhancements, and competitive pricing compared to leading competitors.
Sentiment score
4.4
Microsoft Entra ID Protection offers efficient password management, simplifying access and providing full ROI in three years.
Recently, they have been under serious attack with major exploits, such as Log4j, affecting Fortinet and Palo Alto, and even Cisco and VMware.
Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology
AI-based recommendations save on time and money.
Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.
There is a return on investment in terms of time-saving, control, and ease of manageability of the environment.
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Distribution
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft support is generally satisfactory, with users preferring higher-tier options for faster response and clearer communication.
Sentiment score
6.7
Microsoft Entra ID Protection support is mixed; premium praised, free options slow, consistency issues, and varied third-party experiences.
They are good at troubleshooting and configuring things.
Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.
I am very satisfied with the response from Microsoft dedicated architects if it happens that I have to call for their support.
Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology
I reached out to their support, and they helped me resolve the issue effectively.
Owner at ICAL S.A.
We classified it as a critical problem, and they accepted our classification and helped us quickly.
Founder at AiALL
They often refer to internal blogs, which doesn't offer much new information and can limit our capabilities in troubleshooting.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
Tickets often bounce from person to person, requiring the sharing of information multiple times.
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Distribution
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
Azure Web Application Firewall offers flexible, highly-rated scalability, easily adapting to traffic changes and various workload needs across subscriptions.
Sentiment score
7.3
Microsoft Entra ID Protection efficiently scales with organization sizes, though additional licenses may be needed as businesses grow.
Some Azure applications, like the web application firewall, require a certain level of SKU for hosting setup.
Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.
For our company, Azure Web Application Firewall works effectively for scalability.
Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC
Since it is a cloud computing product, it can accommodate a range of company sizes, from a few users to large businesses.
Security Analyst at UPCI
There are no issues with scalability up to your license limitations.
Senior Solution Architect Data Center & Cloud at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We haven't experienced problems with Microsoft Entra ID Protection.
Founder at AiALL
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Azure Web Application Firewall is highly stable, with minimal connectivity or performance issues and consistently earns high reliability ratings.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Entra ID Protection is highly stable, with minor bugs, offering reliable performance even in large organizations.
Very rarely do I see any latency issues.
Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.
 

Room For Improvement

Azure Web Application Firewall needs better reporting, integration, cost plans, and process streamlining for enhanced management and support.
Microsoft Entra ID Protection requires identity enhancements, better integration, improved scalability, and streamlined user experiences for competitiveness.
Upgrading the platform regularly is necessary for security, however, frequent updates every six months or year from Azure can be a maintenance overhead.
Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.
The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced.
Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC
If there was some level of backup mechanism available with quick restore functionality, that would be beneficial.
Senior Solution Architect Data Center & Cloud at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Microsoft has not offered control over how they calculate high or low-risk scenarios.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
There is no write-back feature from the cloud to local, which would allow me to use my own credentials from the cloud tenant securely.
Security Operations Team Leader at Yalla Security Srl
 

Setup Cost

Azure Web Application Firewall offers scalable pricing, valued functionality, and favorable terms, appealing compared to AWS and GCP.
Microsoft Entra ID Protection pricing is competitive but may be costly and complex, especially for smaller markets or businesses.
It is even a lower cost compared to AWS and GCP.
Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology
Sometimes, when opting for a higher SKU, it's not the WAF itself that's costly but the additional requirements.
Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.
I would place Azure Web Application Firewall at an eight on a scale from one to 10, with one being cheap and 10 being expensive.
Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC
Entra ID Protection is not badly priced, but some clients, especially in medium to smaller scale companies in third-world countries, find it quite expensive.
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Distribution
Microsoft Entra ID requires additional licensing components.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
The pricing for Microsoft Entra ID protection is not expensive.
Security Analyst at UPCI
 

Valuable Features

Azure Web Application Firewall offers robust security, seamless Azure integration, automatic rule management, and scalable, user-friendly deployment with minimal downtime.
Microsoft Entra ID Protection enhances identity security with conditional access, multifactor authentication, and seamless integration, offering scalability and compliance.
With Microsoft, everything is within a single suite, making it easier to configure and plan.
Head of Digital Engineering, Management Consultant at Stax Inc.
It is almost impossible to access these assets from outside, requiring a very skilled attacker to obtain asset tokens of a customer using Azure.
Senior Solutions Architect at EQ2 Technology
It integrates effectively with things such as Sentinel and Defender for Cloud, so mostly it's the analytics and now the AI capabilities that have been introduced with Co-pilot.
Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC
Having a single sign-on feature with Entra ID ensures seamless access to various applications, even those with significant security constraints.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
These features ease the job of security analysts, providing a better vision of user activities and potential risks.
Security Operations Team Leader at Yalla Security Srl
We use automated remediation for logon purposes and error purposes. It remediates issues and provides just-in-time access when applicable.
Senior Solution Architect Data Center & Cloud at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Web Application Firewall
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
21st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (12th)
Microsoft Entra ID Protection
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
9th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (6th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Web Application Firewall is 2.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID Protection is 2.9%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Entra ID Protection2.9%
Azure Web Application Firewall2.0%
Other95.1%
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

RJ
Global IT Solutions Specialist at RELIEF INTERNATIONAL INC
Offers robust analytics and seamless cloud integration with minor room for user interface improvement
The Microsoft support and the analytics are what I appreciate about Azure Web Application Firewall. It integrates effectively with things such as Sentinel and Defender for Cloud, so mostly it's the analytics and now the AI capabilities that have been introduced with Co-pilot. It helps when looking for threats. It reduces issues significantly because the filtering capabilities are high. Given that it's a cloud solution, we have very minimal downtime, especially because we have Microsoft support. On a scale of one to 10, I would give it an eight.
Luis Gabriel Mieles Benavides - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at Sonda S.A.
Identity protection has strengthened daily access control and improved passwordless security
The best features of Microsoft Entra ID Protection include the password dictionary, which we do not have in Active Directory. Conditional access is excellent because we can select the location from which users authenticate, and this is the best feature for me. Another valuable feature is the ability to identify critical or suspicious computers. If computers are too old or too suspicious, the system does not allow authentication, which is excellent. The effectiveness of automated remediation for handling identity threats is great. I use passwordless authentication with cellular phone authentication, which is excellent because we do not always need a password. Microsoft Entra ID Protection is a great solution overall because it improves security in the company through identity management. It improves integration with other solutions such as Google, Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, and Facebook. We can create different applications and integrate with different services.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Web Application Firewall?
I would place Azure Web Application Firewall at an eight on a scale from one to 10, with one being cheap and 10 being expensive.
What needs improvement with Azure Web Application Firewall?
The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced. I've worked with Fortinet and Cisco, and I think the UI is a litt...
What is your primary use case for Azure Web Application Firewall?
Because we mostly operate in the cloud and because we're a Microsoft environment, it was the best option in the scenario. The options were limited in terms of wanting to be an only Microsoft enviro...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
The pricing for Microsoft Entra ID protection is not expensive. It varies based on the company's size and quality.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
We explore the possibilities to use Purview to control our applications, though not very deeply as it's not very helpful at this moment.For us, the most important problem is access; we need an easy...
What is your primary use case for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
We are still deep involved in the use of Microsoft technology for databases and business intelligence, and in the last three years with Power Apps and Power Automate, all that means Azure services,...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure Active Directory Identity Protection, Azure AD Identity Protection
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Web Application Firewall vs. Microsoft Entra ID Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.