Change Auditor for Active Directory vs ManageEngine ADAudit Plus comparison

Change Auditor for Active Directory vs. ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

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Helped 884,873 peers since 2012

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

Change Auditor for Active D...

Ranking in Active Directory Management

7th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Ranking in Active Directory Management

5th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of Change Auditor for Active Directory is 7.1%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is 8.1%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Active Directory Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ManageEngine ADAudit Plus	8.1%
Change Auditor for Active Directory	7.1%
Other	84.8%

Active Directory Management

Featured Reviews

reviewer2794194

Sr Mgr Cyber Defense at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Auditing changes has become faster and now uncovers misconfigurations within minutes

The best features Change Auditor for Active Directory offers are that it's lightweight and easy to understand. You don't have to memorize event IDs since it's in English. What makes Change Auditor for Active Directory lightweight and easy to understand in my experience is that it doesn't require the events to record to the domain controllers. Therefore, I can focus just on the event types without having to turn up detailed logging on my DCs. Change Auditor for Active Directory has positively impacted my organization by helping us respond to audits very quickly to show that we had evidence of who was making the changes and match them up to the ticket request and who approved it. After implementing Change Auditor for Active Directory, it has allowed us to answer questions literally in minutes, whereas it would have taken us half a day to a day before.

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Karthik G

Enterprise Pre-sales Specialist at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees

Has enabled detailed auditing of sensitive changes across directory and file systems

The key functionalities of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus are primarily Active Directory reporting, where we create the whole user life cycle management, such as when users are created, who created them, when users are deleted, what group memberships changed, and not just for users, but for all Active Directory objects, users, computers, groups, and group policies. All changes are recorded immediately in real-time and reported for forensic analysis of incidents including who created them, what exactly changed, and what were the old and new values for the attributes. In case of a ransomware attack on a particular server, we can check what process created the files and what files have changed, even with features such as attack surface analyzer that help administrators see what's happening in their local Active Directory regarding password attacks. ManageEngine ADAudit Plus provides real-time tracking capabilities through agent installation, which works in real-time to collect information and immediately alerts if anything matches the defined conditions in the application.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Change Auditor for Active Directory has positively impacted my organization by helping us respond to audits very quickly to show that we had evidence of who was making the changes and match them up to the ticket request and who approved it."

"The most valuable features are the ability to protect Active Directory accounts and groups, and the real-time notifications that help manage Active Directory more effectively."

"ManageEngine ADAudit Plus provides real-time tracking capabilities through agent installation, which works in real-time to collect information and immediately alerts if anything matches the defined conditions in the application."

"We use the product to track events and monitor logs of servers and workstations. I am impressed with the tool's tracking ability. It is intuitive and easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is its reports."

"Some of the most valuable features of ADAudit Plus are the granular parts of the reports fetched from Active Directory."

"ADAudit Plus's best features are that it's very easy to use with a user-friendly interface, and it gives reports on group policy and object changes that we couldn't find in any other product."

"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."

"Some of the most valuable features of ADAudit Plus are the granular parts of the reports fetched from Active Directory."

"The Account Lockout Analyzer and the Inactive Users reports are particularly valuable."

More ManageEngine ADAudit Plus pros

Cons

"Change Auditor for Active Directory could be improved if the client were more flexible when installed, so if I upgrade the server, I wouldn't have to replace the clients at the same time."

"Areas that could be improved include having more management capabilities with command-line scripts and more flexibility in general."

"There is room for improvement, especially in the standard professional edition. Some features require more external integration."

"Sometimes the developers in technical support take time."

"Its configuration can be better. There were 44 pages of documented notes of what I had to do to get the product to work during the installation process."

"The return on investment for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is very hard to measure."

"The initial setup was quite complex and required some research beforehand."

"The initial setup was difficult."

"An area of improvement for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus could be in graphical reporting, as currently, it's limited with old school bar charts, and having more interactive reports with a better graphical user interface would be beneficial."

"The solution's managing file server activity could be improved."

More ManageEngine ADAudit Plus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The solution's pricing is acceptable."

"It's a medium-priced solution."

"ADAudit Plus's pricing is affordable and flexible, with very low prices in the market."

"My guess is that it was around $4,000 or $5,000 a year, and we bought a license, and then we have maintenance fees. I'm not 100% sure how that worked out."

"The tool is affordable, and our company is very happy with it. If ten is the most expensive and one is the least expensive, I rate the tool a three or four."

"Adding features and other functionality it costs you more. Also, the first installation costs an additional amount."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Insurance Company

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest Change Auditor for Active Directory?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was pretty straightforward. Actually, we bundled it with some other services offered from Quest to get a volume discount.

What needs improvement with Quest Change Auditor for Active Directory?

Change Auditor for Active Directory could be improved if the client were more flexible when installed, so if I upgrade the server, I wouldn't have to replace the clients at the same time. I think g...

What is your primary use case for Quest Change Auditor for Active Directory?

My main use case for Change Auditor for Active Directory is auditing changes, finding changes to undo, and break-fix solving issues. For example, I could give you a quick specific example of how I'...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

The price is normal for this type of solution.

What needs improvement with ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

An area of improvement for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus could be in graphical reporting, as currently, it's limited with old school bar charts, and having more interactive reports with a better graphi...

What is your primary use case for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus?

The main use case for ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is primarily focused on auditing, so any changes related to Active Directory or Azure Intra ID or even file servers, such as file monitoring, are imm...

Netwrix Auditor vs Change Auditor for Active Directory

Comparisons

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Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 15% of the time

Lepide vs ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Compared 10% of the time

ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Compared 9% of the time

One Identity Active Roles vs ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Compared 7% of the time

More ManageEngine ADAudit Plus Competitors

Product Reports

Active Directory Management

Download Change Auditor for Active Directory product report

Change Auditor for Active Directory report

ManageEngine ADAudit Plus

Download ManageEngine ADAudit Plus product report

Overview

Change Auditor for Active Directory provides advanced monitoring for modifications in Active Directory, offering real-time insights to enhance security and compliance without impacting system performance.

Integrating seamlessly with existing IT infrastructure, Change Auditor allows organizations to monitor, analyze, and report on changes within Active Directory. It provides detailed visibility into user activities and configuration modifications, enabling IT professionals to quickly identify potential security threats and unusual activity patterns. This tool aids in ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, minimizing downtime, and improving operational efficiency through precise tracking and alerting capabilities.

What are its most important features?

Real-Time Alerts: Provides instant notifications for critical changes, allowing timely response to potential threats.
Comprehensive Auditing: Tracks all modifications in Active Directory, offering detailed reports for analysis and compliance.
User Activity Monitoring: Observes user behaviors and correlates activities for better security management.
Automated Reports: Generates scheduled reports to assist in compliance and audits easily.

What benefits or ROI should users consider?

Enhanced Security: Quickly identify and respond to unauthorized changes, reducing security risks.
Regulatory Compliance: Simplifies adherence to compliance standards with detailed auditing and reporting tools.
Operational Efficiency: Saves time through automation of auditing processes and reduces manual tracking efforts.
Reduced Downtime: Swift identification of issues enables faster resolution, minimizing disruptions in service.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Change Auditor significantly impacts risk management by safeguarding sensitive information and aligning with audit requirements. Its robust monitoring capabilities are essential for maintaining the integrity and security of critical data within heavily regulated sectors.

Quest Software

In real-time, ensure critical resources in the network like the Domain Controllers are audited, monitored and reported with the entire information on AD objects - Users, Groups, GPO, Computer, OU, DNS, AD Schema and Configuration changes with 200+ detailed event specific GUI reports and email alerts.

ManageEngine

Sample Customers

American Airlines, Bank of America, BARCLAYS, ebay, Ford, intel, MARS, MERCK, Microsoft, UBER, VISA

Warsaw City Hall, Acument Global Technologies, Inc., Cosma International, Bank of South Pacific, Life Management Center, Central Bank, UncleBob's Self Storage, Leeds Building Society, California Transplant Donor Network, First Response, Blessing Hospital, Northern Land Council, RMK Marine

Change Auditor for Active Directory vs. ManageEngine ADAudit Plus