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Change Auditor for Active Directory vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

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
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Active Directory Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of Change Auditor for Active Directory is 6.8%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 6.2%, up from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Active Directory Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Active Directory6.2%
Change Auditor for Active Directory6.8%
Other87.0%
Active Directory Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2794194 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
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

"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."
"Stability and performance are good. So far, we have not observed any major downtime or performance issues since we deployed it."
"The password policy helps enforce security protocols by requiring complex passwords and frequent password changes."
"Technical support is helpful."
"Microsoft Active Directory is the most centralized tool for my organization, which has impacted us positively—we can reset passwords for all users at once, add anyone to any group, and check the members tab, making it really easy for us to troubleshoot end-user issues and beneficial for our information technology needs."
"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, because when they log in to their computer, the application will automatically log in with their credentials."
"I can use Active Directory to block a user's internet access and monitor how an employee is using the internet."
"The Solution's most important feature is that it can merge with a cloud-based active directory via Azure AD Connect."
"The solution's technical support is good."
 

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."
"The security features could be improved."
"I did not have a good experience with the product's tech support. First-level support takes a lot of time since they ask many questions."
"Even better group management would be beneficial."
"Sometimes, it can be overly complicated, and when you apply Group Policy in an Active Directory environment, sometimes those settings apply and sometimes they don't."
"If you are using the Active Directory, the main concern is that the policy is restricted to the specific local area network."
"Could use more structure in the cloud version."
"It could be more stable."
"Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I'm unsure about the cost of the solution, as I was never involved in that aspect. However, I don't think it would be expensive. It might be average, around four or five out of ten."
"The license per user can probably be reduced."
"The pricing is not very expensive. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"Active Directory is an expensive solution, primarily due to Microsoft's licensing model. This licensing approach includes paying for server licenses as well as for each computer that connects to it. However, when working with the Azure cloud, there is no cost for the server. This is profitable and one of the main reasons why Azure Cloud and other cloud-based solutions are being used more."
"The product's premium support services are expensive."
"The version of Microsoft Active Directory I was using was expensive because it was used for large companies."
"Its price is reasonable."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
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881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest Change Auditor for Active Directory?
The price can vary based on the components purchased and the needs and budget of the organization. It is considered a bit pricey, especially for smaller companies.
What needs improvement with Quest Change Auditor for Active Directory?
Areas that could be improved include having more management capabilities with command-line scripts and more flexibility in general. Often this type of tool could benefit from better scripting capab...
What is your primary use case for Quest Change Auditor for Active Directory?
The primary use case is to manage human errors, like protecting identities from being modified by the software, and to audit security. This includes monitoring high-privilege accounts and having th...
What do you like most about Microsoft Active Directory?
The solution is easy to install and has good reliability.
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.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Airlines, Bank of America, BARCLAYS, ebay, Ford, intel, MARS, MERCK, Microsoft, UBER, VISA
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Change Auditor for Active Directory vs. Microsoft Active Directory and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.