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Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra External ID comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 2, 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

Google Cloud Identity
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (12th), Cloud Resource Access Management (6th)
Microsoft Entra External ID
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
10th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (6th), Microsoft Security Suite (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Identity is 10.6%, up from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 1.6%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Cloud Identity10.6%
Microsoft Entra External ID1.6%
Other87.8%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

SK
Director at GNX Solutions
Cloud automation has improved development efficiency and supports secure MFA and SSO
The best features in Google Cloud Identity are their cloud, their VMs, and their cloud VMs, which are too good compared to OCI. Using Google Cloud Identity is beneficial in terms of finance as we are always doing automation and AI, and it is definitely the best. I use multi-factor authentication with Google Cloud Identity. Regarding how Google Cloud Identity helps to improve security, I can say that security is something everyone is using. I do not feel any different. After this, everything will be JWT token and all things we are using. I do not feel any difference in there. I have used the SSO feature, single sign-on, with Google Cloud Identity. In a few words, how Google Cloud Identity affected user management within my organization is that it is not done for my organization but for one of my clients only. I already have the ADs there, but still, it is the best. I think the reporting tools of Google Cloud Identity are good. I cannot comment on these kinds of things for this particular product.
Sameh Andrawes - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Alex Apparels
Identity platform has strengthened policy control, security monitoring, and user management
Not really at the moment, but perhaps when we go deeper into using Microsoft Entra External ID, we may experience some things we may not prefer. However, up to now, we have not encountered anything that I consider a problem or disadvantage. If we apply more features, let's say we applied mobile device management for a few machines, a few mobiles, and some computers, and it worked, but I do not know what will happen when we apply this to the rest of the network, which is 1,500 computers and more than 2,000 mobiles. I do not know what to say regarding new features that could be added to Microsoft Entra External ID. Perhaps we can integrate this with our ERP systems for the HR systems that we are going to have. Perhaps with this integration, we can find this application more practical.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Following the steps made it very easy to use."
"The best features of Google Cloud Identity are that it's free and works with modern applications, meaning if it's OAuth or using the OAuth protocol, it's very easy to integrate with those applications."
"Cloud Identity is a cloud-based Software as a Service model, so you don't need to worry about managing the infrastructure."
"The Cloud Identity is well advanced in terms of features, applications, and the components that it is offering."
"Google is always on its own, and Google Cloud Identity is pretty good on every point."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The solution is user-friendly."
"The tool provides a free service that you can integrate for laptop authentication. You also don’t need a separate Active Directory."
"The positive impact of Microsoft Entra External ID on my organization is that it enhances ease of use for the administrative side."
"The impact of having multiple authentication types available significantly helps with security practices using Microsoft Entra External ID."
"The times that I have gone into it, I found it easy to use and I haven't had any issues with it."
"Microsoft Entra External ID offers numerous advantages; there's no need to maintain anything on-premises, which results in a significant IT infrastructure cost saving."
"Primarily Microsoft Entra External ID SSO is valuable as it works with everything when it comes to integration."
"The most valuable feature for me is the firewall capabilities."
"When it comes to Microsoft Entra External ID, Microsoft itself is the best distributor."
"The best features of Microsoft Entra External ID include its unification of B2C functionality and B2E features."
 

Cons

"The interface could be improved by simplifying it further."
"I want the tool to improve its support. It should also incorporate some functionalities. Currently, preparing presentations in Google is a pain point. The tool’s certain features like user provisioning are not intuitive as well. The product’s LDAP support is very poor. Clients do not trust the product due to the spam."
"Overall, I would give a zero out of 10 for Google's support. There is no easy way to navigate issues without paid consultation, making it quite frustrating."
"The customer service and support team is not so good."
"I would like to see more integration in future releases."
"The solution's storage capacity could be increased."
"The solution needs to better integrate with Mac's OS."
"If you want to set up some alerts, you don't have much control over the configuration. You have to use their default alerts. And they only provide alerts for certain activities, so you cannot customize those. Monitoring isn't very helpful either."
"Microsoft's pricing is complex and difficult to fathom due to a range of different licensing options."
"There have been a couple of times when it was unavailable because of Microsoft issues, but other than that, I don't remember any problems."
"Single sign-on for external applications such as Oracle could be improved to be a little bit cheaper."
"A common concern among the customers I visit is the unpredictability of Microsoft's costs at every renewal. This is really bothersome for the customer, and I would say it is the worst element I have seen in these years."
"I generally find Microsoft solutions expensive, especially in specific offerings."
"The support engineers are not as skilled as our engineers. When they say something would not work, or there is no solution, we usually hear that Microsoft would not support this."
"The quality of Microsoft customer support varies. With an enterprise contract, good resources are usually provided, especially in regions like Saudi Arabia or UAE. However, we have faced challenges with support quality, especially in some subcontinent areas where the resources might not be as experienced."
"There is room for improvement in AI technology for Microsoft Entra External ID, particularly in providing detailed alerts."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not expensive."
"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"When I worked on Cloud Identity, they offered a free or enterprise version. You can synchronize and create up to 100 user identities in the free version. After that, you have to purchase a business or enterprise license. In that model, you'll be charged based on the number of users."
"The fees are paid monthly and there are no additional costs other than the licensing fees."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"We probably spend about $50,000 a year on licensing."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"We don't pay separately for Microsoft Entra External ID as it's part of our Microsoft Exchange subscription."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also access to both Microsoft’s user community as well as around-the-clock customer s...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Identity?
It's crucial to monitor costs carefully, as there can be unexpected charges. I have been charged even when there was supposed to be free credit.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Identity?
If you are asking about room for improvement with Google Cloud Identity, whatever is there already, cost is the only problem. If you are comparing with GCP, OCI, the cost will be a little bit highe...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?
Microsoft is flexible in the pricing for the product, so I cannot say that it is expensive, but definitely they are flexible in the price lists and their ways of doing payments.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?
Not really at the moment, but perhaps when we go deeper into using Microsoft Entra External ID, we may experience some things we may not prefer. However, up to now, we have not encountered anything...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?
When I say identity, I mean Microsoft Entra External ID. We have been using Microsoft Entra External ID since the beginning of 2022. I am using it as a client. The purposes for using Microsoft Entr...
 

Also Known As

Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity Premium
Azure Active Directory External Identities
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ExtraHop Networks, HealthChannels
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Identity vs. Microsoft Entra External ID and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.