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Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 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

Google Cloud Identity
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (8th)
Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
234
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Identity is 11.0%, down from 13.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 28.1%, down from 28.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Q&A Highlights

ID
May 12, 2020
 

Featured Reviews

EkoNugroho - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced security and simplicity in deployment for a holistic protection
The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its simplicity in deployment. You only need to purchase and assign licenses to users, and there's no need for extensive setup. Another valuable feature is its integration with Google Workspace, which enhances security through context-aware access and allows for geographic and IP-specific restrictions. This ensures secure access to applications and data.
Bahram Piri - PeerSpot reviewer
Security focus and seamless implementation increase platform productivity
Microsoft Entra ID can be improved in many ways, and there's a big wish list.If we're focusing on security, something that I definitely expect is improvement in the UI and UX for frontline workers. This is important, especially for non-tech savvy individuals. It is something Microsoft Entra ID could do to improve for a wider audience. It's important to focus on the frontline workers since they are non-tech savvy individuals. They are not like those back-office engineering C-level employees who are constantly dealing with computers, and we need to build a specific user experience and user interface for them to handle this stuff. That's something I expect Microsoft to focus on more for Microsoft Entra ID.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool provides a free service that you can integrate for laptop authentication. You also don’t need a separate Active Directory."
"I have not experienced any serious problem with stability."
"Cloud Identity is scalable enough for our needs. It's serving more than 3,000 users in our organization."
"One of the most useful features was the single sign-on. You can use it as an identity provider or service provider. And you can use their organization unit feature to enable or disable some of the features for a specific group of users."
"It's easy to set up."
"The main control page and the ability to manage all our users from a web-based portal are the most valuable aspects of the solution. That's particularly useful because we're a heterogeneous network."
"The Cloud Identity is well advanced in terms of features, applications, and the components that it is offering."
"The most beneficial feature for enhancing security is context-aware access."
"The most valuable feature of Entra ID is having a cloud-based identity, similar to Google's single sign-on."
"Don't delay implementing this solution, it's the best thing you can do for your identity protection."
"Azure Active Directory has useful policy assigning and management."
"The solution adds an extra layer of security."
"With Azure Conditional Access you can specify network locations where you want some of the services in the organization to be available to users, and where you don't want users to have access."
"The two-factor authentication provides an additional layer of security for our organizational data, so Microsoft Authenticator plays a crucial role in making our confidential data more secure."
"Privileged Identity Management and Privileged Identity Management make controlling access considerably easier and ensure that authorized access is achieved."
"Overall the solution functions very well, such as the ability to access it from the cloud."
 

Cons

"We cannot manage the attributes of SSPR."
"There is room for improvement in the configuration of their security policies. It seems quite basic."
"The interface could be improved by simplifying it further."
"The solution needs to better integrate with Mac's OS."
"The solution's storage capacity could be increased."
"Google Cloud Identify could make the technology used easier to understand as a layman making it more user-friendly."
"If I were to suggest enhancements, it would mainly revolve around ensuring compatibility and maximizing integration options with various services."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"My only pain point in this solution is creating group membership for devices."
"The support could be better. Lately, they sort of dropped off a bit in terms of quality."
"The solution was difficult to scale because the group's configuration was complex. I would rate the scalability level of Azure Active Directory a five out of ten."
"The solution could be improved when it comes to monitoring and logging as these are the most critical areas in case something was to go wrong."
"The licensing cost is a bit prohibitive."
"The ease of use regarding finding audit information for users could also be improved."
"Their support needs improvement. The UI can also be better. The menu options are very confusing at times."
"Whatever business requirements we needed in the past three years, users were created, with the name of the user and they were not connected with the Active Directory. We were trying to in house in three years and with directory, but we were not able to achieve it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost depends on the partners and the relationship between the company and the partners."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"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."
"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."
"We probably spend about $50,000 a year on licensing."
"The product is billed on a monthly basis depending on the number of users."
"The fees are paid monthly and there are no additional costs other than the licensing fees."
"The solution is not expensive."
"It is costly."
"I'd recommend Azure Active Directory if you are a big company. For small or medium companies, it's probably not the best idea in the world because of the pricing. If you are a small company, you can probably deploy your own solutions because you're not handling a website with tons of traffic. If you are not like Adidas, Nike, or Walmart, you can do it in a way that is more localized than handling everything through a big price solution. However, Azure tends to provide you with solutions that are easier to use. If it was cheaper, I'd definitely recommend going for it."
"Licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis and the cost depends on the number of users."
"Microsoft Entra ID service can be quite costly due to its hidden expenses linked to usage."
"Microsoft has a free version of Azure AD. So, if you don't do a lot of advanced features, then you can use the free version, which is no cost at all because it is underpinning Office 365. Because Microsoft gives it to you as a SaaS, so there are no infrastructure costs whatsoever that you need to incur. If you use the free version, then it is free. If you use the advanced features (that we use), it is a license fee per user."
"It comes free with the Microsoft account. We have a yearly agreement, and all products are covered under it."
"The cost of Entra ID depends entirely on our organization's specific needs and use cases."
"We don't really have a choice. It's the one shop in town. If you want this, you have to pay for it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
29%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Google Cloud Identity?
The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its stability.
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.
How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?
We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...
What do you like most about Azure Active Directory?
It is very simple. The Active Directory functions are very easy for us. Its integration with anything is very easy. We can easily do third-party multifactor authentication.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
Regarding pricing, for the services we receive, it seems within the market range and about average.
 

Also Known As

Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity Premium
Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ExtraHop Networks, HealthChannels
Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Identity vs. Microsoft Entra ID and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.