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Microsoft Active Directory vs One Identity Active Roles comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 9, 2024

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
4.4
Microsoft Active Directory enhances efficiency and access control, providing value through centralized management despite lacking direct ROI calculation.
Sentiment score
4.8
One Identity Active Roles increases operational efficiency and security, reduces costs, and enhances user satisfaction with automation and data consistency.
The solution is really time-saving since I don't need to create users in each server or system manually, and user access control is streamlined.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
One Identity Active Roles provides excellent reporting and auditing functionality, allowing administrators to track permissions, actions, and responsibilities effectively.
solution architect/ engineer at APEX.IT Sp. z o.o.
It has saved 90% of the time compared to before.
IAM Specialist
One Identity has a theme that they want the right people to have the right set of access, and this is what they are able to provide with their tool.
Assistant Manager- Pre-sales ( IT-Enterprise Vertical ) at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.5
Microsoft Active Directory support is inconsistent, with varying response quality, reliance on online resources, and better service via premium options.
Sentiment score
7.4
One Identity Active Roles is praised for excellent customer service, proactive communication, and comprehensive support despite occasional issues.
Support documents are available on the internet in every language.
Owner at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
If you purchase retail, the support will be more difficult because they will assess the priority or rating from the customer.
IT Operations & Security at veris
Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
Everything is good, and I can give One Identity technical support a rating of ten.
Assistant Manager- Pre-sales ( IT-Enterprise Vertical ) at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
They are knowledgeable, and the response time is low.
IT Infrastructure & Cloud Manager at Softcell Technologies Limited
The customer support of One Identity Active Roles is very good and helps to balance policy enforcement capabilities while improving my approval workflow.
Cybersecurity Consultant at CyberBackbone
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Active Directory is scalable and integrates well, but faces challenges at larger scales, suggesting hybrid solutions.
Sentiment score
7.1
One Identity Active Roles efficiently supports large-scale Active Directory environments with flexibility and high scalability ratings.
Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
It is very beneficial for large and complex environments.
Team Lead, Technical & Enterprise Directory Services Vita Program at AIS Network
If you are a major enterprise customer, it is a matter of scaling out on resources with more memory, disk, and CPU power.
IAM Specialist
The solution is highly scalable, with a scalability rating of nine.
IAM Product owner at a hospitality company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Active Directory is praised for its stability and reliability, with minor issues not significantly affecting performance.
Sentiment score
7.5
One Identity Active Roles offers stable, reliable performance with minimal glitches, excelling in automation and compliance, rated 8-10 by users.
If you meet the installation requirements from Microsoft, it will be very stable.
IT Operations & Security at veris
With multiple domain controllers, stability is ensured.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
I've been working with Microsoft Active Directory for over 3 years, and we've had no problems.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
There were no major problems with One Identity Active Roles.
solution architect/ engineer at APEX.IT Sp. z o.o.
One Identity Active Roles has had no downtime and no major reliability issues so far.
IT Infrastructure & Cloud Manager at Softcell Technologies Limited
Regarding stability, One Identity Active Roles is mostly stable.
Director, Identity & M365 Engineering at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Active Directory needs improvements in usability, integration, security updates, synchronization, setup, reporting, support, scalability, and email group sync.
One Identity Active Roles requires streamlined setup, modernized UI, better documentation, lower pricing, improved cloud integration, and enhanced customization.
Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.
Information Technology Specialist at stelios@biolandenergy.com
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.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
I also want One Identity Active Roles to improve in their policy configuration area, which requires advanced expertise, and in the area of reporting, I want the reporting to be more basic, visible, and have the ability to export and customize options.
Cybersecurity Consultant at CyberBackbone
A way to connect to various directories and integrate with cloud directories would be beneficial.
Team Lead, Technical & Enterprise Directory Services Vita Program at AIS Network
Enhancements to the console are also necessary because it is more confusing than the web interface.
System Administrator at Shaare Zedek Medical Centre
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Active Directory pricing varies by region and model; Azure offers cost-effective solutions for large enterprises despite perceived expense.
Enterprise buyers view One Identity Active Roles as expensive but justified by its ROI, efficiency, and flexible user-based licensing.
For the cloud solution in our region, the pricing of Microsoft Active Directory is very high.
Network & Security Section Head/Digital Transformation at a government with 201-500 employees
I consider Microsoft Active Directory expensive because if you buy this thing bundled with the Windows Directory Server, you get five user licenses for about a thousand euros, or a little bit less than this.
Owner at Syntlogo GmbH
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing with Microsoft Active Directory is straightforward; you just buy the server and then have to buy the user CALs.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
It is quite expensive, costing more than 50 euros per identity.
solution architect/ engineer at APEX.IT Sp. z o.o.
I think our total was in the seven-figure range for a couple of years of service.
Director, Identity & M365 Engineering at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The pricing is high.
Team Lead, Technical & Enterprise Directory Services Vita Program at AIS Network
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Active Directory simplifies management with integration, group policies, and scalable operations across on-premises and cloud environments.
One Identity Active Roles streamlines management and enhances security through automation, role-based access, dynamic groups, and compliance features.
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.
IT Operations & Security at veris
One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
I can control all the devices in my domain by just changing the group policies in one place.
Information Technology Specialist at stelios@biolandenergy.com
It's improved our security posture. It has limited access to our crown jewels, where all our identities lie within Active Directory.
IAM Specialist
It helps in removing custom Active Directory delegation, which enhances security by eliminating unnecessary privileges, addressing identity-based breaches by reducing the number of Active Directory delegations.
Head of Global Digital Identity Services at a hospitality company with 10,001+ employees
Dynamic groups are also one of the best features, eliminating the need to add or manage members manually.
Technical Specialist at LSEG
 

Categories and Ranking

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)
One Identity Active Roles
Ranking in Active Directory Management
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (3rd), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 6.6%, up from 5.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of One Identity Active Roles is 12.2%, up from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Active Directory Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
One Identity Active Roles12.2%
Microsoft Active Directory6.6%
Other81.2%
Active Directory Management
 

Featured Reviews

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.
IO
Cybersecurity Consultant at CyberBackbone
One Identity Active Roles makes it easier to maintain a detailed auditing workflow
I want One Identity Active Roles to improve in the area of user interface, modernizing it to feel more like a SaaS tool and to have user-friendly navigation. I also want One Identity Active Roles to improve in their policy configuration area, which requires advanced expertise, and in the area of reporting, I want the reporting to be more basic, visible, and have the ability to export and customize options. The areas needing improvement for One Identity Active Roles include the reporting, the dashboard, and simple policy configuration. I would appreciate improvement in policy configuration and making the reporting system more basic for user interface usage.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Active Directory?
Regarding Microsoft Active Directory's integration with third-party applications, it depends on the requirements. It's not always linked or combined with Microsoft Active Directory. In my experienc...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for One Identity Active Roles?
I am aware of the pricing; it is on the expensive side, though pricing is not my department.
What needs improvement with One Identity Active Roles?
One Identity Active Roles can be improved by simplifying the setup process since a small team in a small business requires implementation without extensive IT support. Additionally, the pricing cou...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Active Roles?
One Identity Active Roles is used primarily to simplify and automate Active Directory user and permission management. The solution automates routine tasks such as account creation, password reset, ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Quest Active Roles
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
City of Frankfurt, Moore Public Schools, George Washington University, Transavia Airlines, Howard County, MD. See all stories at OneIdentity.com/casestudies
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Active Directory vs. One Identity Active Roles and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,797 professionals have used our research since 2012.