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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
6.3
One Identity Active Roles enhances efficiency and security, reduces workload and risks, delivering quick returns and increased user satisfaction.
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.
One Identity Active Roles provides excellent reporting and auditing functionality, allowing administrators to track permissions, actions, and responsibilities effectively.
It has saved 90% of the time compared to before.
 

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
7.9
One Identity Active Roles support is responsive and effective, with occasional delays; users rate it between seven and ten.
Support documents are available on the internet in every language.
If you purchase retail, the support will be more difficult because they will assess the priority or rating from the customer.
Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.
One Identity's support is great.
I rate customer service and support as a seven because, although they are helpful when needed, there can be delays in responding to tickets and finding necessary fixes.
Sometimes having a fix for a bug takes too much time.
 

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
7.9
One Identity Active Roles is scalable for large user bases, efficiently managing multiple directories and automating tasks.
Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.
It is very beneficial for large and complex environments.
If you are a major enterprise customer, it is a matter of scaling out on resources with more memory, disk, and CPU power.
The solution is highly scalable, with a scalability rating of nine.
 

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
7.3
One Identity Active Roles is generally stable with minimal maintenance, but occasional performance lags and updates are needed.
If you meet the installation requirements from Microsoft, it will be very stable.
With multiple domain controllers, stability is ensured.
I've been working with Microsoft Active Directory for over 3 years, and we've had no problems.
There were no major problems with One Identity Active Roles.
We haven't had any glitches.
I would rate the stability as a seven because there are sometimes performance issues, which require restarting the services.
 

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 needs better web interface customization, scripting support, integration, user interface scalability, and improved workflows and security.
Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple.
There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.
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.
A way to connect to various directories and integrate with cloud directories would be beneficial.
Enhancements to the console are also necessary because it is more confusing than the web interface.
The user interface needs to be more modern and scalable.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Active Directory pricing varies by region and model; Azure offers cost-effective solutions for large enterprises despite perceived expense.
One Identity Active Roles uses a user-based licensing model with high costs but offers significant ROI and flexibility.
For the cloud solution in our region, the pricing of Microsoft Active Directory is very high.
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.
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.
It is quite expensive, costing more than 50 euros per identity.
The pricing is high.
The pricing of One Identity Active Roles is expensive, but the return on investment justifies the cost, allowing for savings in other areas.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Active Directory simplifies management with integration, group policies, and scalable operations across on-premises and cloud environments.
One Identity Active Roles enhances security and management with robust access control, automation, integration, and centralized directory management.
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.
One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.
I can control all the devices in my domain by just changing the group policies in one place.
It's improved our security posture. It has limited access to our crown jewels, where all our identities lie within Active Directory.
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.
Dynamic groups are also one of the best features, eliminating the need to add or manage members manually.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Active Directory Management
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (8th)
One Identity Active Roles
Ranking in Active Directory Management
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (5th), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 6.2%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of One Identity Active Roles is 10.2%, up from 7.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Active Directory Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
One Identity Active Roles10.2%
Microsoft Active Directory6.2%
Other83.6%
Active Directory Management
 

Featured Reviews

Eko Kurniawan - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Grzegorz Kosela - PeerSpot reviewer
Task automation simplifies user and delegation management while offering a customizable interface
Currently, task automation, like provisioning, deprovisioning, and reprovisioning, is very effective. When a user moves from one organization to another, it automatically changes their group membership and performs similar functions. Secondly, the granular delegation feature is very nice and much simpler and easier than it is natively in Microsoft. Two years ago, One Identity Active Roles was under Dell. It was quite poor. However, now, there have been notable improvements, such as faster system processing, better logging, enhanced information, and a more user-friendly interface. Once it was sold by Dell, things got better. The interface became a bit more user-friendly. The Angular user interface is much more flexible for adjusting to customer needs, and a completely new and customizable one can be created, aligning with all settings and scripts required by a customer. The ease of managing on-prem and cloud-based directories through a single pane of glass is good. I'd rate it nine out of ten. The solution's ability to provision and deprovision resources and directories like Azure AD is very simple, especially when you can integrate with the HR system and grab some data from HR. It's actually fully automatic. I don't need to even touch it. It's helped increase operational efficiency by 50%. It's helped decrease security problems around privileged accounts. We were able to decrease the number of privileged accounts and have been able to delegate more effectively. We decreased the number of high-level permissions that administrators had. For example, if someone is a DNS administrator, he has access only as far as the specific actions he needs to handle. We don't need to give away such high privileges for such a daily job. It's helped clarify roles and access. It's helped reduce identity-based breaches. If someone leaves a company, we can easily undo provisioning and close accounts. We can generate reports to see which people have which permissions and at what times. We've just integrated with our HR system. It helps us follow activated and deactivated users. I'd rate the granular controls on offer ten out of ten. We've saved on manpower in terms of the work of the administrators. There's good reporting and functionality, and it's very transparent. You can connect more than one directory and manage everything from one pane. You can do many things from one interface.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Healthcare Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
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 Business19
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

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?
I think Microsoft Active Directory could be more intuitive. My impression of the integration of Microsoft Active Directory with third-party applications is that it can be made better. It's not the ...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
My usual use case for Microsoft Active Directory is to share groups of authorization among many different applications. The other use case for Microsoft Active Directory is the authentication of us...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for One Identity Active Roles?
The product is expensive, but if you want to save money, the delegation set-up process is quite easy. After setting up Active Roles once, defining the delegation model, it is very efficient, almost...
What needs improvement with One Identity Active Roles?
The interface appears outdated. Once logged in, everything inside remains unchanged from years ago. Additionally, when they release new features, they should provide training or webinars at least o...
 

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: September 2025.
869,785 professionals have used our research since 2012.