Microsoft Active Directory vs OneLogin comparison

Microsoft and One Identity are both solutions in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category. Microsoft is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.5, while One Identity is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3. Microsoft holds a 3.3% mindshare in SSO, compared to One Identity’s 4.0% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of One Identity users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Active Directory

Read 47 Microsoft Active Directory reviews

2,403 Views
1,562 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

OneLogin

Read 40 OneLogin reviews

5,709 Views
2,797 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Microsoft Active Directory

OneLogin

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

OneLogin and Microsoft Active Directory compete in identity management. OneLogin seems to have the upper hand in its integration abilities and flexibility with diverse applications, while Microsoft Active Directory excels in policy management and integration within Microsoft ecosystems.

Features: OneLogin provides strong support for Single Sign-On, Multi-Factor Authentication, and seamless user provisioning. It integrates effortlessly with various applications, including open-source systems. Microsoft Active Directory stands out for its robust policy management, tight control over Windows systems, and seamless integration with Microsoft products.

Room for Improvement: OneLogin could improve its analytic capabilities, AI integration, and modernize its user interface. Users also mention enhancements needed in lifecycle management features and better MacOS support. Microsoft Active Directory could benefit from improved cloud integration and a more intuitive user interface. Users call for better support for hybrid environments and updated group policy functionalities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OneLogin is often deployed on public clouds and is recognized for its straightforward setup and flexibility with SaaS application integrations. User support experiences vary, particularly following its acquisition. Microsoft Active Directory, while initially on-premises, is moving towards cloud setups. Its seamless integration with other Microsoft solutions offers stability, but its deployment is more complex compared to OneLogin.

Pricing and ROI: Users find OneLogin's pricing competitive, with significant ROI through reduced password issues and efficient onboarding. Some concerns include potential increases after initial setup. Microsoft Active Directory's pricing varies due to its licensing model, with larger organizations possibly negotiating better terms. Though some find it expensive, it is justified by its integration capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Active Directory vs. OneLogin Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory vs. OneLogin

March 2026

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Helped 884,873 peers since 2012

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

5.5

OneLogin boosts ROI with reduced IT tickets, enhanced security, streamlined onboarding, and decreased costs through automation and integrated management.

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.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

Teams spend far less time on password issues, access requests, and onboarding, often cutting IT tickets by 30 to 50 percent.

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

We have been able to save 50% of our cost and time.

Daksh Yamal

Senior Software Engineer at Infosys

Through the simplification of the login process for our end users, we have seen a large amount of time saved and increased productivity of users, which indirectly helps us achieve higher profit goals.

Michael Otieno

Human Resources Manager at Shell

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

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

6.8

OneLogin's support is praised for availability and guidance, though some users experience slow responses and inconsistent service.

Support documents are available on the internet in every language.

Kadir Kokcu

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.

Eko Kurniawan

IT Operations & Security at veris

Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

I would rate the customer support a 10.

reviewer2798823

Senior MSC Engineer Manager at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

I have contacted support on a few occasions, mainly for advanced configuration guidance, troubleshooting provisioning issues, and clarifying documentation for complex integrations.

Neha Chhangani

Business Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

They were helpful and responsive.

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

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

7.6

OneLogin provides scalable SaaS solutions, supporting growth and stability, though some challenges exist for larger enterprises.

Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.

Chris Tailowright

Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

Role-based access controls, automated provisioning, and directory integration scale smoothly, allowing me to maintain consistent policies and workflows even as complexity increases.

Neha Chhangani

Business Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

We have not faced any major issues trying to scale it for different organizations and a bigger client base.

reviewer2789601

Consultant at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

It does not have the functionality to add multiple enterprise-level applications.

Huzaifa Abbas

Information Technology Support Engineer at Motive

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

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

7.8

OneLogin is generally reliable with rare but impactful outages, appreciated for consistent performance and trusted by most users.

If you meet the installation requirements from Microsoft, it will be very stable.

Eko Kurniawan

IT Operations & Security at veris

With multiple domain controllers, stability is ensured.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

I've been working with Microsoft Active Directory for over 3 years, and we've had no problems.

Chris Tailowright

Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

Overall, OneLogin's stability gives me confidence that it can support my organization's current needs and scale as we grow.

Neha Chhangani

Business Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

During the trial period, which was for thirty days, I never faced any downtime.

Huzaifa Abbas

Information Technology Support Engineer at Motive

Regarding stability, I would not say there are downtime, bugs, or glitches.

Tanyanika Lewis

IT Support Technician at Interlaced

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Active Directory needs improvements in usability, integration, security updates, synchronization, setup, reporting, support, scalability, and email group sync.

OneLogin's interface complexity, performance issues, and limited customization require improved UI, API, integration, documentation, and support.

Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.

Stelios Georgiou

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.

Chris Tailowright

Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

More real-time alerts, such as when access fails or MFA is triggered, would help users understand issues faster.

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

It is easy to implement and incorporate in any enterprise, and you can define the ROI pretty fast.

HatemAly

Presales Manager at 1D Consulting

OneLogin could be improved with more add-ins for integration with Entra ID and Exchange Online.

reviewer2789589

System Engineer at a government with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

Setup Cost

Microsoft Active Directory pricing varies by region and model; Azure offers cost-effective solutions for large enterprises despite perceived expense.

OneLogin offers flexible, competitive pricing, making it an affordable, user-friendly choice compared to competitors like Okta.

For the cloud solution in our region, the pricing of Microsoft Active Directory is very high.

Magdy Ali

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.

Giovanni Baruzzi

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.

Chris Tailowright

Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

The cost is less compared to Okta and Entra ID.

Amit Rathod

Senior Analyst - IDAM at Toll Holdings Limited

Overall, the pricing, setup, and licensing structure are transparent and deliver a good return on investment, especially when considering the operational efficiency and security improvements gained from using OneLogin.

Neha Chhangani

Business Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

OneLogin by One Identity was affordable compared to other solutions in the market when considering pricing, setup cost, and licensing.

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

Valuable Features

Microsoft Active Directory simplifies management with integration, group policies, and scalable operations across on-premises and cloud environments.

OneLogin enhances security and productivity with SSO, MFA, and easy integration, simplifying user access and reducing password fatigue.

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.

Eko Kurniawan

IT Operations & Security at veris

One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

I can control all the devices in my domain by just changing the group policies in one place.

Stelios Georgiou

Information Technology Specialist at stelios@biolandenergy.com

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

Multi-Factor Authentication is generally useful for adding an extra layer of security, which is crucial, especially for the sensitive nature of the data we handle.

Aryan Priyanish D.

Developer Intern at Stealth

With SmartFactor Authentication, I can balance between them. I can give users an easy and smooth user experience as long as the risk indices are low, but I can implement pretty rigid authentication workflows if the risk gets higher.

HatemAly

Presales Manager at 1D Consulting

OneLogin's best features are its MFA capabilities as well as making it easier to access different applications depending on the user.

reviewer2789601

Consultant at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Active Directory

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

9th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Active Directory Management (2nd)

OneLogin

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

User Provisioning Software (5th), Identity Management (IM) (6th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (5th), Access Management (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 3.3%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OneLogin is 4.0%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Single Sign-On (SSO) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
OneLogin	4.0%
Microsoft Active Directory	3.3%
Other	92.7%

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Featured Reviews

Eko Kurniawan

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.

Read full review

Amit Rathod

Senior Analyst - IDAM at Toll Holdings Limited

Unified sign-in has simplified access control and has supported end-to-end identity lifecycle

The authentication process is good, but sometimes the responsiveness to requests for enhancement is very slow. I sometimes face issues with platform stability, flexibility in configuration, and limited API availability. I experience downtimes two to three times per year. OneLogin's support team is sometimes very slow to respond. There is a feature limitation with mapping, as OneLogin does not provide one-to-all mapping. For client deployment, we need to create separate mappings for each request, and we cannot use the same mapping for multiple requests. Other areas that have room for improvement are related to API limitations. If a client requires more APIs, such as 5,000 or 6,000, OneLogin charges more. The API rate limits by default or the standard limit should provide more than 5,000. Additionally, OneLogin could provide more flexibility in configuration. These are the main limitations I have identified with OneLogin.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

University

14%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	20

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	32

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

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What needs improvement with OneLogin by One Identity?

The areas of OneLogin that have room for improvement include that AI is not for me. There are tools where AI does not belong, in my opinion, and this is one of them. I don't see any benefits of hav...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for OneLogin by One Identity?

OneLogin's use case in my organization is for the entire infrastructure because it was very outdated, not secure, and it was built Windows heavy despite us being a Mac environment. I decided to go ...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering OneLogin by One Identity?

The advice I would give others looking to implement OneLogin is that there are a lot of tools out there. If this is something where the basic package fits for people or they need all those extra be...

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Comparisons

Ping Identity Platform vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 14% of the time

ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 8% of the time

JumpCloud vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 8% of the time

Okta Platform vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 7% of the time

CyberArk Identity vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Active Directory Competitors

Okta Platform vs OneLogin

Compared 8% of the time

Auth0 Platform vs OneLogin

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs OneLogin

Compared 5% of the time

LastPass Business vs OneLogin

Compared 5% of the time

Google Cloud Identity vs OneLogin

Compared 4% of the time

More OneLogin Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory

March 2026

Download Microsoft Active Directory product report

Buyer's Guide

OneLogin

March 2026

Download OneLogin product report

Also Known As

No data available

OneLogin Workforce Identity

Overview

Active Directory stores information about objects on the network and makes this information easy for administrators and users to find and use. Active Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a logical, hierarchical organization of directory information.

This data store, also known as the directory, contains information about Active Directory objects. These objects typically include shared resources such as servers, volumes, printers, and the network user and computer accounts.

Security is integrated with Active Directory through logon authentication and access control to objects in the directory. With a single network logon, administrators can manage directory data and organization throughout their network, and authorized network users can access resources anywhere on the network. Policy-based administration eases the management of even the most complex network.

Microsoft

OneLogin offers organizations a user-friendly platform for single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and seamless access management. It enhances security and streamlines processes, making it vital for application management.

Designed for ease of integration, OneLogin helps organizations efficiently manage access and improve cybersecurity through centralized application management. It simplifies onboarding and offboarding, enhancing remote work capabilities and offering robust user mapping. Users appreciate seamless integration and reliable logs. However, it could improve with enhanced technical support, more out-of-box connectors, and better customization options. Challenges with device management and system integrations have been noted, with legacy application support and infrastructure stability needing attention.

What are the key features of OneLogin?

Single Sign-On: Provides centralized access to applications.
Multifactor Authentication: Enhances security with multiple verification steps.
Self-Service Password Resets: Empowers users to manage their passwords.
Ease of Integration: Connects seamlessly with cloud and on-premises systems.

What benefits can users expect?

Improved Time Management: Streamlines user access processes.
Reduced Security Incidents: Strengthens authentication measures.
Efficient Interface: Facilitates smooth user navigation.
Enhanced Remote Work: Supports flexible workforce needs.

Organizations employ OneLogin for single sign-on and identity management, connecting users to applications like CRM and Slack. It supports role-based access control and seamless cloud transition, integrating with Active Directory to enhance user management in industries demanding strong security and efficiency.

One Identity

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

OneLogin has thousands of customers across multiple industries and from around the globe such as Uber, Airbnb, Noom, Petco, Sony, Lucky Brand, Tesco, Airbus, Japan Airlines, Aetna, Compass, Kaplan, Susan G. Komen, AAA and PennyMac.

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory vs. OneLogin

March 2026

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