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Microsoft Entra External ID vs Ping Identity Platform comparison

 

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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
4.0
Organizations saved time and costs with Microsoft Entra External ID, despite varied productivity impacts and integration learning curves.
Sentiment score
4.2
Ping Identity Platform simplifies identity management, lowers IT overhead, enhances security, improves efficiency, boosts satisfaction, and offers scalability.
It has led to cost savings as well as time savings because I can use a single solution for all applications.
Associate Director Automation at Dubai Holding
Companies can leverage it for setting up external identities without needing to develop their own solutions.
Lead Enterprise Architect at DigyCorp
In terms of return on investment, prior to using this product, our company managed our own mail server with all internal authentication happening on premises, resulting in a ROI in the thousands every year.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
4.9
Microsoft Entra External ID support experiences are mixed, with praise for knowledgeable staff but concerns about continuity and accessibility.
Sentiment score
6.3
Ping Identity Platform's customer service is generally good, but response times and portal clarity need improvement for urgent issues.
Companies without a Microsoft license for Entra ID or Azure portal cannot add Azure AD B2C, creating logistical issues for some of my clients who are unable to evaluate the platform.
Consultant at Artifield
The support for business applications, infrastructure support, and Entra has been mostly positive with highly skilled technicians.
Sales Manager - Program Manger at Altitudo srl
The documentation is very thorough, reducing the need for support.
Cloud Security Consultant at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
I have reached out to technical support for troubleshooting SAML certificate mismatches and federated errors between Ping and enterprise apps.
Senior ServiceNow Developer at Wells Fargo
I would rate the technical support for Ping Identity Platform seven out of ten because of their limited support and late availability.
Senior Analyst at Toll Holdings Limited
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Entra External ID offers scalability and flexibility but faces latency issues and lacks some authentication methods.
Sentiment score
7.3
Ping Identity Platform excels in scalability, supporting varied user bases with adaptable performance, though configuration enhancements are needed.
This is one of EID's weak points compared to Azure AD B2C, which offers customizable authentication options, including attribute and password combinations.
Consultant at Artifield
End-user workloads experience increased latency in a cloud environment compared to on-premises resources.
Director at iicon ltd
Microsoft Entra External ID is quite scalable, and I would rate its scalability between eight and nine out of ten.
Lead Enterprise Architect at DigyCorp
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
5.2
Microsoft Entra External ID is a stable SaaS, rated 8-10/10, with minimal downtime, reliable except for occasional external issues.
Sentiment score
7.8
Ping Identity Platform is highly stable, with manageable issues, supported by proper maintenance, configuration, and monitoring tools.
I'd rate the stability of the Microsoft Entra External ID as a 10.
Director of Technology at a hospitality company with 51-200 employees
The stability of this solution is very good.
Associate Director Automation at Dubai Holding
I have not encountered any stability issues with Microsoft Entra External ID.
Lead Enterprise Architect at DigyCorp
In terms of stability for Ping Identity Platform, we haven't faced any issues till now.
Senior Analyst at Toll Holdings Limited
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Entra External ID needs cost reduction, faster sync, better security, improved SSO, UI, integration, support, and pricing clarity.
Ping Identity Platform struggles with complex setup, high costs, unintuitive interface, limited integration, and challenging troubleshooting.
This is particularly challenging during enterprise agreement renewals, as it's difficult for customers to review costs leading to lengthy negotiations.
Sales Manager - Program Manger at Altitudo srl
Enhanced customizable login options and the ability to use attribute password logins are critical features that are required for Microsoft Entra External ID to gain dominance in the authentication market.
Consultant at Artifield
I would like to see a more detailed alert system that provides a summary of why alerts are generated, who is generating them, and the reasons behind it.
Cloud Security Consultant at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
I would like to enable ServiceNow Generative AI for auto-diagnosing PingFederate SSO failures and suggest remediation steps.
Senior ServiceNow Developer at Wells Fargo
Ping Identity Platform has multiple products for access management, identity management, a solution for API security, a solution for authorization, and a product for identity verification.
VP Engineering at Inspirit Vision
There is a very limited number of legacy support, which can pose potential difficulties in integrating with certain older or legacy systems.
Senior Analyst at Toll Holdings Limited
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Entra External ID pricing varies, cost-effective for some, expensive for others, challenging cloud transition impacts evaluation.
Ping Identity Platform is cost-effective, competitively priced, favorable for large enterprises, with strong security and scalability.
Regarding pricing, the cost seems high for single sign-on, especially for external applications like Oracle.
Associate Director Automation at Dubai Holding
Microsoft's pricing is complex and difficult to fathom due to a range of different licensing options.
Director at iicon ltd
The cost can be a factor for Microsoft Entra External ID, but in general, it offers a scalable and efficient solution compared to deploying individual solutions.
Lead Enterprise Architect at DigyCorp
Regarding pricing for Ping Identity Platform, I would rate it eight out of ten.
Senior Analyst at Toll Holdings Limited
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Entra External ID enhances security and efficiency by simplifying identity management and integration without on-premises infrastructure.
Ping Identity Platform offers multi-factor authentication, SSO, and robust security with a user-friendly interface and flexible integrations.
It is crucial for hybrid environments, especially for integrating existing on-site infrastructures with cloud-based Active Directory, such as in Office 365 implementations.
Director at iicon ltd
EID unifies workforce users with external business partners, which is a very strong feature.
Consultant at Artifield
The detailed monitoring and reporting in Microsoft Entra External ID support compliance efforts effectively.
Manager, Identity & Access Management at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The platform enhances security measures by analyzing multi-factor authentication attempts, highlighting suspicious patterns, and generating compliance reports.
Senior ServiceNow Developer at Wells Fargo
It's a converged platform which can do both identity management, access management, and recently they are bringing privilege management capability as well.
VP Engineering at Inspirit Vision
It is a completely comprehensive hybrid capable Identity and Access Management feature which provides features such as multi-factor authentication, Single Sign-On, then Identity Orchestration, centralized authorizations such as ABAC.
Senior Analyst at Toll Holdings Limited
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra External ID
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
10th
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (16th)
Ping Identity Platform
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
5th
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (6th), Authentication Systems (7th), Data Governance (11th), Access Management (6th), Directory Servers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 1.9%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ping Identity Platform is 3.8%, down from 5.4% 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 (%)
Ping Identity Platform3.8%
Microsoft Entra External ID1.9%
Other94.3%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

FS
Consultant at Artifield
Offers strong identity unification but needs better customization
Microsoft Entra External ID can be improved with additional features, specifically customizable flexibility and a customizable user interface for the login dialog. Currently, the login dialog has very limited customization options, which only include font styles, colors, text messages, or brand icons. Last month, Entra ID introduced some customizable features in their login dialog, but this does not apply to Microsoft Entra External ID, indicating a significant gap between the two. In theory, Entra External ID can support many external identity providers where custom login dialogs could be integrated, potentially via SSO feature coordination, although I have not yet confirmed this. Hence, enhanced customizable login options and the ability to use attribute password logins are critical features that are required for Microsoft Entra External ID to gain dominance in the authentication market.
AmitRathod - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Analyst at Toll Holdings Limited
Single sign-on has simplified access while adaptive authentication protects complex user journeys
Regarding areas for improvement in Ping Identity Platform, there is not much. In terms of licensing and implementation costs, it has premium pricing, and it has a very complex implementation. It provides greater feasibility, but it takes a very long time in terms of complete building. There is a very limited number of legacy support, which can pose potential difficulties in integrating with certain older or legacy systems. Additionally, issue troubleshooting can be difficult at times. Sometimes issues can be difficult to diagnose and require extensive technical expertise. There is also a very steep learning curve for administrative purposes and potential difficulties with offline authentication scenarios.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Retailer
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PingFederate?
The product is affordable and starts at 20,000 dollars/year, depending upon the license and maintenance requirement. It makes our work easier and saves a lot of time.
What do you like most about PingAccess?
PingFederate is very flexible. We can do many customizations, and it also provides an SDK to tailor it to our specific requirements. There are also numerous plugins available. I've worked with tool...
What needs improvement with PingAccess?
From the improvement perspective, they could bring IGA capability, which right now they only have in their SaaS offering. Other than that, Ping Identity Platform has multiple products for access ma...
 

Also Known As

Azure Active Directory External Identities
Ping Identity (ID), PingFederate, PingAccess, PingOne, PingDataGovernance, PingDirectory, OpenDJ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Equinix, Land O'Lakes, CDPHP, Box, International SOS, Opower, VSP, Chevron, Truist, Academy of Art University, Northern Air Cargo, Repsol
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra External ID vs. Ping Identity Platform and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.