No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Microsoft Entra External ID vs SAP Customer Identity and Access Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 27, 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

Microsoft Entra External ID
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
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (10th), Microsoft Security Suite (16th)
SAP Customer Identity and A...
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
15th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 4.2%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Customer Identity and Access Management is 2.1%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra External ID4.2%
SAP Customer Identity and Access Management2.1%
Other93.7%
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
 

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.
Srini-Dhanaraj - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder & CEO at imfine.club
A set of tools that allows you to manage user access to the Fiori apps and specify what users can do and see in the apps
Seamless integration is the most valuable feature. There is some functionality where you can go and enable and disable everything in no time.  You could use only SAP provided the API to extract. And there is one channel I experienced during the data migration, which allows us to create the…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The impact of having multiple authentication types available significantly helps with security practices using Microsoft Entra External ID."
"The single sign-on access is the most useful feature we use."
"Microsoft Entra External ID offers numerous advantages; there's no need to maintain anything on-premises, which results in a significant IT infrastructure cost saving."
"For policy management in my organization, I would say it is perfect."
"The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use."
"It's quite easy to manage and monitor."
"It's similar to using a Microsoft account to create accounts on other websites. We are also using Microsoft Entra to monitor which applications our guests are using. This allows us to filter, block, or adjust permissions for these applications as needed for our collaborators."
"The best features of Microsoft Entra External ID include its unification of B2C functionality and B2E features."
"Seamless integration is the most valuable feature. There is a there is some functionality where you could go and be enabled and disable everything, you can do it with no time."
"The most valuable aspect of the product is the provisioning of a lot of SAP systems, as it offers automated provisioning and the integration capabilities are good."
 

Cons

"I would like to see faster synchronization."
"Technical support needs improvement."
"The cost is very high."
"A common concern among the customers I visit is the unpredictability of Microsoft's costs at every renewal. This is really bothersome for the customer, and I would say it is the worst element I have seen in these years."
"The only problem that you might face with Microsoft now is their complex licensing model."
"The problem with Microsoft products is that they often cater to enterprise-level needs, which can be too costly for medium-sized businesses."
"There is room for improvement in AI technology for Microsoft Entra External ID, particularly in providing detailed alerts."
"The authentication methods available are very limited, and this presents a weak point."
"The automated provisioning only works well with the SAP products and there are some problems with the non-SAP products. Even if it is SAP, if it is a non-ABAP system, it is a little bit problematic."
"Only component, I would think the database is inbuilt. So you could use only SAP provided the API to extract. And there is one channel I experienced during the data migration, which is which allow us to create the customer or delete the Customer. And it won't allow for any change. The data migration needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We don't pay separately for Microsoft Entra External ID as it's part of our Microsoft Exchange subscription."
"The pricing of the solution is cheap."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) solutions are best for your needs.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
No data available
 

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...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Azure Active Directory External Identities
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra External ID vs. SAP Customer Identity and Access Management and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.