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Microsoft Entra ID Protection vs Microsoft Identity Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 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 Entra ID Protection offers efficient password management, simplifying access and providing full ROI in three years.
Sentiment score
5.1
Microsoft Identity Manager improves security and efficiency, offering up to 20% time savings and simplifying training with standardization.
There is a return on investment in terms of time-saving, control, and ease of manageability of the environment.
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Distribution
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Microsoft Entra ID Protection support is mixed; premium praised, free options slow, consistency issues, and varied third-party experiences.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Identity Manager's customer service is reliable, with thorough engagement but varying response speed and documentation quality. Ratings average 7-9/10.
We classified it as a critical problem, and they accepted our classification and helped us quickly.
Founder at AiALL
They often refer to internal blogs, which doesn't offer much new information and can limit our capabilities in troubleshooting.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
Tickets often bounce from person to person, requiring the sharing of information multiple times.
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Distribution
I rate the technical support nine out of ten.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
It is important to get to the right engineer quickly, but the process sometimes involves multiple levels before reaching the best support.
Consultant at IOM - UN Migration
The technical support is of good quality
Senior SOC Developer at XVE Security
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Microsoft Entra ID Protection efficiently scales with organization sizes, though additional licenses may be needed as businesses grow.
Sentiment score
6.8
Microsoft Identity Manager is ideal for enterprises, not small businesses, with scalability issues for many users; consider Azure AD.
Since it is a cloud computing product, it can accommodate a range of company sizes, from a few users to large businesses.
Security Analyst at UPCI
There are no issues with scalability up to your license limitations.
Senior Solution Architect Data Center & Cloud at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We haven't experienced problems with Microsoft Entra ID Protection.
Founder at AiALL
In terms of scalability, Microsoft Identity Manager allows management of up to 400,000 objects with a standard configuration.
Consultant at IOM - UN Migration
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Entra ID Protection is highly stable, with minor bugs, offering reliable performance even in large organizations.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Identity Manager is highly stable and reliable, with users rating its performance between eight to nine out of ten.
Not all conditions can be satisfied at all times, leading to some employee or user accounts experiencing deviations and syncing issues.
Consultant at IOM - UN Migration
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Entra ID Protection requires identity enhancements, better integration, improved scalability, and streamlined user experiences for competitiveness.
Microsoft Identity Manager struggles with connectivity, integration, and support, needing better interfaces, documentation, and Azure Active Directory integration.
If there was some level of backup mechanism available with quick restore functionality, that would be beneficial.
Senior Solution Architect Data Center & Cloud at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Microsoft has not offered control over how they calculate high or low-risk scenarios.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
There is no write-back feature from the cloud to local, which would allow me to use my own credentials from the cloud tenant securely.
Security Operations Team Leader at Yalla Security Srl
Very often customers require real-time or almost real-time updates, and this feature is missing in Microsoft Identity Manager.
System Engineer 2 at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
The current policy management features are limited, and custom, flexible policies would be ideal.
Senior SOC Developer at XVE Security
While the initial setup of Microsoft Identity Manager is not completely complex, migrating or upgrading to a new version can be complex and requires multiple backups to ensure it goes smoothly.
Consultant at IOM - UN Migration
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Entra ID Protection pricing is competitive but may be costly and complex, especially for smaller markets or businesses.
Microsoft Identity Manager is cost-effective when bundled with premium licenses, despite mixed reviews on its pricing and value.
Entra ID Protection is not badly priced, but some clients, especially in medium to smaller scale companies in third-world countries, find it quite expensive.
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Distribution
Microsoft Entra ID requires additional licensing components.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
The pricing for Microsoft Entra ID protection is not expensive.
Security Analyst at UPCI
Microsoft's licenses are bundled, allowing access to multiple services, which is beneficial.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
The pricing of Microsoft Identity Manager is expensive.
Senior SOC Developer at XVE Security
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Identity Manager, it has a couple of cloud connectors that can sync directly with the O365 admin center, which is good enough.
Consultant at IOM - UN Migration
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Entra ID Protection enhances identity security with conditional access, multifactor authentication, and seamless integration, offering scalability and compliance.
Microsoft Identity Manager enhances security with Single Sign-On and integrates seamlessly with Office 365 and Active Directory.
Having a single sign-on feature with Entra ID ensures seamless access to various applications, even those with significant security constraints.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
These features ease the job of security analysts, providing a better vision of user activities and potential risks.
Security Operations Team Leader at Yalla Security Srl
We use automated remediation for logon purposes and error purposes. It remediates issues and provides just-in-time access when applicable.
Senior Solution Architect Data Center & Cloud at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The features of Microsoft Identity Manager that have been most impactful in improving security and compliance include the granular policies, report, and the ability to gain end-to-end visibility for each user.
CISO at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
These features have been impactful in improving our security and compliance.
Senior SOC Developer at XVE Security
The best features of Microsoft Identity Manager are its 100% compatibility with Active Directory.
Consultant at IOM - UN Migration
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra ID Protection
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (9th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (2nd)
Microsoft Identity Manager
Ranking in Identity Management (IM)
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Identity Management (IM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID Protection is 1.5%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Identity Manager is 2.1%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Management (IM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Entra ID Protection1.5%
Microsoft Identity Manager2.1%
Other96.4%
Identity Management (IM)
 

Featured Reviews

Luis Gabriel Mieles Benavides - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at Sonda S.A.
Identity protection has strengthened daily access control and improved passwordless security
The best features of Microsoft Entra ID Protection include the password dictionary, which we do not have in Active Directory. Conditional access is excellent because we can select the location from which users authenticate, and this is the best feature for me. Another valuable feature is the ability to identify critical or suspicious computers. If computers are too old or too suspicious, the system does not allow authentication, which is excellent. The effectiveness of automated remediation for handling identity threats is great. I use passwordless authentication with cellular phone authentication, which is excellent because we do not always need a password. Microsoft Entra ID Protection is a great solution overall because it improves security in the company through identity management. It improves integration with other solutions such as Google, Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, and Facebook. We can create different applications and integrate with different services.
RameshKumar9 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at IOM - UN Migration
Supports reliable identity management and custom policy design
Microsoft Identity Manager can be improved by integrating it with Entra ID as a SaaS application or by having a cloud-based connector, as it is currently limited to on-prem scenarios, and a combination of both would be a great solution compared to competitors such as SailPoint or One Identity Manager. While the initial setup of Microsoft Identity Manager is not completely complex, migrating or upgrading to a new version can be complex and requires multiple backups to ensure it goes smoothly.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
The pricing for Microsoft Entra ID protection is not expensive. It varies based on the company's size and quality.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
We explore the possibilities to use Purview to control our applications, though not very deeply as it's not very helpful at this moment.For us, the most important problem is access; we need an easy...
What is your primary use case for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
We are still deep involved in the use of Microsoft technology for databases and business intelligence, and in the last three years with Power Apps and Power Automate, all that means Azure services,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Identity Manager?
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Identity Manager, it has a couple of cloud connectors that can sync directly with the O365 admin center, which is good enough, but Entra I...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Identity Manager?
Microsoft Identity Manager can be improved by integrating it with Entra ID as a SaaS application or by having a cloud-based connector, as it is currently limited to on-prem scenarios, and a combina...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Identity Manager?
The typical use case for Microsoft Identity Manager is to automate Active Directory, where it is responsible for onboarding new employees to on-premises AD or to the cloud based on certain criteria.
 

Also Known As

Azure Active Directory Identity Protection, Azure AD Identity Protection
MIM, Forefront Identity Manager, FIM, MS Identity Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Whole Foods Market
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID Protection vs. Microsoft Identity Manager and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.