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Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Entra ID Governance 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
273
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (2nd), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
Microsoft Entra ID Governance
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 18.5%, down from 29.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID Governance is 3.2%, up from 1.1% 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 (%)
Microsoft Entra ID18.5%
Microsoft Entra ID Governance3.2%
Other78.3%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Stafin Jacob - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Practice Lead at Invoke
Identity has become our central gatekeeper and has provided secure single sign-on for all users
Microsoft Entra ID can improve by focusing more on new passwordless methods and becoming a primary adopter. One feature we would like to see is the ability to have security questions for password resets. I know the current capability is phasing out, so we do not have an alternative method yet. Customers who already use security questions require a smoother transition for that capability to be available. My experience with the deployment has had some challenges, particularly around the Microsoft MFA campaigns. The hardest part is moving users from a different MFA provider to the Microsoft MFA provider, as it ultimately depends on user activity. In large enterprises with numerous users across various geographies, this transition takes time. If there are ways to exert more control around that process, it would improve the situation.
JG
Lead Cloud Systems Architect at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Access reviews and lifecycle policies have streamlined privileged account oversight and onboarding automation
I am not using the access review agent feature in Microsoft Entra ID Governance because that is in preview right now, and I do not know if that is available. My perception of Microsoft Entra ID Governance's ability to handle large volumes of users access and management tasks is good. There is a slight delay from creation of the actual access review to how long it takes to complete the actual review. For us, we are a large organization with over ten thousand employees. If we are doing a review on a larger group that has thousands of employees inside of it, it takes a while to actually complete, and then it becomes a headache for managers. If there were a way to condense that or decrease the amount of time it takes to do it, that would be better. We inspect thousands of people. Microsoft Entra ID Governance can be improved, and I actually have two tickets in with you now about improvements. I would have to dig it up because I do not know off the top of my head, but you can find it. We have two tickets that have been put in by the FastTrack team that I work with for identity governance. I think it was something about the ability to stop reviews early. When you create an access review now, and you put a time gate on it, say it is the end of this week, once the access review is finished, the managers went in there and finished the access review, you cannot finish it until the end of the week. That is a slight problem because we do not get a notification for people that are on the identity side that they have actually finished that, and I think there are two tickets in for that right now.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"A couple of features are valuable, but the one that comes across the most to me is multi-factor authentication."
"We have not had any formal issues with scalability."
"Installation is straightforward. It only took a couple of hours to set everything up."
"I like that you can run it on-premises. I also like that I can use Azure at any time as the main one."
"Azure Active Directory has many automation capabilities, and you can apply policies on top. You can do a lot of things with these combinations and integrate other tools like PingFederate."
"Microsoft Entra ID scales effectively with the growing needs of our organization, as we have never faced any challenges with its scalability."
"Every feature in Microsoft Entra ID plays a crucial role in overall security."
"Azure Active Directory features have helped improve our security posture. The remote working has been a massive help during the pandemic."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Entra ID Governance is access reviews."
"Regarding Microsoft Entra ID Governance integration with Microsoft services, there is automated identity lifecycle management in the product."
"The most valuable functions in Microsoft Entra ID Governance are ease of use, conducting access reviews, and tighter platform coupling."
"It is compliant with our RVRT and CSV guidelines."
"The product's most valuable features are the robust audit trail capabilities."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the single sign-on service."
"The most valuable features are multifactor authentication and account creation for the Exchange environment in Office 365."
"The solution gives me the capability to automatically move guest accounts from the tenant without any manual intervention."
 

Cons

"On-premise capabilities for information and identity management need improvement."
"I believe that Microsoft Entra ID can be improved by adding more granularity in options within Conditional Access specifically, because there are certain scenarios that we cannot address due to insufficient options to set up those rules."
"Whatever business requirements we needed in the past three years, users were created, with the name of the user and they were not connected with the Active Directory. We were trying to in house in three years and with directory, but we were not able to achieve it."
"Documentation I think is always the worst part with what Azure's doing right now across the board."
"Customer service has been inconsistent for us, and we usually have to escalate issues. We typically resolve the problem before Microsoft can respond to us, so the service has not been very useful."
"There is a feature that we have been waiting for regarding Bicep templates. The option to use Bicep templates to deploy Microsoft Entra ID objects from the Azure Portal is needed."
"Many of the features are outdated, so the UI and UX could be improved."
"The only issue with Azure AD is that it doesn't have control over the wifi network."
"Even though we have almost the full package, there are some bugs."
"Bridging between on-premises and cloud services has the potential for improvement. For instance, it would be beneficial to be able to synchronize traditional directory schemas with Azure. I need to maintain an on-premises Active Directory server for certain required services."
"There are some areas where improvements are necessary. Even though we have almost the full package, there are some bugs."
"If you want to conduct access review of database-based applications, then you cannot do that."
"Microsoft Entra ID Governance is relatively new, and some features require more development. For example, when creating user access review campaigns, we can't specify the time to send emails to reviewers—only the date."
"Microsoft has done a commendable job with RPAX. However, Microsoft should prioritize enhancing its ABAC (Attribute-Based Access Control) capabilities. Currently, Microsoft's ABAC offering falls behind AWS in comparison."
"If you want to conduct access review of database-based applications, then you cannot do that."
"There is a slight delay from creation of the actual access review to how long it takes to complete the actual review. For us, we are a large organization with over ten thousand employees... it takes a while to actually complete, and then it becomes a headache for managers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay a yearly license. Licenses are very expensive."
"We don't really have a choice. It's the one shop in town. If you want this, you have to pay for it."
"Microsoft Azure AD has P1 or P2 licensing options, and it depends on the customer's needs. To use Conditional Access, you need to have the P1 license, and to use the PIN features, you need the P2 license."
"Most features of Entra ID are part of Microsoft's ecosystem and included in Microsoft 365 bundles, which means there are no additional costs associated with pricing and licensing."
"This product is sold as part of the enterprise package and our licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Expensive solution, but if you look at the technical benefits it provides, the price for it is decent."
"I feel Microsoft is very costly compared to other products. That is also what management is thinking. But when we consider security and support, Microsoft is better than any other product."
"Active Directory is bundled with a package of Microsoft services, so it doesn't cost much. I don't know about the individual license of Active Directory."
"There are no additional costs besides the standard licensing fees."
"In the education sector where I work, the annual cost for my Google and Microsoft environments is approximately $35,000. This covers the needs of 3,400 students and 800 faculty and staff members."
"While other products give the pricing for their application, Microsoft Entra ID Governance has a per-user-based license model."
"The solution's pricing is not low but reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
10%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business88
Midsize Enterprise39
Large Enterprise159
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?
We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Entra ID is that it is decent.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
I think Microsoft Entra ID could be improved by assigning permissions to nested groups in the next release.
What do you like most about Microsoft Entra ID Governance?
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Entra ID Governance is access reviews.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra ID Governance?
I am not using the access review agent feature in Microsoft Entra ID Governance because that is in preview right now, and I do not know if that is available. My perception of Microsoft Entra ID Gov...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra ID Governance?
My main use cases for Microsoft Entra ID Governance are access reviews, but specifically Privileged Identity Management access reviews. I am utilizing the user-centric access reviews in Microsoft E...
 

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. Microsoft Entra ID Governance and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.