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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
277
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (2nd), 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)
12th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 17.3%, down from 26.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID Governance is 2.4%, up from 2.3% 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 ID17.3%
Microsoft Entra ID Governance2.4%
Other80.3%
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.
AmitRathod - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Analyst at Toll Holdings Limited
Automated access governance has strengthened security and supports user-centric approvals
The workflows such as joiner, mover, and leaver work in Microsoft Entra ID Governance. Entitlement Management is a bundle of resources where Microsoft Entra ID applications, groups, and SharePoint sites are packaged into a single package so that users can request it. This is one of the great features for Microsoft Entra ID Governance. Another feature is Access Review, which allows an automated schedule to be managed for the manager or resource owner so that they can verify whether people still need access. Privileged Identity Management is another feature for governance that provides just-in-time (JIT) access for administrative roles. For example, instead of being a permanent or global admin, which is a major security risk, an IT professional is eligible for the role and must request four hours of access only when they need to perform a specific task. There is a feature called access package. If any user wants particular application access, they can request this application via Microsoft Entra ID Governance access package. Whenever an end user makes a request, the access goes to one application manager and their current line manager. If they approve it, then they get the application access. This is a very good feature for user-centric purposes. Microsoft Entra ID Governance includes securing AI agent identity. As a company uses more AI generation such as Copilots or custom bots, those bots need their own identity just as employees do. Microsoft Entra now provides a way to assign unique identities to AI agents so you can control what data they can access. Microsoft Entra ID Governance protection now looks for risky behavior in AI agents. If a bot suddenly tries to download an unusual amount of data or unconscious data, it can detect this as a risk detection factor. Security Copilot allows Entra administrators to manage identity with natural language. Microsoft Entra ID Governance has protection and authentication features. Smart risk detection protects and analyzes to detect threats such as impossible travel. If a person is logging in from many different locations, it detects this as a risk factor. A user cannot use an unauthenticated password or log in from an incompatible device. These AI features are used in conditional access management in Microsoft Entra ID Governance. Automation is used for user onboarding, user offboarding, and user update processes through user lifecycle management. If an organization uses Workday as an HR application where new users join and fill in their details, all these details get reflected into Workday and then reflected into Active Directory as well as Microsoft Entra ID Governance. This automation helps to manage the day-to-day user onboarding process, user offboarding process, and user update process. Microsoft Entra ID Governance automation also helps with password-related tasks, access recertification, and reporting.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's something we have to deal with every day. It is present. If you're in a domain environment, you'll need it to log in. If you work in a Microsoft-centric environment, you can't avoid it."
"With Azure Conditional Access you can specify network locations where you want some of the services in the organization to be available to users, and where you don't want users to have access."
"The integration with all Microsoft services and external applications is crucial. Microsoft Entra ID has helped the company with user identities, user device management, and endpoint management. Integration capabilities are significant."
"Using this product has also had a positive effect on our end-user experience."
"The implementation of Microsoft Entra ID has impacted my secure access to apps or resources in my environment because it made it easier."
"Coming from a traditional on-premises Active Directory infrastructure, it is purely a SaaS platform. It is global. It is evergreen. It is always evolving. It is core to the Microsoft Ecosystem."
"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."
"Azure Active Directory has useful policy assigning and management."
"The solution is fully scalable, supporting everything from small companies to large enterprises."
"The solution gives me the capability to automatically move guest accounts from the tenant without any manual intervention."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Entra ID Governance for identity management is multi-factor authentication."
"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 features of Microsoft Entra ID Governance have benefited our organization because we have ServiceNow in our organization and we have been able to create integrations through Lifecycle Management to do onboarding and offboarding easier."
"The most valuable functions in Microsoft Entra ID Governance are ease of use, conducting access reviews, and tighter platform coupling."
"The product's most valuable features are the robust audit trail capabilities."
 

Cons

"The quality of support has declined in recent years."
"My problem with Azure AD is that it's designed for medium to large systems, and we're not that large."
"I think the solution can improve by making the consumption of that data easier for our customers."
"One area that can be improved is ensuring that detailed documentation is being produced in a timely fashion. There have been many instances where documentation either hasn't been updated to reflect recent changes or is either non-existent or not very accessible."
"My main concern is the occasional lack of documentation and the frequency of changes, which can make feature location challenging."
"The subscription costs are quite high, so that area needs consideration."
"I think Microsoft Entra ID can be improved, but that's a broad question, and I'm uncertain about specific areas."
"The product needs to improve its support."
"I would rate customer service at three out of ten."
"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."
"In terms of integration, improvements could be made."
"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."
"The product's workflow approval process needs improvement."
"The platform's configuration process needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I'm not sure about the specific costs or how they're calculated, but essentially, the costs go up based on the level of security that is required by the organization."
"It is not too expensive."
"The product is relatively affordable, especially compared to Okta, a pricey solution."
"The cost of Azure AD is one of the biggest benefits, as it is available for use free of charge when you start with Office 365."
"The licensing model makes it difficult to understand the real cost of the solution, especially because it changes all the time."
"I'd recommend Azure Active Directory if you are a big company. For small or medium companies, it's probably not the best idea in the world because of the pricing. If you are a small company, you can probably deploy your own solutions because you're not handling a website with tons of traffic. If you are not like Adidas, Nike, or Walmart, you can do it in a way that is more localized than handling everything through a big price solution. However, Azure tends to provide you with solutions that are easier to use. If it was cheaper, I'd definitely recommend going for it."
"The pricing is good; it's not cheap but very reasonable."
"We pay an annual subscription fee."
"While other products give the pricing for their application, Microsoft Entra ID Governance has a per-user-based license model."
"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."
"The solution's pricing is not low but reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business89
Midsize Enterprise42
Large Enterprise162
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
 

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 pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that going through and being able to use these things is always part of delivering an M365 bundle, so I don't think the experience is great ...
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
Microsoft Entra ID can be improved by open-sourcing it. You already have Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is open-source Linux in Microsoft. One major shift for Microsoft would be using the commo...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra ID Governance?
There is one feature that I do not prefer. If a manager approves access for a particular user and wants to change their decision about whether the user should retain access or not, once they approv...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra ID Governance?
I use Microsoft Entra ID Governance for identity and access management as well as access recertification. The workflows such as joiner, mover, and leaver work in Microsoft Entra ID Governance. Enti...
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Entra ID Governance?
The best features are Access Review and Entitlement Management. Recertification can be run on-demand as and when any recertification slip occurs. There is also time-based recertification, which we ...
 

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: June 2026.
908,858 professionals have used our research since 2012.