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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
7.1
Number of Reviews
235
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)
12th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 25.6%, down from 28.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID Governance is 2.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Bahram Piri - PeerSpot reviewer
Security focus and seamless implementation increase platform productivity
Microsoft Entra ID can be improved in many ways, and there's a big wish list.If we're focusing on security, something that I definitely expect is improvement in the UI and UX for frontline workers. This is important, especially for non-tech savvy individuals. It is something Microsoft Entra ID could do to improve for a wider audience. It's important to focus on the frontline workers since they are non-tech savvy individuals. They are not like those back-office engineering C-level employees who are constantly dealing with computers, and we need to build a specific user experience and user interface for them to handle this stuff. That's something I expect Microsoft to focus on more for Microsoft Entra ID.
William Kox - PeerSpot reviewer
Great policies and timelines for streamlined compliance
There are some areas where improvements are necessary. Even though we have almost the full package, there are some bugs. I cannot directly perform some tasks from the portal. First, I have to go to the policy, change it, and then return to the package to add it. I cannot do it directly from the package. Workarounds are needed, so that can be improved. At the moment, that is the only issue we are facing that needs enhancement.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In a lot of situations, it is easy and free or almost free to use Microsoft Entra MFA."
"Entra ID can be deployed using a hybrid model for organizations with a significant on-premises presence, or in a fully cloud-based setup for those that do not."
"It also has features that help improve security posture. The most important of these features include multifactor authentication, which is very useful for connecting to the organization, especially from outside the boundaries of the organization. That is very helpful when it comes to user security."
"It's simple to create groups or accounts and to add users. There are several options for dynamic groups."
"The features I find most valuable are conditional access, privilege management, and dynamic groups."
"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."
"The boards for task tracking are a valuable feature."
"It's very user-friendly for users."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the single sign-on service."
"Access reviews are an essential feature of Entra Governance. Additionally, privileged identity management is one of its most valuable features. Just-in-time access, or Jet GIT, is integral to this system. Moreover, user behavior analytics stands out as one of its top features."
"I am very happy with the solution."
"The product's most valuable features are the robust audit trail capabilities."
"The solution gives me the capability to automatically move guest accounts from the tenant without any manual intervention."
"The solution is fully scalable, supporting everything from small companies to large enterprises."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Entra ID Governance for identity management is multi-factor authentication."
"The most valuable features are multifactor authentication and account creation for the Exchange environment in Office 365."
 

Cons

"From an admin perspective, I would like to see improvement in the Microsoft Graph API."
"Azure Active Directory could benefit by adding the capability for identity life cycle for the on-premise solution. For example, an HR solution, which is built on-premise or, in general, better on-premise capable solutions."
"The monitoring dashboard could be a bit better."
"From time to time it takes a little bit of time to replicate, with some of the applications—something like five to 10 minutes. I know that the design is not supposed to enable real-time replication with some of the applications. But, as an administrator, I would like to run a specific change or modification in Azure Active Directory and see it replicated almost immediately."
"The subscription costs are quite high, so that area needs consideration."
"Active Directory could always be more secure. Right now, we've got two-factor authentications. All services based on Active Directory have a username and password. If somebody hacked our username, they could easily get all the data from our side. So I want two-factor authentication and a stronger password policy from Active Directory. The domain controllers should be more secure as well."
"In my opinion, Microsoft sometimes releases products too early without providing enough documentation."
"Definitely, the price could be lower. When we moved from AWS to Azure, we started paying more."
"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 platform's configuration process needs improvement."
"The solution lacks the feature to work well with third-party applications."
"The product's workflow approval process needs improvement."
"One area for improvement in Microsoft Entra ID Governance could be providing more granular control over security policies."
"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."
"Even though we have almost the full package, there are some bugs."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are always looking for better pricing."
"The price is fine. It's a good value for the money compared with other solutions."
"It is worth the money."
"Its price is okay. It is easy to go from P1 to P2 license. It is not exactly a bargain, but I would recommend the P2 license."
"Azure has an educational package available for students with a variety of licenses and different software available."
"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."
"It is costly."
"The pricing depends on the use case and can be negotiated based on volume."
"The solution's pricing is not low but reasonable."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Azure Active Directory?
It is very simple. The Active Directory functions are very easy for us. Its integration with anything is very easy. We can easily do third-party multifactor authentication.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
Our experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Entra ID involves leveraging Microsoft 365 E5 licensing, so it's included. Being included in Microsoft licensing makes it mu...
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?
Microsoft Entra ID Governance ( /categories/grc ) is relatively new, and some features require more development. For example, when creating user access review campaigns, we can't specify the time t...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra ID Governance?
I am using Microsoft Entra ID Governance ( /products/microsoft-entra-id-governance-reviews ) to integrate with our system. We control the joiner, mover, and leaver processes to enable auto provisio...
 

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: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.