Microsoft Entra ID vs One Identity Defender comparison

Microsoft and One Identity are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while One Identity is ranked #15 with an average rating of 10.0. Microsoft holds a 15.3% mindshare in AS, compared to One Identity’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of One Identity users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Entra ID

Read 234 Microsoft Entra ID reviews

7,912 Views
4,140 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

One Identity Defender

Read 3 One Identity Defender reviews

293 Views
110 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Entra ID

One Identity Defender

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2024

Microsoft Entra ID and One Identity Defender are both robust identity management solutions. Users appear more satisfied with the pricing and support of Microsoft Entra ID. Yet, One Identity Defender seems to excel in feature richness, making it potentially worth the higher expense.

What features are offered by Microsoft Entra ID in comparison to One Identity Defender?

Microsoft Entra ID is praised for its seamless integration with other Microsoft services, effective multi-factor authentication, and ease of use. One Identity Defender stands out for its extensive scalability, advanced security features, and superior customizability.

What areas of improvement can be found in Microsoft Entra ID in comparison to One Identity Defender?

Microsoft Entra ID users highlight concerns about limited customization options, occasional performance issues, and insufficient advanced features for complex environments. One Identity Defender users point out that its interface can be somewhat convoluted, documentation is lacking, and initial setup can be challenging.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of Microsoft Entra ID in comparison to One Identity Defender?

Both products receive positive feedback for deployment, but Microsoft Entra ID is noted for quicker setup times due to its integration with existing Microsoft infrastructure. Customer service for Microsoft Entra ID is valued for responsiveness, while One Identity Defender’s support is praised for its in-depth technical assistance.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with Microsoft Entra ID in comparison to One Identity Defender?

Microsoft Entra ID users find the product to be cost-effective with a good return on investment, especially for businesses already using Microsoft services. One Identity Defender, though more expensive, is considered worth the investment by users who need its advanced capabilities. Microsoft Entra ID appeals to those seeking cost efficiency, while One Identity Defender justifies its higher price with superior features.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Entra ID vs. One Identity Defender Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID vs. One Identity Defender

June 2025

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Helped 860,592 peers since 2012

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 Authentication Systems

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

234

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Identity Management (IM) (2nd), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)

One Identity Defender

Ranking in Authentication Systems

15th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 15.3%, down from 19.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of One Identity Defender is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems

Featured Reviews

Bahram Piri

Chief Executive Officer & Founder at IDmelon Technologies

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.

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Maksym Tkachenko

Sales Engineer at Bakotech

Good compatibility, responsive support, and a nice interface

The solution works very well. The initial setup is pretty easy. It is stable and pretty reliable in general. We find that the product scales very well. Technical support is responsive. The interface is good. It is compatible with other products. It has everything we need right now. The login…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best thing about Active Directory is its compatibility. It works with lots of third-party vendors. We're using multiple products, and they're all integrated with our Active Directory."

"It's not intuitive and we use it mainly for our Office 365 files. The integration between the two is interesting. However, the learning curve is high."

"We do not have to deploy lots of machines all over the place to run things as a service, which is how we like to deploy things, just as a service."

"Azure Active Directory's single sign-on feature has been helpful because users don't need to authenticate again and again each time they access it. Users only need to sign in the first time, and Azure handles everything. We haven't experienced any errors or security-related issues in the past four years. Many people use our protection servers from outside, requiring multi-factor authentication. Each authentication is logged precisely."

"The most valuable feature for us is the B2C functionality of Microsoft Entra ID, which is essential due to our need for external and internal users to log into our system."

"The technical support is pretty good."

"Conditional access and Privileged Identity Management (PIM) are the most valuable features from a security perspective."

"Every feature in Microsoft Entra ID plays a crucial role in overall security."

More Microsoft Entra ID pros

"It's very fast, and it's easy to use because it's integrated with Active Directory."

"One Identity Defender has good network protection."

"We find that the product scales very well."

Cons

"Microsoft needs to make improvements in this regard and extend its services to other operating systems as well, especially when considering their widespread usage."

"In terms of connecting the web application, there is technology for single sign-on. When we use it, the solution opens very slowly. It might be a bandwidth issue, and some content will not work on that portal."

"One challenge with Entra ID is its complexity, stemming from integrating many components into a single solution."

"Microsoft's biggest challenge is the documentation. The challenge lies in keeping documentation up-to-date due to rapid changes. Troubleshooting requires workarounds and research."

"The solution was difficult to scale because the group's configuration was complex. I would rate the scalability level of Azure Active Directory a five out of ten."

"I would like to see improvements made when it comes to viewing audit logs, sign-in logs, and resource tags."

"The deadlines for this feature were set for March, and that has already passed without deployment. We commented that we are still waiting for that, and they commented that they would update us when it is finished, but we haven't received any update about it."

"Microsoft's technical support has shortcomings where improvements are required."

More Microsoft Entra ID cons

"The login capabilities could be better."

"We have some clients that are wanting to protect their Apache web servers with One Identity Defender but all the research I have done says cannot be done. It can only be oriented to an IIS server. One Identity Defender should have more integration with more types of web servers."

"Maybe it could provide support for more web applications. It seems more focused on IIS web applications."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is bundled with other services and the pricing is quite reasonable."

"We are currently on the education plan, so the price is slightly better than the development plan."

"We make sure that we only enable the licenses that are needed for the users, rather than enabling licenses in a blanket fashion."

"The licensing is really not clear unless you are a premium client."

"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."

"Azure AD's pricing is comprehensive and affordable. The prices are easy to understand, and the licenses include a variety of security monitoring and additional features."

"It is not too expensive."

"The pricing for companies and businesses is okay, it's fair. But if you are trying to teach someone about Azure AD, there is no licensing option for that... It would be nice to have a 'learning' license, one that is cheaper for a single person."

More Microsoft Entra ID pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Retailer

13%

Non Profit

11%

Government

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about One Identity Defender?

It's very fast, and it's easy to use because it's integrated with Active Directory.

See all answers

What needs improvement with One Identity Defender?

Maybe it could provide support for more web applications. It would be useful to focus on other web applications. For example, if an application needs to be installed on an iOS server and it's not, ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for One Identity Defender?

Our primary use cases include functions such as role-based access control, user registration, and integration with other systems. We use it to improve the security of our web applications. Addition...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 9% of the time

Okta Workforce Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 6% of the time

Auth0 vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

Amazon Cognito vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

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Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs One Identity Defender

Compared 49% of the time

More One Identity Defender Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID

June 2025

Download Microsoft Entra ID product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

June 2025

Download One Identity Defender product report

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator

No data available

Interactive Demo

Microsoft

Demo not available

One Identity

Overview

Microsoft Entra ID is used for extending on-premises Active Directory to the cloud, managing application access, enabling multi-factor authentication, and single sign-on. It facilitates policy enforcement and secure access, ensuring centralized identity management across cloud and on-premises resources.

Organizations utilize Microsoft Entra ID for robust user and group management, identity synchronization, and conditional access. Its seamless integration with third-party apps, scalability, and support for remote work make it a preferred choice. The admin center streamlines identity and access tasks, enhancing efficiency and security with features like privileged identity management and audit logs.

What are the key features of Microsoft Entra ID?

Single Sign-On: Simplifies user access to multiple applications with one login.
Multifactor Authentication: Enhances security by requiring additional verification.
Conditional Access: Establishes policies that determine how users' access cloud apps.
Integration: Easily integrates with various third-party applications.
User Identity Protection: Safeguards user identities from threats.
Privileged Identity Management: Manages elevated access to sensitive resources.
Audit Logs: Provides thorough activity logs for oversight and compliance.

What benefits should users look for in Microsoft Entra ID reviews?

Enhanced Security: Offers strong multifactor authentication and identity protection.
Administrative Efficiency: Simplifies identity and access management tasks.
Scalability: Supports growing user bases and remote work environments.
Integration Capabilities: Compatible with numerous third-party applications.
User-Friendly Interface: Makes managing user identities straightforward.

Microsoft Entra ID implementation varies across industries. Tech firms leverage it for secure, scalable access management, while healthcare organizations utilize its identity protection features to safeguard patient data. Educational institutions adopt Entra ID for streamlined user management and policy enforcement, ensuring secure access for students and staff across on-premises and cloud resources.

Microsoft

Defender enhances security by requiring two-factor authentication to gain access to your network resources. Defender uses your current identity store within Microsoft Active Directory (AD) to enable two-factor authentication.

One Identity

Sample Customers

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.

Bakersfield Police Department, Village of Westmont, Illinois

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID vs. One Identity Defender

June 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Entra ID vs. One Identity Defender

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. One Identity Defender and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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