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Microsoft Entra ID vs Opal comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Ranking in Access Management
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), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
Opal
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
19th
Ranking in Access Management
20th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (10th)
 

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 Opal is 1.0%, up from 0.5% 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%
Opal1.0%
Other81.7%
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.
Pranay Jain - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior software engineer at Simplifyvms
Focused workdays have replaced doomscrolling and now reduce my daily screen time significantly
Opal can be improved in some ways. In the paid version, there are multiple features, but in the freemium version, there are fewer features. The blockage of the application can be more rigorous. Right now, if we play two to three games, then a math game or anything, we are able to remove that lock. It should be more rigorous in some manner, and for some applications, it should be more rigorous. Application-wise rigorousness should be introduced. The different modes are good, but they should be more customizable according to the person. The end goal should meet whatever the objective is, so if the person has used more than six hours, then it should remind the person frequently that this application has used this time and this is an application you should not use. It should give us a timer or some kind of notification that the person will not use it anymore.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is cloud based so it is always updated,"
"The implementation of Microsoft Entra ID has positively impacted my secure access to apps or resources in my environment because I appreciate that it has SSO, so you can use it for signing on to a whole bunch of different applications that are also running in your enterprise, and it is generally very good for governance of getting people access to whatever they need."
"The most valuable feature for me is enterprise applications. This functionality allows the building of applications that are tied into APIs that we can grant specific permissions and limit the scope of access."
"A couple of features are valuable, but the one that comes across the most to me is multi-factor authentication."
"It is one of the hybrid solutions that can be used the most to establish an entity configuration in multiple environments."
"Using Azure AD app services, we don't have to care about secure access to our Dynamics 365 data, as Azure AD performs the authentication on behalf of our application and that's great."
"The security and compliance features are very helpful. The online information on the site is well documented."
"If you want to replicate a website at the frontend in Azure, it's very easy to do it globally."
"Previously, my phone usage was around nine hours and fifteen minutes or more, but it has significantly reduced to around six hours and thirty minutes to seven hours, meaning two and a half to three hours has been reduced after using Opal as my primary screen time blocker."
"Opal has positively impacted my organization by reducing stress and increasing effectiveness for all our employees; it works better so all our employees have more time to sleep and they can investigate more."
 

Cons

"The frequent changes in branding cause confusion among customers who struggle to keep track of product names and functions."
"Be aware that it may not work perfectly globally yet. There are still glitches with the solution in Africa."
"We did experience downtime tied to Microsoft when there was an issue with Front Door. All external identity platform services were down for more than 8 hours, which was a critical incident from a couple of months back."
"Definitely, the price could be lower. When we moved from AWS to Azure, we started paying more."
"In terms of stability, sometimes the more applications you integrate, the more it becomes a little bit unstable."
"The documentation could be better."
"Microsoft Entra ID does not orchestrate or interface well with that type of environment."
"I think there is room for improvement with actually discussing, and advertising Microsoft as a an authenticator. Many people just get confused and use Google, and I think if Microsoft would make more of an effort to penetrate the market, that would be key."
"Opal can be improved in some ways."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The E5 plan we are using contains the premium plans for Azure Active Directory. We are not paying only for the Azure Active Directory Premium licenses. We have it already included within our E5 plan."
"For a small business buying individual licenses, it is an affordable solution."
"It can be a bit expensive for organizations, but they do have different pricing models. Their free tier can be used on a personal level, but for an organization, the licenses might be a bit expensive. In general, the licenses can become cheaper, which will make it accessible for more people."
"Pricing could always be better. You pay the premium for Microsoft. Sometimes, it is worth it, and at other times, you wish to have more licensing options, especially for smaller companies."
"The price is affordable, and we pay around $100 per month."
"It is in line. Because we are so early, we have not had to come back on a cycle where we are having to negotiate again."
"Licensing fees are paid monthly."
"There are add-on components and services, such as identity services, that we have to add to our Azure subscription. Only then can I actually say it's on par with the on-prem server edition. Why should I pay for a component? It should be included in my subscription."
Information not available
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Top Industries

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

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business89
Midsize Enterprise42
Large Enterprise162
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...
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 Opal?
Opal can be improved in some ways. In the paid version, there are multiple features, but in the freemium version, there are fewer features. The blockage of the application can be more rigorous. Rig...
What is your primary use case for Opal?
The main use case of Opal for me is to reduce my screen time during my work hours, during my wake-up time, and during my sleeping time to improve my focus and feasibility towards my work and my act...
 

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.
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Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. Opal and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,858 professionals have used our research since 2012.