Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Microsoft Entra ID vs WSO2 Identity Server 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
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
266
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (2nd), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
WSO2 Identity Server
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Identity and Access Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Entra ID is designed for Single Sign-On (SSO) and holds a mindshare of 11.6%, down 27.1% compared to last year.
WSO2 Identity Server, on the other hand, focuses on Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM), holds 3.1% mindshare, up 2.7% since last year.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Entra ID11.6%
Okta Platform9.1%
Auth0 Platform6.5%
Other72.8%
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
WSO2 Identity Server3.1%
Okta Platform14.8%
Auth0 Platform14.6%
Other67.5%
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
 

Featured Reviews

JP
Senior Information Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Implementing seamless integration boosts secure access and supports Zero Trust
What I appreciate the most about Microsoft Entra ID is that it integrates seamlessly with all the Defender products and is easy to use. Microsoft Entra ID's integration capabilities influence our Zero Trust model by allowing us to enforce our Zero Trust model. Conditional access policies allow us to leverage Microsoft Entra ID to verify that devices signing in to our cloud services are coming from registered devices, and that people are passing all the other requirements we have in order to complete sign-on or conditional access policies. Since implementing Microsoft Entra ID, I've observed changes in the frequency and nature of identity-related security incidents. The organization already had it implemented when I arrived, and I've been working to enhance it. Better configuration of Microsoft Entra ID has allowed us to better protect our organization from threats. Having it alone isn't a solution, but ensuring proper configuration goes a long way in preventing future compromises. My company's approach to defending against token theft and nation-state attacks has evolved since implementing Microsoft Entra ID. We haven't experienced any known compromises from nation-state attacks, and implementing newer features gives me more confidence in our protection. Regarding device-bound passkeys in Microsoft Authenticator and our approach to phishing-resistant authentication, we are currently implementing Microsoft Entra ID certificate-based authentication. Adding a strong form of MFA is important as we found it to be the most cost-effective way. While other solutions might be equally or more secure, they are significantly more expensive. Having worked as an IT consultant mainly with the Microsoft stack across various industries, I have experience with different identity management solutions. Microsoft Entra ID remains the best option. The major advantages when comparing it to Okta include integration with Defender products, Defender for Identities' integration with conditional access policies, and insider threat management integration for blocking sign-ins based on risk factors. The enhancement of Microsoft Entra ID's implementation is relatively straightforward. My main concern is the occasional lack of documentation and the frequency of changes, which can make feature location challenging.
Ritesh_Shah - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Utilizing key management and seamless single sign-on integration for enhanced user profile management
WSO2 Identity Server's key management feature stands out as a particularly impactful feature for enhancing security. Additionally, from a user perspective, the self-user portal and user profile management capabilities are highly valuable. It allows users to manage their profiles, change passwords, and offers a self-care portal type of functionality. The single sign-on capability integrates seamlessly with various platforms, including Google, Facebook, LDAP, and Active Directory, which supports rapid product launches.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the way it communicates to the cloud."
"The implementation of Microsoft Entra ID has impacted my secure access to apps or resources in my environment because it made it easier."
"Active Directory itself is the best feature it has. It also gives us a single pane of glass for managing user access."
"Microsoft Entra ID efficiently responds to numerous requests, and we have not faced significant connectivity issues, making it reliable."
"Microsoft Entra ID is regarded as the best ID management suite for integrating applications using SAML 2.0 for single sign-on."
"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."
"Microsoft Entra ID, integrated with Microsoft Teams, has enhanced the security of access to applications and resources within our environment."
"It is great for mom-and-pop shops or small businesses that are truly coming into the enterprise ecosystem and that have not come from a legacy environment."
"I would rate the solution's stability eight or nine out of ten."
"The solution gets the job done, and we don't have to do the main configuration."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"The single sign-on procedure itself, as well as the ability to connect to external user sources such as Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP servers, are the solution's most valuable features."
"Some of the valuable features of the solution are the easy integration with processes, such as Single Sign-On. Overall WSO2 is straightforward and does not need customization."
"The product provides easy integration between API manager and IT server components."
"The keystore feature has been most valuable for us."
"I am completely satisfied with WSO2 Identity Server and would definitely recommend it to other companies."
 

Cons

"I want better integration between Azure AD and the on-prem environment because there are currently limitations that can hamper employee experience. We use a feature called password writeback, that can be challenging to implement in a hybrid environment. Employees can change their passwords using a self-service password reset (SSPR) feature, which reflects from the cloud to the on-prem identity, but not the other way around. Currently, there is no way to reflect passwords from on-prem identities to the cloud."
"Microsoft often changes settings, and many features are scattered."
"Azure AD needs to be more in sync. The synchronization can be time-consuming."
"When you start to deal with legacy applications, provisioning is not as intuitive."
"Customers should be informed that public review features are not intended for production use."
"I would like to see Microsoft communicate how they intend to manage legacy applications. Right now, you still have to deploy a hosted domain server (which comes at an extra cost) if you have a legacy application that cannot sync properly with the enterprise applications and the modern applications."
"When it comes to identity governance, the governance features in Azure AD are very focused on Microsoft products. I would like to see those governance and life cycle management features offered for non-Microsoft products connected to Azure AD."
"The implementation of other third-party MFA such as Okta or Duo could be improved, even though Duo is integratable. The response from actual support tickets is a bit laggy, and I would like them to be more responsive."
"This solution does not have BPM workflows already integrated, we had to integrate the BPM module externally. They do not provide full-featured auditing and certification modules out of the box."
"The high availability architecture has to be improved."
"I found the initial setup to be very complex."
"There needs to be a good support model and easy-to-understand documentation."
"The solution's licensing model could be more flexible, and pricing could be improved."
"The solution seems to be pretty outdated."
"The price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"This solution requires extensive knowledge to be used effectively as certain areas of its use are not user friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"It comes free with the Microsoft account. We have a yearly agreement, and all products are covered under it."
"The price of the solution was reasonable."
"Its price is per user. It is also based on the type of user that you're synchronizing up there."
"For a small business buying individual licenses, it is an affordable solution."
"If you're on Azure, it can be free or it's incorporated, at no extra cost, or it can become extremely complicated."
"Licensing costs for Microsoft Entra ID remain a concern, especially with the price increases in 2023."
"The price is good, and we have no complaints."
"I rate the product price an eight out of ten. There is a need to pay more for the extra features provided by the solution."
"They should bring in some good pricing models to host the marketplace."
"We have to take their support, but that is a minimal charge if I'm comparing it to other identity managers."
"WSO2 Identity Server is not an expensive solution."
"I have found the solutions license is priced competitively compared to others."
"At this time we are working with the open-source version."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions are best for your needs.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Transportation Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Media Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business85
Midsize Enterprise38
Large Enterprise155
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WSO2 Identity Server?
The pricing is currently the same as the API Manager, so it's not surprising. Since we used it primarily for SSO and the self portal, there were no additional pricing concerns.
What needs improvement with WSO2 Identity Server?
Currently, all required features are supported. If new use cases for artificial intelligence arise, it could be beneficial to incorporate those. However, for our current projects, WSO2 Identity Ser...
What is your primary use case for WSO2 Identity Server?
We deployed WSO2 Identity Server to fulfill our single sign-on (SSO) requirements. Whenever we implement the API Manager, instead of using the API Manager's inbuilt key manager, we use WSO2 Identit...
 

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.
Nutanix, ELM, AlmavivA, BDigital, StubHub, M-creations, MedVision360
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. WSO2 Identity Server and other solutions. Updated: March 2020.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.