Microsoft Entra External ID Reviews

Name: Microsoft Entra External ID
Brand: Microsoft
Rating: 3.9 (5 reviews)

3.9 out of 5

5 reviews
80% willing to recommend

What is Microsoft Entra External ID?

Microsoft Entra External ID, part of Microsoft Entra, provides highly secure digital experiences for partners, customers, citizens, patients, or any users outside your organization with customization controls. Combine external identities and user directories in one portal to seamlessly manage access across the organization.

Get the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) Buyer's Guide and find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra External ID, Microsoft Entra ID, SailPoint Identity Security Cloud and more!

Microsoft Entra External ID is the #7 ranked solution in top Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) solutions, #12 ranked solution in top Identity and Access Management as a Service providers, and #26 ranked solution in top Microsoft Security Suite solutions. PeerSpot users give Microsoft Entra External ID an average rating of 7.8 out of 10. Microsoft Entra External ID is most commonly compared to Microsoft Entra ID: Microsoft Entra External ID vs Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft Entra External ID is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 58% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 16% of all views.

Buyer's Guide

Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)

March 2025

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Helped 839,422 peers since 2012

Featured Microsoft Entra External ID reviews

Corrado Vigano

Sales Manager - Program Manger at Altitudo srl

The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use. Furthermore, Microsoft's reliability in providing a clear roadmap for the solution is very important, especially at a time when cybersecurity is a risk in every company. The solution is easy to reuse and not difficult to find expertise for in the market because it is widespread. It is gaining attention even from partners and from the market on the offering side. This serves as a good starting point for customers who can develop internal competence on the solution. Additionally, the presence of reliable partners who know the solution and can provide internal knowledge is the best aspect for them.

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Oluwakorede Oladipo

Lead, Product Manager (Applications & Services) at FMDQ

The most beneficial feature for us is the ease of setup. With about five clicks, we can generate unique IDs and keys and set up in less than 30 minutes. We can also generate these for multiple years simultaneously, which is convenient. In Azure, you can set up access rules. Just because an app is linked to Active Directory doesn’t mean everyone can access it automatically. You can make it so users have to give consent before getting access. You can also control which apps can connect to Active Directory. For Microsoft Exchange, we use multi-factor authentication to protect our information, which helps keep it secure by requiring more than just a password to log in. Centralizing user management has positively impacted our operational costs and efficiency. We no longer need multiple systems to manage users, especially in our SaaS applications. This has improved turnaround time for user management tasks and streamlined our processes, making things more efficient. We use the SaaS version, so there's no on-premises infrastructure. The integration is mainly done through setup, linking it to our domain and Active Directory.

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Zoher Abuzar

Associate Director Automation at Dubai Holding

The most valuable feature for me is the firewall capabilities. Additionally, the single sign-on feature is very useful as a single solution can be used for multiple types of single sign-on applications. This helps in cost as well as time saving since I can use a single solution for all the applications.

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Microsoft Entra External ID mindshare

Product category:

As of March 2025, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category stands at 1.6%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)

Key learnings from peers

Last updated Feb 23, 2025

Valuable Features

Microsoft Entra External ID offers ease of setup, allowing unique IDs and keys generation in minutes. It enhances security with multi-factor authentication and consent-based access. Centralized user management boosts operational efficiency and reduces costs. Its seamless integration with Active Directory and Microsoft environment ensures ease of use. SaaS deployment requires no on-premises infrastructure. Features like single sign-on and firewall capabilities offer extensive utility across applications, supported by reliable Microsoft partners.

"The most valuable feature for me is the firewall capabilities."
"The most valuable feature for me is the firewall capabilities."
"The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use."

Room for Improvement

Microsoft Entra External ID users encounter issues with synchronization times, requiring faster updates within 30 minutes. Technical support lacks efficiency. Cost challenges arise, especially for medium-sized businesses facing high prices and unpredictable expenses during renewals. Single sign-on features need affordability improvements, particularly for applications like Oracle. Many find it hard to balance the enterprise-level scope with mid-sized business needs. Users express concerns with costs being a significant drawback.

"The cost is very high."
"Single sign-on for external applications such as Oracle could be improved to be a little bit cheaper."
"A common concern among the customers I visit is the unpredictability of Microsoft's costs at every renewal. This is really bothersome for the customer, and I would say it is the worst element I have seen in these years."

Pricing

"We don't pay separately for Microsoft Entra External ID as it's part of our Microsoft Exchange subscription."

Popular Use Cases

Organizations utilize Microsoft Entra External ID for cross-company collaboration by importing applications through enterprise applications and generating tokens to connect Azure APIs. It facilitates integrating Active Directory for inviting external collaborators and merging domains with other companies. It supports Office 365, Exchange server, and Okta connectivity. Companies deal with security tasks and use it for enterprise purposes, especially with Microsoft Teams. Both organizations and customers implement it effectively in their environments.

Service and Support

Microsoft Entra External ID customer service receives mixed feedback. Some find it unsatisfactory, with slow response times and a lack of expertise, necessitating in-house experts. Others appreciate the skilled technicians but face issues with personnel changes and contract limitations, making access uneven. Time zone differences and the necessity for reminders or escalations are highlighted as drawbacks. Premier Entra offers better access, but generally, smaller entities struggle compared to larger ones that can directly interact with Microsoft.

Deployment

Microsoft Entra External ID's initial setup proves to be complex with numerous steps and screens. Users navigate through multiple screens and configure various settings, making the process cumbersome. PowerShell commands could expedite setup, however, most prefer using the GUI. At least three team members, including a field technician and a network administrator, handle the project. Entra integrates smoothly with existing IT infrastructure, Azure platform, and third-party tools like OKTA, though some find setup quite straightforward.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Healthcare Company

Government

Comms Service Provider

Hospitality Company

Retailer

Energy/Utilities Company

Educational Organization

University

Media Company

Wholesaler/Distributor

Construction Company

Consumer Goods Company

Legal Firm

Non Profit

Insurance Company

Outsourcing Company

Marketing Services Firm

Performing Arts

Logistics Company

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Transportation Company

Engineering Company

Venture Capital & Private Equity Firm

Aerospace/Defense Firm

Compare Microsoft Entra External ID with alternative products

Learn more about Microsoft Entra External ID

Microsoft Entra External ID refers to all the ways you can securely interact with users outside of your organization. If you want to collaborate with partners, distributors, suppliers, or vendors, you can share your resources and define how your internal users can access external organizations. If you're a developer creating consumer-facing apps, you can manage your customers' identity experiences.

With External ID, external users can "bring their own identities." Whether they have a corporate or government-issued digital identity, or an unmanaged social identity like Google or Facebook, they can use their own credentials to sign in. The external user’s identity provider manages their identity, and you manage access to your apps with Entra ID or Entra External ID to keep your resources protected.

The following capabilities make up External ID:

B2B collaboration - Collaborate with external users by letting them use their preferred identity to sign in to your Microsoft applications or other enterprise applications (SaaS apps, custom-developed apps, etc.). B2B collaboration users are represented in your directory, typically as guest users.
B2B direct connect - Establish a mutual, two-way trust with another Azure AD organization for seamless collaboration. B2B direct connect currently supports Teams shared channels, enabling external users to access your resources from within their home instances of Teams. B2B direct connect users aren't represented in your directory, but they're visible from within the Teams shared channel and can be monitored in Teams admin center reports.
Azure AD B2C - Publish modern SaaS apps or custom-developed apps (excluding Microsoft apps) to consumers and customers, while using Azure AD B2C for identity and access management.

Microsoft Entra External ID was previously known as Azure Active Directory External Identities.