No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

AWS Directory Service vs Google Cloud Identity comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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

AWS Directory Service
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
19th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Google Cloud Identity
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (14th), Cloud Resource Access Management (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of AWS Directory Service is 1.0%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud Identity is 10.8%, down from 15.6% 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 (%)
Google Cloud Identity10.8%
AWS Directory Service1.0%
Other88.2%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Akram Zaki - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist at FlairsTech
Hybrid directory service has streamlined global server access and supported reliable daily operations
Some features in AWS Directory Service are not automated and are not scriptable, so they require manual work. In today's world where everything is pretty much automated and scriptable using AI, this is a downside. The price is another concern. AWS is really expensive. They provide an awesome service in general, but it's still expensive, very expensive. AD Connector is an application which connects my own Active Directory to AWS Directory Service or AWS infrastructure. There is a bit of latency which is bound by the AD Connector availability. If the AD Connector is having issues, there is a bit of latency, but in general, it's way better than Microsoft Azure. Still, it could be better. The migration was a bit challenging and required intensive planning and migration time. That is always a hassle. No matter which cloud environment you're moving into, the migration is sensitive because you're generally moving from on-premise to a cloud environment, so there is downtime and there are unexpected issues and errors. It needs very careful planning before doing the migration itself. AWS Directory Service is lacking a few things which could be better. Single sign-on federation is missing. SCIM provisioning is not available. In my company, we use other services for SSO federation, SCIM provisioning, and authentication because of these gaps. I would like AWS Directory Service to enroll a multi-factor authentication method. I would like to have an SSO federation where users, if we're hosting applications in AWS, would not need to log in to each application. Single sign-on would log in the user to their account and from there they can open all their applications without requiring a login each time. One of the other cons in AWS is that directories cannot span multiple regions because it's a region-bound architecture. This requires several directories for multi-region deployment. This is the case on my end because my company has several branches all over the world, so it requires several deployments.
SK
Director at GNX Solutions
Cloud automation has improved development efficiency and supports secure MFA and SSO
The best features in Google Cloud Identity are their cloud, their VMs, and their cloud VMs, which are too good compared to OCI. Using Google Cloud Identity is beneficial in terms of finance as we are always doing automation and AI, and it is definitely the best. I use multi-factor authentication with Google Cloud Identity. Regarding how Google Cloud Identity helps to improve security, I can say that security is something everyone is using. I do not feel any different. After this, everything will be JWT token and all things we are using. I do not feel any difference in there. I have used the SSO feature, single sign-on, with Google Cloud Identity. In a few words, how Google Cloud Identity affected user management within my organization is that it is not done for my organization but for one of my clients only. I already have the ADs there, but still, it is the best. I think the reporting tools of Google Cloud Identity are good. I cannot comment on these kinds of things for this particular product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"AWS handles everything on the backend requiring minimal legwork from our team. We only require a dedicated database administrator while depending on Amazon for RDS."
"It's a pretty good solution in terms of performance with good availability and minimal downtime."
"The pricing is very good because it is low and there is no management cost."
"Two-step authentication is very useful and important."
"Technical support is very knowledgeable and responds very quickly."
"I like the manageability, as Activate Connect makes it easier to assign information and to manage the resources in the network."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the security of my customers and my customers' customers."
"AWS Directory Service is very useful; it is a role-based mechanism, similar to identity management, and it is one of the most useful AWS features."
"The most valuable feature is the performance."
"The best features of Google Cloud Identity are that it's free and works with modern applications, meaning if it's OAuth or using the OAuth protocol, it's very easy to integrate with those applications."
"Google is always on its own, and Google Cloud Identity is pretty good on every point."
"One of the most useful features was the single sign-on. You can use it as an identity provider or service provider. And you can use their organization unit feature to enable or disable some of the features for a specific group of users."
"The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its stability."
"The most beneficial feature for enhancing security is context-aware access."
"The solution is moderate to difficult to use. I found the approach was practical. Following the steps made it very easy to use."
"I used it as an administrator without implementing it myself. As for valuable aspects or benefits, the significant point is that it's a straightforward, single solution that just works."
 

Cons

"I'd like to see some additional features, similar to what Azure has."
"I would like to grant partial access to a table contained in a database without having to provide full access to the whole database."
"Our only complaint is that you cannot integrate your Exchange server. Or, if you are planning to install an Exchange server on your Amazon EC2 instance, then you need to configure Active Directory on EC2 instance. We would like for this limitation to be lifted."
"The solution lacks certain features."
"I've encountered challenges, particularly with Amazon WorkDocs, which is being deprecated. This has made it necessary to find an alternative document management solution that can handle editing, sharing, and workflow management for documents like Word files and PDFs."
"Can be improved by including on-premises access for services through Identity Access Management."
"I would like to see better integration with other business solutions."
"Accessing the data needs improvement."
"One area where Cloud Identity has room for improvement is monitoring and alerts. If you want to set up some alerts, you don't have much control over the configuration."
"The integration should be made easier."
"Google Cloud Identify could make the technology used easier to understand as a layman making it more user-friendly."
"The solution needs to better integrate with Mac's OS."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"Google Cloud Identity can be improved by having better integration with Active Directory, but since Active Directory is also a Microsoft solution, we don't think it will happen; that's the only disadvantage of Google."
"There is room for improvement in the configuration of their security policies. It seems quite basic."
"When referring to the help articles I found them not helpful. Support themselves understood my query but the resolution was not satisfactory."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"AWS' pricing is fair, and costs can be cut if you look carefully at when you're using it."
"The pricing depends because with AWS there are two types of directory objects: 30,000 and 500,000. It varies. AWS provides the pricing calculators so we can get an estimate from there as per the company requirement of how many users and objects that we need to create. So we can go to that portal, put in the data, and get the quotation. There are no extra licensing fees. It's all included."
"We pay an annual subscription fee."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The product is billed on a monthly basis depending on the number of users."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"We probably spend about $50,000 a year on licensing."
"The licensing cost depends on the partners and the relationship between the company and the partners."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The solution is not expensive."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) solutions are best for your needs.
921,749 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Performing Arts
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Directory Service?
The pricing is very good because it is low and there is no management cost. You do not need to hire any system administrator to manage your Active Directory.
What needs improvement with AWS Directory Service?
Some features in AWS Directory Service are not automated and are not scriptable, so they require manual work. In today's world where everything is pretty much automated and scriptable using AI,...
What advice do you have for others considering AWS Directory Service?
I would like AWS Directory Service to enroll a multi-factor authentication method. I would like to have an SSO federation where users, if we're hosting applications in AWS, would not need to lo...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also access to both Microsoft’s user community as well as around-the-clock customer s...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Identity?
It's crucial to monitor costs carefully, as there can be unexpected charges. I have been charged even when there was supposed to be free credit.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Identity?
If you are asking about room for improvement with Google Cloud Identity, whatever is there already, cost is the only problem. If you are comparing with GCP, OCI, the cost will be a little bit highe...
 

Also Known As

AWS Managed Microsoft AD
Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity Premium
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
ExtraHop Networks, HealthChannels
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Directory Service vs. Google Cloud Identity and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
921,749 professionals have used our research since 2012.