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AWS Directory Service vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

 

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)
15th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
219
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of AWS Directory Service is 1.9%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 28.7%, down from 29.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Basa Saiteja - PeerSpot reviewer
A valuable access management system with a user-friendly and straightforward setup
The solution is scalable, and we can scale according to our needs. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten. In our organization, our access to our AWS comes from IAM. We use AWS consoles using our credentials and don't have route access, so each person will log in through our IAM programmatic access, and everyone on our team can work on cloud. Over 10,000 people in our organization utilize the solution.
Aaron Liang - PeerSpot reviewer
Has significantly improved secure access to applications and resources in our environment
Microsoft Entra ID has helped by simplifying our management of permissions for APIs. We are not directly exposing credentials, as we use tokens instead. It has made management easier and more secure, especially in a multi-user environment. The implementation of Microsoft Entra ID significantly improved secure access to applications and resources in our environment, primarily through the widespread use of single-sign-on. Managing API permissions became much easier, as application registration often involves calling an API to utilize services without directly exposing credentials, relying instead on token-based authentication. This streamlined approach benefits end-users by simplifying access while remaining transparent to them. Ultimately, my role focuses on ensuring a smooth and user-friendly experience, even if the underlying technology remains unseen by the end-users. Our company strongly emphasizes passwordless authentication, primarily through device-bound passkeys in Microsoft Authenticator. While administrators with high-privileged accounts utilize YubiKeys and passwords for tasks like accessing Microsoft Graph, we are actively transitioning all other users towards passwordless methods such as Windows Hello biometrics. This approach streamlines authentication and enhances security. Though initial deployment in 2022 presented challenges due to hardware limitations and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the technology has significantly improved and provides a simple and effective user experience.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"AWS Directory Service is secure."
"I like the manageability. Activate Connect makes it easier to assign information and to manage the resources in the network."
"The most valuable feature is that because it's all in the cloud, you don't need to manage the infrastructure."
"The pricing is very good because it is low and there is no management cost."
"Two-step authentication is very useful and important."
"We like the fact that it's got such great redundancy."
"The solution integrates well with other tools, particularly through single sign-on, allowing users to connect to various applications using just one password, including email."
"AWS has eliminated the downtime we waste when our on-premises resources go down."
"It's something we have to deal with every day. It is present. If you're in a domain environment, you'll need it to log in. If you work in a Microsoft-centric environment, you can't avoid it."
"A couple of features are valuable, but the one that comes across the most to me is multi-factor authentication."
"The most valuable features in Active Directory are the password writeback product and the MDM technology."
"The most valuable features are the Conditional Access policies, SSPR, and MFA. Another good functionality is registering enterprise applications to provide access to external parties. These four features are precious and are the most used across different use cases for various clients and projects."
"Entra ID can be deployed using a hybrid model for organizations with a significant on-premises presence, or in a fully cloud-based setup for those that do not."
"Technical support has been great."
"Single sign-on, license management, and role management are the most valuable features. Integration with Microsoft 365 is also very valuable."
"The ability to offer employees access to any platform, including private PCs and tablets, has been a game-changer."
 

Cons

"Can be improved by including on-premises access for services through Identity Access Management."
"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."
"I would like to see better integration with other business solutions."
"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."
"The AWS Directory Service should be easier to integrate."
"AWS Directory Service needs to improve processing."
"The solution lacks certain features."
"I would like to grant partial access to a table contained in a database without having to provide full access to the whole database."
"We have experienced some downtime because of the use of the data centers."
"The price has room for improvement."
"Microsoft Entra ID could benefit from more fine-tuned rights. It is necessary to prevent granting an application or user broad access rights."
"Entra ID needs to improve its application credentials and use of ID permissions. There are challenges with the management layer. We want to create access down to the Graph level while invoking some management logic. That also means that if an application comes in, we cannot send that to the Graph because we would need an ID on behalf of the cloud hook."
"The support could be better. Lately, they sort of dropped off a bit in terms of quality."
"It would be good to have more clarity around licensing."
"Be aware that it may not work perfectly globally yet. There are still glitches with the solution in Africa."
"There should be a clearer separation between objects held in Entra and Azure, so we don't need to approach the Entra ID team to create rules, policies, and app registrations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay an annual subscription fee."
"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."
"AWS' pricing is fair, and costs can be cut if you look carefully at when you're using it."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"Compared to other Microsoft products, the cost is not too expensive. There's a free tier available, though it doesn't include all features. Overall, it's well-priced."
"Microsoft is so expensive. You know it is expensive when a Fortune 100 company like ours is complaining about the cost. That has been a big thing for me. When I really want to use an Azure service, it is very hard for me to justify the cost, especially with Microsoft support."
"It is bundled with other services and the pricing is quite reasonable."
"The pricing is good; it's not cheap but very reasonable."
"We are currently on the education plan, so the price is slightly better than the development plan."
"I give the cost a three out of ten."
"The product is relatively affordable, especially compared to Okta, a pricey solution."
"We don't really have a choice. It's the one shop in town. If you want this, you have to pay for it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Healthcare Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
33%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS Directory Service?
The most valuable feature of AWS Directory Service is cost-cutting features.
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?
Currently, there is no option to integrate our on-premises Cisco AWS Directory Service, requiring some manual configuration. If AWS Active Directory Service provided additional domain controller fu...
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 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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
We are an enterprise customer with an enterprise agreement in place with many of our partner companies, so there are no special questions or issues about pricing, setup cost, or licensing.
 

Also Known As

AWS Managed Microsoft AD
Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
 

Interactive Demo

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Directory Service vs. Microsoft Entra ID and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.