AWS IAM Identity Center vs Google Cloud Identity comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google are both solutions in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.7, while Google is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.5. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 1.3% mindshare in IAMS, compared to Google’s 10.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Google users who would recommend it.

AWS IAM Identity Center

Read 10 AWS IAM Identity Center reviews

256 Views
190 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Google Cloud Identity

Read 23 Google Cloud Identity reviews

3,921 Views
3,386 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

AWS IAM Identity Center

Google Cloud Identity

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 2, 2024

Google Cloud Identity and AWS IAM Identity Center compete in the identity management market. Google Cloud Identity excels in pricing and customer service, whereas AWS IAM Identity Center provides more comprehensive features that justify its higher cost.

Features: Google Cloud Identity focuses on streamlined access management, user provisioning, and security features like multi-factor authentication and single sign-on. It offers group access controls, integration with Google Workspace, and intuitive interface for easy management. AWS IAM Identity Center provides detailed access management, robust security controls, and tight integration with various AWS services. Features include role-based permissions, permission set templates, and centralized management with multi-factor authentication.

Room for Improvement: Google Cloud Identity could enhance its security features to match competitors like Microsoft's offerings and improve integration with non-Google services. Its organizational unit system is beneficial but might be improved for greater flexibility. The GUI, while intuitive, may need enhancements for more complex configurations. AWS IAM Identity Center requires a simpler deployment process and a more accessible user interface. Documentation could be more streamlined for rapid navigation. The service complexity might be reduced to cater to smaller businesses seeking straightforward solutions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Google Cloud Identity is known for straightforward deployment and seamless integration with Google's product suite accompanied by responsive customer support. AWS IAM Identity Center, despite challenging deployment, benefits from comprehensive documentation and robust customer support, which can assist with complex setups and ongoing management.

Pricing and ROI: Google Cloud Identity offers a more affordable initial cost, making it especially attractive for organizations already using Google's services. Its lower setup costs facilitate a quicker ROI. AWS IAM Identity Center requires a greater initial investment, resulting in a longer ROI timeline, but its extensive features and integration with AWS may justify the cost for businesses demanding extensive control and versatility.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Google Cloud Identity Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Google Cloud Identity

March 2025

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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 IAM Identity Center

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

7th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (8th)

Google Cloud Identity

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

4th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of AWS IAM Identity Center is 1.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud Identity is 10.9%, down from 14.4% 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

Khaled Saidi

DevOps Engineer | Cloud Architect & Automation Specialist | Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible, AWS EKS at Phoenix Marketing & Advertising

Manage cloud security with granular access control and enhanced authentication

Managing IAM in complex environments can be challenging, and there are several areas for improvement. First, incorporating automation tools or a centralized dashboard for managing roles and policies across multiple accounts would simplify administration, especially for large organizations. Additionally, policy debugging and validation could be more streamlined, as troubleshooting misconfigurations can be time-consuming and prone to errors. A more robust error messaging system or a dedicated debugging tool would be beneficial. Another area for improvement is temporary access credentials. AWS documentation should offer more detailed guidance on edge cases and exceptions, along with clearer examples of how to handle various scenarios. Lastly, enhanced session-level policies that are more context-sensitive and based on specific conditions (such as IP address, device, or time) would greatly increase flexibility and allow for more granular control over user sessions.

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EkoNugroho

Cloud Support Manager at PointStar

Enhanced security and simplicity in deployment for a holistic protection

The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its simplicity in deployment. You only need to purchase and assign licenses to users, and there's no need for extensive setup. Another valuable feature is its integration with Google Workspace, which enhances security through context-aware access and allows for geographic and IP-specific restrictions. This ensures secure access to applications and data.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the security configuration ease, which is great for me, especially as a beginner."

"The most valuable features of AWS IAM Identity Center are role-based permissions and existing permissions templates."

"The solution enhances security through features like multifactor authentication."

"The two most valuable features of IAM Identity Center are the security policy generation and automation in creating credentials."

"I highly recommend AWS IAM Identity Center to new users, especially for storage and deployment services like EC2, which are cost-efficient and scalable."

"IAM provides significant benefits when properly deployed."

"We efficiently use AWS to create multiple user privileges and permissions, making it very scalable and supportive of our clients' operations."

"The solution helps us manage access in a time-efficient manner and offers reliable integration for our services, avoiding security breaches and maintaining operational efficiency."

More AWS IAM Identity Center pros

"The Cloud Identity is well advanced in terms of features, applications, and the components that it is offering."

"The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its stability."

"The solution is moderate to difficult to use. I found the approach was practical. Following the steps made it very easy to use."

"Google Cloud Identity uses what they call organizational units (OUs) instead of the security groups you'd find in Microsoft's Entra."

"Google is always on its own. 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 is the performance."

"The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is group access. You are able to assign policies to groups instead of users individually."

More Google Cloud Identity pros

Cons

"I have opened support tickets and received responses, although not always resolving my queries fully. I would appreciate a live chat option with technical support for quicker resolutions."

"For AWS services in general, I had trouble creating an S3 bucket due to a repetitive error message regarding existing names."

"There is a desire to see integration or adoption of time-based user creation features within AWS IAM Identity Center."

"I would like to see more flexibility in the features as sometimes it doesn't meet my expectations."

"Integrating AWS IAM Identity Center with other applications sometimes presents challenges."

"In the product, two groups cannot have the same name...In general, the tool does not allow for the duplication of names."

"The AWS Identity Center's user interface could be improved to provide a clearer understanding of how the system operates."

"The configuration with other tools can be hard."

More AWS IAM Identity Center cons

"The integration should be made easier."

"The customer service and support team is not so good."

"The interface could be improved by simplifying it further."

"The solution needs to better integrate with Mac's OS."

"If I were to suggest enhancements, it would mainly revolve around ensuring compatibility and maximizing integration options with various services."

"They are going ahead and adding a few more things to the Google Cloud premium edition. Their stock management and remote computer management can be improved."

"We cannot manage the attributes of SSPR."

"In the next release, I would like to see integration with different systems, mainly wireless SIEMS and other analytical systems that we want to introduce."

More Google Cloud Identity cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is cheap since it is available on the cloud."

"The licensing cost depends on the partners and the relationship between the company and the partners."

"When I worked on Cloud Identity, they offered a free or enterprise version. You can synchronize and create up to 100 user identities in the free version. After that, you have to purchase a business or enterprise license. In that model, you'll be charged based on the number of users."

"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."

"We probably spend about $50,000 a year on licensing."

"The fees are paid monthly and there are no additional costs other than the licensing fees."

"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 solution is not expensive."

"The pricing is a bit expensive."

More Google Cloud Identity pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Marketing Services Firm

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS IAM Identity Center?

The product is easy for beginners to learn and use.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS IAM Identity Center?

AWS provides the lowest pricing among other service providers like Azure, Google, Oracle. It is cost-effective, and they use a pay-as-you-go model.

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What needs improvement with AWS IAM Identity Center?

There are new AI features coming to AWS that are easy and simple to use. However, focusing on further allowing customization and flexibility in developing solutions as a solution architect or devel...

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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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Google Cloud Identity?

The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its stability.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Entra ID vs AWS IAM Identity Center

Compared 60% of the time

Microsoft Active Directory vs AWS IAM Identity Center

Compared 12% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs AWS IAM Identity Center

Compared 10% of the time

Red Hat Single Sign On vs AWS IAM Identity Center

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Entra External ID vs AWS IAM Identity Center

Compared 8% of the time

More AWS IAM Identity Center Competitors

Microsoft Entra ID vs Google Cloud Identity

Compared 64% of the time

Okta Workforce Identity vs Google Cloud Identity

Compared 15% of the time

Microsoft Intune vs Google Cloud Identity

Compared 7% of the time

JumpCloud vs Google Cloud Identity

Compared 3% of the time

SailPoint Identity Security Cloud vs Google Cloud Identity

Compared 2% of the time

More Google Cloud Identity Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AWS IAM Identity Center

April 2025

Download AWS IAM Identity Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Google Cloud Identity

April 2025

Download Google Cloud Identity product report

Also Known As

AWS Single Sign On, AWS SSO

Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity Premium

Overview

AWS IAM Identity Center is the recommended service for managing your workforce's access to AWS applications or your multiple AWS accounts (or both). It is a flexible solution that can be used to connect your existing identity source or help you create users in AWS. IAM Identity Center can be used alongside your existing AWS account access configurations.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Cloud Identity is an Identity as a Service (IDaaS) and enterprise mobility management (EMM) product. It offers the identity services and endpoint administration that are available in G Suite as a stand-alone product. As an administrator, you can use Cloud Identity to manage your users, apps, and devices from a central location - the Google Admin console.

Google

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

ExtraHop Networks, HealthChannels

Buyer's Guide

AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Google Cloud Identity

March 2025

Free Report: AWS IAM Identity Center vs. Google Cloud Identity

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