DigiCert PKI Platform vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

Digicert and Microsoft are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Digicert is ranked #24, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6. Digicert holds a 1.6% mindshare in AS, compared to Microsoft’s 8.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Digicert users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

DigiCert PKI Platform

Read 2 DigiCert PKI Platform reviews

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791 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Entra ID

Read 266 Microsoft Entra ID reviews

24,265 Views
6,066 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

DigiCert PKI Platform

Microsoft Entra ID

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2024

Microsoft Entra ID and DigiCert PKI Platform are both prominent identity management and security solutions. Microsoft Entra ID offers competitive pricing and excellent customer support, while DigiCert PKI Platform is recognized for its rich feature set and robust security, making it a superior choice for enterprise-level security needs despite a higher price point.

What features are offered by Microsoft Entra ID in comparison to DigiCert PKI Platform?

Microsoft Entra ID is valued for seamless integration with other Microsoft products, strong multi-factor authentication capabilities, and competitive pricing. DigiCert PKI Platform is praised for its comprehensive certificate management, automated workflows, and robust security features that address diverse security concerns.

What areas of improvement can be found in Microsoft Entra ID in comparison to DigiCert PKI Platform?

Microsoft Entra ID reviews highlight complexity in initial setup, integration with non-Microsoft ecosystems, and the need for improved user interfaces. Users of DigiCert PKI Platform mention the need for better documentation, user education, and a more intuitive interface. These reflect different user experience challenges faced by each product.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of Microsoft Entra ID in comparison to DigiCert PKI Platform?

Microsoft Entra ID is noted for straightforward implementation within Microsoft environments and responsive customer support. DigiCert PKI Platform, while having a more complex setup process, provides detailed support and dedicated account management. Ease of deployment favors Entra ID, but DigiCert’s dedicated support services receive positive user feedback.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with Microsoft Entra ID in comparison to DigiCert PKI Platform?

Microsoft Entra ID stands out for cost-effectiveness and better-managed long-term costs. DigiCert PKI Platform, though initially more expensive, has a perceived higher ROI due to its comprehensive security solutions. Users feel the investment in DigiCert is justified by its robust capabilities, reflecting the higher initial price point in its ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed DigiCert PKI Platform vs. Microsoft Entra ID Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

DigiCert PKI Platform vs. Microsoft Entra ID

December 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

DigiCert PKI Platform

Ranking in Authentication Systems

24th

Average Rating

9.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Entra ID

Ranking in Authentication Systems

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

266

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Identity Management (IM) (2nd), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of DigiCert PKI Platform is 1.6%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 8.2%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Entra ID	8.2%
DigiCert PKI Platform	1.6%
Other	90.2%

Authentication Systems

Featured Reviews

Indra Maulana

Business Solution and Development Manager at PT ADPS

Tailored to the lifecycle management needs of banks

The customer finds value in adopting a platform from Jira, particularly for the ease it brings to their processes, both for on-premises operations and batch processing. Their objective is to create a new customized server specifically designed for generating certificates. This server is intended for the generation of certificates, emphasizing that it is not meant for free domain replacement. The platform of choice for this purpose is Digital One, a product that offers full customization and aligns well with the customer's preference for tailored solutions. The process of certificate issuance from Microsoft's AB involves renewal or replacement every five years. However, an issue arises in that this particular certificate requires renewal annually instead of the standard five-year cycle. The challenge is attributed to personnel changes, where an administrator responsible for the process resigns within the five-year period. To address this, we seek an automated solution that operates seamlessly with a single sign-on approach, eliminating the need for user IDs or passwords. The automation involves approval and subsequent deployment without complexities. Being a partner of DigiSet, we rely on the implementer for support in service deployment, installation, and resolution of any issues that may arise.

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Dewey Phillips

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.

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 communication based on PKI certificates."

"I emphasize the importance of automation in Wi-Fi management, particularly in tasks such as certificate renewal. The requirement extends to the ability to generate new certificates from a local server within the data center. There is a need to establish a new server for local certificate issuance and highlights the desire for automation in the deployment process. The emphasis lies in leveraging automated solutions to streamline these operations effectively."

"What I like is that I can go anywhere, at any time, and to any client premise, and I can simply log in to the admin panel and can serve any of my clients."

"Privileged Identity Management (PIM), managed identities, dynamic groups, and extension and security attributes are all great features."

"Application integration is easy. MFA and password self-service have reduced most of the supportive work of IT. We use multi-factor authentication. Every access from a user is through multi-factor authentication. There is no legacy authentication. We have blocked legacy authentication methods. For people who use the MDM on mobile, we push our application through Intune. In a hybrid environment, users can work from anywhere. With Intune, we can push policies and secure the data."

"The single sign-on across multiple platforms is really the true advantage here. That gives you one ID and password for access to all your systems. You don't need to manage a plethora of different user IDs and passwords to all the systems that you're going to access."

"The features of Microsoft Entra ID that I appreciate the most include the incredible value we have found in the MFA piece along with Conditional Access."

"The user functionality enables us to provide different levels of access, across many applications, for each user. We can customize the access level and set a security level in connection with that access. For instance, we can require MFA. That is a feature that helps enhance our security posture a lot."

"The solution adds an extra layer of security."

"The user management groups are valuable. It is a pretty basic product, but user management, in general, is valuable with the ability to differentiate between business lines and add different policies, group-based management, and dynamic user groups."

More Microsoft Entra ID pros

Cons

"The customer finds value in adopting a platform from Jira, particularly for the ease it brings to their processes, both for on-premises operations and batch processing. Their objective is to create a new customized server specifically designed for generating certificates. This server is intended for the generation of certificates, emphasizing that it is not meant for free domain replacement. The platform of choice for this purpose is Digital One, a product that offers full customization and aligns well with the customer's preference for tailored solutions.The process of certificate issuance from Microsoft's AB involves renewal or replacement every five years. However, an issue arises in that this particular certificate requires renewal annually instead of the standard five-year cycle. The challenge is attributed to personnel changes, where an administrator responsible for the process resigns within the five-year period. To address this, we seeks an automated solution that operates seamlessly with a single sign-on approach, eliminating the need for user IDs or passwords. The automation involves approval and subsequent deployment without complexities. Us, being a partner of DigiSet, relies on their implementer for support in service deployment, installation, and resolution of any issues that may arise."

"From an automation perspective, PKI is a bit of a debatable topic and can be improved as time demands."

"A couple of years ago, I experienced some difficulty in implementing the solutions, the services of Azure AD. In one instance, I was not able to configure Azure AD for a registration. This was two or three years ago. However, currently, the documentation is very clear and there are no loopholes or anything that could hinder even a simple IT administrator to implement these services."

"Its area of improvement is more about the synchronization of accounts and the intervals for that. Sometimes, there're customers with other network challenges, and it takes a while for synchronization to happen to the cloud. There is some component of their on-prem that is delaying things getting to the cloud. The turnaround time for these requests is very time-sensitive. I don't mean this as derogatory for this service, but in my experience, that happens a lot."

"We have a lot of freedom in using the Group Policy Objects and, although Group Policy Objects are part of Azure Active Directory, there are still a lot of things that can be improved, such as providing local admin rights to a user. There are various, easy ways that I can do that in the on-premises version, but in the cloud version, it is a bit difficult. You have to create a bunch of policies to make it work."

"At first, it was a bit challenging to come up with a workaround that would get authentication to work."

"ESAE management, especially the admin tools, could be improved. It should be built in by the vendor, and I shouldn't have to add patches or updates to connect to my domain directly. It should be added by default. The price could be better."

"The Azure AD Application Proxy, which helps you publish applications in a secure way, has room for improvement. We are moving from another solution into the Application Proxy and it's quite detailed. Depending on the role you're signing in as, you can end up at different websites, which wasn't an issue with our old solution."

"Rule management and permissions need improvements. I have had discussions with product managers about these challenges and sent emails regarding them. Additionally, improvements are needed in the Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) side of things."

"There are issues using it with ADFS."

More Microsoft Entra ID cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate it seven for the price."

"This solution won't cost much, as this would be free with the licensing from Microsoft."

"It's pretty good. We're using the native features. It's bundled with our Office 365 licenses. We aren't paying anything extra for Azure Active Directory. It's pretty good for us because it's complementary to Office 365. We're only paying for Office 365."

"The licensing cost is a bit prohibitive."

"The pricing of Azure Active Directory is competitive. By default, the product exists in almost every Microsoft cloud product. But it then depends on the features that a customer really wants to make use of."

"Microsoft Azure AD has P1 or P2 licensing options, and it depends on the customer's needs. To use Conditional Access, you need to have the P1 license, and to use the PIN features, you need the P2 license."

"The basic tier of Azure Active Directory is free, so many users use the service for free. For a small company having the security and compliance that Azure offers is a great benefit. For small companies that are using the basic services, not having to pay for Azure Active Directory is the main asset because they can manage their users and have authentications tools and security."

"The pricing for companies and businesses is okay, it's fair. But if you are trying to teach someone about Azure AD, there is no licensing option for that... It would be nice to have a 'learning' license, one that is cheaper for a single person."

"The pricing is good; it's not cheap but very reasonable."

"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."

More Microsoft Entra ID pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	85
Midsize Enterprise	38
Large Enterprise	155

Questions from the Community

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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...

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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.

See all answers

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.

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Comparisons

CyberArk Certificate Manager vs DigiCert PKI Platform

Compared 25% of the time

Entrust Identity Enterprise vs DigiCert PKI Platform

Compared 14% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs DigiCert PKI Platform

Compared 13% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs DigiCert PKI Platform

Compared 7% of the time

RSA Authentication Manager vs DigiCert PKI Platform

Compared 6% of the time

More DigiCert PKI Platform Competitors

Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 24% of the time

Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

Okta Platform vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 4% of the time

SailPoint Identity Security Cloud vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 4% of the time

Amazon Cognito vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Entra ID Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

January 2026

Download DigiCert PKI Platform product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID

January 2026

Download Microsoft Entra ID product report

Also Known As

DigiCert PKI, Symantec Managed PKI Service

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Digicert

Microsoft

Overview

The smartest solution for simplifying user identity management for existing network access, directory services and business applications. DigiCert PKI Platform is the industry-leading solution that allows you to secure and manage all of your PKI applications from one place — no matter what solutions you have in place. Take control of and automate the certificate lifecycle for: Email, WiFi access points, Secure VPN, Mobile device management, Document Signing, Smart card login, Internet of things.

Digicert

Microsoft Entra ID is an advanced identity and access management service offering seamless single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and centralized user access across applications, enhancing security and efficiency for organizations transitioning to cloud-based environments.

Recognized for its centralized management, Microsoft Entra ID significantly boosts organizational security by integrating features such as conditional access and identity protection. It supports a wide array of applications, facilitating a secure transition from on-premises to scalable cloud environments. By adopting robust security measures and flexible identity management, organizations can streamline operations and ensure consistent user experiences. However, challenges like confusing licensing costs, outdated documentation, and limited integration with non-Microsoft applications persist. Enhancements in technical support, interface design, and more granular permissions are needed to address these issues effectively.

What are the key features of Microsoft Entra ID?

Seamless Single Sign-On: Allows users to access multiple applications with one set of credentials.
Multifactor Authentication: Adds an extra layer of security by requiring multiple forms of verification.
Conditional Access: Provides adaptive policies to ensure the right access under the right conditions.
Identity Protection: Detects and responds to potential vulnerabilities and threats.
Privileged Identity Management: Controls and monitors access to critical resources.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Microsoft Entra ID?

Enhanced Security: Protects against unauthorized access and data breaches.
Operational Efficiency: Centralizes identity management to reduce administrative tasks.
Scalability: Supports growth by accommodating evolving IT environments.
Cost Management: Facilitates cost control through centralized systems and automated processes.

In healthcare, Microsoft Entra ID facilitates secure patient record access and compliance with industry regulations. Financial institutions rely on it for robust security measures in safeguarding client data. In the education sector, it streamlines access to online resources for students and faculty. Global enterprises benefit from its ability to manage complex identity frameworks across multiple regions, ensuring reliable security amidst increasing cyber threats.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

paypal, verizon, cloudflare

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.

Buyer's Guide

DigiCert PKI Platform vs. Microsoft Entra ID

December 2025

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