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Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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

Google Cloud Identity
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (11th), Cloud Resource Access Management (5th)
Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
276
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (2nd), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Identity is 8.6%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 16.1%, down from 28.4% 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 (%)
Microsoft Entra ID16.1%
Google Cloud Identity8.6%
Other75.3%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Q&A Highlights

ID
Owner at Brains
May 12, 2020
 

Featured Reviews

Joel Prodigalidad - PeerSpot reviewer
Central and Enduser Computing Manager at Infopro Business Solutions, Inc.
User-friendly solution simplifies modern application integration and streamlines data investigation
We do not use these capabilities of Google Cloud Identity because of the limitations for Active Directory integration. Google Cloud Identity could have impacted our organization positively, but if it weren't for the Active Directory integration requirement, we could have been using the Google Identity solution. 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. The Active Directory integration that Entra has is a better implementation compared to Google, which we found lacking.
Stafin Jacob - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Practice Lead at Invoke
Identity has become our central gatekeeper and has provided secure single sign-on for all users
Microsoft Entra ID can improve by focusing more on new passwordless methods and becoming a primary adopter. One feature we would like to see is the ability to have security questions for password resets. I know the current capability is phasing out, so we do not have an alternative method yet. Customers who already use security questions require a smoother transition for that capability to be available. My experience with the deployment has had some challenges, particularly around the Microsoft MFA campaigns. The hardest part is moving users from a different MFA provider to the Microsoft MFA provider, as it ultimately depends on user activity. In large enterprises with numerous users across various geographies, this transition takes time. If there are ways to exert more control around that process, it would improve the situation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most beneficial feature for enhancing security is context-aware access."
"The most valuable feature is the performance."
"It is a very stable solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is group access, as you are able to assign policies to groups instead of users individually."
"Although we have not looked at the whole product and explored it completely, we find that all the authentication features that we are using now are valuable."
"The solution is primarily used for single control and single sign which helps with the security and authentication of multiple devices."
"Microsoft Azure AD is easy to install and is a stable solution."
"Azure Active Directory has many automation capabilities, and you can apply policies on top. You can do a lot of things with these combinations and integrate other tools like PingFederate."
"Microsoft Entra ID scales effectively with the growing needs of our organization, as we have never faced any challenges with its scalability."
"The cloud security part is very valuable, and with Azure Active Directory there are features that tell you how to improve your security level and let you know if your organization has been breached, making it easier to detect issues especially when you set up a Conditional Access policy for your organization."
"It enhanced our end user experience quite a bit. Instead of the days of having to contact the service desk with challenges for choosing their password, users can go in and do it themselves locally, regardless of where they are in the world. This has certainly made it a better experience accessing their applications. Previously, a lot of times, they had to remember multiple usernames and passwords for different systems. This solution brings it all together, using a single sign-on experience."
"The single sign-on is the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"Microsoft Entra ID works well for scalability in my organization, as we have grown from 150 employees to 700 employees."
"My advice for another organization considering Microsoft Entra ID is simple: if you are utilizing Microsoft Office applications and the Microsoft 365 suite, using Microsoft Entra ID as your primary identity provider is a no-brainer."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the configuration of their security policies. It seems quite basic."
"The solution's storage capacity could be increased."
"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."
"If you want to set up some alerts, you don't have much control over the configuration. You have to use their default alerts. And they only provide alerts for certain activities, so you cannot customize those. Monitoring isn't very helpful either."
"Google Cloud Identity should improve its compatibility with other products without any impact, such as Jamf Cloud."
"The password vaulting does not prevent the admins from reading users' passwords, and that's a debate."
"Google Cloud Identity the UI could improve."
"The management of external users needs to be introduced in the tool as it is an area of concern in the tool presently."
"Azure AD needs to be more in sync."
"Microsoft plans to move away from SMS authentication for Multi-Factor Authentication and only implement application-based authenticator, which will be challenging for retail outlets reliant on Microsoft Active Directory."
"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."
"The automation aspects of Entra ID could be improved, particularly when automating through different providers and SDKs."
"The solution can improve the educational portion because it is an administration cost."
"The monitoring dashboard could be a bit better."
"The main issue is that because Active Directory is in the cloud, it will inevitably be dependent on internet connectivity."
"Sometimes I sense complications when moving from one tenant to another, which is simply because different enterprises have different security guidelines."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not expensive."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"The fees are paid monthly and there are no additional costs other than the licensing fees."
"The product is billed on a monthly basis depending on the number of users."
"I'm not sure about the specific costs or how they're calculated, but essentially, the costs go up based on the level of security that is required by the organization."
"I think the pricing is efficient, but the licensing is overly complicated and difficult to understand. There are many tricks in the licensing that weigh against us."
"The price of the solution's license is good."
"If you're on Azure, it can be free or it's incorporated, at no extra cost, or it can become extremely complicated."
"For you to make use of some of the security features, you need to upgrade your licenses. If it is possible, could they just make some features free? For instance, for the Condition Access policy, you need to set that up and be on Azure AD P2 licensing. So if they could make it free or reduce the licensing for small businesses, that would be cool, as I believe security is for everyone."
"Entra's pricing is somewhat higher compared to AWS."
"Microsoft Entra ID's pricing is reasonable."
"I'm not totally aware of the pricing and licensing, but I do know that the pricing and licensing must be quite balanced. We are a pretty old client of Microsoft, and MSA is just one of the services we use from Microsoft. There's a whole Microsoft 365 suite that's implemented as well. I'm sure it is something that is acceptable to both parties."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business90
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise161
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that going through and being able to use these things is always part of delivering an M365 bundle, so I don't think the experience is great ...
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
Microsoft Entra ID can be improved by open-sourcing it. You already have Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is open-source Linux in Microsoft. One major shift for Microsoft would be using the commo...
 

Also Known As

Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity Premium
Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ExtraHop Networks, HealthChannels
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 Google Cloud Identity vs. Microsoft Entra ID and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,467 professionals have used our research since 2012.