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IBM Cloud Identity 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

IBM Cloud Identity Service
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
28th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
3
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
7.0
Number of Reviews
276
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (3rd), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of IBM Cloud Identity Service is 1.0%, up from 0.4% 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%
IBM Cloud Identity Service1.0%
Other82.9%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1054431 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Excellent support, beneficial integration, and low maintenance
I have found IBM Cloud Identity Service to be highly scalable. It can handle thousands of users. IBM solutions are truly enterprise-grade. You don't find a lot of use cases for small businesses, or even sometimes medium businesses, the price point does not fit smaller businesses. The implementation effort, it's hard to find that cost-benefit.
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

"It is multiple identity and access management, so all of the applications are valuable."
"It is multiple identity and access management, so all of the applications are valuable. It's also part of the automated process."
"We can automate many of our daily operations with it, and we don't have to manage many things manually."
"IBM Cloud Identity Service is highly stable."
"One of the most valuable features of IBM Cloud Identity Service is that it delivers integrations with the commercial SaaS software that's available."
"It is stable. We can automate many of our daily operations with it, and we don't have to manage many things manually."
"The company I work for has more than 10 branches, we no longer have to go to the branch outside the city to have the application installed on the user's devices."
"The most valuable feature is the conditional access policies. This gives us the ability to restrict who can access which applications or the portal in specific ways."
"Conditional access is a very important feature where a specific user can be restricted such that they cannot connect to the application if they travel outside of the US."
"We simply use Azure AD and everything is taken care of instantly; you need not worry about user management because everything is taken care of by Azure AD itself and you just simply have it in your application and everything is done out-of-the-box."
"The implementation of Microsoft Entra ID has hardened our approach to defending against token theft and nation-state attacks."
"Microsoft Entra ID offers strong security levels, especially with two-step authentication, which confirms that I am the real user."
"Multi-factor authentication is one of the most important features of my work. Verified ID is another feature that is becoming significant."
"Microsoft Entra ID identity platform is feature-rich, allowing for a lot of integration as a single identity model."
 

Cons

"Everything can be more stable and secure. There could also be more account features. I would like to be able to do more things through it to manage users' accounts."
"You don't find a lot of use cases for small businesses, or even sometimes medium businesses, the price point does not fit smaller businesses."
"The initial setup is complex, it's not straightforward. It takes months because it's not straightforward."
"IBM Cloud Identity Service is going in the right direction with the product. They need to keep building out the integrations and having the library is very critical."
"The initial setup is complex, it's not straightforward. It takes months because it's not straightforward."
"Everything can be more stable and secure. There could also be more account features."
"The solution could be improved when it comes to monitoring and logging as these are the most critical areas in case something was to go wrong."
"I would like it if Intune could manage MacOS or iOS directly. Right now, we have to use a third-party solution."
"Microsoft support has some room for improvement. I avoid contacting them because it can be time-consuming."
"I would like to see Microsoft communicate how they intend to manage legacy applications. Right now, you still have to deploy a hosted domain server (which comes at an extra cost) if you have a legacy application that cannot sync properly with the enterprise applications and the modern applications."
"When it comes to identity governance, the governance features in Azure AD are very focused on Microsoft products. I would like to see those governance and life cycle management features offered for non-Microsoft products connected to Azure AD."
"When it comes to identity and access life cycle management for applications that are run on-premises, as well as access governance, if those kinds of capabilities could be built into Azure Active Directory, that would be good."
"In terms of improvement, we face issues with latency and responsiveness. Changes take some time to reflect across all users, sometimes up to twenty-four hours, which can be challenging when we need to implement drastic changes."
"Microsoft could improve by stabilizing its branding. I still call it Azure AD. Some of the customers I work with call it Azure AD. Branding makes you stand out in the market, but it is something that also confuses people."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is expensive for non-enterprise companies. IBM's always going to be a little more expensive, you're going to be paying a premium. However, depending on the organization's needs, there's probably a benefit there to do even with the price being the way it is."
"I give the cost a three out of ten."
"This product is sold as part of the enterprise package and our licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Microsoft Authenticator is included in the package when we purchase a license from Microsoft."
"Pricing could always be better. You pay the premium for Microsoft. Sometimes, it is worth it, and at other times, you wish to have more licensing options, especially for smaller companies."
"The solution was fairly priced the last time I checked the costs."
"It is a packaged license. We have a Premium P1 subscription of Office 365, and it came with that."
"If you're on Azure, it can be free or it's incorporated, at no extra cost, or it can become extremely complicated."
"It is in line. Because we are so early, we have not had to come back on a cycle where we are having to negotiate again."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business90
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise161
 

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...
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

No data available
Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Baxter Healthcare, 
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 IBM Cloud Identity Service vs. Microsoft Entra ID and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,510 professionals have used our research since 2012.