Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

JumpCloud vs Microsoft Entra External ID comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 18, 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

iboss
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (5th), Internet Security (3rd), Web Content Filtering (1st), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), ZTNA as a Service (7th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (8th)
JumpCloud
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (10th), Identity Management (IM) (12th), Enterprise Password Managers (10th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (12th), ZTNA as a Service (10th), Active Directory Bridge (3rd), Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) (4th)
Microsoft Entra External ID
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (9th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (17th)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2701851 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director
Enhances web security with a single pane of glass and flexible deployment
I don't see any need for improvement; one of the really good things about iboss as a company is that they listen to customer feedback. I have suggested enhancements, and they are responsive, making changes for the better, and they do a lot of testing. To improve iboss, although we haven't used it, we considered the VPN solution that comes with the highest tier licensing, which includes DLP and various other add-ons. We prefer using another product which automatically logs you back onto your network when turning on your PC. With iboss, the connection is manual, which doesn't meet our needs. Additionally, sizing can be tricky because, although the initial recommendations may seem adequate, actual usage may require more gateways than anticipated.
Arun Jose - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at Mensa Brands
Unified directory and device management has streamlined remote workforce security and onboarding
JumpCloud can be improved in several areas. Some users feel the initial configuration can be complex, especially for larger organizations, and better guided onboarding could be helpful. Additionally, while its reporting and integrations are strong, more granular and customizable metrics and real-time alerts would be beneficial for advanced use cases. From my team's perspective, there is often a desire for even more intuitive administrative controls, particularly when managing complex policy sets. Enhanced integrations with specific industry-specific applications could provide even greater efficiency. It is about refining the user experience and expanding compatibility. Another area for potential enhancement could be customer support and resources. While generally good, faster response times and more comprehensive or specialized documentation could further improve the user experience, especially during complex deployments.
FS
Consultant at Artifield
Offers strong identity unification but needs better customization
Microsoft Entra External ID can be improved with additional features, specifically customizable flexibility and a customizable user interface for the login dialog. Currently, the login dialog has very limited customization options, which only include font styles, colors, text messages, or brand icons. Last month, Entra ID introduced some customizable features in their login dialog, but this does not apply to Microsoft Entra External ID, indicating a significant gap between the two. In theory, Entra External ID can support many external identity providers where custom login dialogs could be integrated, potentially via SSO feature coordination, although I have not yet confirmed this. Hence, enhanced customizable login options and the ability to use attribute password logins are critical features that are required for Microsoft Entra External ID to gain dominance in the authentication market.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"From a use-case scenario, what I like the most is the plug-in. I like the fact that we can do the filtering of these devices offsite independent of the network they are connected to, and we do not have to have traffic coming back inside our network."
"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."
"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."
"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."
"I would rate the technical support of iboss a solid 10 without a shadow of a doubt."
"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."
"Technical support is pretty sharp and very responsive."
"The console is cloud-based, which is something I really appreciate."
"The cross-platform support and easy policy deployment from JumpCloud have greatly assisted my team, especially since it is typically difficult to deploy services across various directory services on Linux."
"The most valuable features of JumpCloud are flexibility, policy management for devices, and device patch management. For example, we can limit access to devices only in Chile or send a number of commands to the devices to manage them."
"I am impressed with the product's remote access which allows admins to control endpoints which is a timesaver."
"The most valuable feature of JumpCloud, it provides a convenient and streamlined solution for me to access and manage all of the features I require in one centralized location. This eliminates the need for me to worry about hiring individuals to manage these tasks, as well as eliminating concerns surrounding hardware, updates, and licenses. With JumpCloud, I am able to receive the services I need in a timely and efficient manner, which has significantly reduced my stress and alleviated a great deal of the issues I once faced. This is especially important as I am often bound by laws, regulations, contracts, and customer demands to keep up with various tasks. With JumpCloud, I am able to manage everything I need in one place, giving me visibility and control over aspects that I previously had to manage through multiple systems."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"A key positive impact JumpCloud has on my organization is significant time savings, and by centralizing user and device management, IT teams can reduce the time spent on manual tasks, potentially freeing up 20 to 30 percent of their time."
"The good thing about JumpCloud is having something where in a single tool, I can manage everything: users, groups, their permissions, their different applications, integrations, and the devices."
"JumpCloud has positively impacted my organization because we can work more efficiently by focusing on the one user portal to use the applications."
"For policy management in my organization, I would say it is perfect."
"Primarily Microsoft Entra External ID SSO is valuable as it works with everything when it comes to integration."
"Microsoft Entra External ID offers numerous advantages; there's no need to maintain anything on-premises, which results in a significant IT infrastructure cost saving."
"I have not encountered any stability issues with Microsoft Entra External ID."
"The experience has been rather good; there are other possibilities, but we made the choice to go with Microsoft, and we have a good experience with that."
"The single sign-on access is the most useful feature we use."
"When it comes to Microsoft Entra External ID, Microsoft itself is the best distributor."
"It's similar to using a Microsoft account to create accounts on other websites. We are also using Microsoft Entra to monitor which applications our guests are using. This allows us to filter, block, or adjust permissions for these applications as needed for our collaborators."
 

Cons

"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."
"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."
"Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc. It is easy to gain access if, for example, hackers obtain my username and password."
"If they could implement an extra security layer preventing access to iboss from the open internet, it would be great."
"Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device and filtering did not always work correctly."
"SSL decryption: We had issues with learners using apps instead of using web browsers. This type of encryption is tough for any appliance in a BYOD environment."
"Fold that in with the risk intelligence they're getting from all of the different subscriptions they are a part of. Now, these security companies subscribe to things like emerging threats, databases, etc. You can fold all this intelligence to decide what's happening on an endpoint. I would love to see them start moving into that space. That would compete directly with Microsoft. Maybe that's why they haven't. Having that ability native within the solution would be great. The other area in which I would love to see improvement is more detailed descriptions of why they block websites."
"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."
"They need more straightening of the SSO capabilities."
"The capability to get alerts would be great when CPU or RAM is high on an endpoint, or when a disk is failing. It would be great to get an alert rather than having to go looking for it."
"For improvement, the tool should introduce more customization options."
"JumpCloud could improve the user interface. While it has certainly come a long way, there is still room for improvement in terms of simplifying and making it more intuitive for the user. In my opinion, the UI/UE could benefit from some modifications to enhance the overall user experience. I have suggested some changes to JumpCloud regarding this matter as I believe that they have the potential to further enhance the platform and make it even more user-friendly. There are certain small features within the system that users may not be familiar with, as they may have previously used different systems with different user interfaces."
"The visual tool and interface must be more fine-tuned."
"Customer service is fairly good, and sometimes it takes a little time to hear back."
"It could dip into CI/CD tooling as well. That would be a very interesting part to see."
"There are a few aspects that could be improved. Their API was a little spotty when I last used it, and some of those use cases were around removing systems from our environment."
"Microsoft's pricing is complex and difficult to fathom due to a range of different licensing options."
"I would like to see faster synchronization."
"There is room for improvement in AI technology for Microsoft Entra External ID, particularly in providing detailed alerts."
"Microsoft Entra External ID isn't a complete cloud-based account solution, as it must handle internal employees and collaborate with internal Active Directory."
"Technical support needs improvement."
"The quality of Microsoft customer support varies. With an enterprise contract, good resources are usually provided, especially in regions like Saudi Arabia or UAE. However, we have faced challenges with support quality, especially in some subcontinent areas where the resources might not be as experienced."
"The cost is very high."
"The only problem that you might face with Microsoft now is their complex licensing model."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."
"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."
"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."
"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."
"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."
"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."
"The pricing model changed about 18 months ago. It used to be that you got 10 users free, and then you paid for any user above 10 users. Now, when you go above 10 users, you pay for every user. It has become a bit more expensive, but it's such a good product. When you take into account Microsoft licenses, if you were to run Active Directory, you'd need a server to put it on, or you would need a couple of servers, backup, etc. It's a no-brainer. JumpCloud is so much easier to manage from my perspective, regardless of the cost increase. It's just brilliant."
"JumpCloud's monthly license costs around $25 for the complete solution."
"The pricing is all on the JumpCloud website. It's not hidden, you don't have to go through a show me a quote type procedure. The pricing is straightforward to understand."
"The cost of the solution is approximately $12 per user. However, the cost depends on what modules you're using. They have an all-in-one package and they do have tiers. For example, the more users you have, the cheaper it ends up being in the end too. I know they've done some changes to the pricing model and I haven't been involved in a lot of the licensing lately. I don't know the exact cost at this time."
"The cost was around $5 per user per month."
"Licensing cost can be anywhere between $2 and $18 a month depending on what you want to do."
"We are using an enterprise license for JumpCloud. We have purchased a license for approximately $3,000 a year, but we are charged more than $135,000 annually."
"I rate the product's pricing a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"We don't pay separately for Microsoft Entra External ID as it's part of our Microsoft Exchange subscription."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) solutions are best for your needs.
882,260 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Comms Service Provider
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?
For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company Exxon...
What is your primary use case for iboss?
Previously when I used iboss, we did the POC for iboss for ExxonMobil. Four or five people wanted to move from our ol...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern. There are cheaper alte...
What do you like most about JumpCloud?
The product enables device management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for JumpCloud?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing indicates that pricing can be considered competitive with simil...
What needs improvement with JumpCloud?
JumpCloud can be improved in several areas. Some users feel the initial configuration can be complex, especially for ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?
Microsoft is flexible in the pricing for the product, so I cannot say that it is expensive, but definitely they are f...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?
Not really at the moment, but perhaps when we go deeper into using Microsoft Entra External ID, we may experience som...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?
When I say identity, I mean Microsoft Entra External ID. We have been using Microsoft Entra External ID since the beg...
 

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform
Resmo
Azure Active Directory External Identities
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.
Cars.com, GoFundMe, Grab, ClassPass, Uplight, Beyond Finance, Foursquare
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about JumpCloud vs. Microsoft Entra External ID and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
882,260 professionals have used our research since 2012.