JumpCloud vs Microsoft Entra External ID comparison

JumpCloud and Microsoft are both solutions in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category. JumpCloud is ranked #17 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft is ranked #8 with an average rating of 7.7. Additionally, 100% of JumpCloud users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 12, 2025

JumpCloud and Microsoft Entra External ID compete in the identity management space. JumpCloud takes the lead in deployment and customer service due to its straightforward installation and responsive support.

Features: JumpCloud offers device management, SAML authentication, and integration with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Its single sign-on and security measures like Radius enhance its remote management capabilities. Microsoft Entra External ID features federated identities, strong integration with Microsoft ecosystems, and the ability to handle large datasets securely. Its seamless integration with Active Directory and cloud infrastructure supports hybrid environments.

Room for Improvement: JumpCloud could enhance mobile device management and synchronization with Microsoft 365 groups, and improve API consistency. Adding multi-tenant features and better compatibility with non-Mac/Linux devices would be beneficial. Microsoft Entra External ID can improve cost predictability and customization options. Faster synchronization times and better integration with legacy tools would increase appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: JumpCloud provides straightforward deployment on public cloud infrastructure along with excellent customer support, even for free-tier users. Microsoft Entra External ID supports both public and hybrid cloud environments but faces challenges with complex licensing and integration.

Pricing and ROI: JumpCloud offers transparent pricing, flexible packages, and a proven ROI by reducing identity management burdens. Although prices have increased, it remains cost-effective against competitors like Okta. Microsoft Entra External ID's pricing is part of broader Microsoft packages, which can lack transparency and predictability, impacting its feasibility for expanding user bases.

To learn more, read our detailed JumpCloud vs. Microsoft Entra External ID Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

JumpCloud vs. Microsoft Entra External ID

September 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

iboss

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford

Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water

It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless

One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured

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MuhammadAzhar Khan

Senior DevOps Engineer at Alibaba Group

Manage multiple cloud platforms seamlessly with unified credentials

The most impactful feature of JumpCloud is that it allows me to use one credential for all platforms or accounts, reducing the need to remember multiple credentials. This feature is highly beneficial for user management, particularly for clients with multiple cloud accounts. Additionally, JumpCloud simplifies the workflow when I work with different cloud platforms, such as AWS, Azure, and GCP, by integrating directory and credential management.

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Suresh Kumar Subramaniyan

Manager, Identity & Access Management at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Has supported secure access but still lacks full coverage for external identity challenges

The user experience is acceptable, but Microsoft Entra External ID is not a full-fledged IGA solution. We use different products for complete Identity Governance Administration. Microsoft Entra External ID is suitable for small-scale enterprises implementing identity lifecycle management since most have Active Directory. However, there are several challenges. The out-of-the-box connector has limited features for applications, requiring us to build scheme connectors. While small-scale enterprises can benefit from Microsoft Entra External ID's Identity Governance solution, large-scale enterprises might need different tools from leading market vendors such as SailPoint or Saviynt. Customers face particular challenges with contractor and B2B accounts. Microsoft Entra External ID isn't a complete cloud-based account solution, as it must handle internal employees and collaborate with internal Active Directory. There are delays in the identity lifecycle process, especially for contract partners during onboarding and off-boarding. This might be due to back-end syncing with Active Directory. B2B account removal and provisioning take considerable time. Access governance, particularly access certification for guest users, is time-consuming. Multi-factor authentication enforcement also presents challenges for external users.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support is pretty sharp and very responsive."

"The iboss system is highly reliable. The false positive rates are small compared to some other systems we've experienced through other partner agencies who use competing solutions."

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device. It operates on the network side and is not device-based. This feature was one of the main reasons why we stayed with them for so long."

"I would rate the technical support of iboss a solid 10 without a shadow of a doubt."

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

"We chose iboss for both zero trust and proxy (SWG) because their SWG was superior."

"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."

More iboss pros

"Azure Cloud services are on time and run well and if we use a JumpCloud, the benefits we receive are the ease of management and the solution is completely user-friendly. End users can do identity management easily."

"The interface is clean and user-friendly. Setting up new devices or setting up new users inside the system is easy. Also, it integrates with Office 365, which is pretty much a must for our organization."

"The most impactful feature of JumpCloud is that it allows me to use one credential for all platforms or accounts, reducing the need to remember multiple credentials."

"The whole product is great. The device management is amazing. The fact that you can basically set up an entire machine without having the machine in front of you is most valuable."

"Some of the most valuable features of Jumpcloud have been the use of the policies. They have been very helpful. There are modules in there for policies where you can create your own which indirectly are GPOs similar to what you have for Microsoft environments, however, they are only doing registry changes. They are very powerful and useful. Additionally, having your directory and SSO in one spot is another thing that they provide in application management. Adding, removing, and updating applications are in one place for desktop administration."

"I rate the stability of JumpCloud ten out of ten."

"The usual authentication and authorization, which were all controlled into one portal, are very convenient."

"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."

More JumpCloud pros

"Microsoft Entra External ID is more secure, offering a secure environment."

"The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use."

"The single sign-on access is the most useful feature we use."

"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."

"I have not encountered any stability issues with Microsoft Entra External ID."

"The best features of Microsoft Entra External ID include its unification of B2C functionality and B2E features."

"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."

More Microsoft Entra External ID pros

Cons

"I am currently doing a PoC of the zero trust aspect of it. Compared to other similar solutions, it is hard to get around each feature. It takes a while to get used to it."

"I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention."

"The dashboards for local use could be better."

"Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device and filtering did not always work correctly."

"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."

"If they could implement an extra security layer preventing access to iboss from the open internet, it would be great."

"The area I would like to see improvement in is the ability with in the reporter to navigate directly to the content the user is traversing. It is kind of there, but it's not perfect. Quite frequently, I receive links that lead me to pages with error messages."

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."

More iboss cons

"Support is not good enough."

"I would like AWS to integrate more cloud platforms with JumpCloud, such as Alibaba or Oracle."

"The visual tool and interface must be more fine-tuned."

"They need more straightening of the SSO capabilities."

"JumpCloud can improve in its synchronization of identities. More specifically, groups with Office 365. They've been working on it, but it's not where I would necessarily like it to be."

"The product needs to create its own self-service feature which has been requested by all the admins in the community."

"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."

"A nice feature called patch management with different kinds of licensing is not included in JumpCloud."

More JumpCloud cons

"Technical support needs improvement."

"I generally find Microsoft solutions expensive, especially in specific offerings."

"There is room for improvement in AI technology for Microsoft Entra External ID, particularly in providing detailed alerts."

"Microsoft's pricing is complex and difficult to fathom due to a range of different licensing options."

"The cost is very high."

"The only problem that you might face with Microsoft now is their complex licensing model."

"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."

"Microsoft Entra External ID isn't a complete cloud-based account solution, as it must handle internal employees and collaborate with internal Active Directory."

More Microsoft Entra External ID cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"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."

"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."

"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 expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"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."

"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."

"I rate the product's pricing a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"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 was around $5 per user per month."

"JumpCloud's monthly license costs around $25 for the complete solution."

"JumpCloud offers several subscription plans as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider. The pricing is based on the number of users and the services that are required, meaning that you only pay for what you consume and don't have to pay for services that you don't need. When compared to other solutions, JumpCloud can actually be more cost-effective, as it eliminates the need to hire a team, purchase hardware, pay for licenses and software, and worry about updates, security, and backups. Thus, it offers a more efficient and cost-effective solution for managing your needs."

"I am pretty sure that the cost to acquire JumpCloud is less. They have à la carte or per-user pricing. The pricing is there on their webpage. I am not sure if they have any enterprise pricing or discounts if you have more users. But the overall pricing is less than Okta."

More JumpCloud pricing and cost advice

"We don't pay separately for Microsoft Entra External ID as it's part of our Microsoft Exchange subscription."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

17%

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company Exxon...

See all answers

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...

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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...

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What do you like most about JumpCloud?

The product enables device management.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for JumpCloud?

AWS charges per user, which can be costly if I have more than ten users. Third-party platforms tend to be cheaper tha...

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What needs improvement with JumpCloud?

I would like AWS to integrate more cloud platforms with JumpCloud, such as Alibaba or Oracle. This would be helpful, ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?

The only problem that you might face with Microsoft now is their complex licensing model.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?

For the last four or five years, I have been in an IT manager function, focusing on making things happen and having t...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?

I am looking for a new solution and investigating existing products. We are already working with Microsoft Intune and...

See all answers

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Compared 13% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

Teleport vs JumpCloud

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Active Directory vs JumpCloud

Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 21% of the time

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Compared 19% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

AWS Directory Service vs Microsoft Entra External ID

Compared 5% of the time

Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra External ID

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

October 2025

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Buyer's Guide

JumpCloud

October 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra External ID

October 2025

Download Microsoft Entra External ID product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

Resmo

Azure Active Directory External Identities

Overview

Iboss offers a comprehensive cloud-based security platform valued for its scalability and autonomous features, ensuring robust security with easy deployment and management capabilities.

Renowned for its robust security architecture, Iboss integrates seamlessly within diverse networks, delivering efficient granular filtering and advanced content categorization. Its single pane of glass console provides ease of management, allowing rapid scalability suitable for rapidly deploying environments. Operates in BYOD setups due to inline filtering without device installation. Integration with cloud-based applications enhances user control, and features like SASE, SSL inspection, and ChatGPT risk protection stand as highlights. Despite its strengths, users have pointed out areas for enhancement like direct navigation in reports, SSL decryption, and better cloud integration while having room to improve data loss prevention.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

Scalability: Supports rapid deployment across diverse networks.
SASE: A consolidated approach to secure access.
SSL Inspection: Ensures safe data transmission.
Granular Filtering: Detailed control over accessible content.
Single Pane Management: Unifies control through a centralized console.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Offers competitive pricing with robust features.
Autonomous Operation: Reduces management overhead.
Responsive Support: Provides assistance when needed.
Flexible Deployment: Available for both cloud and on-premises environments.

The usage of Iboss spans educational institutions, specifically K-12, to enforce internet policies, protect data, and support remote work environments. It provides web filtering and security frameworks to ensure safe browsing. Its platform-as-a-service model offers flexibility for both cloud-based and on-premises requirements, integrating seamlessly to deliver enhanced security features suitable for various deployment needs including zero trust, CASB, and network security for work-from-home setups.

iboss

JumpCloud offers efficient device management, single sign-on, and integration capabilities. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, streamlining user management across diverse environments.

JumpCloud delivers device, user, and application management across platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux, and cloud services such as AWS and Azure. Acting as a cloud-based directory, it facilitates single sign-on and identity access management, making it an attractive replacement for Active Directory and LDAP directories. Its policy management and centralized directory simplify user and device administration, offering a user-friendly interface with flexible access control and remote management. Organizations can experience streamlined onboarding and offboarding processes, robust authentication, and scalability. Despite being powerful, room for improvement is noted in alert capabilities, comprehensive MDM for Windows, multi-tenant features, and API reliability.

What are the key features of JumpCloud?

Device Management: Manage Windows, Mac, and Linux devices efficiently.
Single Sign-on: Seamlessly integrate with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.
Centralized Directory: Simplifies administration by consolidating user credentials.
Policy Management: Enforce policies and provide VPN access.
Remote Management: Provides flexible access control.

Why should users consider JumpCloud?

Streamlined Onboarding/Offboarding: Efficient user management saves time.
Robust Authentication: Enhances security through strong credential management.
Scalability: Adapts well to growing business needs.
Integration Capabilities: Supports seamless connections with cloud applications.

Companies across industries utilize JumpCloud for comprehensive management of devices and user identities. It is especially beneficial in technology-driven sectors where centralized directory services replace traditional Active Directory and LDAP models. Organizations employing platforms like AWS and Azure find it essential for maintaining efficient and secure access management.

JumpCloud

Microsoft Entra External ID, part of Microsoft Entra, provides highly secure digital experiences for partners, customers, citizens, patients, or any users outside your organization with customization controls. Combine external identities and user directories in one portal to seamlessly manage access across the organization.

Microsoft Entra External ID refers to all the ways you can securely interact with users outside of your organization. If you want to collaborate with partners, distributors, suppliers, or vendors, you can share your resources and define how your internal users can access external organizations. If you're a developer creating consumer-facing apps, you can manage your customers' identity experiences.

With External ID, external users can "bring their own identities." Whether they have a corporate or government-issued digital identity, or an unmanaged social identity like Google or Facebook, they can use their own credentials to sign in. The external user’s identity provider manages their identity, and you manage access to your apps with Entra ID or Entra External ID to keep your resources protected.

The following capabilities make up External ID:

B2B collaboration - Collaborate with external users by letting them use their preferred identity to sign in to your Microsoft applications or other enterprise applications (SaaS apps, custom-developed apps, etc.). B2B collaboration users are represented in your directory, typically as guest users.
B2B direct connect - Establish a mutual, two-way trust with another Azure AD organization for seamless collaboration. B2B direct connect currently supports Teams shared channels, enabling external users to access your resources from within their home instances of Teams. B2B direct connect users aren't represented in your directory, but they're visible from within the Teams shared channel and can be monitored in Teams admin center reports.
Azure AD B2C - Publish modern SaaS apps or custom-developed apps (excluding Microsoft apps) to consumers and customers, while using Azure AD B2C for identity and access management.

Microsoft

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

Buyer's Guide

JumpCloud vs. Microsoft Entra External ID

September 2025

Free Report: JumpCloud vs. Microsoft Entra External ID

Find out what your peers are saying about JumpCloud vs. Microsoft Entra External ID and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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