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ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 9, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.8
ManageEngine ADManager Plus reduced costs, increased ROI by 90%, enhanced efficiency, and empowered IT admins, saving 10-15% financially.
Sentiment score
8.8
Microsoft Active Directory offers value by streamlining user management, justifying investment despite limited direct financial calculations.
The solution is really time-saving since I don't need to create users in each server or system manually, and user access control is streamlined.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.3
Users generally find ManageEngine ADManager Plus support satisfactory, highlighting responsive service, though some desire faster, chat-based assistance.
Sentiment score
5.9
Active Directory support receives mixed reviews, with delays and quality varying; premium service improves assistance but adds cost.
Technical support from ManageEngine is very satisfactory.
Support documents are available on the internet in every language.
Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
ManageEngine ADManager Plus scales well with Active Directory but faces challenges with non-Microsoft environments, rated 7-10/10 by users.
Sentiment score
6.7
Microsoft Active Directory is scalable for thousands but faces challenges in large infrastructures, with cloud migration as a solution.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
ADManager Plus is praised for stability and user-friendliness, although minor issues arise with bulk user deployment.
Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Active Directory is stable and reliable, highly rated by users, effectively scalable, with minimal downtime or performance issues.
 

Room For Improvement

The software's complexity, limited integrations, and high cost hinder user experience, support, and functionality enhancements.
Microsoft Active Directory needs interface, security, integration, and scalability improvements, focusing on user experience, migration, and reporting features.
Upgrading from recent to the latest versions is quite complex and time-consuming.
Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple.
There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.
AI is offering solutions.
 

Setup Cost

ManageEngine ADManager Plus offers flexible, competitive pricing with positive value, despite some users expecting lower costs and suggesting discounts.
Microsoft Active Directory offers moderate pricing, often packaged with Windows OS, with cloud services like Azure being more cost-effective.
The solution is perceived as cheap, and the licensing is annual.
 

Valuable Features

ManageEngine ADManager Plus provides automation, integration, secure management, and customization for efficient Active Directory administration and user management.
Microsoft Active Directory offers robust user management, security, and seamless integration with Microsoft products, ideal for large network management.
The software is fast, secure, and enables me to manage everything in one place.
I can control all the devices in my domain by just changing the group policies in one place.
One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.
Having active deployment and well-configured systems helps me manage tasks and easily oversee thousands of users.
 

Categories and Ranking

ManageEngine ADManager Plus
Ranking in Active Directory Management
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Active Directory Management
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of ManageEngine ADManager Plus is 13.1%, up from 11.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 4.8%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Active Directory Management
 

Featured Reviews

MUBDIUL ISLAM - PeerSpot reviewer
User management becomes efficient and installation is straightforward
My primary use case for ADManager is to manage users and groups, perform group policy without logging into Active Directory, and provide easy and secure management and monitoring capabilities. One of my clients uses ADManager for these purposes With ADManager, I can easily complete any Active…
Rajitha Abhisheka - PeerSpot reviewer
A solution that easily merges with cloud-based ADs and provides superior data security
The interface for logs should be user-friendly and allow for enhanced filtering to drill down to incidents. It is time consuming to get a clear picture and review deviations in conditional policies because you have to check each and every log to find information on malicious attacks, a compromised end-user's account, or phishing emails. The logs for sign-ins and auditing should be available for more than a 30-90 day window. Most logs are displayed in UTC but it would be helpful to include time conversions for tenant regions. Currently, we must do time conversions manually before we contact users to share information and troubleshoot issues.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ManageEngine ADManager Plus?
Some of my clients experience issues with the GPO results, which do not always generate the real outcomes. This needs to be resolved by technicians. Additionally, upgrading from recent to the lates...
What do you like most about Microsoft Active Directory?
The solution is easy to install and has good reliability.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Active Directory?
Technology is evolving. AI is offering solutions. However, short-term fixes are like band-aids.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
I utilize it in almost every scenario. I use the Hazer database and meet daily needs across every industry, every time.
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs. Microsoft Active Directory and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.