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ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 9, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

ManageEngine ADManager Plus
Ranking in Active Directory Management
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Active Directory Management
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of ManageEngine ADManager Plus is 13.9%, up from 14.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 3.7%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Active Directory Management
 

Featured Reviews

Stephen Naval - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 11, 2022
An effective auditing solution that scours your AD and produces easy-to-understand logs
I have used the solution across three different jobs. At Canadian School, I improved operations by implementing audit automations that allowed me to understand changes in the AD. I also utilized the self-service password portal so users could conduct resets without needing IT tickets. Video feedback about this use case was provided to ManageEngine and is still posted on their YouTube. At Cognita, I managed ten international schools from Singapore to Australia where I rolled out the solution's audit features and self-service password portal. I did not include the ticketing system in rollout as there was one already in place. In my current role at FMCG, I rolled out the audit feature but not the self-service password portal. We use the on-premises solution but link it to our Azure AD for cloud services.
Rajitha Abhisheka - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 29, 2022
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of the solution are vulnerability management and system patching functionalities."
"Almost every feature of the solution is valuable to me. This includes the importing and exporting to the active directory from the CSC firewall."
"Makes it easy to administer your active directory."
"The most valuable features of the solution are its ease of use, the ability for us to customize the access privileges for the users, and integration with ServiceDesk Plus."
"The product helps to validate every activity."
"Simple with good automation."
"The most valuable feature for me is automation."
"The scalability is also good. ADManager Plus is being used by seven to eight system administrators right now, and it has been working fine."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Active Directory is the ability to search for computers and users. While I do not have administrative privileges to reset passwords, I can view user information such as department, and communicate with someone who can make the changes."
"Audit, authentication and authorization are the best features."
"It is easy to understand all the components."
"It is very user-friendly."
"We use the tool for FSMO, policies, and customized user registrations."
"The user interface of the product is very easy to use."
"The scalability of the solution is high...The initial setup of the solution is easy, and I would rate it an eight or nine out of ten on a scale of one to ten, where one being difficult and ten being easy."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Active Directory is the group policies."
 

Cons

"The bulk email ID creation must be improved. I had to create 50 to 60 IDs manually because when I tried the bulk option, it didn't work. I still had to cross-verify because some fields were empty."
"The product's price is an area of concern where improvements can be introduced by making it available at a cheaper rate."
"With the number of available integrations these days, it would be beneficial to have more ready-to-integrate technologies in other products as well."
"This solution is not stable, it wasted my time."
"There is room for improvement in support, they should work on overall competence and turn-around time."
"The number of main controllers affects the database for creating the hardware specs."
"It would be nice if the solution offered some sort of brochure with some high-level information that would help sell it to management. If they had details around how much time it saves an engineer, for example, to show the ROI, it would be helpful."
"Other products have more flexibility and integration in managing identities."
"It could be more scalable. We still need another software solution to monitor the network in addition to Active Directory and OpManager, our domain controller. We use SolarWinds."
"Active Directory's user experience is a little dated. Group policy management should be more customizable."
"It could be more stable."
"The solution could be made more safe by using authentication mechanisms."
"The DNS services could improve in Microsoft Active Directory."
"The solution's price could be better."
"The product must provide remote password reset features."
"There could be enough material to learn about the product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not expensive."
"I am satisfied with the solution’s pricing."
"The tool's pricing is good."
"I need to pay for the license, and I believe that it could be made cheaper."
"The pricing depends on scope and makes sense for use cases with multiple domains."
"I downloaded the trial version, only."
"The cost of this product is a little higher than I would expect for a tool like this."
"Active Directory is built-in into Microsoft Windows 10. I'm not an administrator and would not be involved in purchasing decisions for new versions of the software. I have only used the client portion of it, I do not know if there is a cost to using the solution."
"The product's premium support services are expensive."
"The price of Microsoft Active Directory could improve. We pay annually for the solution."
"Active Directory is an expensive solution, primarily due to Microsoft's licensing model. This licensing approach includes paying for server licenses as well as for each computer that connects to it. However, when working with the Azure cloud, there is no cost for the server. This is profitable and one of the main reasons why Azure Cloud and other cloud-based solutions are being used more."
"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."
"The license is perpetual and the cost is minimal. If you purchase Microsoft Windows then Microsoft Active Directory comes with the package."
"My company makes payments every quarter towards the licensing costs of the product."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine ADManager Plus?
I need to pay for the license, and I believe that it could be made cheaper.
What needs improvement with ManageEngine ADManager Plus?
ManageEngine ADManager Plus is capable of everything. The product's price is an area of concern where improvements can be introduced by making it available at a cheaper rate. The support should be ...
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?
The challenges everyone now has in mind is how to really migrate fully to the cloud. Many companies face both technical and cost-related challenges when moving from on-premise Active Directory to M...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
We are still on a hybrid environment where we have Azure Directory on-premises, and sync it up to Microsoft.
 

Learn More

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Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs. Microsoft Active Directory and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.