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Microsoft Entra External ID vs Okta Customer Identity comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 27, 2025

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

Microsoft Entra External ID
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (21st), Microsoft Security Suite (33rd)
Okta Customer Identity
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 7.1%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Okta Customer Identity is 6.9%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
 

Featured Reviews

Oluwakorede Oladipo - PeerSpot reviewer
Promotes centralized user management and easy to setup
The most beneficial feature for us is the ease of setup. With about five clicks, we can generate unique IDs and keys and set up in less than 30 minutes. We can also generate these for multiple years simultaneously, which is convenient. In Azure, you can set up access rules. Just because an app is linked to Active Directory doesn’t mean everyone can access it automatically. You can make it so users have to give consent before getting access. You can also control which apps can connect to Active Directory. For Microsoft Exchange, we use multi-factor authentication to protect our information, which helps keep it secure by requiring more than just a password to log in. Centralizing user management has positively impacted our operational costs and efficiency. We no longer need multiple systems to manage users, especially in our SaaS applications. This has improved turnaround time for user management tasks and streamlined our processes, making things more efficient. We use the SaaS version, so there's no on-premises infrastructure. The integration is mainly done through setup, linking it to our domain and Active Directory.
Upendar G - PeerSpot reviewer
Leverage reliable server management for seamless identity operations
There is room for Okta Customer Identity to improve by increasing the reliability for the server end, creating more directories, and focusing on internal users rather than external or contract-based ones. Additionally, extending idle session times from ten milliseconds to at least forty-five seconds would be beneficial. It is also suggested that patches be applied annually rather than quarterly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most beneficial feature for us is the ease of setup. With about five clicks, we can generate unique IDs and keys and set up in less than 30 minutes. We can also generate these for multiple years simultaneously, which is convenient."
"The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use."
"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."
"It's quite easy to manage and monitor."
"The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use."
"Okta has more when it comes to the policy level. It has distinctive features where you can do a mix and combination to have users access applications for various business cases."
"We primarily use it to manage the community onboarding and offboarding of users, and it's quite a simple solution for that."
"It is very seamless."
"The solution has great multifactor authentication."
"The most valuable feature of this solution for most customers is access management."
"The most valuable features of Okta Customer Identity are there is no infrastructure cost, integrated, has plenty of documentation, and is user-friendly."
"There is no password hash saved on the cloud, which is the part that I like the most."
"The most valuable feature of Okta Customer Identity is its SSO because it's very easy to use and it's user-friendly. Even the admin portal of the solution is very user-friendly, and you can walk through it with ease. Okta Customer Identity is not a complicated solution, and even the workflow automation feature is very, very easy to understand."
 

Cons

"The problem with Microsoft products is that they often cater to enterprise-level needs, which can be too costly for medium-sized businesses."
"Technical support needs improvement."
"I generally find Microsoft solutions expensive, especially in specific offerings."
"I would like to see faster synchronization."
"A common concern among the customers I visit is the unpredictability of Microsoft's costs at every renewal. This is really bothersome for the customer, and I would say it is the worst element I have seen in these years."
"All of the governance functionality and privileged account management could be improved."
"Some limitations in scalability. Each application we work with can be completely different, resulting in highly variable implementation processes."
"I would like to see the provisioning simplified."
"The product must be provided for free."
"The initial setup could be easier to do."
"Okta has a limitation with directory integrations. If you have multiple Active Directory integrations, the user distinguished name (DN) and the manager DN don't get imported properly into the Okta user profile."
"In the future, we'd like to see the product implement more security features, like, for example, zero-trust."
"What I'd like to see improved in Okta Customer Identity is the process of exporting users. Currently, it lacks this feature, and you have to use a third-party tool to export users from the group. Exporting users should be very easy, though I did notice that Okta Customer Identity is being upgraded from time to time, and I've been seeing much improvement in it compared to the previous years."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We don't pay separately for Microsoft Entra External ID as it's part of our Microsoft Exchange subscription."
"The price of the solution is fair for what it offers."
"Okta Customer Identity is not an expensive solution."
"Pricing might be high, but it comes down when the number of people using the product goes up."
"We pay 23 pence (approximately $0.30 USD) per user, annually, for 150,000 users."
"The solution is really expensive."
"Okta's pricing is right where it needs to be and right in the middle of the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Healthcare Company
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?
It's quite expensive, especially as you grow and add more users. Initially, with a small number of people, the costs were manageable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?
The problem with Microsoft products is that they often cater to enterprise-level needs, which can be too costly for medium-sized businesses. When you move beyond a small team and start growing, the...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?
We had a project to integrate our Active Directory, which was running on our site, and invite external collaborators, such as freelancers, to connect to our domain via an invitation. Additionally, ...
What do you like most about Okta Customer Identity?
Okta has more when it comes to the policy level. It has distinctive features where you can do a mix and combination to have users access applications for various business cases.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Okta Customer Identity?
The pricing for Okta Customer Identity is very economical. It is much cheaper compared to Oracle Access Manager, and the company focuses on internal training to mitigate additional certification co...
What needs improvement with Okta Customer Identity?
There is room for Okta Customer Identity to improve by increasing the reliability for the server end, creating more directories, and focusing on internal users rather than external or contract-base...
 

Also Known As

Azure Active Directory External Identities
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
FedEx, Adobe, National Geographic, Tyson, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra External ID vs. Okta Customer Identity and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.