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Microsoft Entra ID vs RSA Authentication Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2024

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 ID
Ranking in Authentication Systems
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
219
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Identity Management (IM) (1st), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
RSA Authentication Manager
Ranking in Authentication Systems
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 16.2%, down from 22.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Authentication Manager is 1.8%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Aaron Liang - PeerSpot reviewer
Has significantly improved secure access to applications and resources in our environment
Microsoft Entra ID has helped by simplifying our management of permissions for APIs. We are not directly exposing credentials, as we use tokens instead. It has made management easier and more secure, especially in a multi-user environment. The implementation of Microsoft Entra ID significantly improved secure access to applications and resources in our environment, primarily through the widespread use of single-sign-on. Managing API permissions became much easier, as application registration often involves calling an API to utilize services without directly exposing credentials, relying instead on token-based authentication. This streamlined approach benefits end-users by simplifying access while remaining transparent to them. Ultimately, my role focuses on ensuring a smooth and user-friendly experience, even if the underlying technology remains unseen by the end-users. Our company strongly emphasizes passwordless authentication, primarily through device-bound passkeys in Microsoft Authenticator. While administrators with high-privileged accounts utilize YubiKeys and passwords for tasks like accessing Microsoft Graph, we are actively transitioning all other users towards passwordless methods such as Windows Hello biometrics. This approach streamlines authentication and enhances security. Though initial deployment in 2022 presented challenges due to hardware limitations and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the technology has significantly improved and provides a simple and effective user experience.
Akinwale Sekiteri - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly effective and versatile solution that excels in terms of security, integration, scalability, and customer support
I highly recommend it because when you compare RSA with other products, it has consistently stood out. In the past, one area where people encountered challenges was in terms of price flexibility, but it significantly improved. You can now negotiate, discuss terms, and work with it to achieve a pricing arrangement that suits your needs, and if they recognize you as a loyal customer, they are more than willing to accommodate your requirements and reach mutually agreeable terms. Overall, I would rate it around nine out of ten when considering factors like durability, data performance, scalability, integration, and security, and excels in these areas.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best thing about Active Directory is its compatibility. It works with lots of third-party vendors. We're using multiple products, and they're all integrated with our Active Directory."
"The two-step authentication is the most valuable."
"Don't delay implementing this solution, it's the best thing you can do for your identity protection."
"Conditional access is a very important feature where a specific user can be restricted such that they cannot connect to the application if they travel outside of the US."
"It is cloud based so it is always updated,"
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its ability to delegate roles to each individual resource, which is great."
"This solution serves as the basis to understand the MS SSO and MFA capabilities."
"Identity management with policies stands out as the most valuable feature. It offers a hands-off experience, providing full control over user access."
"The most valuable feature is the SecurID."
"I have found RSA Authentication Manager to be scalable."
"RSA Authentication Manager is the best available solution."
"It is a stable solution. I would rate the stability a nine out of ten."
"The single sign-on feature is the most important."
"It stands out as a comprehensive and adaptable solution that excels in both on-premises and cloud-based authentication, offers strong security with multi-layered authentication, and boasts a well-maintained product with reliable performance."
"The most valuable feature is the provision part. The mapping and the logging is also very good. In addition, the troubleshooting, from a console point of view, is easy for administration and on the provisioning and logging part."
"RSA Authentication Manager is a robust solution that provides comprehensive protection for both on-premise and cloud-based applications."
 

Cons

"The cost of licensing always has room for improvement."
"My problem with Azure AD is that it's designed for medium to large systems, and we're not that large."
"The product needs to be more user-friendly."
"The product could be more cost-effective."
"Microsoft support has some room for improvement. I avoid contacting them because it can be time-consuming. They don't necessarily find the solution, but you have to be on call for them to connect and do things on your system remotely. You have to schedule a time to meet with them, and it's somewhat inconvenient."
"The support is a bit slow."
"They can improve how people manage their accounts. They can simplify and provide more information about adding or updating a phone number or email id in the MSA account. A lot of time users do get confused about where to go. For example, if I've changed my mobile number, where do I go and change my mobile number in the MSA account? A lot of time, employees think if they change the phone number in the HR database, it'll automatically get changed on the MSA account, which is not the case. Microsoft can simplify that and add these questions in the FAQ documents as well."
"The visibility in the GUI is not good for management. There are a lot of improvements that could make it better. It should be more user-friendly overall. It is not user-friendly because everything keeps changing on the platform. I can understand it because I know the platform, am familiar with it, and use it every day. However, for a lot of clients, they don't use it every day or are not familiar with it, so it should be more user friendly."
"There is room for improvement in the RSA support."
"We are not planning on using the solution in the future."
"Perhaps parts of the the user interface should become more intuitive."
"We found technical support was not very responsive to our requests for assistance."
"Enhancing the user interface and expanding their marketing efforts in regions like Nigeria and West Africa could be beneficial."
"We have encountered issue when trying to expand this particular solution for a large set of users across the country."
"Our major problem is the authentication via Microsoft, via Microsoft cloud systems. This is our major aim, to be a valued product for the future. The biggest problem is to work against cheap cloud systems. Cloud identification is our main problem at this time."
"The product's capabilities to protect cloud environments need improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are add-on components and services, such as identity services, that we have to add to our Azure subscription. Only then can I actually say it's on par with the on-prem server edition. Why should I pay for a component? It should be included in my subscription."
"Azure Active Directory has a very extensive licensing model. Most of the features are available in the free and basic version, and then there are premium P1 and P2 editions. The licensing model is based on how many users you have per month. In Australia, for a P1 license, the cost is 8 dollars. With P1 and P2 licenses, you get a lot of goodies around the security side of things. For example, User Identity Protection is available only in P2. These are extra features that allow you to have a pretty good security posture, but most of the required things are available in the free and basic version."
"The E5 plan we are using contains the premium plans for Azure Active Directory. We are not paying only for the Azure Active Directory Premium licenses. We have it already included within our E5 plan."
"Azure AD has four licensing options- Free, Office 365 apps, Premium P1, and Premium P2. The free option has a limited number of identities and features, and the Office 365 version comes included in several Office 365 subscriptions. With the P1 and P2 licenses, we get all the freeware features plus additional security features, but these come at a higher price. The base price for P1 and P2 is $6 and $9 per user per month, respectively."
"I don't pay for it. Going by how I feel, I see the prices for any MFA solution going down because the more different alternatives there are, the cheaper things should be. Microsoft Authenticator app would be the preferred application, but there are too many ways to implement MFA. I don't know how much it cost, but the price should go down."
"The licensing model is straightforward. I don't think there are any issues with the E3 license or E5 license."
"Microsoft Authenticator is included in the package when we purchase a license from Microsoft."
"As a nonprofit, we have A5 licenses for nonprofits in education, so we at least have some reduced costs."
"As a new customer, the minimum cost would be four dollars, but you have room for negotiation, potentially bringing it down to as low as three dollars."
"The solution is costly."
"The pricing is a little bit complicated because sometimes resellers are able to make prices that are too low. Our price, with a discount, is typically not as high as some of our competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
33%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
14%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?
We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...
What do you like most about Azure Active Directory?
It is very simple. The Active Directory functions are very easy for us. Its integration with anything is very easy. We can easily do third-party multifactor authentication.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
Microsoft Entra ID is reportedly quite expensive for each user regarding security features. The renewal cost is particularly high according to the teams managing purchases.
What do you like most about RSA Authentication Manager?
It stands out as a comprehensive and adaptable solution that excels in both on-premises and cloud-based authentication, offers strong security with multi-layered authentication, and boasts a well-m...
What needs improvement with RSA Authentication Manager?
RSA Authentication Manager is perfect. We do not see current missing products or enhancements yet emphasize the importance of a continuous development roadmap.
What is your primary use case for RSA Authentication Manager?
We use RSA Authentication Manager for web applications and internal applications. We have a number of applications connected to it, serving over thirty thousand clients. It is integrated into every...
 

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
ACE/Server
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.
Tiera, Fred Loya, BRE Leasing, ADP, BlueFort Security, New Hanover County
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. RSA Authentication Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.