No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

One Identity Active Roles vs OpenText Identity Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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

One Identity Active Roles
Ranking in User Provisioning Software
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Active Directory Management (1st), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (2nd)
OpenText Identity Manager
Ranking in User Provisioning Software
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (15th), Identity Governance Administration (IGA) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the User Provisioning Software category, the mindshare of One Identity Active Roles is 5.8%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Identity Manager is 3.5%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
User Provisioning Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
One Identity Active Roles5.8%
OpenText Identity Manager3.5%
Other90.7%
User Provisioning Software
 

Featured Reviews

Mahesh Malve - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Business Development Executive at DigitalTrack Solutions Ind Pvt Ltd
Automation has transformed user lifecycle tasks and now enforces consistent secure access
While One Identity Active Roles is a strong platform, a few improvements would make it even better. Many users feel the user interface is not very modern or intuitive, and it can take time to get used to navigating the console and workflows. Another improvement area is the learning curve and setup complexity. One Identity Active Roles is very powerful, but initial configuration, especially for policies, workflows, and delegation, can be complex and require experienced resources. From an integration perspective, although it supports multiple systems, organizations would benefit from more out-of-the-box connectors and smoother cloud integrations such as Azure Active Directory and software-as-a-service applications, as some setups currently require customization. In terms of reporting, while auditing is strong, generating business-friendly reports can be challenging. Users have mentioned the need for better dashboards and easier report generation. There are also some performance considerations, especially in large environments, such as slower PowerShell execution or delays in dynamic group processing in certain cases. Overall, improvements in user interface, ease of use, integration, reporting, and performance optimization would significantly enhance the product experience.
reviewer2401464 - PeerSpot reviewer
Architect at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Updates systems quickly and does not have a limit on the number of users
NetIQ does not have a limit on the number of users. The tool is secure by nature. It can have more than one billion users. Event-based systems know what has to be changed. SQL-based systems can only change using time and date. Event-based systems provide immediate results, while SQL-based systems need time to sync. It is totally different from a security perspective. Event-based systems can update all the systems in seconds or minutes. Other systems do it within 24 hours. The basic event-based system is AI-driven. It has some kind of robotics and programming. Other tools need programming. I like systems that have prebuilt ideas of security. NetIQ has been in the market for a long period. It has all the systems and connectors. There is not much coding. We just need to configure the products. We need not do any programming. I haven't seen any other product that needs only configuration to do the job. Most products in the market are SQL-based. They need programming. Some service providers who sell other products to customers do not sell NetIQ because they can make more money by selling solutions that need more consultancy and programming. More hours lead to more money.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One Identity Active Roles takes us less time, probably half the time, to complete delegations that are very granular and complex, compared to having to use native tools and scripts."
"One Identity Active Roles is a very reliable and powerful solution for identity and access management."
"One Identity Active Roles has helped us improve security with smooth processes."
"Automated provisioning and access management reduced manual administrative effort by nearly 50 to 60%, which saved significant onboarding time and lowered the number of access-related errors and support tickets."
"One Identity Active Roles brings a positive impact to organizations in that they will start realizing the ROI in a much faster manner because the implementation time is very short and it is easy to use."
"One Identity Active Roles has positively impacted my organization by enabling faster onboarding and offboarding through automations, reducing manual AD errors and permission mistakes, and lightening the workload for the infrastructure help desk team."
"Active Roles helped reduce our identity-based breaches."
"Operational issues are much easier and more reliable with Quest ActiveRoles's directory layer and portal."
"The access request management has improved significantly in terms of its user interface. What sets it apart from competitors like SailPoint is that it's an event-based solution rather than schedule-based. That's a key differentiator."
"The product is easy to use."
"NetIQ does not have a limit on the number of users."
"The main value lies in the simplicity of implementation, as well as its customized look and feel."
"I like the eDirectory feature."
"The Identity Engine is event-based and provides real-time synchronization and password synchronization to more than 40 different applications and services."
"I would recommend this product, its quite flexible and quick to start with."
"The most valuable features are Password Reset Alerts, Password Sync, and SQL connectors."
 

Cons

"The third area for improvement, which is the weakest portion of ARS, is the workflow engine, which was introduced a few years ago. It's slow and not very intuitive to use, so I would like to see improvement there."
"There are areas for improvement in One Identity Active Roles that include updating the web interface, creating an API accessible from the web, and improving overall performance, as it can be slow at times."
"There is always room to improve the user interface for increased clarity. I believe enhancements to the console are also necessary because it is more confusing than the web interface."
"The solution needs an attestation process that includes certification and recertification attestation."
"Another issue we have with the product is that we run a lot of custom tasks. You have to program them to run on one particular host and there's no automatic failover to a second host. If that host is down when a task is supposed to run, it has to wait until the next time it runs when that host is up."
"The initial setup and configuration can be complex, especially when designing workflows, policies, and delegation models."
"One Identity Active Roles can be improved by modernizing the UI to be more responsive, as some advanced workflow configurations can feel a bit clunky during setup."
"We're pulling the identity components out because ARS is not an identity platform. It's not meant to be one. It's not robust enough to handle it all."
"If it works, Designer is a charm, but it can be a pain to keep updated because of all the Java stuff that regularly goes wrong."
"Areas for improvement are further enhancing the access granting process to reduce time and improve accuracy."
"Scalability becomes an issue if the vision changes from the initial implementation. Not being flexible and having to rewrite quite a bit of code for even a simple added feature makes it difficult."
"NetIQ Identity Manager could improve by updating the user portal, it is out of date."
"The interface is old and outdated, and the design software seems archaic."
"User Application UI Product Licensing"
"It needs some modern features. They should improve and modernize their management interface. It has been created over years and by different persons. You can see different applications, different management consoles for different things. There should be an integrated interface."
"If it could be operated in such a way that anybody could use it, with just the user interface, and there's no need for programming, then that would be a great improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is high. I have not been involved with the renewal or cost aspect, but I know it is not cheap by any means. However, it is very useful for our environment."
"The pricing for Active Roles is expensive but not as expensive as other solutions like Okta."
"The pricing is on the higher end."
"The licensing model is a simple user-based model, not that much complicated."
"The price is reasonable. It costs us about 1 million Danish kroner annually, and we also spend about half as much on consultants."
"It's expensive."
"It's fairly priced."
"The price of the solution is a bit high and could be reduced."
"It would easily help them in getting more market and more customers if more consultants knew about their software. If they could keep it free for schools for teaching purposes, it would be good. I had to pay myself to get it and use it for training. Their competitors are giving it for free. I had to pay for it myself. They are losing market to their competitors."
"Micro Focus is flexible when it comes to price. The cost varies from customer to customer. There are no additional costs, though. Everything is included."
"I would rate the pricing a two out of ten, with one being low price and ten being high price. It is significantly more cost-effective than the major players in the market."
"The solution is quite affordable."
"You just need to be aware that the more systems you connect, the more license fees you have to pay."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which User Provisioning Software solutions are best for your needs.
894,830 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
19%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business67
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise38
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for One Identity Active Roles?
My experience with pricing and licensing for One Identity Active Roles has been reasonable for an enterprise solution, but it does require proper planning. The initial setup can involve some cost i...
What needs improvement with One Identity Active Roles?
One Identity Active Roles is very useful, though there are a few areas where it could be improved, such as the user interface, policy creation, and reporting - it requires good knowledge of Active ...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Active Roles?
One Identity Active Roles is used primarily for managing Active Directory, including user provisioning and group management. When a new employee joins, I use One Identity Active Roles to automatica...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetIQ Identity Manager?
The pricing depends on whether we buy the solution as a service or a license. The license is expensive. If we buy it as a service for a large number of users, it is the cheapest tool we can get. Th...
What needs improvement with NetIQ Identity Manager?
The tool is used mostly in big systems to understand what is happening. There are not many technicians who know how to use the product. The vendor must provide an easier console for configuring thi...
What is your primary use case for NetIQ Identity Manager?
NetIQ Directory is the main function of the product. As far as I know, it is the only event test directory that exists. It has all the potential for event-based testing. It has rules, connectors, a...
 

Also Known As

Quest Active Roles
Novell Identity Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City of Frankfurt, Moore Public Schools, George Washington University, Transavia Airlines, Howard County, MD. See all stories at OneIdentity.com/casestudies
Sheetz
Find out what your peers are saying about One Identity Active Roles vs. OpenText Identity Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,830 professionals have used our research since 2012.