Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

AWS Directory Service vs AWS IAM Identity Center comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 2, 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

AWS Directory Service
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
18th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
AWS IAM Identity Center
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of AWS Directory Service is 1.6%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS IAM Identity Center is 1.5%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
AWS IAM Identity Center1.5%
AWS Directory Service1.6%
Other96.9%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Basa Saiteja - PeerSpot reviewer
A valuable access management system with a user-friendly and straightforward setup
The solution is scalable, and we can scale according to our needs. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten. In our organization, our access to our AWS comes from IAM. We use AWS consoles using our credentials and don't have route access, so each person will log in through our IAM programmatic access, and everyone on our team can work on cloud. Over 10,000 people in our organization utilize the solution.
Khaled Saidi - PeerSpot reviewer
Manage cloud security with granular access control and enhanced authentication
Managing IAM in complex environments can be challenging, and there are several areas for improvement. First, incorporating automation tools or a centralized dashboard for managing roles and policies across multiple accounts would simplify administration, especially for large organizations. Additionally, policy debugging and validation could be more streamlined, as troubleshooting misconfigurations can be time-consuming and prone to errors. A more robust error messaging system or a dedicated debugging tool would be beneficial. Another area for improvement is temporary access credentials. AWS documentation should offer more detailed guidance on edge cases and exceptions, along with clearer examples of how to handle various scenarios. Lastly, enhanced session-level policies that are more context-sensitive and based on specific conditions (such as IP address, device, or time) would greatly increase flexibility and allow for more granular control over user sessions.

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 feature is ease of use."
"AWS handles everything on the backend requiring minimal legwork from our team. We only require a dedicated database administrator while depending on Amazon for RDS."
"The AD Connector is very good and easy to implement."
"The support is very good. I would rate the technical support as a nine out of ten."
"I like the manageability. Activate Connect makes it easier to assign information and to manage the resources in the network."
"We can provide specific access to people based on what they need from our accounts."
"The solution integrates well with other tools, particularly through single sign-on, allowing users to connect to various applications using just one password, including email."
"Provides good performance and availability."
"Overall, IAM Identity Center is a great service, currently rated at nine out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of AWS IAM Identity Center is the ability to provide a structured approach to access management through a single dashboard."
"The most valuable features of AWS IAM Identity Center are role-based permissions and existing permissions templates."
"The most valuable feature is the security configuration ease, which is great for me, especially as a beginner."
"AWS IAM Identity Center offers a secure and centralized way to manage access and permissions."
"The most valuable feature of AWS Identity Center is its ability to centrally create permission templates, known as permission sets, which define AWS IAM roles."
"Its valuable features include granular access control, allowing precise control over who can access specific AWS resources and under what conditions using JSON-based policies."
"The solution helps us manage access in a time-efficient manner and offers reliable integration for our services, avoiding security breaches and maintaining operational efficiency."
 

Cons

"Currently, there is no option to integrate our on-premises Cisco AWS Directory Service, requiring some manual configuration. If AWS Active Directory Service provided additional domain controller functionalities, like other on-premises Active Directory, it would be very helpful."
"I've encountered challenges, particularly with Amazon WorkDocs, which is being deprecated. This has made it necessary to find an alternative document management solution that can handle editing, sharing, and workflow management for documents like Word files and PDFs."
"Accessing the data needs improvement."
"AWS could improve the number of regions. Azure has passed them. The ned more consistency, as far as the Northeast is concerned."
"The group policy can be improved."
"AWS Directory Service needs to improve processing."
"The solution lacks certain features."
"Some of the security protocols are difficult to understand."
"I have opened support tickets and received responses, although not always resolving my queries fully. I would appreciate a live chat option with technical support for quicker resolutions."
"Greater visualization for security policies would be beneficial."
"For AWS services in general, I had trouble creating an S3 bucket due to a repetitive error message regarding existing names."
"In the product, two groups cannot have the same name...In general, the tool does not allow for the duplication of names."
"The configuration with other tools can be hard."
"There is a desire to see integration or adoption of time-based user creation features within AWS IAM Identity Center."
"Integrating AWS IAM Identity Center with other applications sometimes presents challenges."
"I would like to see more flexibility in the features as sometimes it doesn't meet my expectations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"AWS' pricing is fair, and costs can be cut if you look carefully at when you're using it."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"We pay an annual subscription fee."
"The pricing depends because with AWS there are two types of directory objects: 30,000 and 500,000. It varies. AWS provides the pricing calculators so we can get an estimate from there as per the company requirement of how many users and objects that we need to create. So we can go to that portal, put in the data, and get the quotation. There are no extra licensing fees. It's all included."
"The product is cheap since it is available on the cloud."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) solutions are best for your needs.
869,513 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Healthcare Company
11%
Performing Arts
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Performing Arts
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS Directory Service?
The most valuable feature of AWS Directory Service is cost-cutting features.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Directory Service?
The pricing is very good because it is low and there is no management cost. You do not need to hire any system administrator to manage your Active Directory.
What needs improvement with AWS Directory Service?
Accessing the data needs improvement. Additionally, integration and compatibility with other AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ) services, network open LDAP, support for on-premise and cloud envir...
What do you like most about AWS IAM Identity Center?
The product is easy for beginners to learn and use.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS IAM Identity Center?
AWS provides the lowest pricing among other service providers like Azure, Google, Oracle. It is cost-effective, and they use a pay-as-you-go model.
What needs improvement with AWS IAM Identity Center?
The tech support for AWS is time-consuming, as we have experienced this issue. However, I am not aware of many other cases.
 

Also Known As

AWS Managed Microsoft AD
AWS Single Sign On, AWS SSO
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Directory Service vs. AWS IAM Identity Center and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,513 professionals have used our research since 2012.