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AWS Directory Service vs Zilla Security 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)
16th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zilla Security
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
15th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (18th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of AWS Directory Service is 1.5%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zilla Security is 1.4%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

MassimilianoCollavo - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrates well with other tools, particularly through single sign-on
I've been working with AWS Directory Service as part of a broader solution for moving our infrastructure to a hybrid cloud model. Initially, the goal was to replicate our on-premises server to the cloud and then eventually shut down the on-premises server entirely. My work with AWS Directory Service is focused on migrating to the cloud and finding a suitable document management system that allows for online editing, document sharing, and workflow management. I rate it an eight out of ten.
Hubert Hopkins - PeerSpot reviewer
Reasonably priced, responsive support, and easy to implement access reviews
There is still no automated way to de-provision access due to a review completion, but they are getting there in terms of making it unified. Right now it is just a one-way integration, importing user lists. I believe they working on it. I can pull a user list in, but when I do a review, the results get sent to a ticket which requires a person to execute. As a result of the review, there is no automation for the removal of access. They are going there, and the next step is to continue to streamline the process operationally and resource-wise. The review process is great. The scope for improvement is more at the results end. It would be great if it could systematically communicate with that end system and remove the requested access automatically.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Provides good performance and availability."
"The most valuable feature is ease of use."
"The most valuable feature of AWS Directory Service is cost-cutting features."
"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."
"We can provide specific access to people based on what they need from our accounts."
"AWS Directory Service is secure."
"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."
"AWS has eliminated the downtime we waste when our on-premises resources go down."
"I enjoy the ease of setup and creation of a review. Being a user of the tool or kind of an admin of the tool, the ease of setup of an access review is valuable."
"We had these spreadsheets all over the place, but now we have a library of evidence to consult when needed. Zilla keeps everything in one place. It's not scattered all over anymore."
 

Cons

"We had a problem with the schema uploading and setting up the directory when we are migrating our users from on-premises to cloud infrastructure."
"Our only complaint is that you cannot integrate your Exchange server. Or, if you are planning to install an Exchange server on your Amazon EC2 instance, then you need to configure Active Directory on EC2 instance. We would like for this limitation to be lifted."
"The solution lacks certain features."
"Can be improved by including on-premises access for services through Identity Access Management."
"The AWS Directory Service should be easier to integrate."
"I would like to see better integration with other business solutions."
"Some of the security protocols are difficult to understand."
"Accessing the data needs improvement."
"Maybe this is coming with their AI module, but I would like to see a feature that performs baseline analysis of permissions that may not fit into a role, and it attempts to group them into a role. We've run into problems with applications where someone has not created a role but assigned ad hoc permissions to a user. We still need to do some manual work to identify the group that the user belongs to. It would be amazing to have Zilla streamline that."
"There is still no automated way to de-provision access as a result of a review, but they are getting there in terms of making it unified. They are getting closer to that."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"We pay an annual subscription fee."
"AWS' pricing is fair, and costs can be cut if you look carefully at when you're using it."
"It has been fair because we have been in from the beginning or close to the beginning. I know it is not truly an identity access management system yet, but its price was one of the appealing factors for us to purchase it at the time. It was reasonably priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Healthcare Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Security Firm
26%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zilla Security?
It has been fair because we have been in from the beginning or close to the beginning. I know it is not truly an identity access management system yet, but its price was one of the appealing factor...
What needs improvement with Zilla Security?
There is still no automated way to de-provision access due to a review completion, but they are getting there in terms of making it unified. Right now it is just a one-way integration, importing us...
What is your primary use case for Zilla Security?
We use the tool for access reviews. It is mainly for our regulatory SOX compliance. That was the main use case, and why we purchased Zilla back at the end of 2021.
 

Also Known As

AWS Managed Microsoft AD
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Directory Service vs. Zilla Security and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,585 professionals have used our research since 2012.