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CyberArk Identity vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.7
Users praised CyberArk Identity for its long-term value, cost savings, and contribution to a secure environment.
Sentiment score
8.8
Microsoft Active Directory offers high ROI, efficient user access control, and centralized management, enhancing organizational productivity and cost-effectiveness.
The solution is really time-saving since I don't need to create users in each server or system manually, and user access control is streamlined.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.3
CyberArk Identity support is praised for resolution speed but criticized for slow responses and limited staff product knowledge.
Sentiment score
5.9
Microsoft Active Directory support varies, with slow responses, costly premium help, mixed experiences, and reliance on external resources.
They resolved the problem immediately after I reported it, on the same day, within one hour.
They charge reasonable money for the features they provide.
There are times when there is a delay in handling my inquiries via email.
Support documents are available on the internet in every language.
Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
CyberArk Identity offers strong scalability for diverse enterprises, with successful implementations; some users experience performance issues at higher scales.
Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Active Directory scales well for small and large businesses, with Azure suggested for extreme scalability and integration ease.
We can use it on different phones and computers, demonstrating its scalability.
Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
CyberArk Identity is praised for high stability and reliability, with a 99.9% SLA ensuring minimal disruptions and strong support.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Active Directory is stable and reliable, with high satisfaction despite minor bugs and occasional patch issues.
When you have it in the cloud, you have CyberArk every time you need it.
With respect to stability, I find that stability is very good.
With multiple domain controllers, stability is ensured.
I've been working with Microsoft Active Directory for over 3 years, and we've had no problems.
 

Room For Improvement

CyberArk Identity requires enhancements in mobile management, scalability, integration, usability, governance, translation, multifactor authentication, support, and reporting.
Active Directory needs a user-friendly interface, better integration, security upgrades, and improved cloud synchronization for enhanced usability.
Integration or deployment is extremely difficult for CyberArk Identity.
There's a need to enhance network performance.
Something they could improve is the management of multifactor authentication.
Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple.
There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.
Sometimes, it can be overly complicated, and when you apply Group Policy in an Active Directory environment, sometimes those settings apply and sometimes they don't.
 

Setup Cost

CyberArk Identity is costly but offers value with flexible licensing, appealing to enterprises despite potential setup costs.
Microsoft Active Directory offers affordable licensing, often bundled, with Azure cloud reducing costs by eliminating server fees.
Regarding pricing, it can be quite a lot for small companies.
The pricing is acceptable.
If I am not going fully cloud, there are additional resources I will need to purchase, such as spinning more VMs or acquiring an HSM device to encrypt the vault.
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing with Microsoft Active Directory is straightforward; you just buy the server and then have to buy the user CALs.
 

Valuable Features

CyberArk Identity integrates diverse IDs with Active Directory, enhancing security with features like MFA, SSO, and compliance tracking.
Microsoft Active Directory offers seamless Azure integration, user-friendly management, and scalability, enhancing network efficiency and usability for large organizations.
It impacts zero trust security strategies. It prevents lateral movements in the organization.
It is the most powerful access management system.
Being able to integrate CyberArk Identity with Microsoft Defender is valuable.
One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.
I can control all the devices in my domain by just changing the group policies in one place.
Having active deployment and well-configured systems helps me manage tasks and easily oversee thousands of users.
 

Categories and Ranking

CyberArk Identity
Ranking in Active Directory Management
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (9th), Identity Management (IM) (10th), Authorization Software (3rd), Enterprise Password Managers (8th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (9th), Access Management (6th), Cloud Resource Access Management (2nd), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (8th)
Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Active Directory Management
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of CyberArk Identity is 2.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 6.4%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Active Directory Management
 

Featured Reviews

Julio Montero - PeerSpot reviewer
Access management system provides strong security and effortless user authentication
The solution can be deployed on cloud or on-premises. CyberArk is more on the cloud than on local hardware. The deployment is initially quite difficult. That said, when you are doing the implementation of CyberArk, there are so many tutorials that make the learning process very easy. The only complaint could be the language barrier. It's difficult if you don't have a very good level of English. Otherwise, it is very easy. You can have it set up within three months without much difficulty. It's hard to get started, however, once you get going, it gets easier. A full deployment takes half a year or less. There is some maintenance necessary. A company is constantly hiring and letting go of employees. The access is always changing, so access must always be adjusted. Or, if we need another law of filter, we would need to add those, or even take them away. That's another aspect of maintenance.
Roberta Politano - PeerSpot reviewer
Has good authentication features
The solution's group policy is a normal way to deploy configuration and helps deploy to a wider environment. The solution is deployed both on-premises and on the cloud. I would recommend the solution to other users based on their infrastructure. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about CyberArk Identity?
The integration capabilities, ability to integrate CyberArk into the overall IBB strategy of our current clients.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CyberArk Identity?
The pricing is acceptable. It is worth considering what we are protecting with the amount charged.
What needs improvement with CyberArk Identity?
Some areas experience slowness based on the workload. There's a need to enhance network performance despite the good user experience with access management.
What do you like most about Microsoft Active Directory?
The solution is easy to install and has good reliability.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Active Directory?
Technology is evolving. AI is offering solutions. However, short-term fixes are like band-aids.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
I utilize it in almost every scenario. I use the Hazer database and meet daily needs across every industry, every time.
 

Also Known As

Idaptive
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MLB, Citi, Pfizer, SulAmerica, GE Capital, Shiseido
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about CyberArk Identity vs. Microsoft Active Directory and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.