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ForgeRock vs Microsoft Entra External ID comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 27, 2025

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

ForgeRock
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (14th), Access Management (12th)
Microsoft Entra External ID
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (8th), Microsoft Security Suite (21st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) category, the mindshare of ForgeRock is 10.7%, down from 13.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 8.4%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Entra External ID8.4%
ForgeRock10.7%
Other80.9%
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmet Murat Ülker - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use, but customizations can be complicated to handle
I would suggest others use the product after asking them to consider their use cases. SSO may be a use case for some, and using the product as an IDM tool may be a use case. At the moment, my company is not deploying all the components of ForgeRock itself. My company uses ForgeRock for OAuth 2.0. For example, my company is not deploying the IDM and identity gateway components. You should consider your use case and select the required components for that use case. My company does not use the SSO features of the tool. My company uses SSO to access ForgeRock's AM Console for individual users. My company does not use single sign on features of the product and instead, we use Auth0. I rate the tool a seven or eight out of ten.
Suresh Kumar Subramaniyan - PeerSpot reviewer
Has supported secure access but still lacks full coverage for external identity challenges
The user experience is acceptable, but Microsoft Entra External ID is not a full-fledged IGA solution. We use different products for complete Identity Governance Administration. Microsoft Entra External ID is suitable for small-scale enterprises implementing identity lifecycle management since most have Active Directory. However, there are several challenges. The out-of-the-box connector has limited features for applications, requiring us to build scheme connectors. While small-scale enterprises can benefit from Microsoft Entra External ID's Identity Governance solution, large-scale enterprises might need different tools from leading market vendors such as SailPoint or Saviynt. Customers face particular challenges with contractor and B2B accounts. Microsoft Entra External ID isn't a complete cloud-based account solution, as it must handle internal employees and collaborate with internal Active Directory. There are delays in the identity lifecycle process, especially for contract partners during onboarding and off-boarding. This might be due to back-end syncing with Active Directory. B2B account removal and provisioning take considerable time. Access governance, particularly access certification for guest users, is time-consuming. Multi-factor authentication enforcement also presents challenges for external users.

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 features are that it is easy to manage and it's stable."
"ForgeRock products are customizable, and the out-of-the-box features are solid, too. I primarily use the OIDC compliance features. It's just a configuration. it's easy to set up and customize trees. We can add our own features if necessary. Banks and corporations have different standards and specific validations."
"The most valuable features of ForgeRock are social login and data protection."
"Easy to navigate, handle and manage the applications."
"The solution integrates well and it is important for them to keep up with the current trends in the market quickly enough, and they have been doing a good job at it."
"Installation and configuration are pretty easy for ForgeRock OpenIDM."
"We used it to implement multi-factor authentication and to improve our security posture as well as reducing the potential for attacks."
"The product is easy to use in a development environment."
"The experience has been rather good; there are other possibilities, but we made the choice to go with Microsoft, and we have a good experience with that."
"The most beneficial feature for us is the ease of setup. With about five clicks, we can generate unique IDs and keys and set up in less than 30 minutes. We can also generate these for multiple years simultaneously, which is convenient."
"Primarily Microsoft Entra External ID SSO is valuable as it works with everything when it comes to integration."
"The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use."
"I have not encountered any stability issues with Microsoft Entra External ID."
"The single sign-on access is the most useful feature we use."
"The most valuable feature for me is the firewall capabilities."
"Microsoft Entra External ID is more secure, offering a secure environment."
 

Cons

"We raised tickets asking for improvements, but sometimes we don't get the proper solution. They are responding, but the ticket is open for weeks and weeks. For some issues, we don't get a satisfactory solution or the solution doesn't work."
"They should improve the solution by include reporting."
"We're worried about the scaling. We're told it will be okay and there won't be issues, however, I'm not 100% convinced."
"The user interface could be improved as it is cumbersome and outdated. It doesn't have a responsive UI."
"It should be a little bit easier to implement. It is user-friendly, but there is always scope for improvement."
"The product's customization is a bit complicated."
"Automatic Deployment needs improvement. it could be made easier."
"As with any complex software platform, there is a learning curve to using ForgeRock, and it may require specialized expertise to implement and manage effectively."
"Technical support needs improvement."
"Single sign-on for external applications such as Oracle could be improved to be a little bit cheaper."
"The support engineers are not as skilled as our engineers. When they say something would not work, or there is no solution, we usually hear that Microsoft would not support this."
"There is room for improvement in AI technology for Microsoft Entra External ID, particularly in providing detailed alerts."
"A common concern among the customers I visit is the unpredictability of Microsoft's costs at every renewal. This is really bothersome for the customer, and I would say it is the worst element I have seen in these years."
"There have been a couple of times when it was unavailable because of Microsoft issues, but other than that, I don't remember any problems."
"I generally find Microsoft solutions expensive, especially in specific offerings."
"The only problem that you might face with Microsoft now is their complex licensing model."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have multiple clients we are looking at right now. We are at a very small number, however, the idea and the goal is to grow. We are looking at about $100,000 and $50,000 a minimum a month cost. That'd be minimum maybe in a couple of years."
"ForgeRock is an expensive solution."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis, but it also depends on the contract that you have with the vendor. They have multiple types of contracts. There are additional costs to the standard licensing fees. If you need some of the features, you have to pay more."
"It's a bit pricey and could be more competitive."
"The license is purchased annually per user. However, you can negotiate if you are signing for a longer period of time. When comparing this solution to others on the market it is priced fair, it is not at the top of the price range or at the bottom end."
"Its price is comparable to other products in the market."
"ForgeRock's pricing is more competitive than other products."
"The pricing of the solution is fair but I do not have the full details."
"We don't pay separately for Microsoft Entra External ID as it's part of our Microsoft Exchange subscription."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ForgeRock?
The most valuable features of ForgeRock are social login and data protection.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ForgeRock?
Our company was considering switching back to Keycloak from ForgeRock, so as to not pay any license fees. ForgeRock also supports M-PIN and biometric features that Keycloak does not provide. My com...
What needs improvement with ForgeRock?
In the past, I saw that Splunk was integrated with a testing portal, and then it was integrated with Slack. I don't think ForgeRock directly supports integrations with Slack, making it an area wher...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?
The only problem that you might face with Microsoft now is their complex licensing model.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?
For the last four or five years, I have been in an IT manager function, focusing on making things happen and having technical persons execute tasks. In the last three months, I have transitioned to...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?
I am looking for a new solution and investigating existing products. We are already working with Microsoft Intune and SOTI. I have been working in the past with a Kaseya product, specifically Datto...
 

Also Known As

ForgeRock Identity Platform, ForgeRock OpenIDM
Azure Active Directory External Identities
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Geico, Thomson Reuters, Salesforce, McKesson, Trinet, SKY, BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Capgemini, North Western University
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about ForgeRock vs. Microsoft Entra External ID and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.