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Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra External ID comparison

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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

Google Cloud Identity
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (14th), Cloud Resource Access Management (7th)
Microsoft Entra External ID
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
9th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Identity is 10.8%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 1.6%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra External ID1.6%
Google Cloud Identity10.8%
Other87.6%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

SK
Director at GNX Solutions
Cloud automation has improved development efficiency and supports secure MFA and SSO
The best features in Google Cloud Identity are their cloud, their VMs, and their cloud VMs, which are too good compared to OCI. Using Google Cloud Identity is beneficial in terms of finance as we are always doing automation and AI, and it is definitely the best. I use multi-factor authentication with Google Cloud Identity. Regarding how Google Cloud Identity helps to improve security, I can say that security is something everyone is using. I do not feel any different. After this, everything will be JWT token and all things we are using. I do not feel any difference in there. I have used the SSO feature, single sign-on, with Google Cloud Identity. In a few words, how Google Cloud Identity affected user management within my organization is that it is not done for my organization but for one of my clients only. I already have the ADs there, but still, it is the best. I think the reporting tools of Google Cloud Identity are good. I cannot comment on these kinds of things for this particular product.
Sameh Andrawes - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Alex Apparels
Identity platform has strengthened policy control, security monitoring, and user management
Not really at the moment, but perhaps when we go deeper into using Microsoft Entra External ID, we may experience some things we may not prefer. However, up to now, we have not encountered anything that I consider a problem or disadvantage. If we apply more features, let's say we applied mobile device management for a few machines, a few mobiles, and some computers, and it worked, but I do not know what will happen when we apply this to the rest of the network, which is 1,500 computers and more than 2,000 mobiles. I do not know what to say regarding new features that could be added to Microsoft Entra External ID. Perhaps we can integrate this with our ERP systems for the HR systems that we are going to have. Perhaps with this integration, we can find this application more practical.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Although we have not looked at the whole product and explored it completely, we find that all the authentication features that we are using now are valuable."
"I have not experienced any serious problem with stability."
"Cloud Identity is a cloud-based Software as a Service model, so you don't need to worry about managing the infrastructure."
"The most beneficial feature for enhancing security is context-aware access."
"The solution is moderate to difficult to use. I found the approach was practical. Following the steps made it very easy to use."
"The most valuable feature is that you can manage users from one central location."
"It's easy to set up."
"One of the most useful features was the single sign-on. You can use it as an identity provider or service provider. And you can use their organization unit feature to enable or disable some of the features for a specific group of users."
"The impact of having multiple authentication types available significantly helps with security practices using Microsoft Entra External ID."
"Microsoft Entra External ID offers numerous advantages; there's no need to maintain anything on-premises, which results in a significant IT infrastructure cost saving."
"Microsoft Entra External ID is more secure, offering a secure environment."
"The times that I have gone into it, I found it easy to use and I haven't had any issues with it."
"Primarily Microsoft Entra External ID SSO is valuable as it works with everything when it comes to integration."
"It's similar to using a Microsoft account to create accounts on other websites. We are also using Microsoft Entra to monitor which applications our guests are using. This allows us to filter, block, or adjust permissions for these applications as needed for our collaborators."
"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 positive impact of Microsoft Entra External ID on my organization is that it enhances ease of use for the administrative side."
 

Cons

"I want the tool to improve its support. It should also incorporate some functionalities. Currently, preparing presentations in Google is a pain point. The tool’s certain features like user provisioning are not intuitive as well. The product’s LDAP support is very poor. Clients do not trust the product due to the spam."
"The pricing for this solution is a little bit higher than AWS and others, which is something that should be improved."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"Google Cloud Identify could make the technology used easier to understand as a layman making it more user-friendly."
"Google Cloud Identity can be improved by having better integration with Active Directory, but since Active Directory is also a Microsoft solution, we don't think it will happen; that's the only disadvantage of Google."
"One area where Cloud Identity has room for improvement is monitoring and alerts. If you want to set up some alerts, you don't have much control over the configuration."
"The interface could be improved by simplifying it further."
"Technical support is slow."
"The cost is very high."
"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."
"The authentication methods available are very limited, and this presents a weak point."
"The quality of Microsoft customer support varies. With an enterprise contract, good resources are usually provided, especially in regions like Saudi Arabia or UAE. However, we have faced challenges with support quality, especially in some subcontinent areas where the resources might not be as experienced."
"I generally find Microsoft solutions expensive, especially in specific offerings."
"As of latest, when it comes to my experience, I am not satisfied."
"Single sign-on for external applications such as Oracle could be improved to be a little bit cheaper."
"Technical support needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"The licensing cost depends on the partners and the relationship between the company and the partners."
"The product is billed on a monthly basis depending on the number of users."
"We probably spend about $50,000 a year on licensing."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"When I worked on Cloud Identity, they offered a free or enterprise version. You can synchronize and create up to 100 user identities in the free version. After that, you have to purchase a business or enterprise license. In that model, you'll be charged based on the number of users."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"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
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also access to both Microsoft’s user community as well as around-the-clock customer s...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Identity?
It's crucial to monitor costs carefully, as there can be unexpected charges. I have been charged even when there was supposed to be free credit.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Identity?
If you are asking about room for improvement with Google Cloud Identity, whatever is there already, cost is the only problem. If you are comparing with GCP, OCI, the cost will be a little bit highe...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?
Microsoft is flexible in the pricing for the product, so I cannot say that it is expensive, but definitely they are flexible in the price lists and their ways of doing payments.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?
Not really at the moment, but perhaps when we go deeper into using Microsoft Entra External ID, we may experience some things we may not prefer. However, up to now, we have not encountered anything...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?
When I say identity, I mean Microsoft Entra External ID. We have been using Microsoft Entra External ID since the beginning of 2022. I am using it as a client. The purposes for using Microsoft Entr...
 

Also Known As

Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity Premium
Azure Active Directory External Identities
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ExtraHop Networks, HealthChannels
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Identity vs. Microsoft Entra External ID and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
921,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.