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Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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)
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (10th), Cloud Resource Access Management (5th)
Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
266
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (2nd), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Identity is 10.7%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 18.5%, down from 29.0% 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 (%)
Microsoft Entra ID18.5%
Google Cloud Identity10.7%
Other70.8%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Q&A Highlights

ID
Owner at Brains
May 12, 2020
 

Featured Reviews

BL
Head - Work Transformation at Econz
User lifecycle management becomes streamlined with unified access and context-aware policies
If applications support SAML protocols, integration is always an easy task. However, there are difficulties with form-based applications or LDAP-based applications, particularly traditional applications. We need more flexibility not only with SAML but also with LDAP-based and form-based applications. Context-aware access currently only works with SAML-based applications. If other application integrations could support context-aware access, that would be helpful, as companies are in a transition mode with various traditional, form-based, and LDAP-based applications. Mobile device management could be improved. Through Google Cloud Identity, we can manage Android applications and have control over iOS devices, but container functionality is missing. This is particularly important for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) scenarios, especially in India where the market is now split equally between iOS and Android users. Improvements in this area and integration capabilities would be beneficial.
JP
Senior Information Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Implementing seamless integration boosts secure access and supports Zero Trust
What I appreciate the most about Microsoft Entra ID is that it integrates seamlessly with all the Defender products and is easy to use. Microsoft Entra ID's integration capabilities influence our Zero Trust model by allowing us to enforce our Zero Trust model. Conditional access policies allow us to leverage Microsoft Entra ID to verify that devices signing in to our cloud services are coming from registered devices, and that people are passing all the other requirements we have in order to complete sign-on or conditional access policies. Since implementing Microsoft Entra ID, I've observed changes in the frequency and nature of identity-related security incidents. The organization already had it implemented when I arrived, and I've been working to enhance it. Better configuration of Microsoft Entra ID has allowed us to better protect our organization from threats. Having it alone isn't a solution, but ensuring proper configuration goes a long way in preventing future compromises. My company's approach to defending against token theft and nation-state attacks has evolved since implementing Microsoft Entra ID. We haven't experienced any known compromises from nation-state attacks, and implementing newer features gives me more confidence in our protection. Regarding device-bound passkeys in Microsoft Authenticator and our approach to phishing-resistant authentication, we are currently implementing Microsoft Entra ID certificate-based authentication. Adding a strong form of MFA is important as we found it to be the most cost-effective way. While other solutions might be equally or more secure, they are significantly more expensive. Having worked as an IT consultant mainly with the Microsoft stack across various industries, I have experience with different identity management solutions. Microsoft Entra ID remains the best option. The major advantages when comparing it to Okta include integration with Defender products, Defender for Identities' integration with conditional access policies, and insider threat management integration for blocking sign-ins based on risk factors. The enhancement of Microsoft Entra ID's implementation is relatively straightforward. My main concern is the occasional lack of documentation and the frequency of changes, which can make feature location challenging.

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 of Google Cloud Identity is its simplicity in deployment."
"The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is group access. You are able to assign policies to groups instead of users individually."
"The most valuable feature is that you can manage users from one central location."
"I used it as an administrator without implementing it myself. As for valuable aspects or benefits, the significant point is that it's a straightforward, single solution that just works."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The Cloud Identity is well advanced in terms of features, applications, and the components that it is offering."
"The solution is user-friendly."
"It is a very stable solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten."
"I would rate Microsoft Entra ID 10 out of 10."
"The features I find most valuable are conditional access, privilege management, and dynamic groups."
"Microsoft Entra ID acts as our core directory."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its ability to delegate roles to each individual resource, which is great."
"This product is easy to use."
"It's simple to create groups or accounts and to add users. There are several options for dynamic groups."
"The most valuable feature for us is the B2C functionality of Microsoft Entra ID, which is essential due to our need for external and internal users to log into our system."
"The most significant aspect is the security measures inherent in Microsoft Entra ID, including features such as conditional access policies."
 

Cons

"To improve the product, the integration with third-party products could always be smoother."
"There is room for improvement in the configuration of their security policies. It seems quite basic."
"The pricing for this solution is a little bit higher than AWS and others, which is something that should be improved."
"In the next release, I would like to see integration with different systems, mainly wireless SIEMS and other analytical systems that we want to introduce."
"Technical support is slow."
"Mobile device management could be improved. Through Google Cloud Identity, we can manage Android applications and have control over iOS devices, but container functionality is missing."
"Google Cloud Identity should improve its compatibility with other products without any impact, such as Jamf Cloud."
"They are going ahead and adding a few more things to the Google Cloud premium edition. Their stock management and remote computer management can be improved."
"The licensing and support are expensive and have room for improvement."
"When it comes to identity governance, the governance features in Azure AD are very focused on Microsoft products. I would like to see those governance and life cycle management features offered for non-Microsoft products connected to Azure AD."
"The issue with Microsoft Customer Service is that we have many experts in our IT department, including myself as an Entra expert, Exchange experts, and other specialists. When we contact Microsoft Support, it does not matter that we are experts; we must start at the very bottom."
"I think something that is key would be the group policies replication over the cloud, in order to prevent or to avoid relying on the on-premise Active Directory servers and to manage group policies."
"I believe it can also be integrated into other Microsoft products, as well as more integrations with other solutions."
"The synchronization between my AD and Azure AD needs improvement."
"I would like to be able to authenticate Wi-Fi users using the Azure ID"
"They should put the features of P1 and P2 into a single license."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The fees are paid monthly and there are no additional costs other than the licensing fees."
"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 product is billed on a monthly basis depending on the number of users."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"The solution is not expensive."
"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."
"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."
"The licensing cost depends on the partners and the relationship between the company and the partners."
"If you are dealing with one supplier with an out-of-the-box solution, which provides you end-to-end capabilities, then it is naturally cheaper and less of a headache to manage and operate."
"MFA and P2 licenses for two Azures for fully-enabled scenarios and features cost a lot of money. This is where Okta is trying to get the prices down."
"The cost of Entra ID depends entirely on our organization's specific needs and use cases."
"I give the cost a three out of ten."
"Licenses are based on the usage. There is no cap. It's based on the number of users we provision."
"The licensing cost is a bit prohibitive."
"The price of the solution was reasonable."
"It's relatively inexpensive in comparison with third-party solutions. It's highly available and supported by Microsoft Azure in our enterprise agreements. With the addition of their B2C tenants, it's hard to beat from a cost perspective now."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
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 Business85
Midsize Enterprise38
Large Enterprise155
 

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...
How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?
We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Entra ID is that it is decent.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
I think Microsoft Entra ID could be improved by assigning permissions to nested groups in the next release.
 

Also Known As

Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity Premium
Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ExtraHop Networks, HealthChannels
Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Identity vs. Microsoft Entra ID and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
883,026 professionals have used our research since 2012.