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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) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
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 is that you can manage users from one central location."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The solution is moderate to difficult to use. I found the approach was practical. Following the steps made it very easy to use."
"Cloud Identity is scalable enough for our needs. It's serving more than 3,000 users in our organization."
"The tool provides a free service that you can integrate for laptop authentication. You also don’t need a separate Active Directory."
"Google is always on its own. Google Cloud Identity is pretty good on every point."
"The main control page and the ability to manage all our users from a web-based portal are the most valuable aspects of the solution. That's particularly useful because we're a heterogeneous network."
"Google Cloud Identity uses what they call organizational units (OUs) instead of the security groups you'd find in Microsoft's Entra."
"The tool's most valuable feature is conditional access."
"It's very easy to run and it's part of their ecosystem and I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon."
"It has been stable, and we haven't had any issues since we started to use it."
"We need something that makes an attacker's life harder."
"Very stable and scalable IAM service with good SSO and authentication features."
"Microsoft Entra ID has simplified central management, including administration and an overview of all logins and user profiles."
"The most valuable features in Active Directory are the password writeback product and the MDM technology."
"The write-back caching of Microsoft Entra ID allows us to keep our existing Active Directory environment while also using Azure services, which helped tremendously because we didn't have to do a full conversion from one to the other."
 

Cons

"The solution needs to better integrate with Mac's OS."
"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."
"The management of external users needs to be introduced in the tool as it is an area of concern in the tool presently."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"The one place it could be improved is the password vaulting. The password vaulting does not prevent the admins from reading users' passwords, and that's a debate."
"Google Cloud Identity should improve its compatibility with other products without any impact, such as Jamf Cloud."
"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."
"The pricing for this solution is a little bit higher than AWS and others, which is something that should be improved."
"Azure Active Directory could improve the two-factor authentication."
"Azure AD does not support legacy authentication protocols, such as NTLM or Kerberos."
"One challenge with Entra ID is its complexity, stemming from integrating many components into a single solution."
"In terms of connecting the web application, there is technology for single sign-on. When we use it, the solution opens very slowly. It might be a bandwidth issue, and some content will not work on that portal."
"The synchronization with the local Active Directory and synchronization with all of the users on the local and cloud could be better."
"We have experienced some downtime because of the use of the data centers."
"There have been a couple of outages so that I would rate the stability around a seven out of 10."
"Microsoft Entra ID could be improved with more integration with third-party solutions like SAP or access management to third-party apps that are not capable of being registered within Azure itself."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not expensive."
"The fees are paid monthly and there are no additional costs other than the licensing fees."
"We probably spend about $50,000 a year on licensing."
"The product is billed on a monthly basis depending on the number of users."
"The licensing cost depends on the partners and the relationship between the company and the partners."
"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."
"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."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"I give the cost a three out of ten."
"The price of the solution was reasonable."
"It is a really nice tool and we have a license for the more complex model."
"Its price is per user. It is also based on the type of user that you're synchronizing up there."
"For you to make use of some of the security features, you need to upgrade your licenses. If it is possible, could they just make some features free? For instance, for the Condition Access policy, you need to set that up and be on Azure AD P2 licensing. So if they could make it free or reduce the licensing for small businesses, that would be cool, as I believe security is for everyone."
"The pricing of Azure Active Directory is competitive. By default, the product exists in almost every Microsoft cloud product. But it then depends on the features that a customer really wants to make use of."
"The cost of Entra ID depends entirely on our organization's specific needs and use cases."
"The E5 plan we are using contains the premium plans for Azure Active Directory. We are not paying only for the Azure Active Directory Premium licenses. We have it already included within our E5 plan."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
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: March 2026.
884,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.