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IBM Cloud Identity Connect vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Cloud Identity Connect
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
37th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
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
278
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (2nd), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (3rd), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of IBM Cloud Identity Connect is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 16.3%, down from 26.4% 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 ID16.3%
IBM Cloud Identity Connect0.7%
Other83.0%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1054431 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Straightforward installation, complete solution, and good support
Everyone in my organization is using the solution. The solution is scalable. IBM Cloud Identity Connect, generally speaking, it's an enterprise solution, you want to find something that's going to cover all your requirements. You don't want to select something that you then find has gaps. You need to have a very clear, well-defined list of requirements upfront, because, otherwise, you will find that you're trying to patch together a lot of different technologies to make it work. You want to find a single solution that does all of the things that you need.
Stafin Jacob - PeerSpot reviewer
Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Practice Lead at Invoke
Identity has become our central gatekeeper and has provided secure single sign-on for all users
Microsoft Entra ID can improve by focusing more on new passwordless methods and becoming a primary adopter. One feature we would like to see is the ability to have security questions for password resets. I know the current capability is phasing out, so we do not have an alternative method yet. Customers who already use security questions require a smoother transition for that capability to be available. My experience with the deployment has had some challenges, particularly around the Microsoft MFA campaigns. The hardest part is moving users from a different MFA provider to the Microsoft MFA provider, as it ultimately depends on user activity. In large enterprises with numerous users across various geographies, this transition takes time. If there are ways to exert more control around that process, it would improve the situation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"IBM Cloud Identity Connect is a complete solution with all the pieces that are needed are there."
"Entra ID is our directory that registers all users, guest users, and even labs. It's integrated with Microsoft technologies like Authenticator, SSO, and MFA, streamlining operations and creating a seamless environment."
"The features of Microsoft Entra ID that I find most valuable include the ability to define service principles and assign permissions."
"I primarily use this solution for hybrid deployment, security, securing resources and for integration purposes, and in terms of security, we have been using the B2B/B2C hybrid integration with the certificate authentication."
"We used to deal with 150 tickets a month for password changes, and after the migration and integration with those identities, we went to zero."
"The solution is extremely scalable."
"The centralized management with the single sign-on feature of Microsoft Entra ID has been huge, and that aspect has been nice as a data point demonstrating the ROI."
"It's a quite comprehensive solution and it scales quite well within our required scale as well, which is very useful."
"We found the implementation process to be quite straightforward and simple."
 

Cons

"IBM Cloud Identity Connect is more expensive than other solutions."
"Microsoft needs to make improvements in this regard and extend its services to other operating systems as well, especially when considering their widespread usage."
"It doesn't function the same way as an Active Directory inside of an infrastructure, that is, a physical infrastructure. In the cloud, it is all flat. That's one of the disadvantages."
"Customers want to know exactly where they are spending their money, allowing them to assess and potentially save money in those specific areas."
"Active Directory could always be more secure. Right now, we've got two-factor authentications. All services based on Active Directory have a username and password. If somebody hacked our username, they could easily get all the data from our side. So I want two-factor authentication and a stronger password policy from Active Directory. The domain controllers should be more secure as well."
"When implementing for one client, where they had ADFS turned on, we could not ID enough ADFS and when there was no internet connection. This was a Catch-22 for us, and very frustrating."
"Having everything in the cloud and Active Directory, Azure AD is not able to provide Kerberos or Kerberos authentication if you're running only Azure AD it is a limitation."
"I think sometimes Microsoft Entra ID provides a bit too much information from the start."
"The cost is one area that needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM Cloud Identity Connect is more expensive than other solutions."
"As a nonprofit, we have A5 licenses for nonprofits in education, so we at least have some reduced costs."
"I'd recommend Azure Active Directory if you are a big company. For small or medium companies, it's probably not the best idea in the world because of the pricing. If you are a small company, you can probably deploy your own solutions because you're not handling a website with tons of traffic. If you are not like Adidas, Nike, or Walmart, you can do it in a way that is more localized than handling everything through a big price solution. However, Azure tends to provide you with solutions that are easier to use. If it was cheaper, I'd definitely recommend going for it."
"I would advise implementing the solution to VIPs and admins; it's affordable, effective, and efficient. I would say training staff on properly using the tool is also essential."
"We make sure that we only enable the licenses that are needed for the users, rather than enabling licenses in a blanket fashion."
"The pricing for Azure Active Directory is affordable; I would rate the cost a six out of ten."
"Licenses are based on the usage. There is no cap. It's based on the number of users we provision."
"The pricing depends on the use case and can be negotiated based on volume."
"The product's price is in the midrange."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business91
Midsize Enterprise42
Large Enterprise162
 

Questions from the Community

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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?
I primarily use Microsoft Entra ID's free tier, so I have not faced any issues with pricing; I hope this free tier remains available for some time.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
To improve Microsoft Entra ID, I believe it should be openable with third-party applications to use Microsoft Authenticator, which is currently tied to Entra. There should definitely be a way to re...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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 Microsoft, Okta, One Identity and others in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS). Updated: October 2026.
921,523 professionals have used our research since 2012.