Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 9, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.8
ManageEngine ADManager Plus reduced costs, increased ROI by 90%, enhanced efficiency, and empowered IT admins, saving 10-15% financially.
Sentiment score
5.0
Microsoft Active Directory enhances productivity by streamlining user management and access control, providing significant time and cost savings.
The solution is really time-saving since I don't need to create users in each server or system manually, and user access control is streamlined.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.3
Users generally find ManageEngine ADManager Plus support satisfactory, highlighting responsive service, though some desire faster, chat-based assistance.
Sentiment score
5.7
Microsoft Active Directory support quality varies; users experience mixed results influenced by representatives' skills and response times.
Technical support from ManageEngine is very satisfactory.
Support documents are available on the internet in every language.
Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
ManageEngine ADManager Plus scales well with Active Directory but faces challenges with non-Microsoft environments, rated 7-10/10 by users.
Sentiment score
6.0
Microsoft Active Directory is scalable, adaptable for diverse users, and effective for organizations of all sizes with Azure integration.
Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
ADManager Plus is praised for stability and user-friendliness, although minor issues arise with bulk user deployment.
Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Active Directory is stable and reliable, with high ratings, minor issues, praised scalability, and requires proactive growth planning.
I've been working with Microsoft Active Directory for over 3 years, and we've had no problems.
With multiple domain controllers, stability is ensured.
 

Room For Improvement

The software's complexity, limited integrations, and high cost hinder user experience, support, and functionality enhancements.
Microsoft Active Directory requires improved integration, security, synchronization, usability, scalability, and support to better serve organizational needs.
Upgrading from recent to the latest versions is quite complex and time-consuming.
The current Active Directory UI is limited in report generation, necessitating script knowledge to generate various reports.
Sometimes, it can be overly complicated, and when you apply Group Policy in an Active Directory environment, sometimes those settings apply and sometimes they don't.
There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.
 

Setup Cost

ManageEngine ADManager Plus offers flexible, competitive pricing with positive value, despite some users expecting lower costs and suggesting discounts.
Active Directory costs differ by organization, often moderate to high, with cloud solutions like Azure reducing expenses for some.
The solution is perceived as cheap, and the licensing is annual.
So it is 200 euros per user.
For the cloud solution in our region, the pricing of Microsoft Active Directory is very high.
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing with Microsoft Active Directory is straightforward; you just buy the server and then have to buy the user CALs.
 

Valuable Features

ManageEngine ADManager Plus provides automation, integration, secure management, and customization for efficient Active Directory administration and user management.
Microsoft Active Directory provides integration, scalability, access control, and security, making it vital for large organizations seeking efficient management.
The software is fast, secure, and enables me to manage everything in one place.
One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.
The features and capabilities of Microsoft Active Directory that I have found the most valuable over the years are that it is a mature technology, it's stable, and it delivers what it promises.
These Group Policies provide enhancement, helping to reduce administrative overhead and enhance productivity.
 

Categories and Ranking

ManageEngine ADManager Plus
Ranking in Active Directory Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Active Directory Management
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of ManageEngine ADManager Plus is 14.5%, up from 13.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 6.2%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Active Directory Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ManageEngine ADManager Plus14.5%
Microsoft Active Directory6.2%
Other79.3%
Active Directory Management
 

Featured Reviews

MUBDIUL ISLAM - PeerSpot reviewer
User management becomes efficient and installation is straightforward
My primary use case for ADManager is to manage users and groups, perform group policy without logging into Active Directory, and provide easy and secure management and monitoring capabilities. One of my clients uses ADManager for these purposes With ADManager, I can easily complete any Active…
Giovanni Baruzzi - PeerSpot reviewer
Mature technology delivers consistent capability and enhances centralized user management
I think Microsoft Active Directory could be more intuitive. My impression of the integration of Microsoft Active Directory with third-party applications is that it can be made better. It's not the tendency of Microsoft to use a standard, but to modify it to their needs. This is catastrophic if you have to integrate other applications that use the same standard. This creates a major problem, so you have to be very careful and implement step by step, knowing that the partner is Microsoft. I would leave Microsoft Active Directory as it is and build possibly interfaces. For example, there is a provisioning protocol standard named SCIM. It seems that Microsoft Active Directory does not yet have a SCIM interface, which is a problem.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Active Directory Management solutions are best for your needs.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ManageEngine ADManager Plus?
Some of my clients experience issues with the GPO results, which do not always generate the real outcomes. This needs to be resolved by technicians. Additionally, upgrading from recent to the lates...
What do you like most about Microsoft Active Directory?
The solution is easy to install and has good reliability.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Active Directory?
I haven't explored all the features of Microsoft Active Directory yet, as I'm still learning and exploring all the options within the platform. There is one minor improvement I can suggest. Sometim...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
I use Microsoft Active Directory when I need to perform password resets, account unlocks, add users to groups, create users, disable accounts, set account expirations, check memberships, or add lic...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs. Microsoft Active Directory and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.