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ManageEngine Password Manager Pro vs Microsoft Active Directory comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 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
2.1
ManageEngine Password Manager Pro improved security, productivity, and cost-efficiency by automating password tasks and centralizing access management.
Sentiment score
8.8
Microsoft Active Directory offers high ROI, efficient user access control, and centralized management, enhancing organizational productivity and cost-effectiveness.
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
7.0
ManageEngine Password Manager Pro's support is responsive with knowledgeable staff, but PAM cases may experience delays.
Sentiment score
5.9
Microsoft Active Directory support varies, with slow responses, costly premium help, mixed experiences, and reliance on external resources.
The support for PAM is not very prompt as it requires logging a case first and responses can take a day or two.
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
6.7
Users report varied experiences with ManageEngine Password Manager Pro's scalability, noting both challenges and effective use in expanding data centers.
Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Active Directory scales well for small and large businesses, with Azure suggested for extreme scalability and integration ease.
Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.9
Users find ManageEngine Password Manager Pro stable, reliable, easy to recover, and praise its performance and dependability.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Active Directory is stable and reliable, with high satisfaction despite minor bugs and occasional patch issues.
With multiple domain controllers, stability is ensured.
I've been working with Microsoft Active Directory for over 3 years, and we've had no problems.
 

Room For Improvement

ManageEngine Password Manager Pro needs user interface improvements and affordable pricing, catering mainly to tech-savvy users with limited support.
Active Directory needs a user-friendly interface, better integration, security upgrades, and improved cloud synchronization for enhanced usability.
Unlike other Manager products that provide remote assistance or support, for PAM, users have to log a case first and may receive a reply in one or two days.
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.
Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple.
There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.
 

Setup Cost

ManageEngine Password Manager Pro is cost-effective for enterprises, with a 25,000 rands fee, compared favorably to competitors.
Microsoft Active Directory offers affordable licensing, often bundled, with Azure cloud reducing costs by eliminating server fees.
ManageEngine Password Manager Pro is cheaper than other products, such as BeyondTrust, and is more than 50% cheaper compared to the Boomer solution we used before.
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 Password Manager Pro provides secure, user-friendly password management with strong features, direct machine login, and auditing capabilities.
Microsoft Active Directory offers seamless Azure integration, user-friendly management, and scalability, enhancing network efficiency and usability for large organizations.
The auditing feature is particularly valuable as it makes privileged account usage auditable.
Having active deployment and well-configured systems helps me manage tasks and easily oversee thousands of users.
I can control all the devices in my domain by just changing the group policies in one place.
One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.
 

Categories and Ranking

ManageEngine Password Manag...
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
18th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Password Managers (13th)
Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Active Directory Management (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of ManageEngine Password Manager Pro is 1.0%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 3.3%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

StephanBotha - PeerSpot reviewer
Secure, safe, reliable, and easy to use
As the infrastructure team, we utilize it to store all our service accounts and web account passwords. We use it for every password we require to access as a tool The tool is secure, safe, reliable, and easy to use. The update might get a bit easier. I have been using ManageEngine Password…
Roberta Politano - PeerSpot reviewer
Has good authentication features
The solution's group policy is a normal way to deploy configuration and helps deploy to a wider environment. The solution is deployed both on-premises and on the cloud. I would recommend the solution to other users based on their infrastructure. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
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864,574 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
11%
Legal Firm
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ManageEngine Password Manager Pro?
The support for the PAM product is not very prompt. Unlike other Manager products that provide remote assistance or support, for PAM, users have to log a case first and may receive a reply in one o...
What is your primary use case for ManageEngine Password Manager Pro?
We use ManageEngine Password Manager Pro to control privileged accounts. It is specifically meant to randomize passwords for privileged and service accounts. Additionally, we use the auditing featu...
What advice do you have for others considering ManageEngine Password Manager Pro?
Please keep my name anonymous because I have a code of conduct with the company. Without proper approval, I cannot disclose my identity. I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
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?
There are a few areas that could be improved with Microsoft Active Directory, along similar lines as Intune. Not too much on the support side, but on the Group Policy side, it doesn't always functi...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
The use cases for Microsoft Active Directory are managing all users on-premises. We have over 200 employees and multiple computers, approximately over 200 computers. We have shared computers and sh...
 

Also Known As

Password Manager Pro
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Australian Catholic University
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about ManageEngine Password Manager Pro vs. Microsoft Active Directory and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,574 professionals have used our research since 2012.