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Microsoft Active Directory vs Okta Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2025

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
4.4
Microsoft Active Directory enhances efficiency and access control, providing value through centralized management despite lacking direct ROI calculation.
Sentiment score
6.1
Okta Platform boosts productivity, efficiency, and agility by centralizing security, automating features, and enhancing accessibility despite customization limits.
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.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
We have our dashboard to log in via Okta Workforce Identity.
Lead Admin Systems at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It has saved approximately 50 to 80 percent of our time.
Application development senior analyst at Accenture
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.5
Microsoft Active Directory support is inconsistent, with varying response quality, reliance on online resources, and better service via premium options.
Sentiment score
7.1
Okta Platform's customer service is commendable for quick responses and expertise, with some reporting delays and varied experiences.
Support documents are available on the internet in every language.
Owner at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
If you purchase retail, the support will be more difficult because they will assess the priority or rating from the customer.
IT Operations & Security at veris
Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
They are very supportive; they just open a ticket, and they support us very professionally.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
We had an issue a couple of years ago that was swiftly resolved by the support team, showing their efficiency.
IT Manager at Clear Channel
We had an issue with the Okta Workforce Identity dashboard once in 2023 when we had an outage, but it recovered in a few minutes.
Business Intelligence Developer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Active Directory is scalable and integrates well, but faces challenges at larger scales, suggesting hybrid solutions.
Sentiment score
7.5
Okta Platform is praised for seamless cloud integration, scaling flexibility, and handling extensive environments efficiently for enterprises.
Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
The scalability part of Okta Customer Identity is fine, there is no blocker and we can upgrade whenever we need.
IT Administrator at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Active Directory is praised for its stability and reliability, with minor issues not significantly affecting performance.
Sentiment score
7.9
Okta Platform is praised for its stability and reliability, with users noting impressive uptime and responsive support.
If you meet the installation requirements from Microsoft, it will be very stable.
IT Operations & Security at veris
With multiple domain controllers, stability is ensured.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
I've been working with Microsoft Active Directory for over 3 years, and we've had no problems.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
Okta Workforce Identity is a stable product.
Business Intelligence Developer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
There are no doubts regarding the stability of Okta Customer Identity.
Senior Quality Analyst at YASH Technologies
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Active Directory needs improvements in usability, integration, security updates, synchronization, setup, reporting, support, scalability, and email group sync.
Okta requires improvements in integration, pricing, lifecycle management, interface design, setup, API, and multi-factor authentication.
Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.
Information Technology Specialist at stelios@biolandenergy.com
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.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
If there was a fingerprint option, then only the person who has already added their fingerprint on their mobile phone could access it.
Lead Admin Systems at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Since we started using it in 2019, we have observed numerous enhancements to increase security.
IT Manager at Clear Channel
Integration with Active Directory servers, Cisco routers, and switches is not currently available.
Managing Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Active Directory pricing varies by region and model; Azure offers cost-effective solutions for large enterprises despite perceived expense.
Okta's pricing varies by organization size, seen as costly for SMBs but justified by security and management benefits.
For the cloud solution in our region, the pricing of Microsoft Active Directory is very high.
Network & Security Section Head/Digital Transformation at City Edge
I consider Microsoft Active Directory expensive because if you buy this thing bundled with the Windows Directory Server, you get five user licenses for about a thousand euros, or a little bit less than this.
Owner at Syntlogo GmbH
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.
Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees
Despite the cost, it's cheaper than the potential financial loss from a security breach.
IT Manager at Clear Channel
Okta Customer Identity is considered cheaper compared to other tools in the market, such as IBM and CyberArk products.
Managing Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The price of Okta Customer Identity is acceptable.
Senior Quality Analyst at YASH Technologies
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Active Directory simplifies management with integration, group policies, and scalable operations across on-premises and cloud environments.
Okta Platform enhances security and user experience with single sign-on, adaptive MFA, and seamless app integration and provisioning.
To assess the impact of Microsoft Active Directory's centralized domain management on security protocols and access permissions, Microsoft Active Directory itself has constraints with security because when we have a solution such as SSO or Single Sign-On, which makes it easier for users to log in, some parts have security openings.
IT Operations & Security at veris
One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
I can control all the devices in my domain by just changing the group policies in one place.
Information Technology Specialist at stelios@biolandenergy.com
One of its most valuable features is its easy integration with various applications through its extensive application directory, offering hundreds or thousands of applications ready to configure.
IT Manager at Clear Channel
It offers around eight thousand five hundred out-of-the-box connectors, providing an edge over other tools.
Managing Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
For the end user, it is beneficial as they do not have to remember a password or keep the password on a post-it for different applications; they just authenticate once to access several services and service providers.
Technical Team Lead at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Active Directory Management (3rd)
Okta Platform
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (6th), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (4th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (3rd), Access Management (2nd), ZTNA as a Service (6th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (1st), AI IT Support (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 3.0%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Okta Platform is 8.1%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Okta Workforce Identity8.1%
Microsoft Active Directory3.0%
Other88.9%
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

Eko Kurniawan - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Operations & Security at veris
Has simplified credential management and improved secure access control across departments
The features I find most useful in Microsoft Active Directory are especially for the Single Sign-On. This is very useful for users, particularly if they have plenty of applications, such as tablet applications. When they log in to their computer, the application will automatically log in with their credentials. They don't need to remember another user and password to log in to the application because it's already maintained with Microsoft Active Directory using Single Sign-On. To assess the impact of Microsoft Active Directory's centralized domain management on security protocols and access permissions, Microsoft Active Directory itself has constraints with security because when we have a solution such as SSO or Single Sign-On, which makes it easier for users to log in, some parts have security openings. When their computer is compromised with a threat, malware, or other cyber threats, it becomes easier to enter the application without login permission.
SumitMundik - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Admin Systems at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Authentication process improves security with quick and intuitive user interface
The best feature is the speed and execution of Okta Workforce Identity. The moment you click on single sign-on, you immediately get the notification on your mobile phone, then you do the authentication and within a second you get authenticated. The entire customer experience is very good. The user interface is pretty simple, straightforward, and really good. Multi-factor authentication in Okta Workforce Identity is very useful so people who do not have access or are trying to access using just a user ID and password will be completely blocked because of this two-factor authentication. You will get the code, and as your device is authorized in the system, only that device can be used for the authentication purpose. A third person trying to access or hack your data will not be able to do that anymore. Additionally, you don't have to remember your passwords going forward. Previously, every 60 days or 90 days, passwords kept changing. With the two-factor authentication or single sign-on option in Okta Workforce Identity, you don't have to remember it anymore or write down passwords in plain text. If something goes wrong, we have the IAM team which can unlock your account immediately if you have issues.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Healthcare Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise44
 

Questions from the Community

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?
The best way to protect this is to use Microsoft Defender. For Microsoft support for Microsoft Active Directory, I would rate it as eight. If I give it 10, it would be too perfect. Eight is fair. M...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Active Directory?
My main use cases for Microsoft Active Directory are to manage user access and credentials.
What do you like most about Okta Workforce Identity?
Okta has introduced the Universal Directory. It has custom attribute capability and user permissions to read/write on their profiles or hide them. Profile sources and identity profile sourcing are ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Okta Workforce Identity?
Pricing for Okta is reasonably not that much, however, I don't have access to the commercial aspect.
What needs improvement with Okta Workforce Identity?
Currently, in Okta Workforce Identity we get the two-digit authentication code. Instead of getting the two-digit authentication code, if we had an option to do fingerprint verification, that would ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Okta Customer Identity, Workforce Identity
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
FedEx, Zoom, Takeda, Lululemon Athletica, GrunHub, jetBlue, McKensson, Bain & Company, Engie, Peloton, Sonos, T-Mobile, Hewlett Packard, MGM Resorts, Ally Financial, Priceline, Albertsons, Itercom, Classy, FICO, Kensho, Live Nation, Drata, Rotary, and others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Active Directory vs. Okta Platform and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.