Microsoft Active Directory vs OneLogin comparison

Microsoft and One Identity are both solutions in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category. Microsoft is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.4, while One Identity is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.4. Microsoft holds a 3.0% mindshare in SSO, compared to One Identity’s 2.9% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of One Identity users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Active Directory

Read 47 Microsoft Active Directory reviews

1,701 Views
1,123 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

OneLogin

Read 29 OneLogin reviews

2,867 Views
1,548 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Microsoft Active Directory

OneLogin

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 10, 2025

OneLogin and Microsoft Active Directory compete in the realm of identity and access management solutions. OneLogin holds an advantage with its user-friendly cloud-based platform, while Microsoft Active Directory is favored for its strong integration with Windows environments.

Features: OneLogin offers seamless single sign-on, self-service password resets, and easy integration with external applications, streamlining onboarding and offboarding processes. Microsoft Active Directory provides robust directory services, group policy management, and hybrid cloud integration, making it ideal for complex network environments.

Room for Improvement: OneLogin could improve its connector offerings and reporting capabilities. Users also suggest better management tools for non-single sign-on applications and enhanced support post-acquisition. Microsoft Active Directory faces challenges with its dated user interface and integration with some third-party applications. Users recommend enhancements in cloud synchronization and initial setup simplification.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OneLogin's public cloud infrastructure simplifies deployment, though customer service feedback has been mixed after its acquisition. Microsoft Active Directory offers robust on-premises and hybrid solutions, with its customer service praised for professionalism but criticized for complex technical support processes.

Pricing and ROI: OneLogin offers competitive pricing, though some users note price increases. Its ROI is considered high due to time savings and productivity boosts. Microsoft Active Directory's pricing is embedded in the Windows Server licensing model, making direct cost assessments difficult, yet its extensive integration capabilities provide good value in managing enterprise networks.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Active Directory vs. OneLogin Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory vs. OneLogin

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 879,259 peers since 2012

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

OneLogin boosts ROI with time savings, reduced IT workload, enhanced security, and significant cost savings for organizations.

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.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

Teams spend far less time on password issues, access requests, and onboarding, often cutting IT tickets by 30 to 50 percent.

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

We have seen a return on investment as we have saved a lot of money, approximately ten to twelve percent, compared to our earlier use of a different identity platform such as CyberArk, which was costly.

dishantsingh

CTO at DishIs Technologies

OneLogin by One Identity has delivered a return on investment since it saves employees by managing hundreds of users' logins in one place instead of requiring multiple employees.

ishu patil

Python Developer An Application Analysts. at All Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

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

6.6

OneLogin's customer service is professional and knowledgeable but experiences mixed reviews on response times and availability.

Support documents are available on the internet in every language.

Kadir Kokcu

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.

Eko Kurniawan

IT Operations & Security at veris

Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

Our developers typically handle the integration process with the help of the support team, which is very fast and they get assistance whenever they face challenges.

dishantsingh

CTO at DishIs Technologies

They were helpful and responsive.

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

When documentation was needed, the response came within about ten minutes, which is greatly appreciated.

ishu patil

Python Developer An Application Analysts. at All Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

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

7.6

OneLogin efficiently scales from hundreds to thousands of users, with automatic features managing large user and application demands.

Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.

Chris Tailowright

Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

We have not faced any major issues trying to scale it for different organizations and a bigger client base.

Giannis Balafas

Consultant at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

OneLogin by One Identity's scalability is mainly automatic, so we do not have to do much.

dishantsingh

CTO at DishIs Technologies

OneLogin by One Identity was very helpful, and we could definitely scale it depending on our employee size.

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

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

7.2

OneLogin remains reliable for most, despite recent outages, with high stability and functionality, especially in the EU region.

If you meet the installation requirements from Microsoft, it will be very stable.

Eko Kurniawan

IT Operations & Security at veris

With multiple domain controllers, stability is ensured.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

I've been working with Microsoft Active Directory for over 3 years, and we've had no problems.

Chris Tailowright

Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Active Directory needs improvements in usability, integration, security updates, synchronization, setup, reporting, support, scalability, and email group sync.

OneLogin needs a modern interface, improved documentation, smoother integrations, enhanced support, simplified setup, and reliable uptime.

Exporting and verifying group memberships require command line scripts, which isn't simple.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.

Stelios Georgiou

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.

Chris Tailowright

Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

More real-time alerts, such as when access fails or MFA is triggered, would help users understand issues faster.

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

They can mainly improve their support, as they have a high response time. Decreasing it would be beneficial.

dishantsingh

CTO at DishIs Technologies

Needed improvements include that some parts of the UI look old, and the report and analytics could be more detailed.

ishu patil

Python Developer An Application Analysts. at All Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

Setup Cost

Microsoft Active Directory pricing varies by region and model; Azure offers cost-effective solutions for large enterprises despite perceived expense.

Enterprise buyers find OneLogin pricing competitive initially but face potential unexpected increases, warranting cautious evaluation.

For the cloud solution in our region, the pricing of Microsoft Active Directory is very high.

Magdy Ali

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.

Giovanni Baruzzi

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.

Chris Tailowright

Network Security Administrator at a retailer with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

The pricing is good, and I believe it is cheaper than other products.

Aryan Ma

Cofounder at Bais24

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is good, but it sometimes gets expensive when the number of users increases.

dishantsingh

CTO at DishIs Technologies

OneLogin by One Identity was affordable compared to other solutions in the market when considering pricing, setup cost, and licensing.

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

Valuable Features

Microsoft Active Directory simplifies management with integration, group policies, and scalable operations across on-premises and cloud environments.

OneLogin's features enhance security, improve productivity, streamline onboarding, and offer a user-friendly interface for simplified account management.

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.

Eko Kurniawan

IT Operations & Security at veris

One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.

SrikanthSubramanian

Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware

I can control all the devices in my domain by just changing the group policies in one place.

Stelios Georgiou

Information Technology Specialist at stelios@biolandenergy.com

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Active Directory report

The improvements noticed include that the login is quick, reliable, and users rarely face problems with the login system, leading to fewer login-related tickets that are now negligible.

ishu patil

Python Developer An Application Analysts. at All Solutions

With SmartFactor Authentication, I can balance between them. I can give users an easy and smooth user experience as long as the risk indices are low, but I can implement pretty rigid authentication workflows if the risk gets higher.

HatemAly

Presales Manager at 1D Consulting

By allowing users to log in with just one set of credentials, we have seen a noticeable reduction in password fatigue.

reviewer2788380

Data Analysis Intern at a university with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the OneLogin report

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Active Directory

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

8th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Active Directory Management (3rd)

OneLogin

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

9th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

User Provisioning Software (7th), Identity Management (IM) (11th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (9th), Access Management (7th)

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 OneLogin is 2.9%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Single Sign-On (SSO) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Active Directory	3.0%
OneLogin	2.9%
Other	94.1%

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Featured Reviews

Eko Kurniawan

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.

Read full review

Vaibhav Patil

Digital Marketer at DigiLiterate

Single sign-on has simplified daily logins and now secures all our marketing workflows

OneLogin by One Identity has many features available. These include Single Sign-On, Multi-Factor Authentication, centralized access control, instant onboarding and offboarding, and passwordless convenience. All of these features definitely help. I rely mostly on Single Sign-On in my day-to-day work with OneLogin by One Identity. It stands out because it removes the biggest daily headache: juggling passwords for every marketing tool. With SSO, I log in once and instantly access Google Ads, HubSpot, Looker, Meta Ads, Slack, and everything else. There are no password resets, no delays, and no asking IT for access. It saves time every single day and keeps my workflow smooth, especially when I'm switching between multiple dashboards and campaigns. One hidden gem feature in OneLogin by One Identity that often gets overlooked is context-aware or adaptive access control. With this, access isn't just on or off. Instead, OneLogin by One Identity can allow or restrict access depending on conditions, such as your location, IP address, device type, or time of day. For example, if you're logging in from an unknown location or public Wi-Fi, OneLogin by One Identity can automatically require stronger authentication. This adds a subtle but powerful layer of security without complicating day-to-day logins. It's ideal for remote work, travel, or working from shared spaces. Since implementing OneLogin by One Identity, the biggest positive change I've noticed is how much smoother and faster my workday feels. I no longer juggle multiple passwords or get stuck waiting for access to tools. Logging in once and instantly opening Google Ads, HubSpot, Looker, Slack, and everything else has easily saved me 15 to 20 minutes a day. Another major improvement is clean, consistent permissions. There are no more access denied issues or chasing IT for fixes. When someone joins or leaves the team, their access is handled automatically, which keeps everything secure and organized. Overall, OneLogin by One Identity has reduced small daily frustrations, improved security, and made my workflow far more efficient. Other impacts of OneLogin by One Identity include fewer IT tickets, faster onboarding, consistent access, higher security, less downtime, and better collaboration.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Healthcare Company

University

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	20

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	14

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Active Directory?

The solution is easy to install and has good reliability.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What do you like most about OneLogin by One Identity?

OneLogin is efficient.

See all answers

What needs improvement with OneLogin by One Identity?

OneLogin by One Identity can be improved by implementing good user interfaces or different kinds of user interfaces, which might help our users navigate much faster. They can mainly improve their s...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for OneLogin by One Identity?

My main use case for OneLogin by One Identity involves single sign-on, multifactor authorization, and role-based access. For example, we have an email platform called DID Mail where we use single s...

See all answers

Comparisons

Ping Identity Platform vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 17% of the time

ManageEngine ADManager Plus vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 14% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 13% of the time

CyberArk Identity vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 7% of the time

ManageEngine Password Manager Pro vs Microsoft Active Directory

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Active Directory Competitors

Okta Platform vs OneLogin

Compared 10% of the time

LastPass Business vs OneLogin

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs OneLogin

Compared 9% of the time

Auth0 Platform vs OneLogin

Compared 7% of the time

One Identity Manager vs OneLogin

Compared 5% of the time

More OneLogin Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory

December 2025

Download Microsoft Active Directory product report

Buyer's Guide

OneLogin

December 2025

Download OneLogin product report

Also Known As

No data available

OneLogin Workforce Identity

Overview

Active Directory stores information about objects on the network and makes this information easy for administrators and users to find and use. Active Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a logical, hierarchical organization of directory information.

This data store, also known as the directory, contains information about Active Directory objects. These objects typically include shared resources such as servers, volumes, printers, and the network user and computer accounts.

Security is integrated with Active Directory through logon authentication and access control to objects in the directory. With a single network logon, administrators can manage directory data and organization throughout their network, and authorized network users can access resources anywhere on the network. Policy-based administration eases the management of even the most complex network.

Microsoft

OneLogin offers organizations a user-friendly platform for single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and seamless access management. It enhances security and streamlines processes, making it vital for application management.

Designed for ease of integration, OneLogin helps organizations efficiently manage access and improve cybersecurity through centralized application management. It simplifies onboarding and offboarding, enhancing remote work capabilities and offering robust user mapping. Users appreciate seamless integration and reliable logs. However, it could improve with enhanced technical support, more out-of-box connectors, and better customization options. Challenges with device management and system integrations have been noted, with legacy application support and infrastructure stability needing attention.

What are the key features of OneLogin?

Single Sign-On: Provides centralized access to applications.
Multifactor Authentication: Enhances security with multiple verification steps.
Self-Service Password Resets: Empowers users to manage their passwords.
Ease of Integration: Connects seamlessly with cloud and on-premises systems.

What benefits can users expect?

Improved Time Management: Streamlines user access processes.
Reduced Security Incidents: Strengthens authentication measures.
Efficient Interface: Facilitates smooth user navigation.
Enhanced Remote Work: Supports flexible workforce needs.

Organizations employ OneLogin for single sign-on and identity management, connecting users to applications like CRM and Slack. It supports role-based access control and seamless cloud transition, integrating with Active Directory to enhance user management in industries demanding strong security and efficiency.

One Identity

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

OneLogin has thousands of customers across multiple industries and from around the globe such as Uber, Airbnb, Noom, Petco, Sony, Lucky Brand, Tesco, Airbus, Japan Airlines, Aetna, Compass, Kaplan, Susan G. Komen, AAA and PennyMac.

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory vs. OneLogin

December 2025

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