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Microsoft Active Directory vs Ping Identity Platform 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
5.0
Microsoft Active Directory enhances productivity by streamlining user management and access control, providing significant time and cost savings.
Sentiment score
7.4
Ping Identity Platform simplifies identity management, lowers IT overhead, enhances security, improves efficiency, boosts satisfaction, and offers scalability.
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
5.7
Microsoft Active Directory support quality varies; users experience mixed results influenced by representatives' skills and response times.
Sentiment score
6.6
Ping Identity Platform's customer service is timely and knowledgeable, though occasionally slow for complex issues; self-help resources are commended.
Support documents are available on the internet in every language.
Sometimes support takes long to engage and resolve, extending over weeks or even months.
I have reached out to technical support for troubleshooting SAML certificate mismatches and federated errors between Ping and enterprise apps.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.0
Microsoft Active Directory is scalable, adaptable for diverse users, and effective for organizations of all sizes with Azure integration.
Sentiment score
7.5
Ping Identity Platform offers adaptable scalability and performance, varying by configuration, environment, and server setup for different user needs.
Microsoft Active Directory scales effectively; I don't foresee any issues with that at all.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Active Directory is stable and reliable, with high ratings, minor issues, praised scalability, and requires proactive growth planning.
Sentiment score
7.9
Ping Identity Platform is stable and reliable, with minor integration challenges and manageable issues, rated 8-10 for stability.
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

Microsoft Active Directory requires improved integration, security, synchronization, usability, scalability, and support to better serve organizational needs.
Ping Identity Platform needs enhanced authentication, integration, and user interface improvements for better security and user adoption.
The current Active Directory UI is limited in report generation, necessitating script knowledge to generate various reports.
This is catastrophic if you have to integrate other applications that use the same standard.
There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates.
I would like to enable ServiceNow Generative AI for auto-diagnosing PingFederate SSO failures and suggest remediation steps.
 

Setup Cost

Active Directory costs differ by organization, often moderate to high, with cloud solutions like Azure reducing expenses for some.
Ping Identity Platform offers flexible annual pricing, appealing for large enterprises, valued for security and efficiency over competitors.
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

Microsoft Active Directory provides integration, scalability, access control, and security, making it vital for large organizations seeking efficient management.
Ping Identity Platform offers robust security with multi-factor authentication, seamless integrations, and customizable single sign-on for enhanced connectivity.
One valuable feature is the centralized creation of IDs.
If I change a password or need to reset a password, the information propagates relatively quickly, and the structuring inside is easy to understand and use.
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.
The platform enhances security measures by analyzing multi-factor authentication attempts, highlighting suspicious patterns, and generating compliance reports.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Active Directory
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Active Directory Management (5th)
Ping Identity Platform
Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (7th), Data Governance (8th), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (5th), Access Management (4th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (2nd), Directory Servers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 3.2%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ping Identity Platform is 7.0%, down from 9.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Ping Identity Platform7.0%
Microsoft Active Directory3.2%
Other89.8%
Single Sign-On (SSO)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
MAHESHKUMAR7 - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers multi-factor authentication and application support side of PingFederate but application only supports specific protocols
A lot of teams work with technical support, but I work with it for user issues only. You might need support with things like application swaps, application names, and application URLs. I didn't know where to find those in Ping Identity, so I contacted technical support for those issues. The support team is very clever and active. They provide end-to-end support once an issue is created. I have worked with most of the support team. I also work with the support team because I work with the operations team. I provide 24/7 support to production and non-production environments. I coordinate with application and network teams to troubleshoot critical tickets and issues related to Ping Identity solutions.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
6%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise20
 

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?
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...
What do you like most about PingID?
The mobile biometric authentication option improved user experience. It's always about security because, with two-factor authentication, it's always a separate device verifying the actual user logg...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PingID?
The pricing is neither too expensive nor too cheap.
What needs improvement with PingID?
The management console needs to be improved. PingID should revise it.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Ping Identity (ID), PingFederate, PingAccess, PingOne, PingDataGovernance, PingDirectory, OpenDJ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Equinix, Land O'Lakes, CDPHP, Box, International SOS, Opower, VSP, Chevron, Truist, Academy of Art University, Northern Air Cargo, Repsol
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Active Directory vs. Ping Identity Platform and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.