Microsoft Active Directory vs Red Hat Single Sign On comparison

Microsoft and Red Hat are both solutions in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category. Microsoft is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.4, while Red Hat is ranked #17. Microsoft holds a 2.9% mindshare in SSO, compared to Red Hat’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Active Directory

Read 47 Microsoft Active Directory reviews

4,721 Views
3,163 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Red Hat Single Sign On

Read 5 Red Hat Single Sign On reviews

1,573 Views
1,557 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Active Directory

Red Hat Single Sign On

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Red Hat Single Sign On and Microsoft Active Directory are leading identity management solutions. Microsoft Active Directory seems to have the upper hand in overall feature set and user reviews despite Red Hat Single Sign On receiving favorable feedback in pricing and customer support.

Features: Red Hat Single Sign On is praised for its seamless integration with open-source tools, strong security features, and easy setup. Microsoft Active Directory is highly valued for its wide range of features, comprehensive access controls, and robust scalability. Microsoft Active Directory's broader feature set gives it an edge.

Room for Improvement: Red Hat Single Sign On could improve its documentation, enhance user community support, and provide better debugging tools. Microsoft Active Directory users suggest enhancing cloud integration, simplifying complex configurations, and improving mobile device support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Red Hat Single Sign On is often cited as easier to deploy due to its compatibility with various systems and strong customer support. Microsoft Active Directory, although powerful, is seen as having a steeper learning curve and more complex deployment process but offers extensive customer service options.

Pricing and ROI: Red Hat Single Sign On is considered cost-effective with a good return on investment, especially for open-source environments. Microsoft Active Directory, while more expensive, is viewed as worth the investment due to its extensive feature set and robust performance.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Active Directory vs. Red Hat Single Sign On Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory vs. Red Hat Single Sign On

August 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

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

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 (2nd)

Red Hat Single Sign On

Ranking in Single Sign-On (SSO)

17th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 2.9%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Single Sign On is 1.5%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Single Sign-On (SSO) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Active Directory	2.9%
Red Hat Single Sign On	1.5%
Other	95.6%

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.

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Giovanni Baruzzi

Owner at Syntlogo GmbH

A stable and flexible solution with some basic capabilities

I set up Red Hat Single Sign-On in half an hour. I had to install a single sign-on solution for a customer. I reviewed a list of all available products, which were no more than fifty, and analyzed them. I chose it because it was convincing, modern, and based on technology from 2015. I put my trust in this product, and after nine years, I feel confident in my decision. Deploying this solution usually takes half an hour. You need an operating system running, then deploy the packages and prepare the interfaces. I rate the initial setup a ten out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The user interface of the product is very easy to use."

"One advantage of Active Directory is that you can sync it with Microsoft Office 365, so you can manage on-premise and cloud operations, which can have different requirements. The flexibility of a hybrid management solution is valuable."

"The solution is user-friendly, and I like using Microsoft products. I think there is no other choice for Active Directory. Microsoft Windows Server Active Directory is the best."

"The most valuable feature is the configured appliance system in Hypervisor."

"It's quite easy to integrate into other directories."

"The solution's initial setup is straightforward."

"The solution is stable."

"The solution’s management capability is very good. The tool is also very scalable. You can add any number of users that you want to operate. Moreover, you can easily organize the solution."

More Microsoft Active Directory pros

"Red Hat SSO integrates well with our other solutions. Using OIDC protocols and ITL integration, employees can authenticate with Red Hat SSO and access our microservices."

"It is very easy to scale and use as you want."

"Red Hat SSO has a lot of very concise, well laid out documentation, which is available in the free edition as well."

"Good support for single sign-on protocols."

"The product’s most valuable feature is its ability to assign only one password for the user at a false value."

"The solution is flexible and has the same basic capabilities right out of the box. The most important feature of this product is that it is a Red double-sided product. One side is a well-known open-source project; the other is a Red Hat commercial product. The commercial product benefits from all the experience and contributions of the community, making it a very well-developed product."

"I like that the solution is open source and you can use a commercial edition of it without any charge."

Cons

"Sometimes when we create email groups in Microsoft Active Directory and add someone to that group, it takes around 24 to 48 hours for their email account to be synchronized with their Microsoft Office 365 shared mailbox, distribution list, or group."

"Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services is very difficult for on-premises solutions, while for the cloud solution, it's very easy."

"I would like to see improvements in the solution’s security filtering feature. It can include machines and filter some users. There is no option to exclude a particular user or system."

"There are no reporting features."

"Perhaps the synchronization could be simpler and more controllable. There are some features that need improvements in terms of ease of use and frequency of updates."

"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."

"There has been a change in the layout of the user information. Previously, I had to go to properties to view the information, but now it is displayed directly below the search results. It takes some time to get used to."

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

More Microsoft Active Directory cons

"Security could be improved."

"Red Hat publishes much more and communicates its actions and plans. They could provide words, maps, and other resources."

"I think they could provide additional features in terms of users trying to manipulate the system with regard to security."

"The product’s technical support services could be better."

"Red Hat SSO's architecture could be updated."

"They could provide more checks and balances to find out if there have been any security lapses, e.g., if somebody is trying to break into the system. Some other products have these detection mechanisms in case someone is trying to hack into the system or find out a user's passwords."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price is reasonable."

"The pricing is not very expensive. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

"I'm unsure about the cost of the solution, as I was never involved in that aspect. However, I don't think it would be expensive. It might be average, around four or five out of ten."

"The solution is based on a licensing model."

"The price of Microsoft Active Directory could improve. We pay annually for the solution."

"My company makes payments every quarter towards the licensing costs of the product."

"The version of Microsoft Active Directory I was using was expensive because it was used for large companies."

"The product's premium support services are expensive."

More Microsoft Active Directory pricing and cost advice

"If you want support, that is when you use the paid version. There are different support categories that you can pay for, which provide different support levels. E.g., there is a quick response if you pay a higher amount, where the response time is within a few hours."

"The license is around $8000 USD."

"It is a low cost product. This product can be used by non-profit organizations or universities, when they don't want to invest a lot of money."

"Red Hat Single Sign On is expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Outsourcing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	20

No data available

Questions from the Community

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...

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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 advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Active Directory?

Regarding Microsoft Active Directory's integration with third-party applications, it depends on the requirements. It's not always linked or combined with Microsoft Active Directory. In my experienc...

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory

August 2026

Download Microsoft Active Directory product report

Buyer's Guide

Single Sign-On (SSO)

July 2026

Download Red Hat Single Sign On product report

Also Known As

No data available

Red Hat Single Sign-On, Red Hat SSO, RH SSO, RH-SSO

Overview

Microsoft Active Directory enables centralized management of user identities and permissions, integrating seamlessly with cloud services via Azure AD Connect. Its support for hybrid environments makes it essential for businesses looking to manage authentication, authorization, and access control efficiently.

Active Directory offers a robust framework for network and identity management, focusing on scalability and ease of use. Its integration with Single Sign-On enhances user convenience by synchronizing login credentials across cloud and on-premises applications. While it efficiently manages security protocols, scalability, and third-party application integration, users note areas for improvement like better reporting capabilities, a modernized interface, improved synchronization between on-prem and cloud setups, and streamlined configurations.

What are the essential features of Microsoft Active Directory?

User-Friendliness: Designed for easy navigation and management.
Azure AD Connect: Seamless integration with cloud services.
Group Policy Management: Centralized control over user and device settings.
Single Sign-On: Unified credential management across applications.
Scalability: Supports growing business environments.

What benefits and ROI should users expect?

Centralized Management: Streamlines user and application administration.
Enhanced Security: Strong protocols for identity verification and access control.
Flexibility: Supports both on-premises and cloud environments effectively.
Operational Efficiency: Reduces complexity and minimizes administrative errors.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Active Directory is implemented to manage sensitive data access and user authentication across complex networks. Retailers rely on its scalability for managing vast customer and product datasets, while educational institutions utilize its centralized management features to efficiently administer student and faculty permissions across multiple applications and platforms.

Microsoft

Red Hat Single Sign On is an open-source platform offering fast, scalable, and customizable SSO solutions. It supports popular protocols and integrates with social logins and enterprise solutions to provide seamless authentication across applications.

Red Hat Single Sign On provides fast and flexible authentication, enhancing security across different applications. It supports standardized SSO protocols like OpenID Connect and integrates easily with multiple platforms. Its open-source nature, backed by Red Hat's commercial support, allows community contributions and adaptable capabilities. However, it could improve its integration with Windows products and enhance its security features, including detection mechanisms and audit reports. Scalability and documentation are key areas for development, and users seek advanced tracking for unauthorized access attempts.

What are the key features of Red Hat Single Sign On?

Open Source: Community-driven with extensive documentation and flexibility for customization.
SSO Protocol Support: Compatible with standard protocols like OpenID Connect for seamless integration.
Social Login Integration: Easily integrates with social platforms, enhancing user experience.
Scalable Design: Efficiently handles authentication across multiple clusters.
Commercial Support: Backed by Red Hat for professional support and reliability.

What benefits or ROI should be evaluated when considering Red Hat Single Sign On?

Enhanced Security: Streamlined processes reduce risk, ensuring secure access across applications.
Flexibility: Open-source nature offers adaptable functionality for diverse requirements.
Community Contributions: Benefits from continuous improvements and new features.
Cost-Effective: Transition from Keycloak to paid subscription offers robust capabilities.

Industries, especially those requiring robust security and scalability, implement Red Hat Single Sign On to manage authentication. It integrates with enterprise solutions and identity providers, streamlining login processes and reducing complexities. Organizations appreciate its adaptability when transitioning from Keycloak, experiencing enhanced application authentication and password security.

Red Hat

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Active Directory vs. Red Hat Single Sign On

August 2026

Free Report: Microsoft Active Directory vs. Red Hat Single Sign On

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