Microsoft Active Directory vs Red Hat Single Sign On comparison

Microsoft Active Directory vs. Red Hat Single Sign On

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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)

9th

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)

12th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Single Sign-On (SSO) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Active Directory is 3.1%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Single Sign On is 2.0%, down from 2.5% 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	3.1%
Red Hat Single Sign On	2.0%
Other	94.9%

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is an all-in-one solution for cybersecurity and is available at a very low price."

"I think the main reason we are using Active Directory for SSO Office for single time and for intake integrity capability to other services."

"Having active deployment and well-configured systems helps me manage tasks and easily oversee thousands of users."

"Active Directory makes managing user policies easier, like when a user wants to share files. We also use it to create and manage our email accounts."

"Microsoft Active Directory is the most centralized tool for my organization, which has impacted us positively—we can reset passwords for all users at once, add anyone to any group, and check the members tab, making it really easy for us to troubleshoot end-user issues and beneficial for our information technology needs."

"I can use Active Directory to block a user's internet access and monitor how an employee is using the internet."

"The Solution's most important feature is that it can merge with a cloud-based active directory via Azure AD Connect."

"The user-friendliness of Microsoft Active Directory is a valuable feature."

More Microsoft Active Directory pros

"Good support for single sign-on protocols."

"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."

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

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

"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."

Cons

"It could be more stable."

"The solution should maintain the infrastructure according to the period you are in and the security changes."

"I would like to see the integration with Mac and IOS products improved."

"The product's premium support services could be less expensive."

"I expect additional features like maximizing user flow, improving the branding of the UI, and enabling non-interactive login. Customizing the login page is limited to changing the background and logo, and adding terms and conditions during registration requires JavaScript."

"Even better group management would be beneficial."

"The scalability of the solution needs improvement."

"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."

More Microsoft Active Directory cons

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

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

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

"Security could be improved."

"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

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

"It's not overly expensive. It's considered a base function by Microsoft."

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

"We purchase the license for the solution on a yearly basis."

"The license is perpetual and the cost is minimal. If you purchase Microsoft Windows then Microsoft Active Directory comes with the package."

"Its price is reasonable."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."

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

More Microsoft Active Directory pricing and cost advice

"Red Hat Single Sign On is expensive."

"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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Healthcare Company

Government

20%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

14%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

No data available

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Single Sign On?

I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive.

What needs improvement with Red Hat Single Sign On?

Red Hat publishes much more and communicates its actions and plans. They could provide words, maps, and other resources. Scalability could be improved, too. It could provide more documentation.

What is your primary use case for Red Hat Single Sign On?

Earlier, customers used to authenticate the user before they used the application. With the help of Single Sign On, the customer logs in and uses all of the customer's applications without authenti...

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Product Reports

Microsoft Active Directory

Download Microsoft Active Directory product report

Single Sign-On (SSO)

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

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

Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver high-performing Linux, cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies.

Red Hat

Microsoft Active Directory vs. Red Hat Single Sign On