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Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Microsoft Entra ID Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Defender External...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
34th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Attack Surface Management (ASM) (12th)
Microsoft Entra ID Protection
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (8th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID Protection is 4.6%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

AndyChan3 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced visibility and exposes vulnerabilities but needs more integration
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will move to full-scale production in another year, maybe Microsoft External Attack Surface Management…
Mahender Nirwan - PeerSpot reviewer
Access to other software is just one click away and suitable for big organizations
Currently, we have limited use of Microsoft AD. We only use it to see if user blocks are available. If they are, we unblock the account and get access accordingly. AD has paid access control features. We can add access control over AD. For example, for documentation, we use an Outline tool. It's open source, and we add our company's knowledge base to it. It's an alternative to Confluence. We don't want everyone to have access to all documentation. If I create documentation for my team, only my team should have access, not support or sales. We can add these scopes or access controls over AD. Once integrated, the person will get the appropriate access control features upon logging in. Role-based access control is a great feature of Active Directory.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."
"It seems to be better at protecting from cyberattacks."
"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."
"The solution helps us with authentication."
"The reverse proxy feature provides additional security that is not available in other solutions."
"We've integrated our other software with Microsoft, and we log into other software using Microsoft. That's very helpful."
"The tool is simple and you can find a lot of tutorials, and videos on YouTube that can help you."
"I use conditional access most of the time."
"For me, automatization is most valuable."
"The deployment process is straightforward. It takes a few hours to complete."
"As an end-user, I find the experience to be quite seamless. My main advantage is that I only need to manage one login and one two-factor authentication method to access all the necessary tools. I don't have to set up separate logins and authentication for each application."
 

Cons

"Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement."
"With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support."
"The integration is not as seamless compared to competitors like Palo Alto."
"Integrating some notifications, not necessarily all, but at least for important events or alerts, would be beneficial as it would function as a team solution or something similar."
"The solution is not optimized to work with Mac devices on a granular level. They work seamlessly with Windows but have a lot to improve to work with Mac devices. It also needs to improve stability and scalability."
"Identity labeling and sensitivity needs improvement."
"The solution's sync should be faster since it can take about 30 minutes to two hours to complete a simple sync. The tool needs to sync instantly. It also needs to improve scalability, support, and stability."
"The product's initial setup phase is not easy."
"I rate the quality of support at four out of ten because of inefficiencies in the ticket handling process. Tickets often bounce from person to person, requiring the sharing of information multiple times."
"Entra ID lacks a function to synchronize from the cloud to the local directory. This is a significant issue since there is no write-back feature from the cloud to local, which would allow me to use my own credentials from the cloud tenant securely."
"Azure AD could improve by enhancing the availability of specialized courses for security, such as NETSCOUT security or other relevant certifications. It would be beneficial to have specific courses for security, to provide in-depth knowledge and skills related to Azure AD. While there are micro-learning resources available for various concepts, many people in the IT industry may not have the time to go through all the courses to properly configure and utilize Azure Active Directory. Simplifying the implementation process and making it easier for individuals to join a company with Azure AD could also be considered areas for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The product cost is on the expensive side."
"The pricing is competitive in the SMA segment and runs $5-$6 per user."
"The price of Azure AD is not expensive."
"Azure Active Directory Identity Protection is not very expensive."
"From one to ten, if one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the tool a seven out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Insurance Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement. Introduction of more AI automation into the products would also be beneficial. The integration is not as seamless co...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
The pricing for Microsoft Entra ID protection is not expensive. It varies based on the company's size and quality.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
I have set up my Active Directory locally for the same domain. However, Entra ID lacks a function to synchronize from the cloud to the local directory. This is a significant issue since there is no...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure Active Directory Identity Protection, Azure AD Identity Protection
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs. Microsoft Entra ID Protection and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.