Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Saviynt Identity Cloud comparison

The compared Microsoft and Saviynt solutions aren't in the same category. Microsoft is ranked #3 in ITDR , with an average rating of 8.7, and holds a 11.4% mindshare in the category. Saviynt is ranked #4 in IGA , with an average rating of 7.6, and holds a 19.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of Saviynt users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender for Iden...

Read 28 Microsoft Defender for Identity reviews

6,602 Views
3,301 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Saviynt Identity Cloud

Read 27 Saviynt Identity Cloud reviews

7,433 Views
2,750 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Iden...

Saviynt Identity Cloud

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

Saviynt and Microsoft Defender for Identity compete in identity management and threat protection. Microsoft Defender for Identity has a slight edge due to its comprehensive integration within the Microsoft ecosystem, appealing to enterprises utilizing Microsoft technology.

Features: Saviynt includes robust identity governance, customizable access controls, and strong audit functionalities. Microsoft Defender for Identity provides advanced threat detection, seamless integration with Microsoft security products, and comprehensive threat response capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Saviynt could simplify its deployment process, enhance user-friendliness, and improve scalability. Microsoft Defender for Identity could improve its user interface, enhance third-party integration options, and reduce false positives in alerts.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Saviynt is complex to deploy but offers comprehensive customer support. Microsoft Defender for Identity benefits from straightforward deployment within the Microsoft ecosystem and robust support infrastructure.

Pricing and ROI: Saviynt may have higher initial setup costs but delivers strong ROI for compliance-focused organizations. Microsoft Defender for Identity offers competitive pricing, particularly for businesses leveraging multiple Microsoft solutions, leading to better ROI through bundled pricing.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Saviynt Identity Cloud Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Saviynt Identity Cloud

December 2025

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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 Defender for Iden...

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (8th), Microsoft Security Suite (5th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (3rd)

Saviynt Identity Cloud

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Privileged Access Management (PAM) (11th), Identity and Access Management (2nd), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (7th), Identity Security and Posture Management (ISPM) (1st), Identity Governance Administration (IGA) (4th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Security Software solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Defender for Identity is designed for Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) and holds a mindshare of 11.4%, down 18.8% compared to last year.
Saviynt Identity Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Identity Governance Administration (IGA), holds 19.5% mindshare, down 20.5% since last year.

Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Identity	11.4%
CrowdStrike Falcon	14.0%
Microsoft Entra ID Protection	7.1%
Other	67.5%

Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)

Identity Governance Administration (IGA) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Saviynt Identity Cloud	19.5%
SailPoint Identity Security Cloud	32.6%
Omada Identity	12.1%
Other	35.8%

Identity Governance Administration (IGA)

Featured Reviews

Oluwa Adetunji

CyberSecurity Engineer | Information Security Management at Self Employed

Automation and threat intelligence streamline threat response and user management

In Microsoft Defender for Identity, I would appreciate improvements in providing information on conditional access. They have added more control that can be put in place, which was not present years ago. They have also integrated Azure Information Protection where policies can be configured. The Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) allows users to reset their passwords, which is a valuable tool for remote workers. They have added more features into conditional access that integrate with other components, including SSPR and Identity Information Protection, trusted IPs, and locations. These configurations in trusted IP addresses are integrated into conditional access and control the applications I want to secure. Regarding impossible travel scenarios, I can either block the user or grant access while requesting multi-factor authentication. They should improve the automation for impossible travel detection. When connected to Wi-Fi and then to VPN, the system sometimes interprets the IP address change as impossible travel. If Microsoft could develop a feature that indicates when impossible travel is caused by VPN connections, it would prevent unnecessary password resets and session disruptions, especially for VIP users in organizations.

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reviewer2774067

Software Engineer at a tech consulting company with 11-50 employees

Has reduced manual work and shortened project timelines through faster deployment and intuitive workflows

One of the challenges regarding Saviynt is the lack of material available on the web, as searching on Google or YouTube often yields little information. Advertising Saviynt is necessary because I was not aware of it a couple of months ago, and it is a very helpful product for many organizations. In India, IGA solutions are not widely recognized, and Saviynt can utilize this point by promoting itself in the cybersecurity field. A significant challenge is the lack of people discussing Saviynt in the open market, as the forums provide slower responses compared to platforms like Reddit. Advancements related to AI would be very helpful. Saviynt should provide pricing for their university certifications, which is currently not publicly available. Information about enrolling requires an ID that is not easily obtained, as it can only be acquired through an organization. Some small wishlist features are related to APIs. As I work on projects, I find certain features to be much needed, but at a glance, they may not seem necessary. As I continue working with Saviynt, these small API-related features become apparent and would greatly enhance the experience.

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

"In the security portfolio that we manage, Microsoft Defender for Identity is very important because it is the professional service that we sell the most."

"We do not see any issues with the stability of Microsoft Defender for Identity. I can say it is 100% stable."

"The most valuable aspect is its connection to Microsoft Sentinel and Defender for Endpoint, and giving exact timelines for incidents and when certain events occured during an incident."

"This solution has advanced a lot over the last few years."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Defender for Identity include real-time information for threat detection, its inclusion of behavioral analytics, and vulnerability management."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Defender for Identity are the simulations; whenever something happens, it provides complete step-by-step process details, including the hierarchy, how it happens in the environment, and the lateral movement, which is amazing."

"Auto-remediation is a valuable feature applied to Microsoft Defender for Identity, reducing the burden of investigating false positives."

"The best feature is security monitoring, which detects and investigates suspicious user activities. It can easily detect advanced attacks based on the behavior. The credentials are securely stored, so it reduces the risk of compromise. It will monitor user behavior based on artificial intelligence to protect the identities in your organization. It will even help secure the on-premise Active Directory. It syncs from the cloud to on-premise, and on-premise modifications will be reflected in the cloud."

More Microsoft Defender for Identity pros

"Saviynt is easy to configure and manage."

"One of the tool's advantages is its user-friendly interface, making it easier to manipulate from a GUI perspective. The graphical user interface for users and administrators is straightforward. While it may require more configuration initially, once set up, it becomes more accessible and easier to use."

"Saviynt provides built-in access recommendations, while SailPoint IdentityNow offers access recommendations through a separate AI integration that requires additional licensing. Saviynt functions as a unified platform for various business operations, consolidating user and access data from multiple sources into a single platform. This allows for leveraging the same user base and data across different business functions, including access governance, privileged access management, data access governance, and third-party access governance. In contrast, SailPoint is a decoupled tool, requiring separate integration for managing access and permissions, especially for unstructured data. Saviynt's approach is more integrated and streamlined, providing a unified platform for access recommendations and various business operations."

"Saviynt has better integration with enterprise systems like SAP, Microsoft, Adobe, and AWS."

"The most valuable features of Saviynt are database utility and report generation. These two features have a major impact, particularly when you are trying to create a report because, in other systems, you need to use a third-party utility such as a BI tool or any other reporting tool to fetch the data and send out the report to a third party team. In Saviynt, it's a system within a system, so you don't have to use any third-party tool because you can directly do your query and write that code on Saviynt and then send that report to the team."

"Saviynt is used for the greenfield implementation for the whole IAM, IGA, MFA, SSO, and access management."

"The product's initial setup phase is simple."

"We have found the implementation process to be very easy."

More Saviynt Identity Cloud pros

Cons

"And when you are working in a priority IP address, Identity is not able to know that those IPs are from the company. It sees that the IPs are from Taiwan or from Hong Kong or from India, even though they are internal IPs, resulting in a lot of false positives."

"The solution could improve how it handles on-premises Android-related attacks."

"One improvement I would recommend is the integration of an admin application within Teams, allowing easy access to attack information on a mobile platform to promptly alert affected users and their friends."

"The impact of the sensors on the domain controllers can be quite high depending on your loads. I don't know if there's any room for improvement there, but that's one of the things that might be improved."

"Feedback on sync issues with the Microsoft portal highlighted its slow nature, with syncs sometimes taking eight hours."

"The solution should provide more detailed data regarding anomaly detections."

"They should improve the automation for impossible travel detection. When connected to Wi-Fi and then to VPN, the system sometimes interprets the IP address change as impossible travel."

"The tracking instance needs to be configured appropriately."

More Microsoft Defender for Identity cons

"One of the challenges regarding Saviynt is the lack of material available on the web, as searching on Google or YouTube often yields little information."

"The company needs to do more to establish standard practices within the product itself that are common in the industry."

"The tool is difficult to migrate."

"The product can improve the customer support offered to users since it is an area with shortcomings."

"According to feedback I've received, some users prefer SailPoint over Saviynt in real complex environments. SailPoint has its provisioning platform. Complex integrations may pose challenges in scenarios like a large bank with thousands of users, making SailPoint a preferred choice for some."

"The product's stability is not easy to maintain."

"Saviynt cannot customize based on customer needs."

"The technical support team's response time could be improved."

More Saviynt Identity Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is very affordable considering that other SIEM solutions are much more expensive and have many more licensing restrictions and fees."

"Microsoft Defender for Identity comes as part of the Microsoft E5 licensing stack."

"You won't be able to change your tenants from where you deploy them. For example, if you select Canada, they will charge you based on Canadian pricing. If you are also in London, when you deploy in Canada, the pound is higher than Canadian dollars, but your platform resources are billable in Canadian dollars. Using your pounds to pay for any of these things will be cheaper. Or, if you deploy in London, they will charge you based on your local currency."

"Defender for Identity is a little more expensive than other Microsoft products. Identity and Microsoft Defender for Cloud are both a bit costly."

"The product is costly, and we had multiple discussions with accounting to receive a discounted rate. However, on the open market, the tool is expensive."

"The product is less expensive than one of the competitors."

"Saviynt's pricing is acceptable and licensing costs are yearly."

"If you are investing in securing your data and avoiding any non-compliance issues, then yes, it is certainly recommended. To put it plainly, if you're willing to pay fines and aren't concerned about the misuse of data, then there might not be a problem. However, if you intend to safeguard the data of your employees, vendors, and customers, it becomes crucial. In this context, managing data security requires preventive and detective measures, such as enforcing segregation of duties and regularly reviewing permissions. Throughout an individual's life cycle within an organization or customer life cycle, various access permissions are granted. Without taking action on these permissions, there is a risk of exposure later on. If individuals retain access after leaving the organization, it poses a serious security threat. Implementing solutions like Saviynt can address these challenges, ensuring continuous access review, generating reports, alerts, and identifying potential risks."

"The price of the license for this product is quite expensive."

"We are not into the licensing part. The clients take care of the licensing part."

"Saviynt's pricing is reasonable."

"The pricing is comparable to Azure Entra ID. Kind of the same"

"If you need to make any changes then there are additional fees."

More Saviynt Identity Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?

I really would have to sit down to think about how Microsoft Defender for Identity can be improved. I didn't take stock in what needs to be improved because I appreciated having the tools right the...

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What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?

My main use cases for Microsoft Defender for Identity include Conditional Access, checking risky users, remediating risky users, and user sign-ins. I can easily remediate or determine what the user...

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What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Defender for Identity?

I don't really use Microsoft Defender for Identity a lot because my new role doesn't allow me to take time to do so. I don't really use the threat intelligence feature of Microsoft Defender for Ide...

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What do you like most about Saviynt?

It is very easy to use. It addresses most of the trends in identity governance and risk management.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Saviynt?

Saviynt is very affordable compared to its competitors. It is cloud-based, making it significantly cheaper than on-premises solutions. This cost-effectiveness aligns well with the Saudi market, whe...

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What needs improvement with Saviynt?

See all answers

Comparisons

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID Protection vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 7% of the time

BloodHound Enterprise vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Identity Competitors

SailPoint Identity Security Cloud vs Saviynt Identity Cloud

Compared 22% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Saviynt Identity Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

Okta Platform vs Saviynt Identity Cloud

Compared 7% of the time

Omada Identity vs Saviynt Identity Cloud

Compared 7% of the time

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Saviynt Identity Cloud

Compared 6% of the time

More Saviynt Identity Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Identity

March 2026

Download Microsoft Defender for Identity product report

Buyer's Guide

Saviynt Identity Cloud

February 2026

Download Saviynt Identity Cloud product report

Also Known As

Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure ATP, MS Defender for Identity

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Identity offers real-time threat detection and protection for hybrid Active Directory environments. It integrates with Microsoft 365 components for seamless security and monitors advanced behaviors, enhancing identity protection across cloud and on-premises environments.

Microsoft Defender for Identity provides detailed threat insights and user behavior analytics to detect unauthorized access and notify anomalies. It allows setting custom detection rules, enhancing threat response automation. While it needs improvements in cloud security, SIEM integration, and access controls, users leverage its ability to mitigate identity threats like suspicious logins and ransomware. Enhanced integration with Microsoft security products ensures a coordinated threat response for identity control and privilege management.

What are the key features of Microsoft Defender for Identity?

Active Directory Federation: Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365 for comprehensive security.
Real-time Security Monitoring: Provides immediate insights into advanced user behaviors and potential threats.
Threat Insights: Delivers detailed analysis of threats with the ability to customize detection rules.
User Behavior Analytics: Analyzes user activities to detect anomalies and potential risks.
Identity Protection: Offers comprehensive protection in both cloud and on-premises environments.

What benefits should users expect from reviews of Microsoft Defender for Identity?

Unauthorized Access Prevention: Identifies potential unauthorized activities with advanced detection mechanisms.
Anomaly Notification: Alerts users to unexpected activities within their environments.
Threat Response Automation: Facilitates rapid response to threats with automated solutions.
Enhanced Cloud Security: Strengthens identity management across hybrid and cloud frameworks.

In specific industries, organizations implement Microsoft Defender for Identity to secure on-premises and hybrid Active Directory environments through user and entity behavior analytics, malicious activity detection, and integration with Microsoft security tools. This approach enhances security posture assessment and helps mitigate identity threats like identity harvesting and unauthorized access.

Microsoft

Saviynt Identity Cloud provides effective identity management with seamless enterprise integration, simplifying self-service requests, workflows, and access management tasks.

Saviynt Identity Cloud is renowned for its robust identity governance and lifecycle management capabilities, facilitating user authentication, access provisioning, and certification. Its intuitive design supports integration within enterprise workflows, aiding reporting, attestation, and auditing processes. This cloud platform enhances risk management through an analytics-driven approach, offering flexibility and scalability to serve industries such as finance and healthcare. Despite its strengths, it requires enhancements in interface customization, training resources, and better-performing high-volume tasks.

What key features does Saviynt Identity Cloud offer?

Identity Management: Centralized control over identities and access privileges.
Seamless Integration: Compatible with enterprise systems, ensuring smooth deployment.
Role-Based Models: Simplifies assignment and management of user roles.
Risk Management: AI-driven analytics to enhance security measures.
Customization: Supports diverse business needs through flexible configuration.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Cost-Effectiveness: Optimizes investment with flexible pricing plans.
Scalability: Accommodates growing business demands without additional complexity.
Efficiency: Streamlines processes for user onboarding and offboarding.
Comprehensive Reporting: Detailed insights for improved decision-making.

Industries such as government, finance, and education implement Saviynt Identity Cloud for identity management across enterprise applications. Its flexibility allows handling external identities and managing workflows, particularly for sectors needing robust security and compliance. Larger enterprises benefit from its ability to integrate well into existing systems, ensuring seamless onboarding and offboarding processes.

Saviynt

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.

Shell, McKesson, Kimberly-Clark, Ingram Micro, Intermountain Health Care, Forterra, CoreLogic

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Saviynt Identity Cloud

December 2025

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