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Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs Microsoft Entra External ID 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.6
Determining ROI from Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is challenging due to package inclusion and unclear financial benefits.
Sentiment score
4.3
Users faced challenges with Microsoft Entra External ID but saved costs and time compared to traditional, on-premises solutions.
As a Microsoft partner, we receive significant discounts, making the solution affordable for us.
It has led to cost savings as well as time savings because I can use a single solution for all applications.
Companies can leverage it for setting up external identities without needing to develop their own solutions.
In terms of return on investment, prior to using this product, our company managed our own mail server with all internal authentication happening on premises, resulting in a ROI in the thousands every year.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender's customer service receives mixed reviews, highlighting inconsistent support and varying effectiveness in technical assistance.
Sentiment score
4.3
Microsoft Entra External ID support varies; response times, documentation, and regional differences affect user satisfaction and solution accessibility.
They are sometimes responsive, however, often issues cannot be reproduced on their end, making it challenging.
The support we receive from Microsoft is declining, and for example, after taking advanced support, we have not received satisfactory answers.
My team raised multiple support tickets for the product, and we were able to get responses from Microsoft support team.
Companies without a Microsoft license for Entra ID or Azure portal cannot add Azure AD B2C, creating logistical issues for some of my clients who are unable to evaluate the platform.
The support for business applications, infrastructure support, and Entra has been mostly positive with highly skilled technicians.
The documentation is very thorough, reducing the need for support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is praised for its high scalability and seamless integration, receiving consistently high user ratings.
Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Entra External ID offers scalable security for large enterprises, with distinct policies and strong performance despite some latency issues.
It is scalable; I evaluated the product and decided to use Defender on over 700 of our company servers.
This is one of EID's weak points compared to Azure AD B2C, which offers customizable authentication options, including attribute and password combinations.
End-user workloads experience increased latency in a cloud environment compared to on-premises resources.
Microsoft Entra External ID is quite scalable, and I would rate its scalability between eight and nine out of ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Defender is rated highly stable with 99% availability, despite minor portal, compatibility, logging, and memory issues.
Sentiment score
5.7
Microsoft Entra External ID is highly stable, reliable, and smooth, with minor rare issues, and positive user feedback.
There are compatibility issues occasionally arising with false positives when other security tools are not whitelisted in Microsoft Defender.
It is very resource-intensive, consuming a lot of memory and CPU.
I would rate the overall stability as an eight.
I'd rate the stability of the Microsoft Entra External ID as a 10.
The stability of this solution is very good.
I have not encountered any stability issues with Microsoft Entra External ID.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender needs improvements in accuracy, customization, integration, resource efficiency, macOS support, user-friendliness, and affordability.
Microsoft Entra External ID needs improved support, integration, pricing, security, UI, and customization for medium-sized businesses.
This scoring should be for specific industries as well. If I belong to the healthcare industry using Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, it should provide me with a risk score and show how I fare against the risk score of my industry.
A vulnerability I patch within 15 minutes takes 24 additional hours for an update.
The product is not stable; it often uses excessive memory and CPU, which makes it slow.
This is particularly challenging during enterprise agreement renewals, as it's difficult for customers to review costs leading to lengthy negotiations.
Enhanced customizable login options and the ability to use attribute password logins are critical features that are required for Microsoft Entra External ID to gain dominance in the authentication market.
I would like to see a more detailed alert system that provides a summary of why alerts are generated, who is generating them, and the reasons behind it.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender offers varying pricing; complex licensing may incur additional costs, but security benefits can justify the investment.
Microsoft Entra External ID pricing is complex, potentially costly, but scalable, benefiting from Azure expertise and existing subscriptions.
Overall, every organization wishes for cheaper options, but we look at the security side as well, so we are good for now.
For non-partners, however, the cost could be seen as higher, between seven to ten.
The pricing is reasonable, and it's included in the whole Microsoft E5 bundle, so it's all-inclusive.
Regarding pricing, the cost seems high for single sign-on, especially for external applications like Oracle.
Microsoft's pricing is complex and difficult to fathom due to a range of different licensing options.
The cost can be a factor for Microsoft Entra External ID, but in general, it offers a scalable and efficient solution compared to deploying individual solutions.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management excels in integration, compliance, risk prioritization, and real-time assessments, enhancing security across diverse environments.
Microsoft Entra External ID enhances security, management, and user experience through integration, single sign-on, and adaptive authentication features.
The main advantage of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is that it can locate and prevent most threats even when the endpoints are not connected to the corporate network, as long as the internet is available.
The most valuable aspect is the kind of assessment results I get, and the recommendations provided in Microsoft products really help in taking care of the resources.
The integration with Sentinel has been one of the most valuable features for my organization.
It is crucial for hybrid environments, especially for integrating existing on-site infrastructures with cloud-based Active Directory, such as in Office 365 implementations.
EID unifies workforce users with external business partners, which is a very strong feature.
Microsoft's reliability in providing a clear roadmap for the solution is very important, especially at a time when cybersecurity is a risk in every company.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender Vulnerab...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (11th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (16th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (5th)
Microsoft Entra External ID
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
21st
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (9th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

NaySan @ Suraj Verma - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides actionable vulnerability insights and recommendations with notable efficiency
They may need to improve the portal refresh rate for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management because it takes time for recommendations to disappear after mitigation; sometimes, it takes one week, when it should ideally take only one to two hours. Overall, everything is good with Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, but the portal refresh rate can take up to seven days in some cases and three or four days in others to reflect changes.
Corrado Vigano - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution integrates well with existing systems while being easy to use
The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use. Furthermore, Microsoft's reliability in providing a clear roadmap for the solution is very important, especially at a time when cybersecurity is a risk in every company. The solution is easy to reuse and not difficult to find expertise for in the market because it is widespread. It is gaining attention even from partners and from the market on the offering side. This serves as a good starting point for customers who can develop internal competence on the solution. Additionally, the presence of reliable partners who know the solution and can provide internal knowledge is the best aspect for them.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
I would rate the price as a three for us due to the partnership discounts. For non-partners, however, the cost could be seen as higher, between seven to ten.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
I have not thought about improvements for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management as of now, but this is typically an operational maintenance process. The operational maintenance process refers...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?
Concerning the pricing or setup costs for Microsoft Entra External ID, based on my experience with Entra and 365 in general, it shouldn't require a whole education on their software. That's been a ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?
I haven't utilized the adaptive authentication feature. We haven't used the customization capability for user journeys within the Microsoft Entra External ID. I don't have experience trying to crea...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?
I'm more familiar with the Microsoft Entra External ID, the Active Directory external identities, because we have a hybrid environment. For the parts that I handle, the on-premise part is easier fo...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure Active Directory External Identities
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Microsoft Entra External ID and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.