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Microsoft Entra External ID vs Microsoft Intune 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
5.9
Organizations saved time and costs with Microsoft Entra External ID, despite higher operational costs and less monetary gain.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Intune enhanced productivity, improved security, and reduced costs by streamlining device management and minimizing third-party service needs.
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.
Everything we've gained from it makes my job easier day after day, and I see value in it as an engineer.
Importantly, when someone leaves the company, it helps protect document access on their devices.
Applications are deployed through Intune, and we see fewer tickets for common issues because we can resolve them through the solution.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.6
Microsoft Entra External ID customer service varies, with slow response, staff changes, and better resource access via enterprise contracts.
Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Intune support is mixed; premium plans often better, but efficiency and responsiveness need improvement in device-related issues.
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.
With an enterprise contract, good resources are usually provided, especially in regions like Saudi Arabia or UAE.
When a support ticket is submitted, it directly reaches someone with Intune support expertise.
When I contacted Microsoft, they had the same expertise, if not more, which is phenomenal because I felt heard and my problem was solved.
Sometimes, the support provided is excellent, and the representative is knowledgeable, while other times, the service needs improvement.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Entra External ID is scalable, supports large enterprises well, but may experience latency issues with cloud workloads.
Sentiment score
8.3
Microsoft Intune's scalability, cloud-based integration, and efficient management make it ideal for growing businesses and diverse environments.
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.
The scalability of Microsoft Intune is ten out of ten.
Ideally, we want to automatically segregate devices based on user properties like primary use, but currently, dynamic groups seem limited to device properties.
It supports organizations with 200 endpoints and those with more than 15,000 endpoints.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Microsoft Entra External ID is highly rated for stability, with minor issues often due to external factors, ensuring reliability.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Intune is praised for its stability and reliability, despite occasional sync delays and minor bugs.
The stability of this solution is very good.
I have not encountered any stability issues with Microsoft Entra External ID.
Unless such major incidents occur, it is stable and reliable.
We have not experienced downtime, bugs, or glitches.
Microsoft Intune has been very stable.
A couple of years ago, the performance was not as good as it is now, but there are noticeable backend improvements.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Entra External ID struggles with high costs, slow synchronization, and complex pricing, affecting integration, alerts, and security.
Microsoft Intune needs improved reporting, better non-Microsoft support, user-friendly interface, competitive pricing, and enhanced cross-platform management.
This is particularly challenging during enterprise agreement renewals, as it's difficult for customers to review costs leading to lengthy negotiations.
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.
More stability in the platform, fewer changes to authentication mechanisms, and increased integration across platforms to improve usability and security infrastructure are needed.
Features like unlocking devices sometimes fail, and the support offered for other operating systems is insufficient.
There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now.
Many third-party companies offer single-pane-of-glass reporting that shows you what your update environment looks like, how your patch is doing, application status, etc., but Intune's reporting is not intuitive.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Entra External ID becomes costly at scale due to complex pricing and additional integration expenses, despite scalable options.
Microsoft Intune's flexible pricing is cost-effective in Microsoft 365 bundles with varied licensing models and negotiable enterprise agreements.
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.
Introductory professional services, like a fast-track service, were included with our E5 membership, and there have been no additional costs.
The Intune suite and add-ons, such as batch management and remote help, are costly.
It costs approximately forty euros per user per month.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Entra External ID enhances access management with easy setup, strong security, federated identities, and seamless integration capabilities for widespread adoption.
Microsoft Intune excels in integration, security, and management features, boosting productivity and security for Windows and BYOD environments.
It is crucial for hybrid environments, especially for integrating existing on-site infrastructures with cloud-based Active Directory, such as in Office 365 implementations.
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 most valuable feature for me is the firewall capabilities.
Intune excels in configuration and compliance management for Windows 10, ensuring devices receive timely updates and adhere to organizational standards.
Dynamic groups allow us to set conditions for automatic membership, eliminating the need for user intervention or manual review and ensuring a seamless workflow.
Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra External ID
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
26th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (11th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (7th)
Microsoft Intune
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
272
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 14.3%, up from 11.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
Everything has worked better since we started using it
Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Educational Organization
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?
The cost totally depends on Azure's pricing structure. If you have sufficient background knowledge about the features and functionality, it can be cost-effective. However, if you need support or as...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?
Integration could be improved when it comes to legacy tools.The support engineers are not as skilled as our engineers. When they say something would not work, or there is no solution, we usually he...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?
Currently we use some of the AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ) solutions and Google Solutions and few of Alibaba Cloud ( /products/alibaba-cloud-reviews ). That totally depends on time to time a...
How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes it easy to control security and manage the usage of mobile apps when you have a ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of the things I like about it: Pros: Protected productivity: Intune gives you th...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also access to both Microsoft’s user community as well as around-the-clock customer s...
 

Also Known As

Azure Active Directory External Identities
Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra External ID vs. Microsoft Intune and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.