Microsoft Entra External ID vs Microsoft Purview Data Governance comparison

Microsoft Entra External ID vs. Microsoft Purview Data Governance

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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 Entra External ID

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

26th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (13th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (7th)

Microsoft Purview Data Gove...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

8th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Governance (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 0.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Data Governance is 4.6%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Corrado Vigano

Sales Manager - Program Manger at Altitudo srl

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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James McDowall

Senior Microsoft Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The sensitivity and retention options in Purview are excellent

Some of the menu headings may not be easy to understand for some people. For example, when I first used Purview, I noticed that one of the self-compliance centers had changed its name. Microsoft has done a huge amount of updates, and sometimes it's hard to keep track of what Purview can do. We almost constantly have to explore it. Maybe Microsoft could have a 365 roadmap where we can look at upcoming features, or some kind of bulletin announcement for Purview users that explains new features and what they can do in simple terms. We could also look at the menu settings. In my experience of using Purview, we've never used it as an exclusive system for IT professionals or technical staff. We were very keen that other specialists around the business made use of some of these features because we thought that some of what Purview could do was relevant to other departments as well as IT. For example, we have HR managers and financial staff who use it. I think that some of the terminology in Purview is pitched toward IT and tech professionals, and it may not be immediately understood by other specialists. This is something that could be improved.

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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's quite easy to manage and monitor."

"I have not encountered any stability issues with Microsoft Entra External ID."

"The most beneficial feature for us is the ease of setup. With about five clicks, we can generate unique IDs and keys and set up in less than 30 minutes. We can also generate these for multiple years simultaneously, which is convenient."

"The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use."

"The most valuable feature for me is the firewall capabilities."

"The single sign-on access is the most useful feature we use."

More Microsoft Entra External ID pros

"Data authentication enables us to classify documents based on whether they should be restricted for internal consumption or permitted for external sharing."

"The best part is that I can create classifications per my requirements. I use it to classify multiple platforms like AWS, GCP, Azure, and different file sharing systems."

"The cataloging tool is definitely the most valuable... It tells you about all the data you have in your tables, which helps people understand our data. We now know what data we have."

"The data classification part of the solution is excellent, especially as it gives us an insight into our sensitive data within Microsoft 365."

"The availability of pre-designed policies tailored to specific geolocations and customer requirements is a valuable feature."

"The ability to classify data quickly and effortlessly is arguably Microsoft Purview's most valuable feature."

"The custom classifications are one of the most valuable features."

"Purview helped us automate and control our data without having to rely on people to manually tag documents with specific retention periods."

More Microsoft Purview Data Governance pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in AI technology for Microsoft Entra External ID, particularly in providing detailed alerts."

"The quality of Microsoft customer support varies. With an enterprise contract, good resources are usually provided, especially in regions like Saudi Arabia or UAE. However, we have faced challenges with support quality, especially in some subcontinent areas where the resources might not be as experienced."

"Technical support needs improvement."

"I generally find Microsoft solutions expensive, especially in specific offerings."

"I would like to see faster synchronization."

"A common concern among the customers I visit is the unpredictability of Microsoft's costs at every renewal. This is really bothersome for the customer, and I would say it is the worst element I have seen in these years."

"Single sign-on for external applications such as Oracle could be improved to be a little bit cheaper."

"The problem with Microsoft products is that they often cater to enterprise-level needs, which can be too costly for medium-sized businesses."

More Microsoft Entra External ID cons

"I would like to have complete video documentation for training."

"There are some non-Microsoft file formats that are not supported."

"One of the challenges is that Microsoft changes things so quickly that sometimes you're just playing catch-up, and sometimes these changes aren't communicated effectively."

"There should be more clarity about the costing, particularly how the cost is calculated, especially when utilizing health reports and quality features."

"Enhancing the tool's capability to connect to multiple sources would be valuable."

"The Microsoft Purview data connector platform, which supports ingestion from non-Microsoft data sources, can be somewhat complex."

"Setting up Purview in a production tenant proved challenging due to a lack of clear documentation on permission requirements."

"If we could have a view something like we have in CrowdStrike—which is, I believe, the biggest competitor to Microsoft when it comes to security—a node nodal view, which we also have in Defender, that would make it a more complete, one-stop solution. That would save a lot of time for the admins and the engineers."

More Microsoft Purview Data Governance cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We don't pay separately for Microsoft Entra External ID as it's part of our Microsoft Exchange subscription."

"The price is a little bit high, but it's worth the money because it has a lot of features."

"To get the full features of Purview, we currently need E5 enterprise licenses, which are expensive."

"The pricing is moderate. It's not too expensive, but it's not the most competitive."

"The pricing is decent. It is neither too low nor too high. Given its capabilities, the pricing is justified."

"Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is not cheap."

"The interesting part is how they are bundling the version into the E5 stack. If it was not for that inclusion, this would have been a difficult conversation for us, so kudos to Microsoft on that. Separating it out may become a problem for customer retention. It is definitely a good move on Microsoft's part to include it as part of any existing or any system upgrades for customers that were on E3."

"I consider it cost-efficient because of the metrics it provides."

"Purview's price is pretty high when you factor in storage costs."

More Microsoft Purview Data Governance pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

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 can be a factor for Microsoft Entra External ID, but in general, it offers a scalable and efficient solution compared to deploying individual solutions.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?

Some areas where Microsoft Entra External ID could improve include cost and enhanced security for integration with federated logins like LinkedIn and Gmail.

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?

I am working on a project for a university where we are trying to create a digital twin of a coral reef restoration project in Saudi Arabia. This involves using a big data platform and developing a...

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Purview?

It is designed to seamlessly connect to various data sources, which is particularly beneficial for our customers who primarily use Microsoft technologies.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Purview?

The auto-tagging feature should be available at a lower licensing level.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Purview?

Auto-tagging should be available at lower levels of licensing. Right now, a high level of licensing is needed for auto-tagging, and this feature should be made available at a lower license level.

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Product Reports

Microsoft Entra External ID

Download Microsoft Entra External ID product report

Microsoft Purview Data Governance

Download Microsoft Purview Data Governance product report

Microsoft Purview Data Governance report

Also Known As

Azure Active Directory External Identities

Microsoft Purview, MS Azure Purview

Overview

Microsoft Entra External ID, part of Microsoft Entra, provides highly secure digital experiences for partners, customers, citizens, patients, or any users outside your organization with customization controls. Combine external identities and user directories in one portal to seamlessly manage access across the organization.

Microsoft Entra External ID refers to all the ways you can securely interact with users outside of your organization. If you want to collaborate with partners, distributors, suppliers, or vendors, you can share your resources and define how your internal users can access external organizations. If you're a developer creating consumer-facing apps, you can manage your customers' identity experiences.

With External ID, external users can "bring their own identities." Whether they have a corporate or government-issued digital identity, or an unmanaged social identity like Google or Facebook, they can use their own credentials to sign in. The external user’s identity provider manages their identity, and you manage access to your apps with Entra ID or Entra External ID to keep your resources protected.

The following capabilities make up External ID:

B2B collaboration - Collaborate with external users by letting them use their preferred identity to sign in to your Microsoft applications or other enterprise applications (SaaS apps, custom-developed apps, etc.). B2B collaboration users are represented in your directory, typically as guest users.
B2B direct connect - Establish a mutual, two-way trust with another Azure AD organization for seamless collaboration. B2B direct connect currently supports Teams shared channels, enabling external users to access your resources from within their home instances of Teams. B2B direct connect users aren't represented in your directory, but they're visible from within the Teams shared channel and can be monitored in Teams admin center reports.
Azure AD B2C - Publish modern SaaS apps or custom-developed apps (excluding Microsoft apps) to consumers and customers, while using Azure AD B2C for identity and access management.

Microsoft

The new Microsoft Purview portal offers an enhanced governance experience, serving as a unified platform for managing and governing data across various sources, including Azure, Microsoft 365, on-premises, and multicloud environments. Designed to streamline governance, compliance, risk, and security efforts, the new portal provides a user-friendly interface and unlocks advanced features like live view and preset scans. Existing users of Microsoft Purview can upgrade to this enhanced experience, gaining access to improved user interface, enhanced capabilities, and consolidated management of data assets. Additionally, the upgrade sets the stage for future developments, including account consolidation and fine-grained access control.

Microsoft

Microsoft Entra External ID vs. Microsoft Purview Data Governance