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Microsoft Entra External ID vs NordLayer 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 Entra External ID
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (9th), Microsoft Security Suite (17th)
NordLayer
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
34th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (38th), Network Access Control (NAC) (20th), Internet Security (16th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (28th), ZTNA as a Service (25th), ZTNA (20th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (25th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 5.0%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NordLayer is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra External ID5.0%
NordLayer0.3%
Other94.7%
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
 

Featured Reviews

FS
Consultant at Artifield
Offers strong identity unification but needs better customization
Microsoft Entra External ID can be improved with additional features, specifically customizable flexibility and a customizable user interface for the login dialog. Currently, the login dialog has very limited customization options, which only include font styles, colors, text messages, or brand icons. Last month, Entra ID introduced some customizable features in their login dialog, but this does not apply to Microsoft Entra External ID, indicating a significant gap between the two. In theory, Entra External ID can support many external identity providers where custom login dialogs could be integrated, potentially via SSO feature coordination, although I have not yet confirmed this. Hence, 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.
Christophe Derdeyn - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner delaware Singapore at delaware Singapore
A convenient and easy tool with an incredibly high number of dialing points
The solution is convenient and easy. It has an incredibly high number of dialing points for pretty much every single country in the world. It has a few additional security features. It has a function that prevents unsecured access if my connection were to drop for any reason. It’s something I like. It has threat protection features. It can protect my web connection and files against malicious downloads and trackers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The experience has been rather good; there are other possibilities, but we made the choice to go with Microsoft, and we have a good experience with that."
"The times that I have gone into it, I found it easy to use and I haven't had any issues with it."
"Microsoft Entra External ID is more secure, offering a secure environment."
"The best features of Microsoft Entra External ID include its unification of B2C functionality and B2E features."
"It's similar to using a Microsoft account to create accounts on other websites. We are also using Microsoft Entra to monitor which applications our guests are using. This allows us to filter, block, or adjust permissions for these applications as needed for our collaborators."
"The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use."
"Microsoft Entra External ID offers numerous advantages; there's no need to maintain anything on-premises, which results in a significant IT infrastructure cost saving."
"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 solution is convenient and easy."
 

Cons

"Microsoft's pricing is complex and difficult to fathom due to a range of different licensing options."
"The cost is very high."
"The training generally is complicated to understand, leading us to often go through a managed service provider."
"Single sign-on for external applications such as Oracle could be improved to be a little bit cheaper."
"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."
"The only problem that you might face with Microsoft now is their complex licensing model."
"The support engineers are not as skilled as our engineers. When they say something would not work, or there is no solution, we usually hear that Microsoft would not support this."
"The tool is not perfectly stable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Construction Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?
Microsoft is flexible in the pricing for the product, so I cannot say that it is expensive, but definitely they are flexible in the price lists and their ways of doing payments.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?
Not really at the moment, but perhaps when we go deeper into using Microsoft Entra External ID, we may experience some things we may not prefer. However, up to now, we have not encountered anything...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?
When I say identity, I mean Microsoft Entra External ID. We have been using Microsoft Entra External ID since the beginning of 2022. I am using it as a client. The purposes for using Microsoft Entr...
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Also Known As

Azure Active Directory External Identities
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Hostinger, Shutterstock, USMobile, Soundcloud, Calendly, whatagraph.
Find out what your peers are saying about Okta, Ping Identity, Microsoft and others in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM). Updated: April 2026.
885,789 professionals have used our research since 2012.