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Microsoft Entra External ID vs Tenable Cloud Security comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 2, 2024

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
3.6
Users faced challenges with Microsoft Entra External ID but saved costs and time compared to traditional, on-premises solutions.
Sentiment score
5.3
Tenable Cloud Security is praised for cost-effectiveness, yielding positive ROI and satisfactory financial benefits despite limited specific metrics.
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
4.6
Microsoft Entra External ID support varies; response times, documentation, and regional differences affect user satisfaction and solution accessibility.
Sentiment score
3.4
Tenable Cloud Security support receives mixed reviews, praised for responsiveness but criticized for delays and inconsistency in assistance.
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.
With Element, if you need a feature, you can discuss it with them, and if implementation is possible, you will have that feature within a month or two, depending on complexity.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.0
Microsoft Entra External ID offers scalable security for large enterprises, with distinct policies and strong performance despite some latency issues.
Sentiment score
5.8
Tenable Cloud Security is praised for its scalability and adaptability, although complex multi-cloud asset management requires improvements.
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
4.8
Microsoft Entra External ID is highly stable, reliable, and smooth, with minor rare issues, and positive user feedback.
Sentiment score
7.8
Tenable Cloud Security is stable with high user ratings, though some suggest minor improvements despite no major outages.
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.
In situations where there was a platform issue, they fixed it immediately and provided a complete explanation for the occurrence.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Entra External ID needs improved support, integration, pricing, security, UI, and customization for medium-sized businesses.
Tenable Cloud Security needs faster operations, improved support, detailed reporting, AI integration, and easier multi-cloud implementation.
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.
Adding capabilities for the scanner to automatically pick up changes and add assets automatically would be valuable.
The only complaint I hear in the market is from resellers that Tenable management team in Brazil doesn't play fair with the channel and resellers.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Entra External ID pricing is complex, potentially costly, but scalable, benefiting from Azure expertise and existing subscriptions.
Users find Tenable Cloud Security's subscription model reasonably priced and well-suited for enterprises, offering good value compared to competitors.
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 Entra External ID enhances security, management, and user experience through integration, single sign-on, and adaptive authentication features.
Tenable Cloud Security offers comprehensive vulnerability detection, deep cloud analysis, IAM features, and multi-cloud integration into a single dashboard.
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.
The detailed monitoring and reporting in Microsoft Entra External ID support compliance efforts effectively.
The automatic integration capabilities, particularly with DNS, Azure, and AWS, are extremely valuable.
Perhaps the best functionalities are related to promoting a deeper analysis of the environment where applications are running in terms of creating a double armor of security to block threats that may come in the cloud with Tenable Cloud Security.
The best features Tenable Cloud Security offers in my experience are automatic scanning, frequent scanning, and automatic finding, which I find valuable.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra External ID
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (21st)
Tenable Cloud Security
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (24th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (11th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (17th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (13th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 2.4%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tenable Cloud Security is 0.8%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Entra External ID2.4%
Tenable Cloud Security0.8%
Other96.8%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Suresh Kumar Subramaniyan - PeerSpot reviewer
Has supported secure access but still lacks full coverage for external identity challenges
The user experience is acceptable, but Microsoft Entra External ID is not a full-fledged IGA solution. We use different products for complete Identity Governance Administration. Microsoft Entra External ID is suitable for small-scale enterprises implementing identity lifecycle management since most have Active Directory. However, there are several challenges. The out-of-the-box connector has limited features for applications, requiring us to build scheme connectors. While small-scale enterprises can benefit from Microsoft Entra External ID's Identity Governance solution, large-scale enterprises might need different tools from leading market vendors such as SailPoint or Saviynt. Customers face particular challenges with contractor and B2B accounts. Microsoft Entra External ID isn't a complete cloud-based account solution, as it must handle internal employees and collaborate with internal Active Directory. There are delays in the identity lifecycle process, especially for contract partners during onboarding and off-boarding. This might be due to back-end syncing with Active Directory. B2B account removal and provisioning take considerable time. Access governance, particularly access certification for guest users, is time-consuming. Multi-factor authentication enforcement also presents challenges for external users.
DragosCernat - PeerSpot reviewer
Has significantly improved proactive monitoring through automated asset discovery and seamless integration with cloud environments
Making the system smarter would be beneficial. Adding modules for integration with AWS and Azure would be helpful. Adding capabilities for the scanner to automatically pick up changes and add assets automatically would be valuable. When discussing a big company, it is mandatory to have tools that will assist us rather than waiting for manual input to add hosts. Adding assets manually is prone to mistakes. Humans might forget to add an asset or make errors when adding multiple assets. Taking the human element out of the context and making it more streamlined is the future for security. The human should be involved where expertise is needed, such as analysis and decision-making. Currently, with resource constraints, we need tools to collect and aggregate data, eliminate false positives as much as possible, and present relevant information to employees for action.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Entra External ID?
The only problem that you might face with Microsoft now is their complex licensing model.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra External ID?
For the last four or five years, I have been in an IT manager function, focusing on making things happen and having technical persons execute tasks. In the last three months, I have transitioned to...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Entra External ID?
I am looking for a new solution and investigating existing products. We are already working with Microsoft Intune and SOTI. I have been working in the past with a Kaseya product, specifically Datto...
What do you like most about Tenable Cloud Security?
The solution’s vulnerability management feature has helped us identify and mitigate risks well.
What needs improvement with Tenable Cloud Security?
I think Tenable Cloud Security could be improved with more clear licensing. What I would like to see improved with licensing is how they're used in the product. The calculations of what is consider...
What is your primary use case for Tenable Cloud Security?
My main use case for Tenable Cloud Security is managing our security compliance and security posture. I use Tenable Cloud Security for managing compliance and security posture, and we rely on the c...
 

Also Known As

Azure Active Directory External Identities
Ermetic, Ermetic Identity Governance for AWS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Tyler Technologies, Bilfinger, BarkBox, MongoDB, airSlate, Adama, Latch, Cloudinary, Riskified, AppsFlyer, IntelyCare, Aidoc, 42Dot, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra External ID vs. Tenable Cloud Security and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,202 professionals have used our research since 2012.