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Microsoft Entra External ID vs WSO2 Identity Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 27, 2025

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)
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (8th), Microsoft Security Suite (19th)
WSO2 Identity Server
Ranking in Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra External ID is 5.8%, up from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WSO2 Identity Server is 2.2%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Entra External ID5.8%
WSO2 Identity Server2.2%
Other92.0%
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.
Ritesh_Shah - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Utilizing key management and seamless single sign-on integration for enhanced user profile management
WSO2 Identity Server's key management feature stands out as a particularly impactful feature for enhancing security. Additionally, from a user perspective, the self-user portal and user profile management capabilities are highly valuable. It allows users to manage their profiles, change passwords, and offers a self-care portal type of functionality. The single sign-on capability integrates seamlessly with various platforms, including Google, Facebook, LDAP, and Active Directory, which supports rapid product launches.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The fact that it is quite integrated into the entire Microsoft environment makes it quite easy to use."
"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 single sign-on access is the most useful feature we use."
"The best features of Microsoft Entra External ID include its unification of B2C functionality and B2E features."
"Microsoft Entra External ID is more secure, offering a secure environment."
"I have not encountered any stability issues with Microsoft Entra External ID."
"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 valuable feature for me is the firewall capabilities."
"The keystore feature has been most valuable for us."
"I would rate the solution's stability eight or nine out of ten."
"The solution gets the job done, and we don't have to do the main configuration."
"Some of the valuable features of the solution are the easy integration with processes, such as Single Sign-On. Overall WSO2 is straightforward and does not need customization."
"The product provides easy integration between API manager and IT server components."
"It's very easy to implement everything."
"The single sign-on procedure itself, as well as the ability to connect to external user sources such as Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP servers, are the solution's most valuable features."
"We use the solution for customer identity management, authenticating customers coming in through a web portal."
 

Cons

"Technical support needs improvement."
"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."
"I generally find Microsoft solutions expensive, especially in specific offerings."
"There have been a couple of times when it was unavailable because of Microsoft issues, but other than that, I don't remember any problems."
"There is room for improvement in AI technology for Microsoft Entra External ID, particularly in providing detailed alerts."
"The problem with Microsoft products is that they often cater to enterprise-level needs, which can be too costly for medium-sized businesses."
"I would like to see faster synchronization."
"Single sign-on for external applications such as Oracle could be improved to be a little bit cheaper."
"I found the initial setup to be very complex."
"The solution seems to be pretty outdated."
"The solution could improve its development from a user perspective."
"There needs to be a good support model and easy-to-understand documentation."
"The price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Sometimes working with the code is difficult because I search for documentation about the code and how to work with the code, which is where I believe they should improve, by providing some documentation on how to work with the code."
"This solution does not have BPM workflows already integrated, we had to integrate the BPM module externally. They do not provide full-featured auditing and certification modules out of the box."
"This solution requires extensive knowledge to be used effectively as certain areas of its use are not user friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We don't pay separately for Microsoft Entra External ID as it's part of our Microsoft Exchange subscription."
"I have found the solutions license is priced competitively compared to others."
"I rate the product price an eight out of ten. There is a need to pay more for the extra features provided by the solution."
"We have to take their support, but that is a minimal charge if I'm comparing it to other identity managers."
"WSO2 Identity Server is not an expensive solution."
"They should bring in some good pricing models to host the marketplace."
"At this time we are working with the open-source version."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
6%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Transportation Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

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 Business4
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WSO2 Identity Server?
The pricing is currently the same as the API Manager, so it's not surprising. Since we used it primarily for SSO and the self portal, there were no additional pricing concerns.
What needs improvement with WSO2 Identity Server?
Currently, all required features are supported. If new use cases for artificial intelligence arise, it could be beneficial to incorporate those. However, for our current projects, WSO2 Identity Ser...
What is your primary use case for WSO2 Identity Server?
We deployed WSO2 Identity Server to fulfill our single sign-on (SSO) requirements. Whenever we implement the API Manager, instead of using the API Manager's inbuilt key manager, we use WSO2 Identit...
 

Also Known As

Azure Active Directory External Identities
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Nutanix, ELM, AlmavivA, BDigital, StubHub, M-creations, MedVision360
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra External ID vs. WSO2 Identity Server and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.