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Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Sentinel 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
7.4
Companies achieve cost savings and enhanced security using Microsoft Entra ID by reducing hardware costs and streamlining operations.
Sentiment score
6.7
Microsoft Sentinel enhances security and efficiency, reducing costs and manual work, with long-term benefits in risk management and compliance.
We leverage existing licensing, like Windows Server or SQL, and hybrid benefits, and our sales and marketing teams benefit from co-selling and partnership advantages.
Cloud Engineer at Med Tech Solutions
We get a return from not needing to pay other vendors to do what we already had from Microsoft, which was better than the competition.
Lead Architect, Chief Technology Officer Office at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
By eliminating the need for multiple VPN channels and enabling direct work from Azure servers, we have achieved approximately 30% efficiency savings.
Infrastructure Specialist at Renova AB
If a customer is already using Microsoft’s ecosystem, the ROI can be positive due to seamless integration.
senior cyber security at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
We attribute our growth to Sentinel.
Chief Commercial Officer at defend
From a risk perspective, it's about mitigating risk, and as mentioned earlier, we haven't missed many things since we've had the offering in market—only a couple of minor incidents.
Chief Operating Officer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Entra ID's support varies; premium users often benefit, but experiences largely depend on agent expertise and plan.
Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Sentinel support is responsive and efficient, with premium tiers offering prompt assistance, although complex issues may face challenges.
The actual support when you get to that level is a ten out of ten.
Senior Consultant at Convergeone
There are immediate answers to any issues that arise with great knowledge and a deep understanding of the product and business needs.
Lead Architect, Chief Technology Officer Office at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
They usually try to deflect, buy time, and often do not address the problem immediately.
Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Their solutions' integration simplifies resolving issues compared to those caused by third-party products.
IT Consultant at MAN Truck & Bus SE
Microsoft invests significantly in support, which is crucial for companies.
Director de Microsoft y Transformación Digital at Compucad
Working with a Sentinel engineer helped us tune settings effectively.
Systems Emgineer at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Entra ID offers seamless scalability and integration, efficiently handling varying user volumes and organizational growth without challenges.
Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Sentinel's cloud architecture offers significant scalability and flexibility, easily adapting to organizational needs while accommodating extensive data.
We experienced no scalability issues with Microsoft Entra ID.
Technical architect at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Its scalability is impressive, aided by Microsoft's efforts to expand its data centers.
Cloud Architect at Palmer College of Chiropractic-Davenport
When dealing with tens of thousands of objects, it requires proper management and best practices to retrieve only necessary data.
Senior Developer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Office 365 and Exchange are running on it, covering about 35,000 users efficiently.
IT Consultant at MAN Truck & Bus SE
As our organization uses Microsoft Azure and Defender, everything grows together, and we can integrate various features seamlessly.
Systems Emgineer at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
Being a SaaS solution, the scalability of Microsoft Sentinel is robust.
senior cyber security at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Entra ID is highly reliable, with users praising its stability, low downtime, and swift issue resolution.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Sentinel is highly stable and reliable, with minimal downtime and efficient data integration, surpassing alternatives like LogRhythm.
It's a critical solution that we can't do without.
Cloud Principal & Infrastructure Specialist at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
I haven't experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues with Microsoft Entra ID.
Director, Modern Workplace at a legal firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The stability of the solution is very high at 99.999%.
Senior Consultant at Convergeone
So far, we have not experienced any issues, and it has been stable from the beginning.
IT Consultant at MAN Truck & Bus SE
In the past two years, our team hasn't encountered any issues with the stability of Microsoft Sentinel from an operations perspective.
Project Executive at synergyc
I need to be aware of deprecated connectors as they may disconnect, but the data continues to be sent with a need for quick adaptation.
senior cyber security at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Entra ID needs improved promotion, documentation, usability, integration, and support for biometric authentication, onboarding, and multi-platform environments.
Microsoft Sentinel requires better third-party integration, improved UI, enhanced documentation, simpler pricing, and stronger threat intelligence capabilities.
A recent incident we dealt with took four months to resolve with a seven-day deadline, which was quite frustrating.
Cloud Principal & Infrastructure Specialist at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Synchronization issues occasionally occur, making it challenging to analyze logs and pinpoint the exact problem.
Senior Nutrition Officer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
There is a need for better transformation support from on-premises Active Directory policies to the cloud, as Entra ID doesn't cover this sufficiently yet.
Sales Representative at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
We have some tools, such as our off-site Meraki firewalls, that have not fully integrated with Sentinel.
Systems Emgineer at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
Currently, we are happy to have a way in the middle with not so much cost, but it would be nice to have the ability to enhance the automation of workflows based on learned incidents.
IT Consultant at MAN Truck & Bus SE
There are complexities in calculating the right pricing tier for different customers, which makes it difficult for me as a consultant during upfront pricing.
senior cyber security at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Entra ID offers scalable pricing with integrated options in Microsoft 365, providing cost-efficient identity management for enterprises.
Microsoft Sentinel's pricing is complex and costly, yet beneficial for Microsoft stack users with insider knowledge for optimization.
We are getting our money's worth.
Cloud Architect at Palmer College of Chiropractic-Davenport
Microsoft sets pricing based on customer demand, adjusting to find the optimal balance between sales volume and profit per unit, similar to how Costco manages product prices.
Owner at Alopex ONE UG
Most features of Entra ID are part of Microsoft's ecosystem and included in Microsoft 365 bundles, which means there are no additional costs associated with pricing and licensing.
Senior Consultant at Convergeone
It has been beneficial that Microsoft Sentinel is included as part of the Microsoft package, making it more cost-effective.
Senior System Administrator at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
Microsoft Sentinel offers more capabilities than Bastion, with a more intuitive experience.
Project Executive at synergyc
Setting up the right cost model for customers is intricate, requiring careful consideration of various components and licensing tiers.
senior cyber security at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Entra ID offers seamless integration, multifactor authentication, and centralized management with enhanced security and user-friendly administration.
Microsoft Sentinel excels in integration, scalability, AI, and automation, enhancing threat detection and response with improved efficiency.
We can secure the applications that we are building and make sure that if the application were to be compromised, there is no full access to a customer's environment causing issues and other security concerns.
Senior Consultant at Convergeone
It's integrated with Microsoft technologies like Authenticator, SSO, and MFA, streamlining operations and creating a seamless environment.
Vice President, Sales & Cloud at Aztek
The granular control, such as preventing logins from specific locations, enhances security significantly.
Cloud Architect at Palmer College of Chiropractic-Davenport
Microsoft Sentinel's ability to correlate data from multiple sources and its detection capabilities are essential.
Cost Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Sentinel has improved cost efficiency, which is one of the key areas we're able to win business against the ability to have threat intelligence.
Chief Commercial Officer at defend
Microsoft Sentinel's ability to correlate data from multiple sources enhances our threat detection capabilities beyond what is a simple data lake solution by filtering out the noise and consolidating the signal down to a meaningful level that is easier to investigate and see.
Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra ID
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
266
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (2nd), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st)
Microsoft Sentinel
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (3rd), Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) (1st), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 7.9%, down from 8.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Sentinel is 4.7%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Entra ID7.9%
Microsoft Sentinel4.7%
Other87.4%
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

JP
Senior Information Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Implementing seamless integration boosts secure access and supports Zero Trust
What I appreciate the most about Microsoft Entra ID is that it integrates seamlessly with all the Defender products and is easy to use. Microsoft Entra ID's integration capabilities influence our Zero Trust model by allowing us to enforce our Zero Trust model. Conditional access policies allow us to leverage Microsoft Entra ID to verify that devices signing in to our cloud services are coming from registered devices, and that people are passing all the other requirements we have in order to complete sign-on or conditional access policies. Since implementing Microsoft Entra ID, I've observed changes in the frequency and nature of identity-related security incidents. The organization already had it implemented when I arrived, and I've been working to enhance it. Better configuration of Microsoft Entra ID has allowed us to better protect our organization from threats. Having it alone isn't a solution, but ensuring proper configuration goes a long way in preventing future compromises. My company's approach to defending against token theft and nation-state attacks has evolved since implementing Microsoft Entra ID. We haven't experienced any known compromises from nation-state attacks, and implementing newer features gives me more confidence in our protection. Regarding device-bound passkeys in Microsoft Authenticator and our approach to phishing-resistant authentication, we are currently implementing Microsoft Entra ID certificate-based authentication. Adding a strong form of MFA is important as we found it to be the most cost-effective way. While other solutions might be equally or more secure, they are significantly more expensive. Having worked as an IT consultant mainly with the Microsoft stack across various industries, I have experience with different identity management solutions. Microsoft Entra ID remains the best option. The major advantages when comparing it to Okta include integration with Defender products, Defender for Identities' integration with conditional access policies, and insider threat management integration for blocking sign-ins based on risk factors. The enhancement of Microsoft Entra ID's implementation is relatively straightforward. My main concern is the occasional lack of documentation and the frequency of changes, which can make feature location challenging.
RW
Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Creates value with advanced investigation capabilities while seeking improved integration with varied platforms
My primary improvement request would be for auxiliary logs, as they represent our biggest need. While we have automated deployments now, Microsoft Sentinel is fairly easy to deploy, although we face challenges with integrations related to AWS and GCP, particularly with Google. The integration challenges arise from both sides; Google tends to be noisy, and we find only ten analytic rules out of the box, necessitating the use of Defender for Cloud for alerts, which indicates a need for better documentation during deployment. The story between UEBA and Defender for Identity and Intra needs to be further explored and defined. There's some confusion on what is happening from a user and entity behavior.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business85
Midsize Enterprise38
Large Enterprise155
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise44
 

Questions from the Community

How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?
We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...
What do you like most about Azure Active Directory?
It is very simple. The Active Directory functions are very easy for us. Its integration with anything is very easy. We can easily do third-party multifactor authentication.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Entra ID is that it is decent.
Is there a common threat intelligence tool that aggregates multiple threat intelligence sources?
Yes, Azure Sentinel is a SIEM on the Cloud. Multiple data sources can be uploaded and analyzed with Azure Sentinel and its Threat Hunting functionality with AI available as templates or customized ...
What is a better choice, Splunk or Azure Sentinel?
It would really depend on (1) which logs you need to ingest and (2) what are your use cases Splunk is easy for ingestion of anything, but the charge per GB/Day Indexed and it gets expensive as log ...
Which is better - Azure Sentinel or AWS Security Hub?
We like that Azure Sentinel does not require as much maintenance as legacy SIEMs that are on-premises. Azure Sentinel is auto-scaling - you will not have to worry about performance impact, you will...
 

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
Azure Sentinel
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.
Microsoft Sentinel is trusted by companies of all sizes including ABM, ASOS, Uniper, First West Credit Union, Avanade, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. Microsoft Sentinel and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.