Microsoft Entra ID vs RSA Authentication Manager comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Microsoft and RSA are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6, while RSA is ranked #13. Microsoft holds a 5.6% mindshare in AS, compared to RSA’s 2.7% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of RSA users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Entra ID

Read 278 Microsoft Entra ID reviews

47,247 Views
9,449 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

RSA Authentication Manager

Read 12 RSA Authentication Manager reviews

3,278 Views
3,049 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Entra ID

RSA Authentication Manager

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

RSA Authentication Manager and Microsoft Entra ID are competitors in identity and access management solutions. Microsoft Entra ID is perceived to have an advantage due to its cloud integration and scalability, although RSA benefits from trusted security measures.

Features: RSA Authentication Manager offers multi-factor authentication, physical token support, and strong security measures. Microsoft Entra ID provides cloud-based identity management, seamless integration with Microsoft 365, and support for modern authentication protocols.

Room for Improvement: RSA Authentication Manager could enhance its cloud capabilities and simplify its deployment process. It might also benefit from expanding its integration options. Microsoft Entra ID could further streamline its service setup and improve documentation for integration processes. There is also room for improvement in handling hybrid environments.

Ease Of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Entra ID offers a straightforward cloud-based deployment model with robust Azure integration, facilitating efficient and supportive customer service. RSA Authentication Manager, however, requires more extensive setup due to its hardware needs and may demand intensive configuration efforts initially.

Pricing and ROI: RSA Authentication Manager usually involves higher upfront costs due to hardware requirements, yet can offer significant long-term ROI for traditional setups. Microsoft Entra ID might incur higher subscription fees, but its lower initial deployment costs and scalability offer a favorable ROI for businesses that are transitioning to cloud solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Entra ID vs. RSA Authentication Manager Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID vs. RSA Authentication Manager

November 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 920,939 peers since 2012

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 ID

Ranking in Authentication Systems

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

278

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (2nd), Identity Management (IM) (3rd), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)

RSA Authentication Manager

Ranking in Authentication Systems

13th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 5.6%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Authentication Manager is 2.7%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID	5.6%
RSA Authentication Manager	2.7%
Other	91.7%

Authentication Systems

Featured Reviews

Stafin Jacob

Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Practice Lead at Invoke

Identity has become our central gatekeeper and has provided secure single sign-on for all users

Microsoft Entra ID can improve by focusing more on new passwordless methods and becoming a primary adopter. One feature we would like to see is the ability to have security questions for password resets. I know the current capability is phasing out, so we do not have an alternative method yet. Customers who already use security questions require a smoother transition for that capability to be available. My experience with the deployment has had some challenges, particularly around the Microsoft MFA campaigns. The hardest part is moving users from a different MFA provider to the Microsoft MFA provider, as it ultimately depends on user activity. In large enterprises with numerous users across various geographies, this transition takes time. If there are ways to exert more control around that process, it would improve the situation.

Read full review

Uwe Schomäcker

VP Business Development at SDVG

Enhancing security with seamless single sign-on and Microsoft integration

We use RSA Authentication Manager for web applications and internal applications. We have a number of applications connected to it, serving over thirty thousand clients. It is integrated into everything from our standard login to Windows in the morning, as well as our applications Due to its…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Azure AD is essential to how the business runs."

"I rate Microsoft Entra ID ten out of ten."

"Token-based security has had a positive impact on defending against threats with Microsoft Entra ID."

"The identity and access management piece is probably the most valuable to us. Since its implementation, synchronizing the identities from on-premise to Entra ID has had a positive impact. This allows us to grant access to applications based on those users and the groups they belong to."

"From a user experience, it's improved it drastically."

"Using Azure AD app services, we don't have to care about secure access to our Dynamics 365 data, as Azure AD performs the authentication on behalf of our application and that's great."

"Azure Active Directory has been very useful for our company, it is not difficult to use."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of scalability."

More Microsoft Entra ID pros

"The technical support has been great; their service is perfect."

"In 2005 we started with a managed authentication service for three small companies with each having approx. 250 users, and now we have 25 large enterprises/government departments with over 150,000 authenticating users and an uptime of nearly 100% over the last five years."

"RSA Authentication Manager Appliance is almost like Plug 'n' Play, so it's an excellent experience."

"Easy setup, deployment, and integration in different infrastructures, including virtual ones."

"The product has addressed our remote access security needs while making our work force mobile thus enhancing productivity and customer service initiatives."

"RSA Authentication Manager is the best available solution."

"RSA Authentication Manager is a robust solution that provides comprehensive protection for both on-premise and cloud-based applications."

"The most valuable feature is the provision part. The mapping and the logging is also very good. In addition, the troubleshooting, from a console point of view, is easy for administration and on the provisioning and logging part."

More RSA Authentication Manager pros

Cons

"Sometimes, what one customer may like, another may not like it. We have had customers asking, "Why is Microsoft forcing us to do this?" For example, when you use Exchange Server on-premise, then you can customize it for your company and these customizations are unlimited. However, if you use Exchange Online or with Microsoft 365, then your ability to make modifications is limited. So, only the cloud versus is limited."

"The ease of use regarding finding audit information for users could also be improved."

"Azure Active Directory could improve by having an authentication service for laptops or desktop computers running Mac and Linux operating systems. They currently have authentication capabilities for Microsoft Windows. Having this capability would benefit people because in today's world everybody is working from the home environment."

"The security policy of Azure Active Directory should be based on a matrix so that we can easily visualize which users have access to what."

"There is no documentation about how Microsoft will scale Azure AD for customers. It only mentions that it will scale out if you have a lot of requests but does not mention how in detail."

"They should put the features of P1 and P2 into a single license."

"Technical support could be faster."

"Azure Active Directory could improve the two-factor authentication."

More Microsoft Entra ID cons

"Our major problem is the authentication via Microsoft, via Microsoft cloud systems. This is our major aim, to be a valued product for the future. The biggest problem is to work against cheap cloud systems. Cloud identification is our main problem at this time."

"RSA Authentication Manager is perfect. We do not see current missing products or enhancements yet emphasize the importance of a continuous development roadmap."

"We found technical support was not very responsive to our requests for assistance."

"We have encountered issue when trying to expand this particular solution for a large set of users across the country."

"The product's capabilities to protect cloud environments need improvement."

"We are seeing a lot of difficult issues in terms of RSA, especially the cloud-based two-factor authentication process."

"The price needs to be improved."

"The reporting needs to be improved, and they should be delivered by email."

More RSA Authentication Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay an annual subscription fee."

"The process for buying licenses from Microsoft is somewhat messy and really hard to do. We have to talk to someone because it's hard to find out how many licenses we need. If I'm applying for 2,000 users, how many Windows licenses do we need? They could also charge less for support."

"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."

"Everything needs to be considered for the requirements and if it is within the budget, then you can come up with a solution, whether it is SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS."

"If you have a different IDP today, I would take a close look at what your licensing looks like, then reevaluate the licensing that you have with Microsoft 365, and see if you're covered for some of this other stuff. Folks sometimes don't realize that, "Oh, I'm licensed for that service in Azure." This becomes one of those situations where you have the "aha" moment, "Oh, I didn't know we can do that. Alright, let's go down this road." Then, they start to have conversations with Microsoft to see what they can gain. I would recommend that they work closely with their TAM, just to make sure that they are getting the right level of service. They may just not be aware of what is available to them."

"The E5 plan we are using contains the premium plans for Azure Active Directory. We are not paying only for the Azure Active Directory Premium licenses. We have it already included within our E5 plan."

"Microsoft is so expensive. You know it is expensive when a Fortune 100 company like ours is complaining about the cost. That has been a big thing for me. When I really want to use an Azure service, it is very hard for me to justify the cost, especially with Microsoft support."

"Azure AD's pricing is comprehensive and affordable. The prices are easy to understand, and the licenses include a variety of security monitoring and additional features."

More Microsoft Entra ID pricing and cost advice

"The solution is costly."

"The pricing is a little bit complicated because sometimes resellers are able to make prices that are too low. Our price, with a discount, is typically not as high as some of our competitors."

"As a new customer, the minimum cost would be four dollars, but you have room for negotiation, potentially bringing it down to as low as three dollars."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Authentication Systems solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Outsourcing Company

11%

Construction Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	91
Midsize Enterprise	42
Large Enterprise	162

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	7

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...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?

I primarily use Microsoft Entra ID's free tier, so I have not faced any issues with pricing; I hope this free tier remains available for some time.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?

To improve Microsoft Entra ID, I believe it should be openable with third-party applications to use Microsoft Authenticator, which is currently tied to Entra. There should definitely be a way to re...

See all answers

What needs improvement with RSA Authentication Manager?

RSA Authentication Manager is perfect. We do not see current missing products or enhancements yet emphasize the importance of a continuous development roadmap.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for RSA Authentication Manager?

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering RSA Authentication Manager?

RSA Authentication Manager is the best available solution. However, for other companies, it might seem expensive. It's important for RSA to keep developing new features and maintain a robust roadma...

See all answers

Comparisons

Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 23% of the time

Okta Platform vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

SailPoint Identity Security Cloud vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 3% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 2% of the time

Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Entra ID Competitors

Certificate Lifecycle Manager vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 7% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 7% of the time

Symantec Advanced Authentication vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

Cisco Duo vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

More RSA Authentication Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID

October 2026

Download Microsoft Entra ID product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

October 2026

Download RSA Authentication Manager product report

Also Known As

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

ACE/Server

Interactive Demo

Microsoft

Demo not available

RSA

Overview

Microsoft Entra ID offers advanced identity management capabilities, ensuring security and efficiency with features like single sign-on and multifactor authentication.

Designed for hybrid environments, Microsoft Entra ID provides seamless synchronization between on-premises Active Directory and Azure Active Directory, enhancing security with multifactor authentication and conditional access. By integrating with a broad spectrum of cloud services, it supports user authentication and mobile device management, facilitating streamlined application registration and secure API access.

What are the most notable features of Microsoft Entra ID?

Robust Security Measures: Implements strong security protocols to protect identities.
Single Sign-On: Enables users to access multiple applications with one set of credentials.
Conditional Access Policies: Provides a framework to control access based on predefined conditions.
Third-Party Integration: Ensures compatibility with external applications for comprehensive use.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Improved Security Posture: Enhances protection against unauthorized access through advanced security features.
Simplified Onboarding: Streamlines the process of integrating new users and systems.
Operational Efficiency: Reduces identity and access management workload, boosting productivity.

In finance and healthcare, Microsoft Entra ID plays a crucial role in managing access to sensitive information while maintaining compliance with industry regulations. Retail and manufacturing sectors leverage its capabilities for secure supply chain operations and partner collaboration.

Microsoft

RSA Authentication Manager provides robust security for authentication needs, offering features like multifactor authentication and decentralized administration. It supports both on-premises and cloud environments, integrating seamlessly with Microsoft products.

RSA Authentication Manager is designed to enhance security through comprehensive multifactor authentication and advanced security administration. The integration capabilities with Microsoft products allow for versatile deployment in both cloud and on-premises environments. Known for its reliable performance, it offers simple setup and token deployment, making it highly adaptable for organizations looking for efficient management and mapping solutions. Despite some challenges with reporting and cloud integration, strategic improvements can address these issues. Enhancements in mobile authentication, pricing, and cloud management consoles have been suggested by users. In industries requiring stringent security, RSA's features like Fortinet VPN integration and adaptability for global file transfers make it a preferred choice.

What are the key features of RSA Authentication Manager?

Multifactor Authentication: Provides comprehensive multifactor authentication to enhance security.
Security Administration: Offers effective decentralized administration for seamless management.
Integration Capabilities: Strong integration with Microsoft products and support for VPNs.
Token Deployment: Facilitates easy self-service token deployment for administrators.
Mapping and Logging: Advanced capabilities for efficient security management.

What benefits can users expect?

Reliable Performance: Ensures stable and consistent operations across environments.
Easy Setup: Simplified setup process enhances usability and deployment speed.
Flexible Management Roles: Advanced troubleshooting and role management for effective operation.
Comprehensive Reporting: Built-in reporting tools for detailed insights and analysis.
Integration Flexibility: Seamless integration with legacy systems and custom applications.

RSA Authentication Manager is extensively used in authentication for applications requiring enhanced security measures. It supports improved protection for Cisco VPN connections and file transfers through robust APIs, offering two-factor authentication. Organizations have incorporated it extensively for web and internal application security, demonstrating its widespread application connectivity. Solutions like Fortinet VPN integration further define its capability in providing authentication support globally, serving thousands of organizations effectively.

RSA

Sample Customers

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.

Tiera, Fred Loya, BRE Leasing, ADP, BlueFort Security, New Hanover County

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID vs. RSA Authentication Manager

November 2026

Free Report: Microsoft Entra ID vs. RSA Authentication Manager

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. RSA Authentication Manager and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Microsoft Entra ID vs. RSA Authentication Manager report.

See our list of best Authentication Systems vendors.

We monitor all Authentication Systems reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.