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Microsoft Entra ID vs RSA Authentication Manager vs Thales Authenticators 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 7.8%, down from 16.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Authentication Manager is 2.5%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Thales Authenticators is 2.4%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID7.8%
Thales Authenticators2.4%
RSA Authentication Manager2.5%
Other87.3%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

Stafin Jacob - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
US
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…
Gustavo Merighi - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation and Telecommunications Analyst at Grupo Energisa
Has an easy-to-use management interface and a straightforward initial setup process
Our primary use cases include multifactor authentication for VPN connections and access to security tools like jump servers and firewalls. We also use it to enhance security measures in an enterprise environment The most valuable feature is the YAML 2.0 integration. It has an easy-to-use…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution offers business to business and client to business support."
"Microsoft Entra ID has also massively improved secure access to apps or resources compared to our previous setup."
"It's a very scalable solution."
"The most valuable feature of Azure AD is its ability to connect with services outside of Microsoft, although documentation is necessary to properly implement these connections."
"With MFA, if there has been a password leak and someone tries to access the system, Azure AD will send a notification to the real user's cell phone and ask, "Are you trying to login? Please approve or decline this login.""
"Entra's conditional access policies allow us to fine-tune how we allow people into the environments and secure them."
"Just because I've been in the Azure space since it started out and in the Microsoft Cloud AD since the BPOS days in the early 2000s, and it's just a product that made life simpler for my clients to be able to integrate everything."
"Using this product has also had a positive effect on our end-user experience."
"Easy setup, deployment, and integration in different infrastructures, including virtual ones."
"The single sign-on feature is the most important."
"It is a good solution for token identification."
"Easy setup, deployment, and integration in different infrastructures, including virtual ones."
"The most valuable feature is the SecurID."
"RSA Authentication Manager Appliance is almost like Plug 'n' Play, so it's an excellent experience."
"I have found RSA Authentication Manager to be scalable."
"RSA Authentication Manager is a robust solution that provides comprehensive protection for both on-premise and cloud-based applications."
"I like how the solution allows me to support different types of hardware tokens and integrate with OTP."
"I like how the solution allows me to support different types of hardware tokens and integrate with OTP."
"The solution is scalable and stable."
"The solution has helped our organization by allowing all users to connect securely."
"The most valuable feature of SafeNet Authentication Manager is authentication."
"Scalable and stable."
"We use this solution to log into virtual machines like VMware and VMware Horizon."
"The technical support services are good."
 

Cons

"In my opinion, the on-premises deployment is still king with respect to stability. We are able to control what's happening there, unlike the cloud instances when the service is down."
"The user administration has room for improvement because some parts are not available within the Azure AD portal, but they are available within the Microsoft 365 portal."
"The frequent changes in branding cause confusion among customers who struggle to keep track of product names and functions."
"You can manage the users from the Office 365 administration center, and you can manage them from Azure Active Directory. Those are two different environments, but they do the same things. They can gather the features in one place, and it might be better if that place were Azure."
"Allowing for more customization would be very useful. There is a limited metadata capability. When you look at a user, there are only six pieces of information you can see, but organizations are way more complex, so having that metadata available and being able to use that for dynamic user groups and other policies would be very helpful."
"Anytime that we have tried to allow Microsoft Entra ID to authenticate our users to come back on-premises, we have run into some issues, usually with latency or delay."
"Better deployment management and visibility functionality would be helpful."
"We'd like to be able to link to non-Mircosft products, like Linux."
"RSA Authentication Manager is perfect. We do not see current missing products or enhancements yet emphasize the importance of a continuous development roadmap."
"The reporting needs to be improved, and they should be delivered by email."
"We found technical support was not very responsive to our requests for assistance."
"Perhaps parts of the the user interface should become more intuitive."
"There is room for improvement in the RSA support."
"We are seeing a lot of difficult issues in terms of RSA, especially the cloud-based two-factor authentication process."
"The product's capabilities to protect cloud environments need improvement."
"Enhancing the user interface and expanding their marketing efforts in regions like Nigeria and West Africa could be beneficial."
"Lacks integration with other platforms."
"The product could be improved by adding more features for sending tokens via SMS or phone calls."
"I'd like to see integration with other platforms."
"The problem with SafeNet is that it's not integrated with Microsoft 365."
"The scalability could improve, we have a lot of downtimes two years ago; this was in the cloud environment, because we purchased SafeNet Authentication Manager as a cloud service, and sometimes it was down for two or three hours."
"The solution should allow for support of multi-tenant architecture."
"The solution should allow for support of multi-tenant architecture."
"The stability could improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are working with the Premium P2 licenses, which are reasonable. If you invest in the on-premises environment setup, then it costs so much. However, on-prem AD gives you the ability to manage your organization in a very organized manner, where you can create a group policy."
"Microsoft Entra ID service can be quite costly due to its hidden expenses linked to usage."
"The cost of Entra ID depends entirely on our organization's specific needs and use cases."
"It's relatively inexpensive in comparison with third-party solutions. It's highly available and supported by Microsoft Azure in our enterprise agreements. With the addition of their B2C tenants, it's hard to beat from a cost perspective now."
"Azure Active Directory is expensive."
"The pricing of Azure Active Directory is competitive. By default, the product exists in almost every Microsoft cloud product. But it then depends on the features that a customer really wants to make use of."
"It can be a bit expensive for organizations, but they do have different pricing models. Their free tier can be used on a personal level, but for an organization, the licenses might be a bit expensive. In general, the licenses can become cheaper, which will make it accessible for more people."
"I'm not totally aware of the pricing and licensing, but I do know that the pricing and licensing must be quite balanced. We are a pretty old client of Microsoft, and MSA is just one of the services we use from Microsoft. There's a whole Microsoft 365 suite that's implemented as well. I'm sure it is something that is acceptable to both parties."
"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."
"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."
"Thales is more expensive than its competitors."
"There is an annual licensing fee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business88
Midsize Enterprise39
Large Enterprise160
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise7
No data available
 

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 Du...
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.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
I think Microsoft Entra ID could be improved by assigning permissions to nested groups in the next release.
What needs improvement with RSA Authentication Manager?
RSA Authentication Manager is perfect. We do not see current missing products or enhancements yet emphasize the impor...
What is your primary use case for RSA Authentication Manager?
We use RSA Authentication Manager for web applications and internal applications. We have a number of applications co...
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'...
What needs improvement with Thales Authenticators?
Currently, the solution fulfills our requirements. We are very satisfied with its features, and do not have any speci...
What is your primary use case for Thales Authenticators?
Our employees, whether working on-site or remotely, use Thales Authenticators for two-factor authentication to log in...
What advice do you have for others considering Thales Authenticators?
From our past years of experience, the solution is very smooth, and we have had a good experience with it. We would d...
 

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
ACE/Server
Gemalto Ezio, Ezio, Gemalto Authenticators, SafeNet Authentication Manager
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
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.
Tiera, Fred Loya, BRE Leasing, ADP, BlueFort Security, New Hanover County
Standard Chartered Bank (SCB)
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Authentication Systems. Updated: March 2026.
885,728 professionals have used our research since 2012.