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Microsoft Entra ID vs Salesforce Identity 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Entra ID
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
274
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 Security Suite (2nd)
Salesforce Identity
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Identity (2nd), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Identity and Access Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Entra ID is designed for Single Sign-On (SSO) and holds a mindshare of 11.3%, down 27.3% compared to last year.
Salesforce Identity, on the other hand, focuses on Mobile Identity, holds 18.2% mindshare, down 21.4% since last year.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID11.3%
Okta Platform9.7%
Auth0 Platform6.6%
Other72.4%
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Mobile Identity Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Salesforce Identity18.2%
Oracle Identity Governance19.9%
MicroStrategy Usher15.9%
Other46.00000000000001%
Mobile Identity
 

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.
NavinJacob - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Digital Officer at Cipher7
Structured operations and analytics have transformed how my teams manage customers and sales
I see room for improvement regarding financial operations and FinOps. If they are not being controlled correctly, Salesforce billings can get huge. They charge for everything: license costs, storage costs, and transaction costs, and it can really end up blowing budgets if it is not controlled. Those controls should be something that is easy to manage. With Salesforce, it is pretty difficult to manage unless you are a very advanced user. Normal regular users may not be able to keep the costs in control. This ends up resulting in bill shocks where you suddenly receive a bill which you may not be expecting.

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 saving us 10 to 12 hours per week, and that's for just one person who would otherwise be responsible for resetting passwords."
"Microsoft Entra ID Protection and Microsoft Sentinel are both excellent monitoring features for Microsoft Entra ID."
"In a lot of situations, it is easy and free or almost free to use Microsoft Entra MFA."
"The best thing about Microsoft Entra ID is the ease of setup."
"The most valuable feature for us is the B2C functionality of Microsoft Entra ID, which is essential due to our need for external and internal users to log into our system."
"Don't delay implementing this solution, it's the best thing you can do for your identity protection."
"The most important things of Azure Active Directory are the security and the facility to manage all the services and users. It is very easy to manage users and assign roles, permissions, and access. At the same time, it is a very secure environment. Microsoft takes security very seriously. They take care of all the security and all the factors to prevent any kind of data or information compromise."
"The portal version of the Azure active directory is pretty robust."
"The user experience was great because it had all the features that the client needed, it was fully customized for the client, and it was very simple, making it the best solution at that time."
"The user experience was great because it had all the features that the client needed. It was fully customized for the client, and it was very simple. It was the best solution at that time."
"The best features of Salesforce Platform that I appreciate are that it is very configurable and easy for both developers as well as customers to use."
"The solution is very easy to understand."
"The most valuable features are the pipeline management, being able to track the pipeline anytime, and the ability to get in touch with our high management team or board members."
"Salesforce Identity is a very user-friendly solution."
"The most valuable features are the pipeline management, being able to track the pipeline anytime, and the ability to get in touch with our high management team or board members."
"The single sign-on feature of Salesforce Identity enhances our organization's security posture overall."
 

Cons

"An area where there is room for improvement is the ease of use of the dashboards."
"The solution was difficult to scale because the group's configuration was complex. I would rate the scalability level of Azure Active Directory a five out of ten."
"Customers want to know exactly where they are spending their money, allowing them to assess and potentially save money in those specific areas."
"There are various easy ways that I can provide local admin rights to a user in the on-premises version, but in the cloud version, it is a bit difficult and you have to create a bunch of policies to make it work."
"I would rate my customer service and technical support as six out of ten, noting that level two support is really poor while everything else above that is good."
"The integration between the Azure active directory and the traditional active directory could be improved upon."
"The automation aspects of Entra ID could be improved, particularly when automating through different providers and SDKs."
"The only issue is the OU is not properly synced. Therefore, you have to do a manual sync sometimes or you might lose the connector due to AD Connect or sync servers."
"The interface should be simplified and the dashboard has a lot of options but could be improved."
"The most wanted feature on such platforms nowadays is artificial intelligence, especially for marketing activities. This is also my area of expertise, so it would be very interesting to see AI in these platforms."
"The product is slow."
"The most wanted feature on such platforms nowadays is artificial intelligence, especially for marketing activities."
"The interface should be simplified and the dashboard has a lot of options but could be improved."
"Salesforce could make it more user-friendly and easier to implement. Currently, there's a lot of coding and technical work required. I would appreciate a more plug-and-play approach where you could set it up without needing a dedicated technical person."
"Salesforce Identity needs more expertise in the application."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not involved in the pricing or licensing, so I can't speak to that."
"We are always looking for better pricing."
"Its price is okay. It is easy to go from P1 to P2 license. It is not exactly a bargain, but I would recommend the P2 license."
"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."
"It is a packaged license. We have a Premium P1 subscription of Office 365, and it came with that."
"The basic tier of Azure Active Directory is free, so many users use the service for free. For a small company having the security and compliance that Azure offers is a great benefit. For small companies that are using the basic services, not having to pay for Azure Active Directory is the main asset because they can manage their users and have authentications tools and security."
"The pricing for Azure Active Directory is affordable; I would rate the cost a six out of ten."
"It is very expensive. Its price should be lower. Price is the most important factor for Turkish people."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a very low price and ten is a very high price, I rate Salesforce Identity's pricing a six out of ten."
"I'd recommend Salesforce for larger products where you really need a robust CRM. It's expensive, so for smaller websites or products, it might not be the most cost-effective solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Hospitality Company
7%
Performing Arts
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business88
Midsize Enterprise39
Large Enterprise160
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 Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...
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 do you like most about Salesforce Identity?
The single sign-on feature of Salesforce Identity enhances our organization's security posture overall.
What needs improvement with Salesforce Identity?
I see room for improvement regarding financial operations and FinOps. If they are not being controlled correctly, Salesforce billings can get huge. They charge for everything: license costs, storag...
What is your primary use case for Salesforce Identity?
My overall experience in this current field I am working spans different areas. One area is for service management, contact centers, BPOs, and customer relationship management. Others are for sales...
 

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
No data available
 

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.
SAP, Microsoft, Workday, Servicenow, ADP, Google Apps, box, Oracle
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Okta, Cisco and others in Single Sign-On (SSO). Updated: March 2026.
885,286 professionals have used our research since 2012.