No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec Advanced Authentication comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 11, 2024

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
276
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Identity Management (IM) (2nd), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)
Symantec Advanced Authentic...
Ranking in Authentication Systems
23rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 6.5%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Authentication is 1.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID6.5%
Symantec Advanced Authentication1.5%
Other92.0%
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.
Umair (Abu Mohaymin) Akhlaque - PeerSpot reviewer
Group CEO at Flexsolutions
Ensures robust security features and ease of deployment, although it may lack some of the more modern authentication options
There has been a need for aggressive development to modernize the product and align it with contemporary security requirements. While the rebranding has been a step forward, further enhancements are essential to meet the evolving demands of the market. It lacks features such as ActiveSync Exchange security, and it doesn't offer alternatives like password-less authentication via biometrics or patches. While Symantec mainly relies on traditional token-based or password-based methods, newer authentication methods are missing from its repertoire. Support services often lack promptness and depth of knowledge, leaving customers waiting for weeks to resolve issues. In the realm of multifactor authentication, swift resolution of problems is critical, as any slowdown or interruption can significantly impact operations. Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The central authentication server is most valuable, and GPOs are useful for user and computer policies."
"The access control aspect of the authentication is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"I would rate the solution as 9. It is a very good solution for unified management."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to establish resource groups and set permissions through RBAC across these groups."
"It's just a product that made life simpler for my clients to be able to integrate everything."
"The implementations of Microsoft Entra ID have controlled all of our access into a single platform, which has been great."
"Syncing with our on-prem Active Directory is valuable because we do not have to keep multiple identities for each of our staff members. We can easily evaluate login risks and provide access for SSO via 365 into applications, such as Salesforce, and other things that we run our business on."
"The scalability of the product is decent."
"It allows us to assure our customers that we are protecting their data."
"It tells us exactly what we want in terms of authentication to various applications and provides protection for users who access them."
"One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability."
"CA products are the best fit with our backend systems."
"The most valuable feature is that we get a wide range of authentication methods and authentication integrators, so different platforms can get service authentication with transparency to the final user while providing strong authentication forms and connectors."
"Ease of deployment: no need to keep up with physical devices for multi-factor authentication; no software to deploy on end-user computers requiring administrative rights."
"Being able to issue a soft token, but still having fairly strong security, is a big factor for us."
"Symantec Advanced Authentication can be useful for wherever you require a strong authentication."
 

Cons

"I'd like to see integration between applications and phones included in the solution."
"The area that needs improvement is integrating IDs between multiple environments and forests. In our case, it's hard to get the identities from multiple forests into one location."
"Microsoft Entra ID can be improved by having more resources for learning how to best use the tool and understanding best use case scenarios."
"It could be better if a simple member could understand more easily the prices of the products and packages offered by Microsoft."
"Microsoft's pricing and licensing are difficult to understand. We engage with Microsoft partners regularly, but Microsoft's frequent rebranding complicates the process for us in the industry."
"Adding a new account can be tricky."
"The product could be more cost-effective."
"The thing that is a bit annoying is the inability to nest groups. Because we run an Azure hybrid model, we have nested groups on-premise which does not translate well. So, we have written some scripts to kind of work around that. This is a feature request that we have put in previously to be able to use a group that is nested in Active Directory on-premise and have it handled the same way in Azure."
"We have seen quite a few issues with bugginess. It is indeed pretty buggy and we have had to install some fixes."
"They definitely need to automate a few processes like the Wiley process."
"It needs faster implementation on the cloud for our customers."
"Advanced Authentication talks about the Device ID. But how the device ID is captured, I want to know more about that."
"We have seen quite a few issues with bugginess. It is indeed pretty buggy and we have had to install some fixes."
"This solution could be improved with risk-based authentication. I think that this product has everything that most customers are looking for, but modern technology has people looking for security tools with risk-based authentication, which they have a separate tool for. If they could integrate this, it would improve Symantec Advanced Authentication. They have to look at what's newly trending and how things are moving forward, and then adapt and adopt those features. Symantec's technical support should also be improved, in terms of response time."
"The initial setup of the tenant is a big cost element of the service and we were doing multiple tenants for our customer."
"Arcot itself is based on a browser technology. This means that the office ID is effectively stored as a cookie in the browser."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think we're on the E3 — I think it was about 35 dollars per user."
"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."
"Licensing is easy."
"The pricing depends on the use case and can be negotiated based on volume."
"The pricing is good; it's not cheap but very reasonable."
"Be sure: You know your userbase, e.g., how many users you have. You choose the right license and model that suit your business requirements."
"It is a really nice tool and we have a license for the more complex model."
"Azure AD comes with Office 365, so we are just paying for the Office 365 license."
"The price is reasonable."
"There are eventually going to be implementation costs. Sometimes you're required to have custom code developments there, so that has to be part of the implementation price."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Authentication Systems solutions are best for your needs.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business90
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise160
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Large Enterprise7
 

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 pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that going through and being able to use these things is always part of delivering an M365 bundle, so I don't think the experience is great ...
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
Microsoft Entra ID can be improved by open-sourcing it. You already have Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is open-source Linux in Microsoft. One major shift for Microsoft would be using the commo...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator
CA Advanced Authentication, CA Strong Authentication, CA Risk Authentication, Arcot WebFort, Arcot RiskFort
 

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.
Global bank, Large Filipino Bank and SK Infosec
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Entra ID vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.