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Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec Advanced Authentication comparison

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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
277
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (2nd), 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
21st
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 September 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 5.6%, down from 13.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Authentication is 1.4%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID5.6%
Symantec Advanced Authentication1.4%
Other93.0%
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 main valuable feature is the integration into a single console, which includes authentication service and endpoint security."
"The best feature of Microsoft Entra ID is that it provides more granular control over user identities."
"Microsoft Entra ID is regarded as the best ID management suite for integrating applications using SAML 2.0 for single sign-on."
"Whether you are a small business or large business, you can always enjoy a very secure cloud platform."
"A couple of features are valuable, but the one that comes across the most to me is multi-factor authentication."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to authenticate users using Microsoft Entra ID."
"Microsoft Entra ID offers strong security levels, especially with two-step authentication, which confirms that I am the real user."
"The implementation of device-bound passkeys in Microsoft Authenticator helps with phishing-resistant authentication."
"It allows us to assure our customers that we are protecting their data."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it's a strong authentication solution that's able to integrate with applications."
"One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability."
"Being able to issue a soft token, but still having fairly strong security, is a big factor for us."
"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."
"It actually increases our revenue and the customer base."
"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."
"It tells us exactly what we want in terms of authentication to various applications and provides protection for users who access them."
 

Cons

"Microsoft could improve by stabilizing its branding. I still call it Azure AD. Some of the customers I work with call it Azure AD. Branding makes you stand out in the market, but it is something that also confuses people."
"Tech support is inconsistent."
"I believe that Microsoft Entra ID can be improved by adding more granularity in options within Conditional Access specifically, because there are certain scenarios that we cannot address due to insufficient options to set up those rules."
"I think the solution can improve by making the consumption of that data easier for our customers."
"The monitoring dashboard could be a bit better."
"On a scale from one being the worst and ten being the best, I would rate my customer service and technical support from Microsoft a three."
"Technical support is a thing they need to improve a lot from their side."
"Sometimes I sense complications when moving from one tenant to another, which is simply because different enterprises have different security guidelines."
"We have seen quite a few issues with bugginess. It is indeed pretty buggy and we have had to install some fixes."
"It needs faster implementation on the cloud for our customers."
"They definitely need to automate a few processes like the Wiley process."
"Advanced Authentication talks about the Device ID. But how the device ID is captured, I want to know more about that."
"Arcot itself is based on a browser technology. This means that the office ID is effectively stored as a cookie in the browser."
"The initial setup of the tenant is a big cost element of the service and we were doing multiple tenants for our customer."
"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."
"Symantec has very bad support, so I have no words for it. It's one of the worst support experiences I've ever had."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's pretty good. We're using the native features. It's bundled with our Office 365 licenses. We aren't paying anything extra for Azure Active Directory. It's pretty good for us because it's complementary to Office 365. We're only paying for Office 365."
"The price of the solution's license is good."
"It is worth the money."
"Pricing could always be better. You pay the premium for Microsoft. Sometimes, it is worth it, and at other times, you wish to have more licensing options, especially for smaller companies."
"The pricing is good; it's not cheap but very reasonable."
"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."
"It's really affordable."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Construction Company
18%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business89
Midsize Enterprise42
Large Enterprise162
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?
I would rate the pricing of the product as four out of five. The product is definitely good, and I see it as part of the future roadmap for managing all endpoints.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory?
I believe instead of putting everything in a single form under Microsoft Entra ID, it would be best for Microsoft to segregate these features. For example, if someone wants to design the Conditiona...
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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: September 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.