Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) comparison

Microsoft and Broadcom are both solutions in the Access Management category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while Broadcom is ranked #23. Microsoft holds a 26.1% mindshare in AM, compared to Broadcom’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution.

Microsoft Entra ID

Read 235 Microsoft Entra ID reviews

23,813 Views
6,668 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Symantec Zero Trust Network...

Read 1 Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) review

449 Views
216 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

Microsoft Entra ID

Symantec Zero Trust Network...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Entra ID and Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Auth0, Ping Identity and others in Access Management.

To learn more, read our detailed Access Management Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Access Management

July 2025

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Helped 865,295 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 Access Management

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

235

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), Microsoft Security Suite (2nd)

Symantec Zero Trust Network...

Ranking in Access Management

23rd

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

ZTNA as a Service (23rd), ZTNA (25th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Access Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 26.1%, up from 23.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Access Management

Featured Reviews

Bahram Piri

Chief Executive Officer & Founder at IDmelon Technologies

Security focus and seamless implementation increase platform productivity

Microsoft Entra ID can be improved in many ways, and there's a big wish list.If we're focusing on security, something that I definitely expect is improvement in the UI and UX for frontline workers. This is important, especially for non-tech savvy individuals. It is something Microsoft Entra ID could do to improve for a wider audience. It's important to focus on the frontline workers since they are non-tech savvy individuals. They are not like those back-office engineering C-level employees who are constantly dealing with computers, and we need to build a specific user experience and user interface for them to handle this stuff. That's something I expect Microsoft to focus on more for Microsoft Entra ID.

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cto543714

CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Restricts access to applications but improvement is needed in integrations

Over the last year, I have been working with customers because it's changing and maturing. These things are rolled out in segments and chunks, not all at once. Additional internal work is often required to make it functional, such as properly configuring the active directory. This internal work can take up to three months. The process varies, and implementing Symantec ZTNA quickly is not realistic. I wouldn't recommend the tool to non-core customers because you won't get the support you need. I'd rate Symantec ZTNA a seven on a scale of one to ten. They're still integrating different pieces into their solution. The challenge with ZTNA is that different companies implement it slightly differently, with some features present in one product but missing in another. ZTNA is a tricky acronym that companies use, but when you look closely, you find that each vendor might only have some of the expected features.

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

"The most valuable feature for me is enterprise applications. This functionality allows the building of applications that are tied into APIs that we can grant specific permissions and limit the scope of access."

"In a lot of situations, it is easy and free or almost free to use Microsoft Entra MFA."

"The security and infrastructure management features are the most valuable ones for us."

"It's very user-friendly for users."

"The scalability is good now, and I find it to be more stable and faster since scaling up to ESX."

"We have a complex scenario with several applications, and we're trying to achieve SSO for most of our applications, but some of our legacy applications don't support SSO or modern protocols. Our core applications are ready for SSO or to be federated. We've centralized our authentication process using Entra ID, so we can collect sign-offs from the users and filter using conditional access."

"Our most valuable features are conditional access and Azure application proxy."

"It enhances security, especially for unregistered devices. It 1000% has security features that help to improve our security posture. It could be irritating at times, but improving the security posture is exactly what the Authenticator app does."

More Microsoft Entra ID pros

"The most valuable feature of this product is restricting and controlling what people have access to. If I want a contractor to connect to my network, I can give them access to only the specific things they need without giving them full VPN access to my entire network. That's the main benefit everyone gets from it. The value depends on how many users and applications you have and what you want to share."

Cons

"We'd like to be able to link to non-Mircosft products, like Linux."

"Entra ID is not battle-tested or stable enough to support a business of our size. There are some design issues specifically around support for legacy services."

"I want to see new functionalities for the active directory."

"The most challenging aspect I found was the creation of organizational units and specific domains. They have a tool called Bastion, which is expensive and a little bit confusing."

"We have experienced some downtime because of the use of the data centers."

"The product takes at least ten minutes to activate privilege identity management roles."

"Azure AD provides two types of features. One is Azure AD Excel and is already B2C. Out of both versions, Azure B2C requires some improvement, in terms of user management and role management, et cetera."

"Microsoft is working with Microsoft Identity Manager for Active Directory on-premise. It will be very important to have these identity management solutions directly in Azure Active Directory. It's very important to have some kind of Azure identity manager as a technology for identity and access management for working both in the cloud and inside the Azure suite."

More Microsoft Entra ID cons

"For areas of improvement, the main issue is with integrations. The Symantec ZTNA comprises many products cobbled together on the back end. Sometimes, the integrations work well; sometimes, they don't. For example, if you want to use two-factor authentication, you need to integrate that into the solution. Or if you want to accept protocols other than web coming to your secure gateway, that's another integration. Supporting different devices like Macs, Samsung phones, or iPhones also requires more integrations. Ensuring all these integrations work properly is an ongoing process and a moving target."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"It is a packaged license. We have a Premium P1 subscription of Office 365, and it came with that."

"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."

"It is costly."

"Azure AD has four licensing options- Free, Office 365 apps, Premium P1, and Premium P2. The free option has a limited number of identities and features, and the Office 365 version comes included in several Office 365 subscriptions. With the P1 and P2 licenses, we get all the freeware features plus additional security features, but these come at a higher price. The base price for P1 and P2 is $6 and $9 per user per month, respectively."

"We are currently on the education plan, so the price is slightly better than the development plan."

"The pricing for companies and businesses is okay, it's fair. But if you are trying to teach someone about Azure AD, there is no licensing option for that... It would be nice to have a 'learning' license, one that is cheaper for a single person."

"Licensing is easy."

More Microsoft Entra ID pricing and cost advice

"Pricing varies depending on the situation. In competitive situations, it's usually priced competitively. Nobody pays the full MSRP. Typically, you negotiate and work with them on the pricing."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

16%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Azure Active Directory?

It is very simple. The Active Directory functions are very easy for us. Its integration with anything is very easy. We can easily do third-party multifactor authentication.

See all answers

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

Our experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Entra ID involves leveraging Microsoft 365 E5 licensing, so it's included. Being included in Microsoft licensing makes it mu...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

Pricing varies depending on the situation. In competitive situations, it's usually priced competitively. Nobody pays the full MSRP. Typically, you negotiate and work with them on the pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

For areas of improvement, the main issue is with integrations. The Symantec ZTNA comprises many products cobbled together on the back end. Sometimes, the integrations work well; sometimes, they don...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

The solution helps to allow access only to what is explicitly needed. This means restricting access to specific applications rather than providing broad access to multiple resources, some of which ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon Cognito vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

Okta Workforce Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

Auth0 vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Entra ID Competitors

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Compared 39% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Compared 25% of the time

Cloudflare One vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Compared 16% of the time

More Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID

August 2025

Download Microsoft Entra ID product report

Buyer's Guide

Access Management

July 2025

Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) report

Download Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) product report

Also Known As

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

Symantec Secure Access Cloud, Luminate.io, Luminate

Interactive Demo

Microsoft

Demo not available

Broadcom

Overview

Microsoft Entra ID is used for extending on-premises Active Directory to the cloud, managing application access, enabling multi-factor authentication, and single sign-on. It facilitates policy enforcement and secure access, ensuring centralized identity management across cloud and on-premises resources.

Organizations utilize Microsoft Entra ID for robust user and group management, identity synchronization, and conditional access. Its seamless integration with third-party apps, scalability, and support for remote work make it a preferred choice. The admin center streamlines identity and access tasks, enhancing efficiency and security with features like privileged identity management and audit logs.

What are the key features of Microsoft Entra ID?

Single Sign-On: Simplifies user access to multiple applications with one login.
Multifactor Authentication: Enhances security by requiring additional verification.
Conditional Access: Establishes policies that determine how users' access cloud apps.
Integration: Easily integrates with various third-party applications.
User Identity Protection: Safeguards user identities from threats.
Privileged Identity Management: Manages elevated access to sensitive resources.
Audit Logs: Provides thorough activity logs for oversight and compliance.

What benefits should users look for in Microsoft Entra ID reviews?

Enhanced Security: Offers strong multifactor authentication and identity protection.
Administrative Efficiency: Simplifies identity and access management tasks.
Scalability: Supports growing user bases and remote work environments.
Integration Capabilities: Compatible with numerous third-party applications.
User-Friendly Interface: Makes managing user identities straightforward.

Microsoft Entra ID implementation varies across industries. Tech firms leverage it for secure, scalable access management, while healthcare organizations utilize its identity protection features to safeguard patient data. Educational institutions adopt Entra ID for streamlined user management and policy enforcement, ensuring secure access for students and staff across on-premises and cloud resources.

Microsoft

Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), revolutionizes remote access security for enterprise applications. By replacing traditional VPNs with secure, temporary connections solely to required applications, it significantly reduces the attack surface, mitigating the risk of data breaches. Whether accessing cloud-based or on-premises applications, Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) ensures robust security through continuous authentication and authorization, adhering to the Zero Trust principle of "never trust, always verify." This solution not only enhances security by reducing unauthorized access but also simplifies access for users while offering scalability and cost savings by eliminating the need for complex hardware and software. Tailored for organizations with remote workforces, cloud-based applications, and stringent data security concerns, Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) stands as an efficient and scalable access control solution among its competitors.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

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

NEX, AIG, Fiverr, Upwork

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Auth0, Ping Identity and others in Access Management. Updated: July 2025.

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