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

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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
Ranking in Access Management
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
277
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (2nd), 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
30th
Average Rating
0.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.4
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA as a Service (22nd), ZTNA (25th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Access Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 10.7%, down from 23.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is 1.8%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Access Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Entra ID10.7%
Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)1.8%
Other87.5%
Access Management
 

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.
cto543714 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Active Directory itself is the best feature it has. It also gives us a single pane of glass for managing user access."
"The implementation of Microsoft Entra ID has positively impacted my secure access to apps or resources in my environment because I appreciate that it has SSO, so you can use it for signing on to a whole bunch of different applications that are also running in your enterprise, and it is generally very good for governance of getting people access to whatever they need."
"Microsoft Azure AD is easy to install and is a stable solution."
"Federated identity management is a great feature for the zero-trust model."
"The performance is good."
"The product is definitely good, and I see it as part of the future roadmap for managing all endpoints."
"We are really happy with how the functionality Azure Active Directory gives us."
"Azure AD has features that have helped improve our security posture."
"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

"The management interface has some areas that need improvement."
"The ease of use regarding finding audit information for users could also be improved."
"We have experienced some downtime because of the use of the data centers."
"Microsoft's technical support needs to be improved. It's a bit bureaucratic, to put it in one word."
"Rule management and permissions need improvements."
"Microsoft Entra ID could be improved with more out-of-the-box integrations with other parties."
"The Cloud Provisioning Agent cannot provision a lot of the information that AD Connect does. For starters, the lightweight version cannot synchronize device information. If you have computers on-premises, the information about them will not be synchronized by the Cloud Provisioning Agent. In addition, if you have a user on the cloud and he changes his password, that information should be written back to the on-premises instance. But that workflow cannot be done with the lightweight agent. It can only be done with the more robust version."
"The transition from on-prem Active Directory to the Azure Cloud was difficult because there aren't group policy objectives. This is handled differently in the Azure cloud environment."
"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

"The licensing cost is a bit prohibitive."
"It is a packaged license. We have a Premium P1 subscription of Office 365, and it came with that."
"I feel Microsoft is very costly compared to other products. That is also what management is thinking. But when we consider security and support, Microsoft is better than any other product."
"We have a yearly license."
"The pricing depends on the use case and can be negotiated based on volume."
"The product's price is in the midrange."
"It comes free with the Microsoft account. We have a yearly agreement, and all products are covered under it."
"Licensing costs for Microsoft Entra ID remain a concern, especially with the price increases in 2023."
"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
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Construction Company
14%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business89
Midsize Enterprise42
Large Enterprise162
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?
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
Symantec Secure Access Cloud, Luminate.io, Luminate
 

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.
NEX, AIG, Fiverr, Upwork
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Okta, One Identity and others in Access Management. Updated: September 2026.
913,076 professionals have used our research since 2012.