Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Microsoft Azure Active Directory or Azure AD) is a cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) solution supporting restricted access to applications with Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) built-in, single sign-on (SSO), B2B collaboration controls, self-service password, and integration with Microsoft productivity and cloud storage (Office 365, OneDrive, etc) as well as 3rd party services.
$6
per user/per month
Okta
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Okta is an enterprise grade identity management service, built in the cloud. IT can manage access across any application, person or device. Whether the people are employees, partners or customers or whether the applications are in the cloud, on premises or on a mobile device, Okta helps IT become more secure and maintain compliance. The Okta service provides directory services, single sign-on, authentication, provisioning, workflow, and built in reporting. ment systems.
$2
Per User Per Month
Pricing
Microsoft Entra ID
Okta
Editions & Modules
Premium P1
$6.00
per user/per month
Premium P2
$9.00
per user/per month
Single Sign on
$2.00
Per User Per Month
Multi Factor Authentication
$3.00
Per User Per Month
Single Sign on Adaptive
$5.00
Per User Per Month
Multi Factor Authentication Adaptive
$6.00
Per User Per Month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Entra ID
Okta
Free Trial
Yes
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
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Browse products and price points that make the most sense for your organization on the Okta website.
Google Workspace is really pretty much the only other primary competitor. And again, Microsoft has just been the standard for so many years and it was in place at the organization when I was first brought on at the beginning of my tenure. And so it didn't seem logical to switch …
Yeah, so basically that product to be honest, was more of a getting comfortable with cloud identification management. So that was a product I used. It has all the policies for desktops and doing updates and all that central directory identity provisioning stuff for users. Users …
We use DUO as another IDP solution and we also evaluated Okta as a solution. We didn't have a choice to be honest, because Microsoft products, you can't get away with it, but it's built in and a bunch of other providers have it as authentication, so it's great.
We've used other Microsoft products and we've also used some standalone products, like each application you can have its own identity, so we've looked at some of those too, but we try to use the Entra ID as much as possible because it offers a wider range of reliability.
We actually did just the Microsoft Active directory, so we picked the actual. We did just pure active directory. I mean the open LDAP stuff, but it didn't quite work that well.
I think the closest one would be because we recently went through an implementation, but Salesforce has their own version of a signal sign-on product. It's not the same. I'd say that it works, but it doesn't give you as much functionality.
For us, it was a natural evolution of our use of active directory. As we went from on-premises to the cloud, this was an easy extension of our authentication infrastructure. We looked at other products from Oracle, so Oracle ID, Oracle Identity Management. We looked at pink …
We used Google before, but we tried to use it but it didn't. We didn't like it. I'll this is better. It integrates better with our environment that we have right now.
We're Microsoft dedicated. We do however, displace other products that do similar things, so a lot of third party products, so even like Okta. In my opinion, it's just equally as powerful or more powerful of a product and it has a way better price point for customers. I think …
I'd love to tell you about Amazon IM and Google's IM because they suck and they tell you to use Entra ID, factually. They're like, oh cool, set it up with Entra ID. They just know you're going to do it. I don't think you guys have a competitor, to be honest. You just don't.
We're a Microsoft Native shop, so we're looking at Okta's identity tool, SailPoint and a few other competitors of Venture id. And we decided to go with this one because we're already using Active Directory, so just using the native Microsoft Suites kind of just they integrate …
Well, it's natively integrated with all Microsoft Stack, so it comes very handy when you need to, for example, use it for Intune Association, et cetera, so it's very handy.
Previously we had worked with Okta, which was kind of using our replacement for active directory server, and I know that has integrations, but we ended up just going with Entra ID just for the ease of access and without having to stack on an additional third party application …
In our application use case, it's kind of unique and there isn't any like for if there's anything on the identity space, probably Okta. Yeah. But we do both use them and we have integration with Okta and Entra ID, so it works for us very well.
Microsoft Login ID was chosen for its ease of use and availability of access via any device. Unlike the old Active Directory, it has a low learning curve and is very intuitive for analysts who are using it for the first time.
Okta and Auth0 are similar in a number of ways, but ultimately they serve different cases. Okta is likely the preferred option for scenarios where IT or other admin staff need the ability to control account access for other staff members.
It’s conditional access and Zero Trust policies give us strong security control without complicating user experience and we no longer require on-prem AD set ups, which is a huge plus for us due to its cloud directory capabilities.
The only others services that I use for password storage are my google work account and Apple iCloud. Overall, I'd rank apple the lowest . Gmail is the most convenient in terms of quickly going to a site and having the password prefill. Where Okta is better than Google though, …
We selected Okta since as I mentioned earlier, speed means a lot to our account. The reason behind that is because it enables us a lot faster and utilize our apps better. Do not get me wrong, PingOne is a great app, its just that the app itself does not have the processing …
Okta is worlds better than any other IDP Solution that I have come across. Their documentation on integrations is STELLAR, their support staff is knowledgeable and awesome, their service is reliable and just works.
Okta provides a better user experience and a portal to make things simple not only for the admins but also the customers. Compared to Entra and Duo Okta is light years ahead in innovation and user experience.
Previous to Okta, we did not have a central cloud IdP system, each app had it's own authentication and authorization internally. That led to a fairly messy and divergent situation where every system had a different method and look for authentication and authorization. …
We have no experience with other products. In the past we have considered to implement Google SSO and Apple SSO, we did some partial development, but we never released those changes.
At the time when we moved from ADFS to Okta, Okta was the superior product for are use case. There was no ADFS/SAML connection available for for Citrix Cloud. Now, Entra ID has progressed and is supported by almost every application, we might be moving back to Entra ID.
Not too well. The password store in NetIQ (a.k.a. eDirectory) was FIPS 140 certified. The CAS opensource platform, paired with eDirectory was never hacked and provided true SSO across more than 200 in-house and hosted servers.
We ended up going with OKTA has it had a wider breadth of services from a security perspective at the time so we felt like we were getting more bang for our buck. Not only were we able to take advatage of SSO for all of our apps but we were able to leverage the device trust …
I had the opportunity to use Citrix but it was an "heavy" tool. I prefer Okta here. Regarding MS Active Directory I think is a good too with good features and not hard to use.
We previously looked at Azure AD (now known as Microsoft Entra ID) for our IDP (Identity Provider). Okta has an interface that seems easier to navigate and configure than that of Entra ID. Additionally, the wide range of vendors/software that Okta supports made it an easy …
When compared to other services, The Okta Identity Cloud provides an all-around solution for all your business needs, from security to a centralized identity management platform, and an improved user experience.
My organization uses the Okta Identity Cloud across all of our apps for ease of access. The ability to quickly access everything from a single tile page makes it easy to navigate and operate. Compared to other identity providers, I will always find Okta to be much more user …
With respective to user interface and license cost, we thought The Okta Identity Cloud was better than other tools for use. Their customization of license was another reason for us to go with The Okta Identity Cloud over other tools.
They were very similar in scope and application. Our IT team made the final call in moving forward with The Okta Identity Cloud as I believe the integration with The Okta Identity Cloud was more aligned with our current systems in place as well as our future systems roadmap. …
For one, a significant factor for us is that it is integrated with HelloID, which gives us, as the IT department, a lot of time back because we don’t need to create user accounts manually. It is great for the roles we have defined, as they can be used repeatedly. A great feature is that guest accounts can be created for external users; we only need to be in a closed area of your domain.
It has extensive compatibility and rich feature set of integrating with a wide array of core systems and SaaS platforms. Daily I utilize Okta's user-friendly central hub to simplify access the numerous applications we utilize within my company (Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, Salesforce, Microsoft Office 365, among many others.)
It addresses the issue of identity management very well with respect to putting in that multi authentication.
It can also support with respect to we can push these policies into another product that is not Microsoft, but it needs that SSO so we can have one account going into multi different accounts. I think that's the biggest pros and the easy use of Microsoft 365 also is one of those pros also in terms of administration.
Okta handles lockouts and password changes very seamlessly. Most end users no longer have to contact our IT department to reset their password or unlock their account.
Okta does MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) very well with the use of their own app, Okta Verify. We utilize this for VPN connections and having MFA or 2FA has strengthened the security of our internal network.
Okta's administration GUI is easy to use, and easy to set up. Adding applications to the organization is easy and requires very little work to deploy.
Users can utilize Okta to store passwords securely and safe on their own account. They also can one click login to personal sites if they use Okta to store their password.
Okta's support system is very knowledgeable and quick to respond to issues. We've had a few cases that were resolved within hours and that helps immensely when working with end users.
Well, I'm an active ad admin, so there's a lot of features in active directory that Entra ID seems to be just adding now. We're kind of figuring out that the policies are different than Entra ID that they were in active directory and we're finding other products to do that, like Azure policy. Some things I'm used to seeing in identity products or like active directory aren't in Entra iID, but are doing good job of managing stuff that it does so far.
Entra ID is a vital part of our Identity management/administration. With the integrations it has to other Microsoft products, setup and configuration is a breeze. Additionally, Microsoft has been around a long time and have the resources to ensure this product is stable and secure for many years to come. We know it will evolve with time to provide us what we need as technology changes.
Okta has a passion to provide secure and scalable identity solution. Their passion has come across as advocacy in a way that has deepened my knowledge of the field of authentication. I took identity for granted before but after seeing features such as external authentication I know that Okta can enable my business to reach new heights
Very easily usable. It could be easier to use. Implementation was kind of tricky. We do run a hybrid environment, so we're syncing a local active directory instance with Entra ID, so that could be a little tricky. But outside of that, if you're not running a hybrid deployment or a version of Entra ID usually, it's pretty straightforward.
The Okta Identity Cloud advertises 4 9's of reliability and I would go as far to say that it may even do better than that. As a true Global organization that operates in just about every region of the world, we have yet to have an issue with The Okta Identity Cloud that has impacted our business operations.
From my perspective, for the things that my group uses it for, Okta is very fast. It is as least as fast as the local password database methods that it replaces on our campus enterprise services. I do not believe that it slows anything down at all. In fact, not having to think too much about the login, because they all look the same, probably speeds things up somewhat.
Microsoft has offered Azure Active Directory as a solution for a couple of decades now, so they have seen and anticipated almost any issue that an organization may face and can therefore help. The cloud offering of Azure Active Directory offers some additional "self healing" or monitoring services that can minimize the need for a service call. However, as with most large companies supporting a fast growing market, there may be some gaps in service knowledge (and particularly processing) from the front line / tier one staff as they follow a corporate script at first contact.
Their support team has always been extremely responsive and more than willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. They've done screen shares between our help desk staff and end users to work through issues. They are quick to respond and genuinely care about getting issues resolved. Couldn't be happier.
Make sure you use a good partner. Our implementation was a bit longer and more problematic than we expected. Our partner got it done, but, in my opinion, some of their inexperience and staffing issues were evident.
Microsoft Entra ID is not as stand-alone product as competitors like Okta. It may lack some of the features that competing products have but on the other hand it integrates both technically and license wise with other Microsoft cloud services and is easy to deploy. It is also the easiest way to extend identity management to the cloud if you already have Microsoft Active Directory in use.
Previous to Okta, we did not have a central cloud IdP system, each app had it's own authentication and authorization internally. That led to a fairly messy and divergent situation where every system had a different method and look for authentication and authorization. Cross-remembering what password went with what was a constant problem for the Service Desk, who had to know how to manipulate all of the various local password systems.
Being a cloud native application, The Okta Identity Cloud is extremely scalable and easy to setup. By integrating into existing directories and applications via standard techniques and protocols, it is very easy to both initially setup and add additional users as required. Once all the necessary integrations are setup, it's a simple rinse and repeat process to onboard additional users (which can be automated with imports as well)
I don't know if I can really quantify that. It's one of those products that just exists and so there's not a whole lot of changes that we need to make with the product. And so I guess in terms of value, what we get is we don't have to worry about the identity management piece. We know that that's taken care of.
The initial investment (CapX) on Okta seemed like a lot for our organization (with a limited IT budget), but the investment was 100% worthwhile. We were impressed with how easily/quickly it was up and running in our environment.
Implementing Okta into our environment has greatly increased our security posture by granting us MFA and SSO. Having MFA helps to lower our Cyber Security Insurance premiums greatly as well.
As with most IT Security tools, the costs of prevention far outweigh the costs of a compromise. Calculate the costs of a breach and then compare it to the costs of Okta, you will find Okta is an exceptional value for what it offers. Additionally, the ability to automate tasks saves a ton of time/money for us. For example, the integration with our HRIS system means that when HR terminates an employee, we can have Okta automatically disable their accounts and all SSO applications assigned to them. Previously this was a slow and manual process performed by our Service Desk technicians (at an hourly rate).
