Microsoft 365 vs. Microsoft Entra ID

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft 365
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is a Microsoft Cloud subscription service that includes Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access). The software can be installed across multiple devices and ensures that users always have the most up-to-date version of the included Office applications.
$5
Per User Per Month
Microsoft Entra ID
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
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
Pricing
Microsoft 365Microsoft Entra ID
Editions & Modules
Business Basic
$5.00
Per User Per Month
Individual
$5.84
*Per Month
Business - Apps
$8.25
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - F3
$10.00
Per User Per Month
Business Standard
$12.50
Per User Per Month
Business Premium
$20.00
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - E3
$32.00
Per User Per Month
Enterprise - E5
$57.00
Per User Per Month
Premium P1
$6.00
per user/per month
Premium P2
$9.00
per user/per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft 365Microsoft Entra ID
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details*When billed annually.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft 365Microsoft Entra ID
Considered Both Products
Microsoft 365
Chose Microsoft 365
We've only used Microsoft 365 products. Now that Microsoft 365 is cloud-based it's made remote access manageable. It has made us as a company evaluate physical office space now and in the future.
Chose Microsoft 365
Using Dynamics as a business application was the best decision I ever made. Between all its functionalities we are able to connect any Office 365 tools into your personalized app and you do not have to leave your page, it’s all right there.
Microsoft Entra ID
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID seemed to be a better fit for our organization since we were already using Microsoft 365 and a local active directory.
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
While I have a very limited experience with the products above, I can say for sure that Microsoft Entra ID stands out in leveraging its native integration with Windows AD instances throughout the organizations and hence has taken precedence over all these products for this …
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
We evaluated RSA SecurID and Okta as alternative authentication options before choosing Microsoft Entra ID. The combination of biometric authentication and MFA with Microsoft Entra ID's identity management boosted our financial security compared to other options with similar …
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
Entra ID is more intuitive than G-Suite mainly because Windows Server users and admins will already find the UI and workflows familiar. API access and management is easier to access and work with. Documentation is more comprehensive too, in my experience. Entra ID also appears …
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
We haven't really tried any other modern directory services, with the exception of on-prem AD, so not really got a comparison.
Although Okta (SSO) was tested a couple of years ago by another department but it didn't gain traction. And we used to use SecureAuth (MFA) but it …
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
In our particular scenario, we chose [Microsoft] Azure Active Directory because it has integration with tools and applications we use on a day to day basis, such as inTune, Autopilot, Office 365, Exchange Online, Dynamics 365, just to named a few.
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
I've worked with both Okta and Auth0 at various clients. Consistently, we find that Azure Active Directory provides a more seamless experience, better integration with IT tooling, and a more developer-friendly experience. In the past Azure AD has lacked some of the …
Chose Microsoft Entra ID
We never evaluate other types of products. Since Windows 2000 we have been using Active Directory for the administration and management of our users, devices, and policies. We could certainly see the advances that are produced version by version and I firmly believe that Azure …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Microsoft 365Microsoft Entra ID
Identity Management
Comparison of Identity Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft 365
-
Ratings
Microsoft Entra ID
8.6
86 Ratings
7% above category average
ID-Management Access Control00 Ratings8.884 Ratings
ID Management Single-Sign On (SSO)00 Ratings9.085 Ratings
Multi-Factor Authentication00 Ratings9.185 Ratings
Password Management00 Ratings8.281 Ratings
Account Provisioning and De-provisioning00 Ratings8.480 Ratings
ID Management Workflow Automation00 Ratings8.262 Ratings
ID Risk Management00 Ratings8.564 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft 365Microsoft Entra ID
Small Businesses
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
Dashlane
Dashlane
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Google Workspace
Google Workspace
Score 9.1 out of 10
RSA Access Manager (Discontinued)
RSA Access Manager (Discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Score 8.8 out of 10
RSA Access Manager (Discontinued)
RSA Access Manager (Discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft 365Microsoft Entra ID
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(238 ratings)
8.8
(91 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(6 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.4
(6 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(54 ratings)
8.8
(18 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(2 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft 365Microsoft Entra ID
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Microsoft 365 is well-suited for:Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs): Microsoft 365 offers a cost-effective solution for SMBs to access a suite of essential productivity tools without the need for extensive IT infrastructure. It provides a wide range of applications, allowing teams to collaborate, communicate, and manage documents efficiently.Remote Work and Collaboration: Microsoft 365's cloud-based nature makes it ideal for remote work scenarios. With tools like Microsoft Teams, employees can easily communicate, hold video conferences, and collaborate on projects in real-time, regardless of their location.Microsoft 365 may be less appropriate for:Organizations with Specific Software Requirements: Some organizations may have specialized software needs that are not met by Microsoft 365. In such cases, they may require industry-specific software or custom solutions.Limited Internet Connectivity: Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based platform, which means a stable internet connection is essential for optimal functionality. Organizations with poor internet connectivity might face challenges using the cloud-based applications effectively.
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Microsoft
It is well suited for creating and updating and deleting employee attributes through Azure AD provisioning. But there can be some scenarios such as installation of provisioning agent documentation can be improved with proper screenshots. This will help consultants better in further implementations in future. The integration perspective is good but still the documentation available has scope of improvement.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • keeps me extremely organized. It is so easy to link calendars, emails, and documents.
  • keeps me well connected. It is so easy to send a quick message on teams or send an email to a group (for example, my particular team within the company).
  • easy to use. Everything is straightforward, making it easy to find an answer to a question. There is even a search option to figure out how to do something within Microsoft.
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Microsoft
  • Microsoft Entra ID's biometric authentication improves security and streamlines user access through facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, which are reliable and practical.
  • Users can easily confirm their identities using biometrics, smart cards, or PINs, increasing security without disrupting business operations.
  • Microsoft Entra ID provides us with a thorough security comprehension by allowing us to effectively manage user identities, regulate access entitlements, and track authentication events.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Microsoft 365 really needs to work on protection part. In complex environment it is not reliable as compared to its competitors like Proofpoint. There are many instances where it fails to perform effectively.
  • In SharePoint Online the versioning feature of the document needs to be improved by Microsoft. Sometimes when we have to roll back to the previous version it does not work as expected.
  • In Teams messaging and app permission policies can be improved. There are some settings where we have to add a lot of things manually.
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Microsoft
  • Support has been less responsive than we'd like. Sometimes, responses/callbacks can take days.
  • There seem to be some credential conflicts with users who had "personal" accounts in the past using the same email address.
  • Would like more options for chat-based troubleshooting, rather than phone or email.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
There are many features of Office that we cannot replicate in any other tool. Plus people know it already. It's not going away anytime soon.
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Microsoft
It has been an essential tool and we have had very few problems using it. Nothing comes close that I have seen, though given how well it has worked out for us I really don't look very hard. The value is extremely high when you consider you get Microsoft Entra ID and the rest of the Microsoft 365 platform for one price.
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Usability
Microsoft
The interface of the different tools (this suite has MANY different tools) is usually simple to use and intuitive, and you can always re-arrange and add or remove the task you use most frequently from the menus and task bars.
Each tool / product includes a lot of features that may require a more intensive learning, but usually Office 365 tools are simple to learn from scratch, adding more knowledge as you required more advanced features
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Microsoft
Easy rollout across organizations, accessible from any device securely, and easy integration with Microsoft products and its services. Microsoft technical consulting services and team helps an organization to connect all dots which make Organization IT professionals' life easier. Easy to use hence adaption is faster and no major training needs to conduct for users.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
Over the past 8 years of using Microsoft 365, I have noticed that they change vendors often. This always leads to a poor experience in the beginning, then levels out after some time for the company to get things worked out. As a customer, it is really frustrating because I don't have time when something isn't working to have them "look into my issue" and get back with me. They have even closed a ticket I specifically told them to keep open. Your applications are only as good as the support.
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Microsoft
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.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
Everything works and I use it all the time.
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Microsoft
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.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Google Sheets is better for sharing and collaborative editing. Versioning of the same file is also one of Google Sheets strong points.
Microsoft 365 is better for working with local files. It is much easier to store the file in multiple places and backup multiple versions in multiple places.
LibreOffice is free but the usage is much counter intuitive than Microsoft Office. OpenOffice is worse when it comes to UI.
Microsoft Excel's performance with larger files is much better. When opening huge files, excel loads it asynchronously and I can start working right away.
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Microsoft
Microsoft seems to be the better service for cloud identity syncing and is still a leader in this realm. Their service is reliable, and we use it with all of our clients. Compared to Okta, the cost is more affordable and they include a lot of services in the Microsoft licensing plans. This makes it the better option for most cases.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
The features are getting addresses per requirements and their value for Money. The proposed ROI and actual ROI build confidence.
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Professional Services
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Microsoft Professional Services' technical knowledge is appreciable as consultants design the solution as per customer requirements. Mapping of features per user specifications and assisting Customer IT engineers to implement so they can manage and administer the services.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Positively, it has increased productivity and efficiency in creating templates and being able to systemize some of the protocols we are working on putting into place.
  • It has been a positive as well as most individuals and companies that we associate with also use MicroSoft 365 and therefore there is no need to have formats change in our documents when they open them up using another type of program.
  • Getting work done quickly.... One and Done!!!
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Microsoft
  • I believe that the reduction in requests for lost access passwords has been considerably reduced by 20%.
  • There has been an increase in the productivity of each user who has used Entra ID; what these types of programs do is act as a motivator for users so that they can work more comfortably and avoid procrastinating.
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ScreenShots