Microsoft Entra ID

Overview

Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is the default identity provider for any organization on Microsoft 365 or Azure. Conditional Access is the strongest policy engine in the workforce category. Pricing is bundled into Microsoft licensing, which is both its biggest strength and its biggest opacity problem.

When to choose

Default choice if Microsoft 365 is your collaboration suite. Conditional Access plus Identity Protection plus Defender for Identity covers an enormous surface area without buying additional products.

When to look elsewhere

If you run a heterogeneous stack with serious Google Workspace or AWS-first footprints, Entra's gravity can become a tax. Look at Okta or JumpCloud for cleaner multi-cloud neutrality.