Identity And Access Management

The Top 10 Alternatives To Microsoft Azure Active Directory

Discover the top alternatives to Microsoft Azure Active Directory. Explore alternative providers offering similarly capable solutions featuring MFA, SSO, identity lifecycle management and more.

The Top 10 Alternatives To Microsoft Azure Active Directory include:
  • 1. JumpCloud Directory Platform
  • 2. Arculix by SecureAuth
  • 3. CyberArk Workforce Identity
  • 4. ForgeRock Identity Platform
  • 5. IBM Security Verify
  • 6. Okta Workforce Identity
  • 7. OneLogin Workforce Identity
  • 8. PingOne for Workforce
  • 9. RSA SecurID
  • 10. Thales SafeNet Trusted Access

Identity and access management (IAM) is the name given to software that is used by organizations to assign appropriate permission to users or groups based on what level of access they require. IAM creates a barrier between sensitive data or critical enterprise assets, and those who are not authorized to access them. It is, therefore, a critical component of any enterprise’s security program. 

Comprehensive IAM allows organizations to effectively secure their people and data, meet regulatory compliance requirements, reduce costs, and simplify the user experience, without a drop in standards. The market for IAM solutions has been steadily growing year on year, but saw a jump in demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. The global market for consumer identity and access management is estimated to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 14.9% during the forecast period 2022-2028.

Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is an enterprise cloud-based IAM solution from Microsoft – it is the backbone of the Office 365 system. This is an enterprise identity service which enables admins to manage to entire lifecycle of user identities, from onboarding and access provisioning to offboarding.

Alongside identity management, Azure AD also provides many identity security controls, including multi-factor authentication and single sign-on. If you are considering Azure Active Directory for these security tools, you may wish to look at competitor offerings. To avoid getting bogged down in choice, read on to see our top picks for suitable alternative to Microsoft Azure Active Directory. 

It should be noted that many, if not all, of the solutions on this list will also integrate with Azure Active Directory, and work alongside the platform to enhance security controls and governance capabilities, or for deploying users and leveraging existing Microsoft credentials.

JumpCloud logo

JumpCloud is an open directory platform offering secure, frictionless IAM. JumpCloud allows organizations to unify their technology stack across identity, access, and devices, in a manner that is both cost effective and functional. Their integrated suite of IAM solutions is cloud-based and works to connect employees of the organizations to the appropriate resources, while configuring and securing their remote devices. 

JumpCloud’s feature set includes centralized identity controls (like identity lifecycle management and cloud directory), alongside security and compliance capabilities like multifactor authentication, conditional access, and a secure password manager. Users also have frictionless access with single sign-on and admin can easily import identities from HR systems, develop custom workflows, access on-prem resources via LDAP. Management is done securely and centrally, where it is easy to enroll and manage mobile devices. 

JumpCloud offers flexible, à la carte or bundled plans that organizations can customize to suit their individual needs. This ensures they can add functionality when they need to scale. 

As JumpCloud is entirely cloud-based, it is well suited to organizations interested in an IAM solution that can support remote, hybrid and on-premises workers. We would recommend JumpCloud to organizations of any size looking for a flexible, scalable, and secure IAM product.

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SecureAuth Logo

SecureAuth are a California-based access control solutions provider, offering solutions for on-premises, cloud, and web applications. Arculix by SecureAuth is their access management and authentication solution which aims to reduce IAM related breaches with zero trust initiatives. The product also helps to stay ahead of identity hackers by leveraging actionable threat intelligence, boosting productivity, reducing operational costs, and providing scalability and visibility for applications.

The platform comes with a range of capabilities including intelligent multifactor authentication, passwordless authentication, adaptive authentication, and continuous authentication technology with real-time threat analytics and risk scores. The solution empowers organizations to create secure and frictionless experiences for identities everywhere, uses AI and machine learning to enhance understanding of user behavior for better security, and provides an iOS/Android authenticator app.

Contact SecureAuth directly for pricing or to request a personalized demo of their access management and authentication solution.

Arculix by SecureAuth leverages a combination of machine learning and AI to accurately detect, classify, and model behavior, so that real-time risk scores can be used to validate user identities prior to, during, and after, their authentications. We would recommend this solution to organizations looking for a centralized administrative experience and enhanced risk scoring.

Cyberark logo

Global leaders in identity security, CyberArk, provide comprehensive identity security across distributed workforces, hybrid cloud workloads, business applications and the DevOps lifecycle. Their solution, CyberArk Workforce Identity, is designed to secure cloud-centric digital enterprises. It allows organizations to defend against attacks, drive operational efficiencies, and improve compliance for remote workers, without disrupting the end-user experience.

This product is feature rich, and provides users with convenient, one-click access via single sign-on, helping to reduce password fatigue. Adaptive multi-factor authentication helps businesses to better protect against data loss and credentials theft or loss. CyberArk also provides strong lifecycle management, user behavior analytics, and a directory services which let organizations centrally manage IT directories at scale. Users can safely access traditional applications, hosted in corporate data centers, with the same logins they use to access cloud apps.

CyberArk Workforce Identity allows users to pick and choose the IAM capabilities necessary to their specific needs. Pricing for each of their core features is available on their website (with a slightly lower cost for the Standard version than for the Advanced version). They also offer free trials.

CyberArk supports businesses in overcoming the digital transformation obstacles of individual user authentication, authorization, and auditing challenges. We would recommend this product to organizations who are interested in a unified IAM solution, with everything you need to secure identities in a single product.

ForgeRock Logo

ForgeRock are leaders in digital identity management, providing end-to-end, AI-driven products that are purpose built for a range of environments and identities to secure thousands of customers globally. ForgeRock supports the growing access and identity needs of workforces with the ForgeRock Identity Platform – a comprehensive and easy to use IAM suite.

This solution offers users strong identity management and identity governance capabilities, allowing organizations to manage identity relationships across all channels, as well as identify and automating users access controls. The solution lets you build and customize access via contextual security, then leverage AI and machine learning to monitor logins, minimize friction and mitigate risk. You can further mitigate risk via edge security, SDKs, and intelligent access. ForgeRock Identity Platform allows you to easily unify and orchestrate directory services at scale, consolidate and simplify your IAM strategy, and provide users with a centralized dashboard for better profile and privacy management.

ForgeRock can be contacted via a form available on their website. Contact the sales team directly for information of pricing.

The ForgeRock Identity Platform is a full-featured, comprehensive IAM solution largely used by the retail, government, healthcare, communications, media, and financial sectors. We would recommend it to organizations in these industries or those looking for a strong, scalable, and customizable IAM solution.

IBM logo

IBM is an American multinational technology corporation, operating in over 171 countries, with headquarters in Armonk, New York. IBM Security Verify offers intelligent context to support security decisions regarding access to an organization’s data and applications, on-premises or in the cloud. The solution provides deep, AI-powered context for, both, workforce and consumer IAM needs.

IBM Security Verify is their identity-as-a-service (IDaaS) platform. Its core features include: centralized access control for on-premises and cloud applications with single sign-on; advanced authentication via MFA and passwordless login; and adaptive access using machine learning to evaluate user risk. The solution also provides consent management, lifecycle management, and identity analytics.

IBM Security Verify bases its prices on actual usage and so many vary widely. This ensures you only pay for what you use. You can add or remove users (or product use cases) at your own pace, and use resource units to quantify the dynamic usage of the organization. IBM offer a free trial of the solution and can be contacted to discuss pricing in detail.

Users rate IBM Security Verify highly and praise the integrations and customizations. We would recommend this solution to organizations who are currently using legacy, on premises apps, but would like to make a smooth transition to the cloud, at their own pace.

Okta Logo

Okta, founded in 2009, are a leading identity and access management provider based in San Francisco. Okta Workforce Identity is their enterprise grade identity management service that allows organizations to manage employee access to all applications and devices. The solution is built for the cloud, but is also compatible with many on-premises applications.

Okta Workforce Identity incorporates a range of identity solutions that combine to build the stack your organization needs to provide flexible, reliable, and scalable security. These include secure single sign-on, adaptive multi-factor authentication, advanced server access, and a single directory for all users, groups, and devices. The solution also offers API access management to prevent API breaches, the ability to extend modern identity to prem to secure hybrid environments, and lifecycle management which improves implement automation.

Pricing for Okta Workforce Identity will depend on which solutions are included in your stack. A full breakdown of the cost for each stack option, and a breakdown of the features, can be found on Okta’s website.

Okta Workforce Identity is popular amongst large enterprises and supports IT teams in managing access across any person, device, or application. Users praise how feature rich and stable the product is. We would, therefore, recommend Okta Workforce Identity to organizations looking for an IAM product that is highly flexible but also straightforward to set up and use.

Onelogin logo

OneLogin was founded in 2009 and are a global leader in IAM. In 2020, OneLogin introduced the workforce identity platform is a complete IAM solution that utilizes AI to effectively manage digital identities for an enterprise’s workforce and customers.

The “Workforce” side of the solution comes with Advanced Directory – this synchronizes users from multiple directories (Workday, Active Directory, LDAP, VLDAP, G Suite etc.), allows single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and context aware adaptive authentication. The solution also provides identity lifecycle management capabilities. HR driven identity lets you unify security access across all on-premises and cloud apps and uses certificate-based trust for remote employees.

OneLogin’s IAM offering is highly customizable, with a detailed breakdown of all features (and pricing) available on their website. Contact the sales team for a tailored price based on your needs.

OneLogin’s platform functions as a secure directory in the cloud, providing an intuitive web-based interface which facilitates the management or users, authentication policies and access control. We would recommend this solution to organizations looking to take control of application access and reduce identity infrastructure costs.

Ping Identity Logo

Founded in 2002, Ping Identity is a provider of federated identity management and self-hosted identity access management – this is a way of linking identities across separate identity management systems. PingOne for Workforce is part of the PingOne Cloud Platform, which delivers a comprehensive range of cloud IAM services – for both workforces and customers – allowing users to easily manage their identities in one place.

The platform provides multiple capabilities including passwordless options, MFA, and risk management which integrates into authentication flows and policies. This will identify suspicious events during user sessions, and use real-time fraud detection across web and mobile channels. The solution is designed to provide comprehensive orchestration and dynamic authorization. Also included is identity verification, convenient registration, and secure access management for apps and APIs. An AI tool is used to defend sensitive data and business systems.

There are three pricing plans for this product. For PingOne for Workforce, the Essential Plan ($3 per user, per month) provides essential IAM features like MFA, SSO, and integration with Microsoft. Next is the Plus Plan ($6 per user, per month), which includes all features offered in Essential, plus enhanced security and experience with intelligent, adaptive authentication. Finally, there is the Premium Plan, which offers everything featured Plus and is designed for more demanding complex use cases. Contact PingOne directly for a quote on pricing.

We would recommend this product to larger enterprises due to its cost, particularly those with wide customer usage or who require a high level of identity security for compliance or confidentiality purposes.

RSA Logo

RSA Security is an American computer and network security company, founded in 1982. They are a global leader in the IAM space, helping organizations to assure digital identities throughout their lifecycle for stronger security. RSA SecurID is an enterprise-class authentication software which brings together identity governance, multi-factor authentication, lifecycle management, and risk-based management to secure user access.

With powerful machine learning algorithms, RSA SecurID allows IT professionals to set up risk-based authentication and versatile multi-factor authentication, utilizing various methodologies which include onetime passwords (OTP), push notifications, biometric fingerprints, and FIDO tokens. The solution allows admin to automate monitoring, certification, reporting, and entitlement remediation, from a centralized platform.

Overall, this solution is rated highly by users, with particular praise given to the strong feature set and the ease of use. RSA SecurID is suited to support the identity risk management needs of businesses in sectors like retail, finance, education, healthcare, telecommunication, and travel. We would recommend this solution to businesses, small and large, interested in a platform that supports third-party integrations, and offers a seamless access experience for users.

Thales Logo

Thales are a global technology leader, founded in 2000, with over 81,000 employees across five continents. Thales SafeNet Trusted Access is their comprehensive and trusted enterprise solution for IAM, which provides users with strong authentication capabilities, allows for a passwordless experience, and combines features like MFA and SSO with comprehensive security infrastructure.

SafeNet Trusted Access comes with strong IAM features, such as Smart Single Sign-On, which is applied intelligently (based on previous authentications) and allows users to log into all of their cloud applications with just one identity. The solution uses a variety of authentication methods and supports flexible scenario-based access policies which allow for enforcement of policies at the user, group or application level. As it is a cloud-based solution, SafeNet Trusted Access can be rapidly deployed and is highly scalable.

Contact the Thales sales team directly for pricing information for SafeNet Trusted Access.

SafeNet Trusted Access gives you the power to control access to all apps with the right policy, allowing you to effectively enforce the correct authentication method for the correct user. For this reason, we would recommend SafeNet to organizations that need a tailored approach to user authentication that is quick to deploy and scaled easily to meet the organizations evolving needs.

The Top 10 Alternatives To Microsoft Azure Active Directory - Expert Insights