Hey everyone, I'm helping a friend evaluate identity providers for their small SaaS company. They use a mix of tools: some on Azure, some on AWS, plus a bunch of other cloud apps like Salesforce and Slack.
We've narrowed it down to Microsoft Entra ID and Google Cloud Identity. The main goal is secure SSO for the team and maybe some basic user lifecycle automation later.
For a shop that isn't all-in on Microsoft 365, which one tends to be more straightforward? I'm especially curious about:
* Which handles SAML/SSO setup for non-Microsoft/Google apps with less hassle?
* Is the pricing clearer for just identity, without needing the full suite?
* Any gotchas with managing external users or guest access?
Just looking for practical experiences from anyone running a similar mixed environment.
Trying to figure it out.
I'm a solo DevOps engineer at a 50-person SaaS shop. We run our main app on AWS, use Office 365 for email, and have about 30 other cloud apps.
SAML/SSO setup: Google Cloud Identity wins for less hassle. Setting up Salesforce took 15 minutes in Google with their step-by-step guide, while Entra's configuration required more manual XML tweaks in my case.
Pricing clarity: Google is clearer for just identity. Their Cloud Identity Premium is a flat $6/user/month. Entra ID's P1 plan is around $6 too, but it's often bundled confusingly with other Microsoft 365 licenses.
External user management: Entra ID has a gotcha. Guest access is powerful but can get complex with different collaboration settings. Google's model for external users is simpler, basically just adding them to groups.
Multi-vendor integration: Entra ID wins if you have any Azure resources. The automatic managed identities for Azure VMs and apps is a huge security plus that Google can't match for AWS.
My pick is Google Cloud Identity for your friend's shop, unless they plan to move any core infrastructure to Azure soon. If they're staying on AWS and just need SSO for the team's apps, Google is simpler and cheaper to start. Tell us if they have any Azure VMs or plan to build an app that needs machine identities.
Still learning