Microsoft Entra ID is Microsoft’s cloud identity and access management service. Organizations use it to manage identities and control access to applications and resources, including Microsoft 365, Azure, SaaS apps, and some internal applications. It was formerly called Azure Active Directory (Azure AD); the 2023 rename did not require customers to migrate their existing deployments.
What Microsoft Entra ID does
Entra ID helps an organization determine who is signing in and what that identity can access. It supports employees using Microsoft services, third-party applications, and organization-developed cloud or internal apps. Microsoft describes it as a cloud-based identity and access management service. Microsoft’s overview of Entra ID explains its scope.
Two related terms describe separate parts of this work:
- Authentication verifies that a user, device, or software component is the identity it claims to be.
- Authorization determines whether that identity may access a particular resource.
A sign-in flow may involve both, but passing authentication does not by itself guarantee authorization. Microsoft’s authentication overview describes the distinction.
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Entra ID, Azure AD, and Microsoft Entra
Microsoft began changing the Azure Active Directory name to Microsoft Entra ID on August 15, 2023. Service-plan display names changed on October 1, 2023, and Microsoft said most naming updates across its and partner experiences were completed by the end of that year. The rename did not interrupt the service or require customers to migrate existing deployments, configurations, or integrations.
Microsoft also said login URLs, APIs, PowerShell cmdlets, Microsoft Authentication Libraries (MSAL), developer experiences, and tooling stayed the same. Its rename guidance said features and capabilities remained available. That statement describes the naming change; it is not a guarantee that every feature is included in every current subscription. Microsoft’s Azure AD naming guidance covers the transition.
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Microsoft Entra is the broader product family, not always a synonym for Entra ID. Entra ID is its cloud identity service; the family also includes other identity and network-access products. Windows Server Active Directory remains a separately named on-premises directory service. Microsoft’s Entra overview distinguishes the product family and its services.
Common Entra ID capabilities
Organizations use Entra ID for a range of identity and access tasks. The specific features available depend on the subscription and service configuration.
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- Users and groups: Manage identities and group membership.
- Authentication methods: Configure ways users prove their identities.
- Application management and provisioning: Connect applications and manage user access to them.
- Role-based access control: Assign administrative permissions according to roles.
- Conditional Access: Apply access policies using identity and other signals.
- Device and hybrid identity: Incorporate device identity and connect identity environments where appropriate.
- Application Proxy and managed identities: Support access to certain internal applications and identity needs for applications or services.
- Monitoring and governance: Review activity and manage identity-related access and oversight.
These are categories of capability, not a promise that all are part of a particular license. Microsoft’s Entra documentation provides an overview of the service areas.
How Conditional Access works
Conditional Access evaluates an access request using identity and other signals, then determines whether to allow access and what controls to require. For example, an organization might require multifactor authentication (MFA) when a user accesses a selected application. Microsoft describes Conditional Access as a Zero Trust policy engine; its policies are enforced after first-factor authentication. Microsoft’s Conditional Access overview explains the policy model.
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Licensing matters: Microsoft’s documentation lists Entra ID P1 or eligible Microsoft 365 Business Premium for Conditional Access. Risk-based policies require Entra ID Protection, a P2 feature. Other services used alongside a policy may have their own licensing conditions, and feature availability can vary by cloud. Check Microsoft’s current licensing documentation for the intended tenant, subscription, and use case before relying on a feature.
Where administrators manage Entra ID
The Microsoft Entra admin center is a web portal for common identity-management work, including user and group administration, authentication methods, Conditional Access, identity security posture, and access governance. Some capabilities are also accessible through familiar interfaces such as the Azure portal and Microsoft 365 admin center, so the Entra admin center is not the only management surface. Microsoft’s admin center overview describes its purpose.
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Entra ID versus Windows Server Active Directory
These products serve identity needs in different deployment models: Entra ID is cloud-based, while Windows Server Active Directory is an on-premises directory service. An organization may also have hybrid requirements. The right comparison depends on its environment and applications, rather than on treating the products as interchangeable names.
When evaluating Entra ID, Active Directory, or another identity provider, consider:
- Whether identities and services need to be cloud-based, on-premises, or hybrid.
- Which applications and protocols must be supported.
- How identities are created, changed, synchronized, and removed.
- Which authentication methods and device or risk signals are needed.
- What policy controls, administrative roles, and integrations are required.
- Which licenses apply and who will operate and support the environment.
Microsoft’s documentation establishes the cloud and on-premises distinction and outlines Entra ID capabilities; the checklist above is a practical way to frame a comparison, not a vendor ranking. See Microsoft’s Entra overview and its Entra ID information.
Licensing and pricing considerations
Microsoft documents Free, P1, and P2 options, with feature dependencies that affect what an organization can use. A feature name alone does not establish that it is included in a given subscription: Conditional Access and risk-based policies, for example, have different licensing requirements.
There is no single current price that can be applied accurately to every reader. Pricing depends on geography and subscription, and the relevant license depends on the planned features and other services. Check Microsoft’s current Entra pricing page and licensing documentation for your region and intended use.
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