Keycloak vs Microsoft Entra ID

Keycloak and Microsoft Entra ID are both open source iam solutions. Keycloak open-source IAM platform with SSO, identity brokering, and fine-grained authorization, while Microsoft Entra ID microsoft's cloud identity platform with deep M365 and Azure integration. The best choice depends on your organization's size, technical requirements, and budget.

Updated Feb 2026
How we compare:This comparison is based on official documentation, public pricing, community discussions, and aggregated user feedback, not hands-on testing by our team. We organize what real users and practitioners are saying across the web.

The Bottom Line

Choose Keycloak if completely free — no licensing costs regardless of user count is your priority and organizations with engineering expertise that want full control over their identity platform, avoid vendor lock-in, and eliminate IAM licensing costs. Choose Microsoft Entra ID if included in Microsoft 365 licensing — significant cost savings for M365 shops matters most and organizations heavily invested in Microsoft 365 and Azure that want unified identity management across their Microsoft ecosystem.

Choose Keycloak if:

  • You value completely free — no licensing costs regardless of user count
  • You value full source code access enables deep customization
  • You value self-hosted deployment gives complete data sovereignty
  • You want to avoid best experience limited to Microsoft ecosystem applications
  • You want to avoid non-Microsoft application integrations can be less polished than Okta

Choose Microsoft Entra ID if:

  • You value included in Microsoft 365 licensing — significant cost savings for M365 shops
  • You value deep native integration with Azure, M365, and Defender ecosystem
  • You value conditional access policies are among the most powerful in the industry
  • You want to avoid requires significant engineering effort to deploy, scale, and maintain
  • You want to avoid no managed cloud service — you own all infrastructure operations

Feature Comparison

FeatureKeycloakMicrosoft Entra ID
PricingFree (open source) / Red Hat SSO for enterprise supportFree tier included with M365 / P1 from $6/user/month / P2 from $9/user/month
Pricing ModelFree open source with optional commercial supportPer-user monthly subscription (tiered)
Open SourceYesNo
DeploymentSelf-HostedCloud
Best ForOrganizations with engineering expertise that want full control over their identity platform, avoid vendor lock-in, and eliminate IAM licensing costsOrganizations heavily invested in Microsoft 365 and Azure that want unified identity management across their Microsoft ecosystem
User federation with LDAP and Active ...SupportedNot available
Fine-grained authorization services (...SupportedNot available
Admin console and account management ...SupportedNot available

Sources

Related

Keycloak AlternativesMicrosoft Entra ID AlternativesKeycloak OverviewMicrosoft Entra ID Overview