HEAD-TO-HEAD · FACTS ONLY, NO SCORES

Microsoft Entra vs SailPoint: IAM jobs, prices and limits side by side

Short answer

An identity provider's governance add-on against a dedicated governance platform. Entra ID Governance costs $7.00 per user per month on top of P1 or P2; SailPoint lists suites without prices and describes more certification campaign types. Both cover lifecycle and IGA and app coverage. Only Microsoft Entra covers directory and SSO, privileged access and threat detection.

By The Access Desk · Best IAM Tools · Published 2026-10-08

Desk research from public vendor pages read in September 2026, updated 2026-10-11. Editorial profiles, no scores; we did not run the products.

How do they compare job by job?

Coverage as described on each vendor's own pages, read in September 2026 and updated 11 October 2026. Not a score.
Job	Microsoft Entra	SailPoint
J1Directory and SSO	Documented Entra ID Free includes MFA and SSO; the app gallery lists thousands of applications; Conditional Access comes with P1; phishing-resistant methods include passkeys and FIDO2 security keys. Source: Microsoft Entra pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: Entra application gallery · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: Conditional Access overview · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: Entra authentication methods · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not in our sources
J2Lifecycle and IGA	Documented Entra ID Governance: lifecycle workflows before start, on status change and at leave, access reviews, entitlement management, and HR-driven provisioning from Workday and SAP SuccessFactors. Source: Microsoft Learn: Entra ID Governance overview · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: HR-driven provisioning · Read 27 Sep 2026	Documented Joiner, mover and leaver automation; Manager, Source Owner and Search certification campaigns; AI-driven certifications; automatic audit evidence collection and audit-ready reports. Source: SailPoint Identity Security Cloud · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: SailPoint documentation: certifications · Read 27 Sep 2026
J3App coverage	Partial Account discovery shows app users who do not match an Entra ID user. For apps without provisioning, the documented path is a CSV export, matching, an access review and an optional ServiceNow ticket. Source: Microsoft Learn: governing existing users in an application · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: applications that do not support provisioning · Read 27 Sep 2026	Partial The Application Management add-on gives app owners a self-registration portal and integration templates, and the SailPoint Discovery Tool uncovers unmanaged applications, identifies ownership and exposes shadow AI activity. Discovery of accounts inside those apps is not detailed. Source: SailPoint blog: Application Management · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: SailPoint Discovery Tool · Read 27 Sep 2026
J4Privileged access	Partial Privileged Identity Management (PIM) needs Microsoft Entra ID Governance or Entra ID P2 licences, per Microsoft's licensing page; feature detail is not in our sources. Source: Microsoft Learn: Entra ID Governance licensing fundamentals · Read 11 Oct 2026	Not in our sources SailPoint completed its acquisition of Entro Security, which secures non-human identities, secrets and tokens, on 29 June 2026. Privileged access products are not profiled here. Source: SailPoint press release: Entro Security acquisition closed · Read 27 Sep 2026
J5Threat detection	Documented Defender for Identity detects identity-based attacks across on-premises Active Directory, Entra ID and other IAM such as Okta; ID Protection and risk-based Conditional Access come with P2. Source: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Defender for Identity · Read 29 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Entra pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026	Not in our sources

Can you run both in one stack?

They overlap on lifecycle and IGA, so most stacks would use one of them for that job and the other only for the jobs it adds.

What do they cost and how are they deployed?

Microsoft Entra

Pricing: Per user per month, paid yearly: Entra ID Free; P1 $7.00; P2 $10.00; ID Governance $7.00 (requires P1 or P2); Entra Suite $12.00 (requires P1); Workload ID $3.00 per workload identity. P1 is included in Microsoft 365 E3 and Business Premium, P2 in Microsoft 365 E5. Defender for Identity needs EMS E5 or A5, Microsoft 365 E5 (E5, A5, G5), Microsoft 365 E5, A5, G5 or F5 Security, Microsoft 365 F5 Security and Compliance, or a standalone Defender for Identity licence; the standalone price is not stated.
Source: Microsoft Entra pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Defender for Identity · Read 29 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: Defender for Identity sensor prerequisites · Read 11 Oct 2026
Deployment: Microsoft cloud service; on-premises apps provisioned through the ECMA connector host; Defender for Identity uses sensors on identity infrastructure.
Source: Microsoft Learn: application provisioning · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Defender for Identity · Read 29 Sep 2026
Integrations: Thousands of gallery applications; provisioning by SCIM 2.0, LDAP, SQL, REST, SOAP, PowerShell and ECMA connectors.
Source: Microsoft Learn: Entra application gallery · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: application provisioning · Read 27 Sep 2026
Certifications: Not covered in our sources

SailPoint

Pricing: Suites listed (Standard, Agentic Business, Agentic Business Plus) without prices.
Source: SailPoint suites · Read 27 Sep 2026
Deployment: SaaS on SailPoint Atlas.
Source: SailPoint Identity Security Cloud · Read 27 Sep 2026
Integrations: Integration templates for app onboarding; no integration count in our sources.
Source: SailPoint blog: Application Management · Read 27 Sep 2026
Certifications: Not covered in our sources

What are each one's strengths and limits?

Microsoft Entra

Strengths

Published per-user prices for every tier.
Source: Microsoft Entra pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026
Directory, governance and detection from one vendor.
Source: Microsoft Learn: Entra ID Governance overview · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: Microsoft Learn: What is Microsoft Defender for Identity · Read 29 Sep 2026
Account discovery for app users who match no Entra ID user.
Source: Microsoft Learn: governing existing users in an application · Read 27 Sep 2026

Limits

ID Governance requires Entra ID P1 or P2.
Source: Microsoft Entra pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026
Apps without provisioning rely on a documented manual path (CSV export and matching).
Source: Microsoft Learn: applications that do not support provisioning · Read 27 Sep 2026
Privileged Identity Management needs Entra ID P2 or ID Governance licences, and its feature detail is not in our sources.
Source: Microsoft Learn: Entra ID Governance licensing fundamentals · Read 11 Oct 2026

SailPoint

Strengths

Deep certification campaigns: Manager, Source Owner and Search, plus AI-driven certifications.
Source: SailPoint documentation: certifications · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: SailPoint Identity Security Cloud · Read 27 Sep 2026
Audit evidence collected automatically, with audit-ready reports.
Source: SailPoint Identity Security Cloud · Read 27 Sep 2026
Works with discovery vendors: Orchid Security joined its Technology Alliance Partner program in August 2026.
Source: Orchid Security blog: SailPoint partnership · Read 27 Sep 2026

Limits

Suites listed without prices.
Source: SailPoint suites · Read 27 Sep 2026
The Discovery Tool uncovers unmanaged applications; discovery of accounts inside them is not detailed.
Source: SailPoint Discovery Tool · Read 27 Sep 2026

Which should you look at first?

Microsoft Entra

Look at Microsoft Entra first if you need: directory and SSO and threat detection.

Microsoft Entra's pages highlight: Published per-user prices for every tier.

Source: Microsoft Entra pricing · Read 27 Sep 2026

SailPoint

Look at SailPoint first if you need: the jobs both cover.

SailPoint's pages highlight: Deep certification campaigns: Manager, Source Owner and Search, plus AI-driven certifications.

Source: SailPoint documentation: certifications · Read 27 Sep 2026 · Source: SailPoint Identity Security Cloud · Read 27 Sep 2026

Frequently asked questions

Do Microsoft Entra and SailPoint publish prices?

Microsoft Entra: Per user per month, paid yearly: Entra ID Free; P1 $7.00; P2 $10.00; ID Governance $7.00 (requires P1 or P2); Entra Suite $12.00 (requires P1); Workload ID $3.00 per workload identity. P1 is included in Microsoft 365 E3 and Business Premium, P2 in Microsoft 365 E5. Defender for Identity needs EMS E5 or A5, Microsoft 365 E5 (E5, A5, G5), Microsoft 365 E5, A5, G5 or F5 Security, Microsoft 365 F5 Security and Compliance, or a standalone Defender for Identity licence; the standalone price is not stated. SailPoint: Suites listed (Standard, Agentic Business, Agentic Business Plus) without prices.

Do Microsoft Entra and SailPoint overlap?

They overlap on lifecycle and IGA, so most stacks would use one of them for that job and the other only for the jobs it adds.

How can I compare more than two IAM tools?

Use the side-by-side tool, which shows up to five vendors' job coverage, prices and limits in one table.