Identity Security
Microsoft Entra ID + Entra Suite — Product Overview and Comparison
Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) is Microsoft's identity and access management platform — the foundation that controls who can sign in to an organization's applications and resources, and under what conditions. It is available in a free tier and two paid tiers, P1 and P2, with the Entra Suite bringing together an even broader set of identity and network access capabilities into a single offering. Below is an overview of what each includes and the value it delivers.
Microsoft Entra ID Free
Designed for: Every organization using Microsoft 365 or Azure, as the identity foundation included at no additional cost.
What's Included
- Core directory services for managing users and groups
- Single sign-on for a limited number of connected applications
- Basic reporting
- Basic Verified ID capabilities
Why It Matters for Your Business
Every organization using Microsoft cloud services already has Entra ID Free working behind the scenes, providing the basic identity foundation that lets employees sign in securely to Microsoft 365 and connected applications. It's a starting point every business already owns, and understanding what's included helps identify exactly where a paid tier would add meaningful additional protection.
Microsoft Entra ID P1
Designed for: Organizations that want to enforce stronger, condition-based access policies and extend secure sign-in to a broader set of applications.
What's Included
- Everything in Entra ID Free, plus:
- Conditional Access, allowing sign-in policies based on factors such as location, device, or application
- Group-based access management for applications and resources
- Self-service password reset for hybrid environments
- Advanced security and usage reporting
- Application Proxy, for securely publishing on-premises applications for remote access without a VPN
Why It Matters for Your Business
Entra ID P1 gives an organization real control over how and when users can access company resources — for example, requiring multifactor authentication only when a sign-in looks unusual, or blocking access entirely from unmanaged devices. This meaningfully raises the security bar beyond basic sign-in, without requiring end users to navigate a more complicated day-to-day experience. Self-service password reset also reduces the burden on IT help desks, a common source of support tickets in many organizations.
Microsoft Entra ID P2
Designed for: Organizations that want AI-driven risk detection and tighter control over privileged administrative access.
What's Included
- Everything in Entra ID P1, plus:
- Identity Protection, which uses machine learning to detect risky sign-ins and compromised accounts in real time
- Privileged Identity Management, providing just-in-time, time-limited access to administrative roles rather than standing privileged access
- Access reviews, allowing periodic verification that users still need the access they've been granted
Why It Matters for Your Business
Entra ID P2 addresses two of the most common paths to a security breach: compromised user credentials and overprivileged administrative accounts. Identity Protection can automatically detect and respond to signs of a compromised account, such as an impossible travel pattern or a login from a known malicious source, often before a human would ever notice. Privileged Identity Management, meanwhile, ensures that administrative access is only active when actually needed, significantly reducing the window of opportunity if an administrator's credentials are ever compromised — a critical safeguard for any organization's most sensitive accounts.
Microsoft Entra Suite
Designed for: Organizations that want to secure access to every application and resource — cloud or on-premises — from a single, unified identity and network access platform.
What's Included
- Everything in Entra ID P2, plus:
- Entra Private Access, a Zero Trust alternative to a traditional VPN for securely reaching private, on-premises applications
- Entra Internet Access, a secure web gateway that applies identity-based controls to internet and SaaS traffic, including AI application usage
- Full Identity Governance, extending access reviews and entitlement management across the organization
- Entra Verified ID with Face Check, adding facial recognition-based identity verification to protect against impersonation and deepfake-based attacks
Why It Matters for Your Business
The Entra Suite brings together identity, network access, and governance into a single platform, replacing the separate VPN, web gateway, and access governance tools many organizations still license and manage independently. This is particularly valuable as organizations move away from traditional, perimeter-based security models toward a Zero Trust approach, where every access request — whether to a cloud application or an on-premises system — is verified based on identity and context rather than simply being inside the corporate network. As AI-generated impersonation and deepfake attacks become a more common threat, Face Check verification also gives organizations a strong safeguard for their most sensitive access moments, such as help desk identity verification or privileged account recovery.
Summary
- Entra ID Free — the identity foundation included with every Microsoft cloud subscription.
- Entra ID P1 — condition-based access policies and secure access to on-premises applications.
- Entra ID P2 — AI-driven risk detection and just-in-time privileged access management.
- Entra Suite — the complete identity, network access, and governance platform for a full Zero Trust approach.
Each tier builds on the one before it, allowing an organization to strengthen its identity security posture in stages — starting with the protections already included in Microsoft 365, and expanding toward a complete Zero Trust architecture as its security needs grow.
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Our team can help you identify the plan that best matches your organization's needs and guide you through setup.