# Microsoft Entra External ID: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 36 judge labels across 3 categories by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-entra-external-id

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Customer identity and access management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/customer-identity-and-access-management/index.md) | 2% | 11 | 15% | 33 |
| [Identity governance](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/identity-governance/index.md) | 0% | 81 | 50% | 2 |
| [Intelligent document processing](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/intelligent-document-processing/index.md) | 0% | 52 | 0% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "my default recommendation would be Microsoft Entra External ID" (GPT-5.4 mini, CIAM)
- "Microsoft's next-generation CIAM solution that enables organizations to secure and customize external identities' access to applications" (MiniMax M2.5, CIAM)
- "Consider Microsoft Entra External ID or Amazon Cognito if your team is already strongly invested in Azure or AWS" (GPT-6 Luna, CIAM)
- "Deep Azure integration, strong security, competitive pricing, good for organizations already in Microsoft stack." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, CIAM)

## And against it

- "Azure AD B2C for a new project: Avoid it for net-new deployments. Microsoft stopped selling it to new customers on May 1, 2025." (GPT-6 Luna, CIAM)
- "⚠️ In hospice/retired | Microsoft replaced it with Entra External ID" (Kimi K2, IGA)
- "Azure AD B2C is no longer available for purchase for new customers" (GPT-5.4 mini, CIAM)
- "Microsoft Azure AD B2C or Amazon Cognito get mixed feedback on customization limits or vendor lock-in." (Grok 4.20, CIAM)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Microsoft Entra External ID, from 84 of the 93 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- securityboulevard.com: 52
- cybersecuritynews.com: 35
- startwithidentity.com: 29
- okta.com: 27
- pingidentity.com: 27
- g2.com: 25
- startupstash.com: 24
- expertinsights.com: 20
- ibtimes.com: 20
- learn.microsoft.com: 20 (its own site)

### Pages cited

- https://securityboulevard.com/2026/08/top-5-enterprise-ciam-platforms-in-2026-in-depth-comparison: 38
- https://cybersecuritynews.com/best-ciam-solutions: 35
- https://securityboulevard.com/2026/08/top-5-enterprise-ciam-platforms-in-2026-in-depth-comparison-2: 22
- https://ibtimes.com/top-5-best-customer-identity-access-management-ciam-solutions-2026-3800878: 20
- https://expertinsights.com/identity-and-access-management/top-customer-identity-and-access-management-ciam-solutions: 19
- https://startupstash.com/customer-identity-and-access-management-ciam-tools: 18
- https://ciopages.com/buyer-guides/customer-identity-access-management: 16
- https://startwithidentity.com/rankings/best-ciam-for-enterprises: 12

## In its own words

What Microsoft Entra External ID's own pages state, read 2026-10-05. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: a customer identity and access management solution for managing all external identities (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/identity-access/microsoft-entra-external-id)
- For: customers and business collaborators (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/identity-access/microsoft-entra-external-id)
- Price stated: Get started for free and pay as you grow. (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/identity-access/microsoft-entra-external-id)
- Free plan or trial: Get started for free (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/identity-access/microsoft-entra-external-id)
- Integrations claimed: 4 (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/identity-access/microsoft-entra-external-id)
- Customers named: Komatsu, Virgin Money

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.