Frontegg was built for CIAM

The CIAM-first Microsoft Entra ID alternative

Frontegg vs. Entra ID

Microsoft Entra External ID uses the standard Entra tenant model, configured for external customer scenarios. Frontegg is made for B2B CIAM use cases — and always has been. You’ll see and feel the difference from the start.

Purpose-built for customer identity

Microsoft Entra External ID brings customer identity to the Entra platform, but it isn’t built around B2B SaaS customer organizations. Frontegg, by contrast, is purpose-built for B2B CIAM, delivering seamless customer identity experiences that scale with your business.

While Frontegg focuses on enhancing customer authentication, onboarding, and engagement, External ID does not expose a first-class SaaS customer-organization object with per-customer hierarchy and delegated organization administration, so that B2B application layer remains yours to model, and reliance on the broader Microsoft ecosystem can add complexity for developers.

  • Social logins
  • Customizable login box
  • Self-service admin
  • Multi-tenancy
  • Third-party integrations

Advanced features out of the box

Entra External ID supports basic CIAM functions like social logins and user registration. But deriving full value from the platform often requires complex workarounds.

On the other hand, Frontegg allows businesses to deliver advanced user experiences right away through capabilities like organization hierarchies, user groups, and support for multi-apps.

Easy integration that devs run to (not from)

With Entra, developers are forced to navigate multiple configurations for tenants, manage cross-tenant access settings, and ensure compatibility with related technologies like conditional access and entitlement management. Are you exhausted yet?

With Frontegg, configurations for tenants and cross-tenant settings are easy to handle. You’ll get a streamlined integration experience with SDKs and APIs that let developers plug CIAM features directly into their applications. Teams can actually focus on innovation rather than wrestling with underlying identity infrastructure.

Flexibly secures your customers’ apps

In Microsoft Entra External ID external tenants, customer MFA is limited to email one-time passcodes, SMS (a paid add-on) and passkeys, Conditional Access supports only device-platform and location conditions, and ID Protection isn’t available.

Frontegg ensures full protection without sacrificing user experience. Our Security Suite is purpose-built for CIAM, offering advanced security features like adaptive MFA tailored to customer contexts, session management with real-time monitoring, and developer integration for token policies and permissions.

Grows as you grow

With External ID, each external tenant is a separate directory, with no native construct for your individual customer organizations inside it. Frontegg makes it easy to support many organizations’ identity needs within a unified platform.

Frontegg
Entra ID

Authentication

Frontegg offers more tailored authentication solutions with deep customization and API flexibility, which Entra ID doesn’t fully support with its more standardized setup.

Standard login

No-code customization

Hosted IDP

M2M authentication

(paid add-on)

Entitlements

With advanced RBAC and feature management (Enterprise), Frontegg provides precise control over access and permissions, unlike Entra ID’s more basic entitlement options.

RBAC

Subscription-based

Enterprise

Feature flags

Enterprise

Trial management

Enterprise

FGA

Enterprise

B2B capabilities

Frontegg allows companies to specify different organizational hierarchies — like divisions, departments, or teams — to ensure everyone has the appropriate access.

Organization management

Hierarchies

Enterprise

Role level organization

Enterprise

Login per organization

SSO per organization: all plans; custom login box per organization: Enterprise

User groups

Security

Frontegg strengthens security with adaptive MFA (Enterprise), delivering more end-user-centric protection.

Risk and fraud engines

Basic on all plans; advanced on Enterprise

Security dashboards

Enterprise

Organizational level policies

Enterprise

Adaptive MFA

Enterprise
Device and location rules; no risk-based conditions

Step up

Enterprise

Logs streaming

Enterprise

Enterprise readiness

Frontegg lets your customers set up SSO and SCIM themselves from the admin portal, on every plan.

SSO

SCIM

Audit logs

Enterprise

Management & analytics

Frontegg offers better visibility and control with its detailed user management and analytics tools.

User management

Admin portal

Self-service

Frontegg’s admin portal, included on every plan, delivers extensive self-service capabilities for user and org management, unlike Entra ID.

User login and signup

Profile management

User invitation

Organization management

Audit logs

Enterprise

SSO & SCIM configuration

Security configuration

Enterprise
icon

Authentication

Frontegg offers more tailored authentication solutions with deep customization and API flexibility, which Entra ID doesn’t fully support with its more standardized setup.

icon

Entitlements

With advanced RBAC and feature management (Enterprise), Frontegg provides precise control over access and permissions, unlike Entra ID’s more basic entitlement options.

icon

B2B capabilities

Frontegg allows companies to specify different organizational hierarchies — like divisions, departments, or teams — to ensure everyone has the appropriate access.

icon

Security

Frontegg strengthens security with adaptive MFA (Enterprise), delivering more end-user-centric protection.

icon

Enterprise readiness

Frontegg lets your customers set up SSO and SCIM themselves from the admin portal, on every plan.

icon

Management & analytics

Frontegg offers better visibility and control with its detailed user management and analytics tools.

icon

Self-service

Frontegg’s admin portal, included on every plan, delivers extensive self-service capabilities for user and org management, unlike Entra ID.

Leading the momentum on G2

4.8/5 | Based on 367 G2 Ratings