Open Source Alternatives
Open Source Auth Alternatives to Azure AD (Microsoft Entra ID)
Microsoft's cloud identity service (now Entra ID): SSO, MFA, and directory for apps and workforces.
Azure AD (Microsoft Entra ID) is a trademark of its respective owner.
Updated May 2026
What you gain
- ✓No per-user monthly licensing for SSO, MFA, and conditional access
- ✓Your directory and identity policies run on your own infrastructure
- ✓Self-hosted identity, not tied to a Microsoft tenant
- ✓No vendor lock-in on your identity provider
What you give up
- △No native integration with Microsoft 365, Windows, and Intune device management
- △No conditional-access policy engine tied to Microsoft's risk signals
- △Fewer turnkey enterprise app SSO connectors from Microsoft's gallery
- △No Microsoft support contract behind identity outages
Switching Cost
Azure AD is sticky because it is wired into Microsoft 365, Windows, and Intune, and that integration is what you lose, not your user accounts. Authentik and ZITADEL replace the SSO, MFA, and directory functions for your own apps. They do not replace conditional access tied to Microsoft's risk engine or device management through Intune. A team using Entra only for app SSO can move in a week or two. An organization running Windows, M365, and device compliance through Entra is not really switching identity, it is leaving the Microsoft ecosystem, which is a much larger project. The hidden cost is everything else in your stack that authenticates against Entra.
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Drop-in Replacements
Ranked by feature coverage
Authentik
8160% coverageFlexible identity provider
SSO (single sign-on), multi-factor auth, user directories, all in one place. The open source version is extremely capable.
ZITADEL
7360% coverageIdentity infrastructure, simplified
ZITADEL is a self-contained identity platform: login, signup, SSO, multi-factor auth, user roles, all in one. It's an alternative to Auth0 or Clerk that you can self-host for free.
Authentik and ZITADEL replace Azure AD's app SSO, MFA, and directory. They don't touch Microsoft 365, Windows, or Intune integration, so this only makes sense if your identity needs are app-level, not whole-ecosystem.
OSS covers
- ✓SSO + MFA
- ✓directory
- ✓OIDC/SAML
OSS does not cover
- △Microsoft 365 and Windows integration
- △Intune device management
- △conditional access risk engine
AWS Cognito