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Active Roles by One Identity vs EmpowerID comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 20, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Active Roles by One Identity
Ranking in User Provisioning Software
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
Active Directory Management (1st), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (1st)
EmpowerID
Ranking in User Provisioning Software
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (21st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the User Provisioning Software category, the mindshare of Active Roles by One Identity is 4.9%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of EmpowerID is 2.4%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
User Provisioning Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Active Roles by One Identity4.9%
EmpowerID2.4%
Other92.7%
User Provisioning Software
 

Featured Reviews

Puru Solanki ( ITIL. CISM , CCSP ) - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Head at Citadel Global
Automation has streamlined onboarding and governance and delivers faster, more secure access
Overall, we are very satisfied with Active Roles by One Identity, but there are a few areas that could be improved. The user interface could be more modern and intuitive, especially for new administrators. Some advanced configuration and policy settings have a steep learning curve and could be simplified. We would also like to see more built-in integrations with cloud platforms and SaaS applications, along with additional out-of-the-box reporting templates. These improvements would make the product even easier and more flexible for organizations managing hybrid environments. One thing that would make our daily work even smoother is having more ready-to-use templates for common administrative tasks and reports. This would reduce the need for customization and help teams get up and running more quickly. Additionally, faster and simpler synchronization for hybrid and cloud environments would be beneficial, especially for organizations managing both on-premises and cloud identities. More detailed documentation and guided setup for advanced features would help new administrators learn the platform faster and more easily. One additional improvement I would like to see for Active Roles by One Identity is a better built-in dashboard with more real-time insights into identity and access activities. It would be helpful if upgrades and migrations were simpler and required less planning. Finally, expanding native integrations with more cloud services and third-party applications would make the platform even more versatile and reliable. These enhancements would improve the overall user experience while keeping the product's strong security and automation capabilities.
Varun Khandavalli - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Specialist Engineering Dev. & Integration at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
An excellent application with a strong use case
It is very intuitive and has improved significantly over the last seven years. Its deployment is very enterprise-focused, and I hope it will eventually become cloud-based for easier connection through AWS or similar services. Currently, it's an It is very intuitive and has improved significantly over the last seven years. Its deployment is very enterprise-focused, and I hope it will eventually become cloud-based for easier connection through AWS or similar services. Currently, it's an excellent application with a strong use case.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Overall, Active Roles by One Identity has significantly reduced the complexity and workload of Active Directory administration by automating many tasks that previously required manual effort, allowing our IT team to spend much less time on routine requests and focus on higher-value projects."
"After implementing One Identity Active Roles, clear operational improvements are evident, including user provisioning time reduction from hours to minutes, a 40 to 50% drop in service desk workload, faster resolution of password reset and account-related requests through delegated administration, and fewer manual errors in group assignment and permission management."
"One Identity Active Roles has positively impacted our organization by simplifying Active Directory administration and reducing the amount of manual work required for user and access management."
"ARS probably saves us at least two weeks out of every month."
"One Identity Active Roles has significantly reduced the complexity and workload of administrative tasks related to Active Directory, as routine tasks like user creation, password resets, and access changes are automated or delegated, saving time and reducing manual efforts while making management more structured and consistent, making overall administration easier and more efficient."
"Using One Identity Active Roles, we reduced our user provisioning time from hours to minutes, lowered service desk workload by approximately 40 to 60 minutes, reduced manual administration errors, and improved audit and compliance efficiency."
"The provisioning and deprovisioning saves a lot of time and skips a lot of errors."
"One aspect of my experience using Active Roles by One Identity that I want to emphasize is that I truly appreciate how it centralizes and automates identity management instead of relying on extensive manual Active Directory administration."
"It allows for self-service which means quicker turnaround for end-user support."
"It is very intuitive and has improved significantly over the last seven years. Its deployment is very enterprise-focused, and I hope it will eventually become cloud-based for easier connection through AWS or similar services. Currently, it's an excellent application with a strong use case."
 

Cons

"The initial setup and configuration can be complex, especially when designing workflows, policies, and delegation models."
"The biggest one is the management interface, which feels dated compared to many newer identity management platforms."
"Another issue we have with the product is that we run a lot of custom tasks. You have to program them to run on one particular host and there's no automatic failover to a second host. If that host is down when a task is supposed to run, it has to wait until the next time it runs when that host is up."
"We don't get a lot of communication from the One Identity side. I don't know who our account representative is, and that is kind of not good since we have had some turnover there."
"One area for improvement in Active Roles by One Identity would be enhanced support for administrators, especially when dealing with complex policies, delegated rules, and users."
"One Identity Active Roles is a strong product, but like any enterprise tool, there are areas where it could be improved."
"The UI of One Identity Active Roles could be more modern and responsive, and some advanced workflow configurations can feel complex during setup."
"The initial setup of One Identity Active Roles can be more simplified."
"I would like to see EmpowerID move to the cloud to facilitate easier deployment and connectivity through AWS or similar services."
"Perhaps it is the way my organization has it set up but I would like to add people to more than one group at a time."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's fairly priced."
"The pricing for Active Roles is expensive but not as expensive as other solutions like Okta."
"The price is reasonable. It costs us about 1 million Danish kroner annually, and we also spend about half as much on consultants."
"The pricing is high. I have not been involved with the renewal or cost aspect, but I know it is not cheap by any means. However, it is very useful for our environment."
"The licensing model is a simple user-based model, not that much complicated."
"The pricing is on the higher end."
"It's expensive."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
27%
Healthcare Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Construction Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business100
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise46
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with One Identity Active Roles?
To improve Active Roles by One Identity, I would like to see more automation around role assignment and access reviews, along with better reporting and an easier-to-use dashboard. While the integra...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Active Roles?
My main use case for Active Roles by One Identity involves managing user access and roles across different applications while ensuring users have the right permissions based on their responsibiliti...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for EmpowerID?
The cost is fairly moderate, although I can't recall the exact amount, it's around twenty five.
What needs improvement with EmpowerID?
I would like to see EmpowerID move to the cloud to facilitate easier deployment and connectivity through AWS or similar services.
What is your primary use case for EmpowerID?
EmpowerID is an application that helps move LC-MS and HPLC data from instruments to systems of record to be able to get that data and manage it. It is used for a lot of small molecule research and ...
 

Also Known As

Quest Active Roles
The Dot Net Factory EmpowerID
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City of Frankfurt, Moore Public Schools, George Washington University, Transavia Airlines, Howard County, MD. See all stories at OneIdentity.com/casestudies
Glencoe Specialty Services, GoDaddy, GTSI Corp., Alere Inc., Anadarko Petroleum, Bank of America, Bank of New York, Caterpillar, Coldwell Banker
Find out what your peers are saying about Active Roles by One Identity vs. EmpowerID and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.