How IdentityFirst compares
and where others are stronger.
Buyers deserve an honest picture. This page compares IdentityFirst against four well-known products in the identity security space. Where a competitor is stronger, we say so. Where IdentityFirst has a genuine differentiator, we explain what it is and which tier it requires.
Maturity disclaimer
IdentityFirst MRI is the only tier currently in general availability. Core is in scoped rollout. Enhanced and AISF are private beta. The competitors listed below are established, well-funded products with years of production deployment. IdentityFirst is earlier in its commercial lifecycle and does not yet have the install base, partner ecosystem, or enterprise support infrastructure of these vendors.
Capability comparison
A fair summary. Capabilities marked with a tier qualifier are not available in all IdentityFirst tiers.
| Capability | IdentityFirst | PingCastle | Semperis | CrowdStrike Identity | SailPoint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery & Assessment | |||||
| AD security assessment | MRI | Strong | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Entra ID assessment | MRI | Limited | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-source identity discovery | MRI (5 GA connectors) | AD-focused | AD + Entra | Endpoint + AD | Strong (200+ connectors) |
| SaaS app coverage | Beta connectors | No | No | Limited | Strong |
| Kerberos attack analysis | MRI | Strong | Yes | Yes | No |
| Monitoring & Detection | |||||
| Continuous AD monitoring | Core (scoped rollout) | Scheduled scans | Real-time | Real-time | No |
| Real-time threat detection | No (assessment-led) | No | Strong | Strong | No |
| Identity drift detection | Core+ | Score comparison | Change tracking | Behavioural | Policy-based |
| Behavioural analytics | Enhanced+ (beta) | No | Limited | Strong | Limited |
| Response & Remediation | |||||
| AD forest recovery | No | No | Strong (core product) | No | No |
| Automated remediation | Enhanced+ (beta, HITL required) | No | Auto-rollback | Containment | Workflow-driven |
| Incident response integration | AISF (beta) | No | SIEM/SOAR | Native XDR | ITSM workflows |
| Governance & Compliance | |||||
| Access reviews / certification | Enhanced+ (beta) | No | No | No | Strong (core product) |
| Compliance framework mapping | MRI (cross-references) | CIS benchmarks | Limited | No | Strong |
| Identity lifecycle management | Core+ (scoped rollout) | No | No | No | Strong (core product) |
| Separation of duties | Enhanced+ (beta) | No | No | No | Strong |
| Tamper-evident audit trail | All tiers (HMAC-SHA256) | Report files | Event logs | Cloud telemetry | Audit logs |
| Commercial & Deployment | |||||
| Read-only assessment (zero writes) | MRI | Yes | Agent required | Agent required | Agent or connector |
| Multi-tenant MSP support | Yes (built-in) | No | Enterprise only | Falcon platform | Enterprise only |
| White-label reporting | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Self-hosted / air-gapped | Yes (Docker) | Yes (standalone exe) | On-premises option | Cloud only | SaaS or virtual appliance |
| Free tier / community edition | No | Yes (free community) | No | No | No |
Comparison based on publicly available vendor documentation as of April 2026. Vendor capabilities may have changed since this page was last updated. Where we are unsure, we err on the side of crediting the competitor.
Where each product is strongest
PingCastle
Where PingCastle is stronger
- Free community edition with no commercial barrier to first use.
- Deep Active Directory expertise refined over many years. Industry-recognised AD health scoring.
- Single standalone executable with no infrastructure dependency. Runs anywhere instantly.
- Large community knowledge base and well-understood report format.
Where IdentityFirst differs
- Multi-source: MRI connects to AD, Entra ID, AWS, Google Workspace, Okta, ServiceNow rather than AD alone.
- Built-in multi-tenant MSP support with white-label reporting.
- Compliance framework cross-references (ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST CSF, CIS, DORA, NIS2) rather than CIS benchmarks alone.
- Progression path from assessment into ongoing governance (Core+) without switching products.
Semperis
Where Semperis is stronger
- AD forest recovery is their core differentiator. No other vendor, including IdentityFirst, matches this capability.
- Real-time change monitoring and automatic rollback of malicious AD changes.
- Mature enterprise deployment with proven incident response track record.
- Deep AD-specific threat intelligence refined from real breach response engagements.
Where IdentityFirst differs
- Broader identity source coverage beyond AD/Entra (cloud IAM, IGA, PAM, SaaS connectors).
- Read-only assessment start with no agent requirement reduces adoption friction.
- MSP-first commercial model with multi-tenant portal and white-label outputs.
- Governance and compliance focus (framework mapping, evidence packs) rather than DR/recovery focus.
CrowdStrike Identity Protection
Where CrowdStrike is stronger
- Real-time identity threat detection backed by one of the largest threat intelligence operations in the industry.
- Native integration with Falcon XDR platform gives identity context alongside endpoint, cloud, and network telemetry.
- Behavioural analytics at scale with a very large training dataset from global deployments.
- Automated containment and response actions that IdentityFirst does not offer at GA today.
- Established enterprise sales motion, channel programme, and 24/7 SOC support.
Where IdentityFirst differs
- Read-only, agentless assessment. CrowdStrike requires the Falcon agent deployed to endpoints.
- Governance and compliance reporting focus rather than detection-and-response focus.
- MSP commercial model with multi-tenant support and white-label client outputs.
- Lower entry cost and simpler deployment for organisations that need assessment before committing to an enterprise platform.
SailPoint
Where SailPoint is stronger
- Market leader in identity governance with 200+ out-of-the-box connectors in production use.
- Mature access certification campaigns, role modelling, and separation of duties enforcement.
- Full identity lifecycle management (joiner/mover/leaver) with workflow automation.
- Established compliance reporting across a very wide application landscape.
- Large partner ecosystem, professional services network, and enterprise support organisation.
Where IdentityFirst differs
- Assessment-first entry point. SailPoint is typically a governance-first purchase that requires significant implementation effort before first value.
- Lower cost of entry for organisations that need to understand their identity risk before committing to a full IGA programme.
- Identity security focus (risk scoring, blast radius, threat context) rather than IGA workflow focus.
- Self-hosted option with Docker deployment. SailPoint Identity Security Cloud is SaaS-first.
- MSP-native with built-in multi-tenant management and white-label outputs.
When to choose IdentityFirst
IdentityFirst is a strong fit when you need a low-friction, read-only identity assessment that produces evidence, board-ready reporting, and compliance cross-references across multiple identity sources. It is especially relevant for MSPs building a managed identity security service, and for organisations that want to understand their risk before committing to a larger platform purchase.
It is not the right choice if you need real-time threat detection and response (consider CrowdStrike), AD forest recovery (consider Semperis), a free community AD scanner (consider PingCastle), or a full identity governance programme with 200+ connectors (consider SailPoint). We would rather lose a deal honestly than win one on a claim we cannot back up.