Microsoft Entra vs NewCore for workforce IAM
SHORT ANSWER
Editorial assessment · Desk research from public vendor material · Reviewed 2026-09-29
HOW TO READ THIS PAIR
Scores by criterion
The Entra app gallery "contains thousands of applications"; no exact count is published.
No app catalogue or integration count is published. SAML and OIDC apps connect "with no application changes".
Source: NewCore: Identity Security
Higher score: Microsoft Entra
Windows Hello for Business, platform credential for macOS, synced passkeys, FIDO2 keys and certificate-based authentication.
Passkeys, Visual MFA and live 1 to 10 strength scoring for every authenticator, mapped to NIST levels.
Source: NewCore: Identity Security
Higher score: Tie
Customer-held signing keys are not described on the pages reviewed.
Secure Split Key: both key shares, one in NewCore's cloud and one in your environment, are needed to sign a valid token.
Source: NewCore: Identity Security
Higher score: NewCore
SCIM 2.0, LDAP, SQL, REST, SOAP and PowerShell connectors, including on-premises targets.
SCIM or app provisioning is not mentioned on the pages reviewed.
Source: NewCore: Identity Security · NewCore home page
Higher score: Microsoft Entra
Entra Agent ID is generally available to all Entra customers.
People and AI agents share one policy engine and one audit trail.
Source: NewCore home page · NewCore: Identity Security
Higher score: NewCore
Weighted total
Microsoft Entra 8.3 / 10 · NewCore 5.4 / 10
Higher score: Microsoft Entra
Where each one scores higher
Microsoft Entra scores higher on
- app integration breadth (8 vs 3)
- provisioning to apps (9 vs 2)
- pricing transparency (9 vs 2)
NewCore scores higher on
- protection of token signing (5 vs 9)
- AI agent identities (8 vs 9)
Pricing, side by side
Microsoft Entra
- Entra ID Free: $0 per user per month
- Entra ID P1: $7 per user per month
- Entra ID P2: $10 per user per month
included with Microsoft cloud subscriptions; per user per month, annual commitment.
P1 is included in Microsoft 365 E3 and Business Premium; P2 is included in Microsoft 365 E5.
Source: Microsoft Entra pricing
As published on 2026-09-29.
Which should you choose?
Stay with Microsoft Entra if phishing-resistant sign-in and pricing transparency matter most. It scores 9 and 9 on them. Windows Hello for Business, platform credential for macOS, synced passkeys, FIDO2 keys and certificate-based authentication.
Consider adding NewCore if phishing-resistant sign-in and AI agent identities matter most. It scores 9 and 9 on them. Passkeys, Visual MFA and live 1 to 10 strength scoring for every authenticator, mapped to NIST levels.
Questions
Which scores higher overall, Microsoft Entra or NewCore?
On our weights for workforce IAM, Microsoft Entra scores 8.3 / 10 and NewCore 5.4 / 10. Totals are the weighted average of six criterion scores; the weights are listed on the Workforce IAM page.
Where does Microsoft Entra score higher than NewCore?
On app integration breadth, provisioning to apps and pricing transparency.
Where does NewCore score higher than Microsoft Entra?
On protection of token signing and AI agent identities.
Related
Sources
- Microsoft Learn: application gallery: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/enterprise-apps/overview-application-gallery
- Microsoft Learn: authentication methods: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/authentication/concept-authentication-methods
- Microsoft Learn: app provisioning: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/app-provisioning/user-provisioning
- Microsoft Learn: agent identities for AI agents: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/agent-id/identity-professional/microsoft-entra-agent-identities-for-ai-agents
- Microsoft Entra pricing: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/microsoft-entra-pricing
- NewCore: Identity Security: https://newcore.com/platform/identity-security
- NewCore home page: https://newcore.com/