Microsoft Entra ID vs. Entra ID B2C: What’s the Difference and Which One Do You Need?

Image Credit: Microsoft

 

In today’s cloud-first world, managing identity and access is critical — whether you're securing employee access to internal systems or enabling customers to sign up and sign in to your applications. Microsoft Entra, the evolution of Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), now offers a modern identity platform through its two primary services: 
Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) 
Microsoft Entra ID B2C (Business-to-Consumer) 

Although these services may seem similar, they serve very different use cases. Let’s explore what each does, how they compare, and how to choose the right one for your organization. 

What is Microsoft Entra ID? 

Microsoft Entra ID is the enterprise identity and access management (IAM) solution formerly known as Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). It is designed for managing access for employees, contractors, partners, and internal users within an organization. 

✅ Key Features: 

• Single Sign-On (SSO) for Microsoft 365, Azure, SaaS apps 

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) 

• Conditional Access Policies 

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) 

• Device Compliance Integration 

• Microsoft Defender for Identity Integration 

• Seamless integration with hybrid environments (on-prem AD sync) 

What is Microsoft Entra ID B2C? 

Microsoft Entra ID B2C is a customer identity access management (CIAM) solution. It is built to support external users — such as customers or end-users of your web and mobile applications — with a scalable, secure, and customizable identity platform. 

✅ Key Features: 

• White-label/custom branded login experiences 

• Support for social logins (Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) 

• Custom user flows and journeys (signup, password reset, MFA, etc.) 

• Standards-based protocols (OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML) 

• Scalability for millions of users 

• Pay-as-you-go pricing model 

Entra ID vs. Entra ID B2C: Head-to-Head Comparison 

When to Use Microsoft Entra ID 

Use Microsoft Entra ID when you need to: 

• Manage employee access to Microsoft 365 or Azure 

• Set security policies and enforce MFA across your organization 

• Enable SSO for SaaS and internal applications 

• Manage hybrid identity scenarios (on-prem AD + cloud) 

• Use Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management, or RBAC 

When to Use Microsoft Entra ID B2C 

Use Microsoft Entra ID B2C when you need to: 

• Let customers sign up or log in to your application 

• Offer social logins (e.g., Google, Facebook) 

• Customize branding and UI of sign-in/sign-up pages 

• Support large-scale public user bases 

• Design custom user journeys like multi-step registration or consent 

Bonus Tip: Can You Use Both? 

Yes! Many organizations use both in parallel: 

• Use Entra ID for internal access to corporate apps and services 

• Use Entra ID B2C for public-facing applications 

They are separate directories, though, and cannot natively share users. You’ll need to plan for that separation in your architecture. 

 

 

 

 

Both Microsoft Entra ID and Entra ID B2C are powerful identity platforms — but serve very different roles.

• Choose Entra ID for workforce identity management

• Choose Entra ID B2C for customer identity and access

Choosing the right solution depends on who your users are and what kind of experience and control you need.

Still not sure which one fits your needs best?  Reach out to us — we’d love to help you design the right identity architecture!