# What cloud directory service do most startups switch to when they outgrow Google Workspace alone and need proper identity management without building it themselves?

<p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Hello G2 users, one for the startup crowd. Google Workspace quietly becomes the identity provider at most young companies until the day it is not enough: no real device policy, no LDAP or RADIUS, and offboarding that only covers Google. So what cloud directory service do most startups switch to when they outgrow Google Workspace alone and need proper identity management without building it themselves? I went through small business filtered reviews of <a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/categories/cloud-directory-services">cloud directory services</a> from the past year to see what teams in that exact spot actually adopt. JumpCloud came up more than anything else, but it is not the only answer. Three names dominate, and only three had enough small-team evidence to write about honestly:</p><ul>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/jumpcloud/reviews"><strong>JumpCloud</strong></a>: The most common landing spot in the reviews I read, partly because it sits alongside Google Workspace instead of replacing it. Reviewers at lean companies describe SSO into Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub, and AWS working smoothly with conditional access layered on top, and small business reviewers call it free for small usage and economical, which matches its Best Free Software badge in this category.</li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/rippling-it/reviews"><strong>Rippling IT</strong></a>: The pick when the real problem is nobody owning IT. One reviewer at a scaling company with no IT admin described ordering, shipping, locking, and reclaiming laptops from the platform while a recruiting lead ran the whole thing. New hires get Slack, Google Workspace, and GitHub accounts on day one automatically.</li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-entra-id/reviews"><strong>Microsoft Entra ID</strong></a>: The contrarian option, and reviews are honest about the trade. One startup founder's review captures the trade: enterprise-grade MFA across the company instantly through Security Defaults, inside an interface clearly built for IT professionals that can overwhelm a small business owner implementing it solo. Makes most sense if you are drifting toward Microsoft 365 anyway.</li>
</ul><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Curious about the sequencing from people who lived it: did you add a directory on top of Google Workspace, or move identity off Google entirely? And at what headcount did the switch stop feeling optional?</p>

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: 28 days ago
- Net upvotes: 1


## Comments
### Comment 1

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;The Google Workspace outgrowing moment is really consistent, it usually hits when the first security-minded hire joins and asks why there&#39;s no device policy or real offboarding process.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 20 days ago
- Author title: Marketing Executive





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