Supported Authentication Methods for Entra ID Free and P1 Plans

Question

Supported Authentication Methods for Entra ID Free and P1 Plans

U R 20

Please review the following site: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/authentication/overview-authentication

If an organization subscribes to the Entra ID Free plan, which authentication methods marked “YES” under Primary authentication are available for use?

Similarly, which authentication methods are supported under the Entra ID P1 plan?

It would be helpful if you could respond in the following format:

Free (Password, Short Message Service (SMS) sign-in)
P1 (Windows Hello for Business, Passkey (FIDO2))

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Answer 1

Shubham Sharma 12,765 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi UR-5543

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

Based on the “Authentication methods supported by Microsoft Entra ID” table, the methods that show YES under “Primary authentication” break out like this:

Free

• Password

• Short Message Service (SMS) sign-in

• Temporary Access Pass (TAP)

P1

• Windows Hello for Business

• FIDO2 security keys

• Platform credential for macOS

• Synced passkeys (FIDO2 preview)

• Passkeys in Microsoft Authenticator

• Certificate-based authentication

Note: P1 tenants also retain all of the Free methods above.

Microsoft docs for your References :-

https://learn.microsoft.com/entra/identity/authentication/overview-authentication

https://learn.microsoft.com/entra/fundamentals/licensing?wt.mc_id=knowledgesearch_inproduct_azure-cxp-community-insider#app-provisioning

https://learn.microsoft.com/entra/identity/authentication/concept-mfa-licensing?wt.mc_id=knowledgesearch_inproduct_azure-cxp-community-insider#feature-comparison-based-on-licenses

Let us know if you have any questions

Rukmini 35,655 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-12T23:52:23.9933333+00:00

Hello U R

Could you please clarify what specific details you need regarding the authentication methods?
U R 20 Reputation points

2026-03-16T04:16:59.7566667+00:00

Hi **Rukmini**I am considering applying the Microsoft Entra ID Free plan.

On the page below, I understand that the authentication methods with “Yes” under Primary authentication are the methods that can be used as the first authentication factor when using Entra ID.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/authentication/overview-authentication

Therefore, I would like to know which of the authentication methods marked as “Yes” under Primary authentication are supported in the Microsoft Entra ID Free plan that I am planning to use.

Shubham Sharma 12,765 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

U R

Thank for your reply.

On the Authentication overview page you linked, Microsoft does not license‑gate primary authentication methods themselves.

Instead:

Primary authentication method availability is generally included in Entra ID Free

Premium licensing (P1 / P2) is required for:

Conditional Access

Risk‑based policies

Advanced MFA enforcement scenarios

Microsoft explicitly lists the authentication methods as “supported by Microsoft Entra ID” without tying them to a paid SKU in the primary-auth table

Primary authentication methods supported in Microsoft Entra ID Free

From the table in the official doc, the following methods are marked “Yes” for Primary authentication, and are available in Entra ID Free:

Supported in Entra ID Free (Primary authentication)


Authentication method	Primary auth	Notes
Password	✅ Yes	Core sign‑in method in all editions
Windows Hello for Business	✅ Yes	Works without P1/P2; CA policies require P1
Platform Credential for macOS	✅ Yes	No premium license required
Passkey (FIDO2 security keys)	✅ Yes	Supported without P1/P2
Passkey in Microsoft Authenticator	✅ Yes	Passwordless sign‑in supported
Synced passkey (preview)	✅ Yes	Preview feature; licensing not restricted
Certificate‑based authentication (CBA)	✅ Yes	Supported as a primary factor
Microsoft Authenticator (passwordless)	✅ Yes	Works without Conditional Access
Microsoft Authenticator push notifications	✅ Yes	Can be used as primary sign‑in
Temporary Access Pass (TAP)	✅ Yes	Time‑limited primary sign‑in method
SMS sign‑in	✅ Yes	Phone number–based primary sign‑in
QR code sign‑in	✅ Yes	Passwordless primary sign‑in

All of the above are explicitly marked “Yes” under Primary authentication in Microsoft’s official table

What Entra ID Free does not give you :-

Even though the methods themselves work, Entra ID Free does not include:

Conditional Access policies

Risk‑based authentication

Identity Protection

Advanced MFA enforcement logic

So for example:

You can sign in with FIDO2

You cannot require FIDO2 via Conditional Access without Entra ID P1

This distinction is licensing‑based, not method‑based.

Summary :-

All authentication methods marked “Yes” under Primary authentication in the doc are available in Microsoft Entra ID Free

Passwordless methods do NOT require P1/P2

Conditional Access and risk‑based enforcement do require P1/P2

Entra ID Free is sufficient if you only need basic primary sign‑in

Shubham Sharma 12,765 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-20T06:23:47.8966667+00:00

U R

Following up to check if the resolution provided above was helpful. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

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Supported Authentication Methods for Entra ID Free and P1 Plans

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