Entra Connect vs Cloud Sync: Which Should You Use in 2026?

If you’re planning a new hybrid identity deployment in 2026, one of the first decisions you’ll face is which synchronization engine to use: the long-standing Microsoft Entra Connect Sync (formerly Azure AD Connect) or the newer, lighter-weight Entra Connect Cloud Sync. Microsoft has been actively pushing organisations toward Cloud Sync throughout 2026, but the two tools still serve different needs. Here’s how to choose.

The Short Answer

For most new deployments in 2026, Cloud Sync is the recommended default. It’s simpler to install, easier to scale across multiple domains and forests, and Microsoft is clearly investing its roadmap there. Stick with Entra Connect Sync only if you have a specific, unmet requirement it covers that Cloud Sync doesn’t yet — complex custom sync rules being the most common reason.

Entra Connect Sync: Strengths and Limitations

Entra Connect Sync (the tool most admins still know as Azure AD Connect) is a full on-premises sync engine installed on a Windows Server. It gives you complete control over the synchronization rules editor, letting you build custom attribute mappings, complex filtering logic, and multi-forest topologies with fine-grained precision. If your organisation has heavily customised sync rules built up over years, migrating away isn’t trivial.

The tradeoff is operational overhead: it’s a single server (or a manually configured staging-mode pair) that needs patching, monitoring, and capacity planning. It’s also a single point of failure unless you’ve deliberately built redundancy, which historically few organisations did.

Cloud Sync: Strengths and Limitations

Cloud Sync takes a different architecture entirely: lightweight provisioning agents run on domain-joined servers and talk to a cloud-based sync service, rather than running the whole sync engine locally. You can deploy multiple agents across multiple domains or forests without the complex multi-forest configuration Entra Connect Sync requires, and agent failover is built in — install two or three agents and Microsoft handles distributing the load and failing over automatically.

Through 2026, Microsoft has continued closing feature gaps: group writeback, password hash synchronization refinements, and broader attribute support have all landed. The remaining gaps are narrow — mostly very complex custom sync rule scenarios and a handful of niche device-object edge cases — and shrinking with each update.

Migration Considerations

If you’re currently on Entra Connect Sync and considering a move, plan the migration deliberately rather than reacting to the in-portal notice:

• Audit your existing custom sync rules first — if you have none beyond the defaults, migration is usually straightforward
• Deploy Cloud Sync agents in staging/disabled mode alongside your existing Entra Connect Sync instance to validate object matching before cutting over
• Never run both tools actively syncing the same objects — pick one as authoritative at a time
• Test password hash sync and any conditional access policies that depend on sync freshness before decommissioning the old sync server

Bottom Line

New deployment, no exotic sync-rule requirements: choose Cloud Sync. Existing complex Entra Connect Sync setup that’s working fine: there’s no urgency to migrate, but start evaluating Cloud Sync now so you’re not caught out if Microsoft narrows support further down the line. For the full picture on hybrid identity, conditional access, and licensing, see our complete Microsoft Entra ID guide.