ManageEngine ADAudit Plus is a mature, AD-specialist audit and reporting platform. It captures every AD change with full before/after context, ships hundreds of pre-built reports, supports real-time change capture, and maintains deep audit archives that satisfy regulator-style compliance questions. The trade-off is that it is Active Directory focused — Microsoft 365 reporting lives in a separate ManageEngine product (M365 Manager Plus), macOS and Linux are not covered, and running the platform across many MSP client tenants requires the MSP edition plus per-tenant operational overhead.
Lavawall®'s AD & M365 user reporting module covers Active Directory, Microsoft 365 / Entra ID, and Google Workspace in one place. Inactive users, privilege creep, MFA gaps, licence recovery, sign-in anomalies, and group membership changes are reported across all three identity sources from one unified data model. The module is one capability inside the broader Lavawall® platform — patching, breach detection, configuration backup, helpdesk, and remote support are all in the same console.
For MSPs delivering AD reporting as one of several services, Lavawall® is the right choice. For organisations that need a dedicated AD-archive platform with multi-year retention and the deepest possible AD change archive, ADAudit Plus remains a defensible specialist.
Where Lavawall® wins
AD + M365 + Google Workspace in one module. ADAudit Plus is Active Directory; M365 reporting requires the separate M365 Manager Plus product. Lavawall® ships AD, M365, and Google Workspace user reporting under one module with one report set — an MSP managing hybrid clients sees one consistent inactive-user list rather than three.
Cross-platform endpoint coverage. Lavawall®'s agent runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. File-change monitoring, event-log analytics, and configuration assessment cover all three. ADAudit Plus is Windows / AD focused.
Bundled with the rest of the MSP platform. Patching, breach detection, M365 / Entra / Azure configuration backup and rollback, GRC compliance for 15+ frameworks, helpdesk, and remote support are all in the same Lavawall® console. ADAudit Plus is one specialist product.
Multi-tenant by design. One Lavawall® console covers every client tenant. ADAudit Plus supports multi-tenant deployments through the MSP edition but with more per-tenant operational overhead in typical deployments.
MSP-native pricing. Per-tenant pricing in published CAD and USD. ADAudit Plus is priced per AD domain controller and per user-count tier; the MSP edition adds per-tenant scaling. For SMB-served MSP clients, Lavawall® is materially less expensive at equivalent functional scope — especially once M365 Manager Plus is added for Microsoft 365 coverage.
Where ManageEngine ADAudit Plus wins
Deep Active Directory audit archive. ADAudit Plus captures every attribute write on every domain controller in real time with full before/after context. If regulator-mandated multi-year AD audit retention is a primary requirement, ADAudit Plus is the deeper specialist.
Group Policy and AD schema change tracking. Pre-built reports for Group Policy Object changes, AD schema modifications, OU restructuring, and trust-relationship changes. Lavawall® covers users and groups but does not currently track GPO contents or schema changes.
Real-time change capture. ADAudit Plus captures AD changes in near real time via the directory service event log. Lavawall®'s AD collection is on a polling cycle (typically every few hours). For sub-minute detection on AD changes specifically, ADAudit Plus is faster.
Hundreds of pre-built AD reports. ADAudit Plus ships an extensive library of pre-built AD reports for compliance reviews. Lavawall® covers the reports MSPs actually use day to day, but doesn't ship the same depth and breadth of pre-built AD-specialist queries.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Lavawall® | ManageEngine ADAudit Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Active Directory inactive-user reporting | Yes | Yes — flagship strength |
| AD privilege creep / group membership tracking | Yes | Yes — deep archive |
| AD password-policy violation reporting | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time AD change capture | Polling cycle (hours) | Yes — real-time |
| Group Policy Object change tracking | No | Yes |
| AD schema modification auditing | No | Yes |
| Domain controller event correlation | Via Lavawall® agent | Yes |
| Microsoft 365 / Entra ID user reporting | Yes — same module | Separate product (M365 Manager Plus) |
| Google Workspace user reporting | Yes | No |
| Cross-platform endpoint coverage (macOS / Linux) | Yes — same agent | No |
| Windows file-server FIM | Yes | Yes |
| Linux / macOS file-server FIM | Yes | No |
| SharePoint / OneDrive activity monitoring | Yes | Separate product |
| Google Drive change monitoring | Yes | No |
| Cross-platform patching (7,500+ apps) | Yes | No |
| M365 / Entra / Azure configuration backup & rollback | Yes | No |
| Multi-tenant ITDR breach detection | Yes | Limited |
| GRC framework mapping (15+ frameworks) | Yes | Limited reporting only |
| Bundled smart helpdesk & remote support | Yes | No |
| MSP multi-tenant model | Native — one console, all clients | MSP edition with per-tenant scaling |
| Pricing | Per-tenant, public CAD & USD | Per DC + user-count tier; MSP add-on |
| Native CAD billing | Yes | No |
Who should pick which?
Pick Lavawall® if…
MSPs delivering AD reporting alongside M365 reporting, file activity monitoring, patching, breach detection, and GRC compliance — rather than as a dedicated standalone capability.
Teams supporting mixed Windows / macOS / Linux environments who need one agent for all endpoint and server activity.
MSPs that want unified inactive-user, privilege-creep, and licence-recovery reports across AD, M365, and Google Workspace.
Buyers who prefer public per-tenant pricing over per-DC + per-user tier pricing.
Pick ManageEngine ADAudit Plus if…
Enterprise IT teams whose primary need is a deep AD-audit specialist with multi-year archive retention and the broadest library of pre-built AD reports.
Organisations that need real-time AD change capture with sub-minute latency on every directory event.
Teams that need GPO change tracking and AD schema modification auditing at depth that Lavawall® does not currently target.
Frequently asked
- Does this replace ManageEngine ADAudit Plus for AD reporting?
- For most MSPs, yes. Lavawall®'s AD & M365 user reporting covers the inactive-user, privilege-creep, MFA-gap, and licence-recovery reports MSPs actually deliver to clients. ADAudit Plus goes deeper on AD schema-level audit archives, GPO change tracking, and the long tail of pre-built AD reports for enterprise compliance teams. The deciding question is whether you want the AD-only deep archive (ADAudit Plus) or the broader MSP platform with AD reporting as one capability among many (Lavawall®).
- What about Microsoft 365 coverage?
- ADAudit Plus has a separate product (M365 Manager Plus) for Microsoft 365 reporting; the two are licensed and operated separately. Lavawall® covers both AD and Microsoft 365 in one module with one report set — no per-platform tool sprawl.
- Does ADAudit Plus support Linux and macOS?
- ADAudit Plus is Windows / Active Directory focused. Lavawall®'s agent runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux endpoints and servers, with file-change monitoring and event-log analytics on all three. If you support Mac- or Linux-heavy clients, that's a material difference.
- What's the multi-tenant story?
- ADAudit Plus supports multi-tenant deployments through its MSP edition, but historically with per-tenant database instances and operational overhead. Lavawall® was designed multi-tenant from day one — one console, one data model, all client tenants filterable from a single login.
- How does pricing compare?
- ManageEngine sells ADAudit Plus per Active Directory domain controller and per user-count tier; the MSP edition adds per-tenant scaling. Lavawall® is per-tenant with public CAD and USD pricing and multiple modules bundled. For an MSP buying Lavawall® primarily for the AD reporting module, comparable functional scope is materially less expensive than ADAudit Plus + M365 Manager Plus combined.