CIPP or Lighthouse? A Category-by-Category Scorecard for Multi-Tenant Management
TL;DR
- CIPP is an open source multi-tenant management portal for Microsoft 365, built by a Microsoft MVP, that can be self-hosted in your own Azure environment.
- Microsoft 365 Lighthouse is Microsoft's free, natively Partner Center-connected answer to multi-tenant management for MSPs.
- CIPP leads in group management, application management, mailbox management, alerting depth, and MSP tool integrations as of August 2024.
- Lighthouse wins on price at zero dollars, overall performance, and being fully managed by Microsoft with no maintenance burden.
- Budget roughly $15 to $20 per month for a click-to-deploy CIPP instance, and watch Azure costs since they are your responsibility.
Partner Center is a hot pile of garbage for managing tenants. That is the one-line case for adopting a real multi-tenant management tool, and as of August 2024 the two serious contenders are CIPP (opens in new tab) and Microsoft 365 Lighthouse (opens in new tab). If you have not moved to one of them yet, this comparison should settle which one fits your shop.
The contenders in one line each:
- CyberDrain Improved Partner Portal (CIPP): an open source project developed by a Microsoft MVP (an MSP expert) for multi-tenant management of customer M365 environments. Can be self-hosted in your own Azure environment.
- Microsoft 365 Lighthouse: Microsoft's own multi-tenant management solution for MSPs, natively connected to your Partner Center environment.
We built a full comparison matrix covering every category below. Grab the complete PDF here: CIPP_Lighthouse_Matrix_v1 (opens in new tab).
Users and groups: both onboard, only one manages groups
User management
Both tools offer strong onboarding and offboarding automation across organizations. CIPP layers on additional MSP-friendly management capabilities beyond the basics.
Group management
This category is barely a contest: Lighthouse does not really have group management capabilities today. CIPP's Group Templates are a standout, deploying groups with consistent naming conventions and attributes out to one or many tenants.
Devices, apps, and policies: closer than you would expect
Device management
Policy management for devices is fairly consistent across both tools. CIPP pulls ahead on deploying applications to devices.
Application management
CIPP makes managing applications across tenants genuinely easy, and it includes basic management of the M365 apps themselves: SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams.
Policy management
Both tools shine here, with the ability to capture configurations in one tenant and deploy them to another. CIPP goes further by pairing reporting with remediation and offering a deeper set of configurable policies and settings.
Mailbox management
Far more functionality in CIPP. If mailbox operations are a big slice of your ticket volume, this category alone may decide it.
The practice-management layer: tenants, reports, alerts, integrations
Tenant management
Both platforms include GDAP tooling, but CIPP is superior at generating GDAP links for customers you have not yet onboarded into Partner Center. Lighthouse counters with a sales tool surfacing upsell and cross-sell opportunities.
Reporting
Tons of useful reporting on both sides. CIPP's edge: scheduled recurring reports, much deeper Secure Score reporting inside the app, and remediation capabilities attached to those findings.
Alerting
CIPP integrates with PSAs and webhooks, which beats Lighthouse's email connector approach, and it covers a wider range of data and events you can alert on.
Integration capability
Both tools expose open APIs you can build against; CIPP even uses the Lighthouse app for some data in its platform. CIPP also ships the MSP-friendly integrations for documentation and ticketing tools.
Operations and price: where Lighthouse claws back ground
Administration and maintenance
This is Lighthouse's strongest category. CIPP can be genuinely difficult to deploy and maintain for some users, especially self-hosted. Lighthouse delivers better overall performance on loading times, updates, and error messages, and it carries essentially no maintenance burden because Microsoft fully manages it.
Pricing
CIPP. From the CIPP FAQ: "Assuming you're running on the click-to-deploy configuration and average usage patterns it should cost $15 - $20 or £17 - £22 per month. You can check the costs, and estimated costs, for the resource group on the Azure Portal. Please note it is your responsibility to ensure you are keeping an eye on costs within your instances." Our practice: allocate a $100 per month budget as a baseline so an Azure surprise never becomes a billing argument.
Lighthouse. $0.
Watch the full walkthrough
We recorded a complete demo of both platforms, category by category: watch the CIPP vs Lighthouse deep dive on YouTube (opens in new tab).
Frequently asked questions
Is either tool better than managing tenants through Partner Center?
Yes, decisively. Partner Center is not a serious management surface for day-to-day multi-tenant work, and both CIPP and Lighthouse exist to fill that gap. If you are still working tenant by tenant in Partner Center, adopting either tool is the upgrade.
What does CIPP actually cost to run?
CIPP's FAQ estimates $15 to $20 (or 17 to 22 pounds) per month for a click-to-deploy configuration with average usage, billed through your Azure resource group. Costs are your responsibility to monitor, so we suggest budgeting around $100 per month as a safe baseline.
Do CIPP and Lighthouse work together?
They can. Both tools expose open APIs, and CIPP even consumes the Lighthouse app for some of the data in its platform, so running both is a legitimate strategy rather than an either-or decision.
Management tooling sorted. Now prove the posture.
CIPP and Lighthouse change settings across tenants; CloudCapsule proves where every tenant stands. CIS-mapped assessments, 250+ controls, about 60 seconds per tenant, with evidence you can hand to a client.
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Written by
Nick Ross
CEO · Microsoft MVP · Founder, T-Minus 365
Nick is not just a CEO, he's a respected thought leader and influencer in the MSP space. Tens of thousands of MSPs learn through his YouTube channel, T-Minus365. Nick has been honored as a three-time Microsoft MVP for his educational content; his expertise and influence are the backbone of our mission, ensuring that you are in the best hands when it comes to security.
Nick joined Pax8 in 2017, where he would ultimately oversee product management for PSA and Microsoft integrations. Following his tenure at Pax8, Nick has continued to demonstrate his leadership prowess as an executive at various MSPs, culminating in his most recent role at Sourcepass.
Nick holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from Florida State University, as well as a Minor Degree in Entrepreneurship. In his free time, Nick is an avid hiker, reader, and fitness-junkie.
