Microsoft 365 Lighthouse alternative
Lighthouse shows you the problem. Octopane lets you fix it.
Microsoft 365 Lighthouse is a solid window into your tenants, until you want to take action, work without GDAP, or see license waste in dollars. Here's an honest look at where a hosted console picks up where Lighthouse stops.
To be clear: Lighthouse is genuinely useful, and free with the partner program. If it covers your needs, keep it. The reasons MSPs add or move to Octopane are specific.
Lighthouse assumes you're a CSP partner with GDAP in place, leans on Business Premium and Entra ID P1 for its richest data, and is built more to report than to remediate. Octopane is the hosted alternative for teams who want to act across every tenant, without the partner-program prerequisites.
Side by side
Octopane vs. Microsoft 365 Lighthouse
| Octopane | Microsoft Lighthouse | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft partner status required | No, one consent link | CSP enrollment + GDAP |
| Take action (bulk MFA, resets, enable/disable) | Bulk actions as tracked jobs | Largely read-only / reporting |
| License waste in $, incl. dormant seats | Disabled + 90d-dormant, priced | Not surfaced |
| Last activity without Entra ID P1 | Via M365 usage reports | Sign-in data needs P1 |
| Works regardless of client license tier | Any tenant you can consent | Leans on Business Premium |
| Conditional Access baseline deployment | One click from coverage matrix | View-centric |
| Setup time | Minutes | Days–weeks (CSP + GDAP) |
| Price | Free 2 tenants · Pro $39/mo | Included with partner program |
An honest comparison, Lighthouse is strong on partner-integrated visibility; Octopane is built for action across any tenant, with cost analytics included.
Why teams switch
Three reasons MSPs add Octopane
From seeing to doing
Lighthouse is genuinely good at surfacing posture. Where teams hit a wall is acting on it, Octopane adds bulk MFA enforcement, password resets, enable/disable and session revokes that run across many tenants as tracked, audited jobs.
No CSP, no GDAP gate
Lighthouse assumes you're a CSP partner with GDAP relationships per customer. Octopane connects any client tenant with a single admin-consent link, whether or not you resell their licenses.
Cost analytics built in
Octopane prices dormant and disabled-but-licensed seats at your rates, turning license cleanup into a QBR-ready savings report Lighthouse doesn't produce.
FAQ
Lighthouse alternative, questions
Is Octopane a replacement for Microsoft 365 Lighthouse?
For most MSPs, yes, and you can run both. Octopane covers the same multi-tenant visibility (users, MFA, security posture) and adds the parts teams find missing in Lighthouse: bulk actions, license-waste analytics in dollars, and onboarding without GDAP or CSP enrollment.
Why would I use Octopane if Lighthouse is free?
Lighthouse is included with the partner program but is largely read-only and gates data behind Entra ID P1 and Business Premium. Octopane lets you act across tenants, works regardless of client license tier, and shows recoverable license spend, often paying for itself on the first tenant you connect.
Do my clients need to be on Business Premium or have Entra ID P1?
No. Where Microsoft gates data behind P1 (like sign-in activity), Octopane falls back to ungated APIs, per-user authentication methods for real MFA state, and M365 usage reports for last activity.
How long does it take to switch?
Minutes per tenant. Send your client one consent link, a Global Admin approves once, and the tenant syncs. No CSP enrollment, no GDAP setup, no infrastructure to stand up.
Give every tenant eight arms.
Connect your first client in minutes, no GDAP, no PowerShell, no partner paperwork. 14 days free, all features unlocked.
Octopane · Every Microsoft 365 tenant. One pane of glass.