thinQmaster Virtual testing partner Adaptive practice exams that find your weak spots and drill them. Every answer explained. From $69
Enroll

thinQmaster

Find your exam

Five questions free, before you decide.

Step 1 · choose a vendor

In one of our camps? Your practice exams come with the tuition — they are on your study page already.

Commonly confused · IT Support & Hardware

Workgroup vs Domain: What's the Difference?

In a workgroup, each Windows computer manages its own local user accounts and settings in a peer-to-peer arrangement. In a domain, a domain controller running Active Directory centrally manages users, computers, authentication, and Group Policy for the whole organization.

vs

Domain

WorkgroupDomain
ManagementDecentralized, per computerCentralized via Active Directory
User accountsLocal accounts on each PCDomain accounts usable on any joined PC
AuthenticationLocal SAM databaseDomain controller (Kerberos)
ScaleSmall, about 20 or fewer computersHundreds to thousands
Policy enforcementLocal policy onlyGroup Policy Objects
Windows edition requiredAny, including HomePro, Enterprise, or Education to join
Remember it

A workgroup is a group of neighbors; a domain has a city hall.

Exam tip

Know that Windows Home editions cannot join a domain, and that a domain is required for centrally managed Group Policy. Azure AD/Microsoft Entra join is the cloud-based alternative.

Tested on

More IT Support & Hardware look-alikes