Best Okta Alternatives in 2026: Identity Providers for People, Machines, and Agents
Six full workforce identity providers to compare against Okta, plus two tools for specific use cases.
Okta lists its Starter suite at USD 6 per user per month, Core Essentials at USD 14 and Essentials at USD 17, with Professional and Enterprise quoted. For many buyers that price is not the issue. The issue is that the identity provider has become the most attacked system they run, and the question is whether a different IdP would be safer, cheaper, or simpler.
The full replacements split three ways. Microsoft Entra ID is the default for Microsoft 365 shops. Ping Identity, OneLogin, and JumpCloud are per-user workforce IdPs aimed at different company sizes. Keycloak is the open source option you run yourself. Amazon Cognito and Cisco Duo sit in a separate subsection: Cognito signs customers in to your own apps, and Duo is MFA-first, so neither replaces Okta Workforce Identity on its own.
NewCore, out of stealth in June 2026 with USD 66M, argues the IdP should be rebuilt for a workforce where agents outnumber people. It sits after the established IdPs because it has no published customer references or independent testing yet, and its capabilities are launch claims, stated rather than independently demonstrated.
How we evaluated
We read each vendor’s product pages, pricing pages, and public documentation on 14 Oct 2026, and checked each one against the same questions: published price per user, phishing-resistant MFA, lifecycle and provisioning, how AI agents get an identity, and how hard migration from Okta is. Where public material does not cover a question, we write “not documented”.
| Tool | Best for | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft 365 and Azure workforce identity | P1 USD 7 · P2 USD 10/user/mo |
| PingOne for Workforce | Complex federation and hybrid enterprise identity | From USD 3/user/mo · 5,000-user minimum |
| OneLogin | Per-user workforce IdP for mid-size teams | From USD 3/user/mo · Basic limits policies to 5 |
| JumpCloud | Directory, SSO, and device management for SMBs | SSO USD 11/user/mo annual |
| Keycloak | Self-hosted open source IdP | Apache-2.0 · free |
| NewCore | Security-first IdP for humans and AI agents | Launched Jun 2026 · quote |
| Not full Okta replacements, but alternatives for specific use cases | ||
| Amazon Cognito | Per-MAU sign-in for your own apps on AWS | Essentials USD 0.015/MAU/mo above 10,000 free |
| Cisco Duo | MFA-first layer in front of apps or an existing IdP | Free to 10 users · from USD 3/user/mo |
Entra ID
Ping
OneLogin
JumpCloud
Keycloak
NewCore
Duo
Okta baseline: what each alternative has to match
Start from what Okta Workforce Identity includes today, then check each alternative against the same six rows. Okta sells suites billed annually: Starter at USD 6 per user per month includes SSO, MFA, Universal Directory, and 5 Workflows. Core Essentials at USD 14 per user per month sits between them. Essentials at USD 17 per user per month adds Adaptive MFA, Lifecycle Management, and Access Governance. Okta requires a USD 1,500 annual contract minimum.
| MFA | SSO | Provisioning (SCIM, lifecycle) | Migration from Okta | Support | Total cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okta (baseline) | MFA in Starter, Adaptive MFA in Essentials | All suites | Lifecycle Management add-on on Starter, included from Essentials | Baseline | Online support 24×5 in all suites. Premier Success plans cost extra | USD 6 (Starter), USD 14 (Core Essentials) or USD 17 (Essentials) per user per month, billed annually, USD 1,500 annual minimum |
| Microsoft Entra ID | MFA and Conditional Access | Yes | SCIM app provisioning documented | Microsoft publishes Okta migration tutorials for apps, sync provisioning, and federation | Azure support plans: Basic included (billing and self-help), Standard USD 100 per month with 24×7 technical support, Unified Enterprise quoted | P1 USD 7, P2 USD 10 per user per month, paid yearly |
| PingOne for Workforce | Adaptive MFA in Plus | Essential and Plus | Directory modeled on SCIM, inbound SCIM provisioning | not documented | Standard support with 24/7 phone and portal access included for every customer; Platinum and Elite via sales | USD 3 (Essential) or USD 6 (Plus) per user per month, annual contract, 5,000-user minimum |
| OneLogin | Included in every Workforce Identity pack | Included in every pack | Identity Lifecycle Management in every pack, limited to 5 on Basic | not documented | not documented | Basic USD 3, Essentials USD 6, Business USD 10 per user per month; Enterprise quoted |
| JumpCloud | MFA in the SSO package | SSO package | User Lifecycle Management listed | not documented | Premium Support add-on USD 2 per user per month billed annually | SSO package USD 11 per user per month billed annually, USD 13 billed monthly |
| Keycloak | OTP and WebAuthn second factors | OIDC and SAML | not documented | Identity brokering to external OIDC and SAML providers | Community, no vendor SLA | No license cost. You pay to host and run it |
| Amazon Cognito | MFA, passkeys, and one-time passwords | SAML and OIDC federation | not documented | not documented | not documented | Per MAU per month: 10,000 free on Essentials and Lite, then Essentials USD 0.015; Plus USD 0.020 with no free tier. SMS, email, and M2M tokens extra |
| Cisco Duo (MFA-first) | Every edition, phishing-resistant from Essentials | Duo SSO from Essentials | not documented | not documented | not documented | Free to 10 users. Essentials USD 3, Advantage USD 6, Premier USD 9 per user per month |
Sources: Okta pricing, Microsoft’s Okta migration tutorial, Ping pricing, OneLogin pricing, JumpCloud pricing, Duo pricing, Azure support plans, Ping support, and the Keycloak server administration guide.
PingFederate, Ping’s self-managed software, is described on Ping’s deployment options. There is no PingFederate price on Ping’s pricing page, checked 14 Oct 2026. Cognito prices are from Amazon Cognito pricing.
NewCore is not in this table because it documents none of these rows except migration. See the NewCore entry and NewCore vs Okta.
What you gain or lose by leaving Okta
What you can gain. Lower per-user cost if you already own Entra ID P1 through Microsoft 365, or move to Ping or Keycloak at scale. One fewer vendor if Microsoft 365 is already your directory. Full control of hosting and data location with Keycloak.
What you can lose. Okta bundles Lifecycle Management, Access Governance, and Workflows into Essentials. On other platforms some of those are separate products, separate tiers, or not documented, so price the full set, not SSO alone. Okta’s included 24×5 online support has no documented equivalent for Keycloak, which relies on the community unless you buy support elsewhere.
What stays hard. Every app federated to Okta has to be reconfigured, users may need to re-enroll MFA, and provisioning connectors have to be rebuilt. Microsoft is the only vendor here that publishes a step-by-step Okta migration guide.
Microsoft Entra ID
Best for Microsoft 365 organizations
Entra ID covers SSO, MFA including passkeys, Conditional Access, and provisioning for Microsoft and third-party apps. P2 adds ID Protection risk policies and privileged identity management, and Entra Agent ID extends identity to AI agents.
Many organizations already own P1 through Microsoft 365 E3 or Business Premium, which is why it is Okta’s most common replacement.
Key features:
- Conditional Access policy engine
- Passkeys and phishing-resistant MFA
- PIM and ID Protection in P2
- Entra Agent ID for AI agents
Why we like it:
Conditional Access applies one policy engine to every sign-in, so a team already on Microsoft 365 adds risk-based access without another product.
Limits:
Non-Microsoft app integrations and admin experience are where Okta customers most often find gaps.
License or pricing: Entra ID P1 USD 7 and P2 USD 10 per user per month, paid yearly. Entra Suite USD 12 per user per month, paid yearly.
PingOne for Workforce
Best for large enterprises with complex federation and hybrid apps
Ping Identity sells PingOne for Workforce as SaaS and PingFederate and related products as self-managed software, which suits estates with legacy apps, many federations, and strict deployment rules.
Its published workforce pricing starts at Essential and Plus tiers, with higher tiers by quote.
Key features:
- SSO and MFA in PingOne
- Self-managed PingFederate for hybrid estates
- Orchestration of identity journeys
- Annual contract with a 5,000-user minimum
Why we like it:
It handles federation patterns and on-premises requirements that pure SaaS IdPs struggle with.
Limits:
The 5,000-user minimum rules it out for smaller companies.
License or pricing: PingOne for Workforce Essential USD 3 and Plus USD 6 per user per month, annual contract, 5,000-user minimum.
OneLogin
Best for mid-size teams that want a per-user workforce IdP
OneLogin, part of One Identity since October 2021, sells Workforce Identity in four packs: Basic, Essentials, Business, and Enterprise. Every pack includes SSO, MFA, reporting, and the app catalog. Basic limits security policies and Identity Lifecycle Management to 5.
Its product line also lists SmartFactor Authentication, Vigilance AI, and Virtual LDAP, and OneLogin Workflows costs USD 2 per user per month extra.
Key features:
- SSO and MFA in every pack
- Identity Lifecycle Management
- SmartFactor Authentication
- Virtual LDAP
Why we like it:
SSO and MFA come in every pack from USD 3 per user per month, so a mid-size team can replace Okta SSO with a per-user workforce IdP.
Limits:
Okta migration tooling and support tiers are not documented on its pricing page. Basic limits security policies and lifecycle management to 5.
License or pricing: Workforce Identity Basic USD 3, Essentials USD 6, Business USD 10 per user per month; Enterprise quoted. US pricing; other regions are quoted.
JumpCloud
Best for smaller IT teams that want directory, SSO, and device management in one
JumpCloud combines a cloud directory, SSO, MFA, and management of Windows, macOS, and Linux devices. It is aimed at companies without Active Directory that want one console for users and laptops.
Packages are sold per user, with SSO as a standalone package.
Key features:
- Cloud directory
- SSO and MFA
- Cross-platform device management
- LDAP and RADIUS for legacy needs
Why we like it:
For a company replacing Okta and a device manager at once, one bill and one console is the draw.
Limits:
Very large enterprises with complex federation usually outgrow it.
License or pricing: SSO package USD 11 per user per month billed annually, or USD 13 billed monthly.
Keycloak
Best for teams that want a free, self-hosted IdP and can run it
Keycloak is a CNCF open source identity and access management server under Apache-2.0. It supports OIDC, SAML, user federation with LDAP and Active Directory, and identity brokering to other providers.
The 26.x release line is current. You host it, scale it, and patch it.
From a Hacker News commenter in a thread on OAuth. Infinispan and JGroups are the caching and clustering layers behind a high-availability Keycloak deployment, so budget for that expertise, not just the server.
Key features:
- OIDC and SAML
- LDAP and Active Directory federation
- Identity brokering
- Apache-2.0 license
Why we like it:
No per-user cost and full control over data location, which matters for sovereignty-minded buyers.
Limits:
No vendor SLA unless you buy support through a distributor. High availability and upgrades are your job.
License or pricing: Free and open source under Apache-2.0.
NewCore
Best for replacing the IdP with one built around agents and token security
NewCore came out of stealth in June 2026 with USD 66M from Cyberstarts, Index Ventures, and Evolution Equity Partners.
For an Okta replacement, the question is migration. NewCore says customers can move without downtime by keeping existing federations and policies in place, and it treats every AI agent as an identity with its own lifecycle, protecting token signing with a split-key design.
Key features:
- Sign-in, authenticators, sessions, and token signing
- Agents as first-class identities
- Identity Discovery live graph
- Agentic Governance with one policy grammar
Why we like it:
It gives each AI agent its own identity, trust score and revocation, and splits the token-signing key, which targets the kind of signing-key theft behind Microsoft’s 2023 Storm-0558 breach.
Limits:
Launch-stage. App catalog size, SCIM coverage, and customer references are not documented.
License or pricing: Commercial. No public pricing.
Not full Okta replacements, but alternatives for specific use cases
These two do not replace Okta Workforce Identity on their own. Amazon Cognito signs customers in to your own apps, and Cisco Duo is an MFA-first layer most teams run beside an IdP.
Amazon Cognito
Best for teams whose Okta use is mainly sign-in for their own apps on AWS
Amazon Cognito is AWS’s customer identity and access management (CIAM) service. User pools support SAML and OIDC federation, social sign-in, MFA, and passwordless sign-in with WebAuthn passkeys or SMS and email one-time passwords. It also issues short-lived, scoped tokens for machine-to-machine calls.
It is built for the users of your applications, not as a workforce IdP for employee SaaS access, so it replaces Okta Customer Identity use more naturally than Okta Workforce Identity.
Key features:
- SAML and OIDC federation
- MFA and passkeys
- Managed Login with branding
- Machine-to-machine tokens
Why we like it:
Pricing is per monthly active user with a free tier, which can be far cheaper than per-seat pricing for apps with many occasional users.
Limits:
Workforce features such as SCIM provisioning into SaaS apps, an employee app dashboard, and lifecycle management are not documented.
License or pricing: Per monthly active user (MAU), per month: 10,000 MAU free for direct and social sign-in. Essentials USD 0.015 per MAU above the free tier, Plus USD 0.020 per MAU, Lite from USD 0.0055 per MAU above the free tier. SAML or OIDC federated users USD 0.015 per MAU above 50 free. Plus has no free tier. SMS and email messages and machine-to-machine token requests are charged separately.
Cisco Duo
Best as an MFA-first layer, not a full Okta replacement
Duo is MFA-first. Every edition includes MFA, Essentials adds phishing-resistant MFA, passwordless sign-in, Duo SSO, Duo Directory, and Trusted Endpoints, and higher editions add risk-based authentication, ITDR, and device health checks.
It is not positioned as a full Okta replacement. Lifecycle provisioning of accounts into downstream apps is not documented, so most teams pair Duo with Entra ID, Google, or another directory and IdP.
Key features:
- MFA in every edition, phishing-resistant from Essentials
- Duo SSO and Duo Directory from Essentials
- Trusted Endpoints and device health checks
- Free tier for up to 10 users
Why we like it:
It hardens the step attackers most often target, the MFA prompt, quickly and cheaply, whatever IdP sits behind it.
Limits:
Lifecycle management and governance are not documented. Treat it as an MFA and access layer, not a directory-plus-provisioning replacement.
License or pricing: Duo Essentials USD 3, Advantage USD 6, Premier USD 9 per user per month. Free for up to 10 users.
How to choose an Okta alternative
- Check what you already license. Microsoft 365 E3 or Business Premium includes Entra ID P1.
- Count users and apps. Ping’s 5,000-user minimum and JumpCloud’s SMB focus narrow the list quickly.
- Plan the migration. Ask each vendor how federations, SCIM, and MFA enrollments move without forcing every user to re-enroll.
- Test agent identity. Ask how an AI agent gets its own identity and scoped tokens, not a shared user account.
What we left out
- Okta itself. See Okta vs Microsoft Entra ID.
- Google Workspace as an IdP: workable for small teams, but custom SAML apps map the Directory attributes in the drop-down; others, such as a manager’s email, must first be added as custom attributes.
What the internet thinks about Okta alternatives
Live threads, quoted for the argument, not the score.
Hacker News · August 2026
“Keycloak is only hard because security is hard. The terraform provider is amazing, worked remarkably well. We never had a single hitch, and I could spin up new tenants in seconds, or deploy Keycloak to other regions in a few minutes.”
From an engineer who chose between AWS Cognito and Keycloak at a startup. The same commenter added that they would not run it in production unless it was someone’s full-time job, which is the real cost of the free option.
Hacker News · August 2026
“So your choice becomes: just pay Microsoft $60/user/month and get Identity, Office, Intranet, MDM, EDR, DLP, ZTNA, the works.”
The bundle argument for Entra, made by a critic of it. Microsoft 365 E5 lists at USD 60 per user per month, which is why standalone IdPs compete on security and flexibility, not bundle price.
Choose Entra ID if you run Microsoft 365. Choose Ping for complex federation at enterprise scale. Choose OneLogin for a per-user workforce IdP with SSO and MFA in every pack. Choose JumpCloud for a small IT team that also manages devices. Choose Keycloak when you want no license cost and can run it. Consider NewCore when agent identity and token security drive the switch and you can pilot a launch-stage vendor first. For specific use cases, use Amazon Cognito when the Okta use you are replacing is sign-in for your own apps on AWS, and add Duo when MFA is the priority, alongside an IdP that handles provisioning.
FAQs
What is the cheapest Okta alternative?
Keycloak has no license cost. Among commercial IdPs, PingOne for Workforce Essential and OneLogin Basic both list USD 3 per user per month; Ping has a 5,000-user minimum.
Are Amazon Cognito and Cisco Duo Okta alternatives?
Only for specific use cases. Cognito handles sign-in for your own customer-facing apps, and Duo adds MFA in front of an existing IdP. Neither covers workforce SSO and provisioning the way Okta does.
Is Entra ID included in Microsoft 365?
Entra ID P1 is included in Microsoft 365 E3 and Business Premium. Standalone, P1 is USD 7 per user per month, paid yearly.
Can I migrate from Okta without downtime?
Usually in phases, app by app. NewCore says it keeps existing federations in place during migration.
