Okta vs Microsoft Entra ID: independent Workforce suites vs M365-bundled P1/P2
Okta when the hire is independent Workforce Identity suites (SSO, MFA/Adaptive MFA, Lifecycle, Access Governance). Microsoft Entra ID when the hire is P1/P2 Conditional Access that already rides with Microsoft 365 E3/E5, plus Governance or Entra Suite when you expand.
Microsoft lists Entra ID P1 at $7 per user per month and P2 at $10 per user per month when you buy them standalone, but those same plans are included with Microsoft 365 E3 and E5. The first decision is whether you already own Conditional Access (P1) and risk-based Identity Protection (P2) inside the productivity license, or whether you still need a separate Workforce IdP for SSO, MFA, and lifecycle across a heterogeneous SaaS stack.
Between these two, Okta packages that independent hire as Workforce Identity suites: Starter for SSO/MFA/Universal Directory, then Core Essentials or Essentials when Adaptive MFA, Lifecycle Management, and Access Governance are in scope. Microsoft Entra ID packages the Microsoft-tenant hire as Free versus P1 versus P2, with Microsoft Entra ID Governance and Microsoft Entra Suite as the documented expansions when entitlement management, lifecycle workflows, or identity-centric network access are the next purchase.
| Primary use case | Independent Workforce Identity suites for SSO, MFA/Adaptive MFA, Universal Directory, Lifecycle Management, and Access Governance across cloud and on-prem apps | Microsoft-tenant directory and access control: Entra ID P1/P2 for Conditional Access (and P2 Identity Protection), expandable with ID Governance or Entra Suite |
|---|---|---|
| How a bad day closes | Policy and Adaptive MFA step-ups on the Okta path; Lifecycle/Workflows fix joiner-mover-leaver gaps; tickets often land on app catalog integrations and suite boundaries (Starter vs Essentials) | Conditional Access blocks or challenges the risky sign-in; Identity Protection risk policies on P2; tickets often land on CA policy exceptions, license SKU gaps (Free vs P1 vs P2), and which Governance features need the add-on |
| Day-to-day workflow | Admin Console policies, Okta Integration Network apps, Universal Directory profiles, Workflows for automation, optional Privileged Access and Identity Threat Protection on higher suites | Entra admin center Conditional Access, MFA registration, app registrations/enterprise apps, provisioning, PIM and access reviews when licensed, optional Governance/Suite modules |
| Deploy | Cloud Okta org; agents/connectors for on-prem (Access Gateway and directory integrations as licensed). Not dependent on a Microsoft 365 tenant | Cloud tenant already present for Microsoft 365/Azure customers; sync from on-prem AD when hybrid. Network access products (Internet Access / Private Access) sit in Suite/standalone lines |
| License/pricing | Published suites on okta.com: Starter $6, Core Essentials $14, Essentials $17 per user/month billed annually; $1,500 annual minimum. Professional/Enterprise quote | Published P1 $7 and P2 $10 per user/month paid yearly standalone; P1 in M365 E3 / Business Premium, P2 in M365 E5. Entra Suite from $12 per user/month paid yearly (requires P1). Governance add-on quote/path per Learn licensing |
| Who operates it | Identity/IT teams that want a vendor-neutral IdP and will staff Okta suite operations across a mixed SaaS catalog | Identity/IT teams already deep in Microsoft 365, Intune, and Entra admin center who will staff Conditional Access and Governance as Microsoft SKUs |
We reviewed Okta Workforce pricing pages, Microsoft Entra pricing and licensing materials, and live community search the same day (2 Oct 2026). We did not run either product in a paid tenant, so this is not a hands-on benchmark.
Okta
Microsoft Entra ID
Okta’s recent first-party product signal is the 9 September 2026 Workforce announcement covering Identity Governance, Privileged Access, and identity threat detection expansions for human and non-human identities. Microsoft’s recent Entra signal is the July 2026 What’s New pack, including Entra Backup and Recovery (P1/P2) and Conditional Access controls aimed at AI agent user accounts. Confirm availability against your tenant SKUs; the comparison is packaging research, not a lab checklist.
Editions and pricing
Both vendors publish per-user monthly rates with annual commitment language. The economics diverge when Microsoft 365 already includes Entra ID P1 or P2: a second Okta Workforce suite is incremental spend, while unlocking Conditional Access may be a license you already pay for inside E3/E5 rather than a new IdP line.
| Current purchasable packaging (2 Oct 2026) | Okta Workforce suites: Starter $6, Core Essentials $14, Essentials $17 per user/month billed annually. Professional and Enterprise are sales-quoted. Almost all products can also be purchased individually or as suite add-ons. | Microsoft Entra ID P1 $7 and P2 $10 per user/month paid yearly as standalones; P1 included with Microsoft 365 E3 and Business Premium; P2 with Microsoft 365 E5. Free tier ships with many Microsoft cloud subscriptions for basic SSO/MFA. |
|---|---|---|
| Governance / expansion SKUs | Access Governance and Lifecycle Management appear inside Essentials-class suites (and as Identity Governance / Lifecycle products). Privileged Access, Identity Threat Protection, Device Access, API Access Management, and Access Gateway sit on higher suites or add-ons. | Microsoft Entra ID Governance is an add-on that requires P1 or P2. Microsoft Entra Suite starts at $12 per user/month paid yearly and requires P1 (special pricing noted for P2/E5 customers). Internet Access and Private Access also sell as Suite components or standalones. |
| Minimums and floors | $1,500 annual contract minimum for Workforce Identity. Small orgs effectively hit that floor before per-user math looks linear. | Standalone P1/P2 are list-priced per user; the common floor is “already inside M365 E3/E5” rather than an Okta-style published annual minimum on the IdP alone. |
| SKU boundary that bites buyers | Starter has SSO and MFA but not Adaptive MFA / Lifecycle / Access Governance. Essentials is where those land in published suite marketing. Do not treat Starter as equivalent to an Essentials quote. | Free is not P1 Conditional Access. P1 is not P2 Identity Protection. P2 is not full ID Governance. Confirm whether access reviews, entitlement management depth, and lifecycle workflows need the Governance add-on or Suite. |
| What the plan includes | Starter is $6 per user per month, billed annually, for SSO, MFA, and Universal Directory, with a $1,500 annual minimum. Adaptive MFA, Lifecycle Management, and Access Governance are on Essentials at $17 per user per month, billed annually. Core Essentials is $14 per user per month, billed annually. Professional and Enterprise stay quote-required. Currency is USD. The unit is a user. The period is a month. The commitment is annual billing. | Microsoft Entra ID P1 is $7 per user per month, paid yearly (annual commitment), in USD, per user. Standalone, or included with Microsoft 365 E3, F1, F3, Enterprise Mobility + Security E3, and Microsoft 365 Business Premium. P1 includes Conditional Access, self-service password reset writeback, dynamic groups, and HR-driven plus app provisioning. P1 does not include risk-based Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management, or Lifecycle Workflows. P2 is $10 per user per month, paid yearly. Standalone, or included with Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 E7, the Defender Suite, and Enterprise Mobility + Security E5. P2 adds ID Protection (risk-based Conditional Access and full risk reports) and Privileged Identity Management, plus access reviews and entitlement management that Microsoft lists as previously generally available in P2. Microsoft Entra ID Governance is a separate add-on that requires P1 or P2. It is also inside Entra Suite and Microsoft 365 E7. Governance adds Lifecycle Workflows, account discovery, cross-cloud synchronization, and machine-learning assisted access reviews. A public per-user dollar rate for that Governance add-on was not found in this research. Entra Suite, which bundles Governance with Private Access, Internet Access, ID Protection, and Verified ID premium, is $12 per user per month, paid yearly, and requires P1. Included product on the $7 and $10 rates is Entra ID P1 or P2, not the Governance add-on and not a Microsoft 365 suite. |
| Office 365 vs Microsoft 365 | Okta Workforce is not an Office 365 or Microsoft 365 entitlement. The suite price is a separate invoice. | Office 365 E1, E3, and E5 are not Microsoft 365 E3 or E5. On the Entra service-description plan table, Office 365 E1/E3/E5 and Microsoft Teams Enterprise include Microsoft Entra ID Free, and the Plan 1 and Plan 2 columns are No. Microsoft 365 E3 is Plan 1. Microsoft 365 E5 is Plan 2 (the Plan 1 column is No because the assignment is P2, and P2 includes the P1 feature set). Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Business Standard are Entra ID Free, not P1. Business Premium is P1. |
If procurement needs a published dollar floor this week, Okta’s suite table and Microsoft’s P1/P2/Suite list rates are the first-party anchors. Commercial discounts, enterprise agreements, and frontline SKUs still need a live quote. Do not compare a Starter MFA line to a Microsoft 365 E5 bundle that already includes P2 without matching scope.
SSO, MFA, and adaptive access
| SSO center | Workforce SSO into Okta Integration Network and custom SAML/OIDC apps; Universal Directory as the profile store | Enterprise applications and app registrations in the Entra tenant; gallery apps plus custom SAML/OIDC; My Apps launch experience |
|---|---|---|
| MFA baseline | MFA included from Starter; Adaptive MFA (risk-based / phishing-resistant packaging) called out from Core Essentials / Essentials upward | MFA available on Free/cloud paths; Conditional Access (P1) is the policy engine for when MFA and other controls apply; risk-based Conditional Access needs Identity Protection (P2) |
| Adaptive / risk signal | Adaptive MFA policies and higher-suite Identity Threat Protection for detection/response expansions | Identity Protection sign-in and user risk feeding Conditional Access on P2; token protection and related CA controls as licensed |
| Main buying consideration | Do you want Okta as the identity control path for a mixed SaaS catalog, with Adaptive MFA licensed in the suite you actually buy? | Do you want Conditional Access in the Entra admin center as the default policy path, accepting that depth tracks P1 vs P2 vs Governance? |
Both cover workforce SSO and MFA. Between these two, Okta productizes adaptive MFA inside Workforce suite upgrades. Entra productizes adaptive risk inside P2 Identity Protection feeding Conditional Access. Match the SKU to the policy depth you will write next quarter, not the marketing noun alone.
Lifecycle and governance
| Joiner-mover-leaver | Lifecycle Management (suite/add-on) with HR-driven provisioning patterns and Workflows automation; SCIM to downstream apps | HR-driven provisioning and app provisioning on licensed Entra paths; Lifecycle workflows called out under ID Governance / Suite packaging |
|---|---|---|
| Access reviews / least privilege | Access Governance / Okta Identity Governance on Essentials-class and higher packaging; Privileged Access as suite or Resource Unit licensing | Access reviews, entitlement management, and PIM appear across P2 and ID Governance tables; confirm which capabilities need the Governance add-on versus P2 alone on Learn licensing pages |
| Edition boundary | Starter stops before Lifecycle and Access Governance in published suite cards. Essentials is the public suite that names those jobs | P1 Conditional Access without Governance is a different purchase from P2 + ID Governance or Entra Suite. Do not assume full entitlement management from P1 |
| Who writes the next step | Okta admins owning app assignments, Lifecycle rules, and Workflows; PAM owners when Privileged Access is licensed | Entra identity admins owning Conditional Access and provisioning; Governance owners when access packages and lifecycle workflows are in scope |
If the open work is automated joiner-mover-leaver plus access certifications, confirm Okta Essentials-class (or Governance add-ons) rather than Starter, and confirm Entra ID Governance (or Suite) rather than Free/P1 alone. For the purchase, check Microsoft’s licensing fundamentals against the SKUs in your quote.
Where they overlap
Both compete as commercial workforce identity platforms with SSO, MFA, directory sync, app provisioning, and governance expansions. Both publish per-user annual pricing for core plans. An RFP that only says “best IdP” will get adjacent demos. The remaining split is independent Okta Workforce suite packaging versus Entra P1/P2 Conditional Access that often already ships inside Microsoft 365 E3/E5, with Governance/Suite as Microsoft’s expansion path.
Broader identity shortlists sit on identity protection tools. Privileged access and ITDR depth sit on PAM tools and ITDR tools.
When to use both
Keeping both is a scoped split, not a tie. It fits when Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 already puts Entra ID P1 or P2 on the productivity invoice, so Conditional Access for Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, and other Microsoft cloud apps stays in Entra, while Okta Workforce remains the IdP for a non-Microsoft SaaS catalog (SSO, assignments, and joiner-mover-leaver on the Okta suite you actually buy). Pointing both products at the same non-Microsoft apps still duplicates assignment and leaver work. Office 365 E3 does not create this case: that SKU includes Entra ID Free, not P1, so it is not “Entra already paid for inside the suite.”
Choose Okta when you need independent Workforce Identity suites that publish SSO/MFA through Lifecycle and Access Governance without depending on a Microsoft 365 E3/E5 bundle, and you will buy Essentials-class depth rather than Starter alone. Choose Microsoft Entra ID when you need P1 Conditional Access or P2 Identity Protection that already rides with Microsoft 365 (or as standalone P1/P2), and you will add ID Governance or Entra Suite only for the governance and network-access jobs those SKUs actually include.
FAQs
Is Okta Starter the same as Okta Essentials?
No. Starter includes SSO, MFA, Universal Directory, and limited Workflows at $6 per user/month billed annually. Essentials is $17 per user/month and adds Adaptive MFA, Privileged Access, Lifecycle Management, Access Governance, and more Workflows per Okta’s pricing page. Core Essentials at $14 is the middle published card.
Is Microsoft Entra ID Free the same as P1?
No. Free covers basic cloud identity, SSO, and MFA for many Microsoft cloud subscriptions. Conditional Access and the broader P1 feature set require Microsoft Entra ID P1 (standalone or via Microsoft 365 E3 / Business Premium). Risk-based Identity Protection requires P2 (standalone or via Microsoft 365 E5).
Does Microsoft 365 already include Entra ID?
Microsoft 365 E3 includes Entra ID P1. Microsoft 365 E5 includes Entra ID P2 (P2 includes the P1 feature set; it is not a second P1 subscription). Business Premium includes P1. Office 365 E1, E3, and E5 are a different plan: they include Entra ID Free, not P1 or P2. Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Business Standard also include Entra ID Free, not P1. Do not price an Office 365 E3 tenant as if it already owns Conditional Access.
Is this a hands-on bake-off?
No. The comparison uses first-party packaging and pricing pages, licensing docs, product announcements, and community cross-check only. We did not install either product in a paid lab tenant.
Where do Azure AD names fit?
Azure Active Directory was renamed Microsoft Entra ID. P1/P2 SKUs and Conditional Access continuity are the same product line under the Entra brand. Match the SKUs on your quote and admin center, not the older marketing noun alone.
