Auth0 vs Okta

Auth0 is a customer identity and access management (CIAM) platform that developers use to add login, sign-up and authorization to their applications. Founded in 2013, it was acquired by Okta in 2021 and now operates as Okta's customer identity product, alongside Okta's workforce identity business. Its job is to handle authentication so product teams do not build password storage, MFA and SSO themselves.

The platform centers on Universal Login, a hosted login page that supports social providers, enterprise connections (SAML, OIDC, Active Directory), passwordless email and SMS, passkeys and multi-factor authentication. Organizations support B2B multi-tenancy where each customer brings its own identity provider, Actions let teams run custom code in login and registration flows, and Fine-Grained Authorization handles relationship-based permissions. Attack protection covers bot detection, breached password checks and brute-force limits. The free plan was expanded in 2024 to 25,000 monthly active users; paid tiers are priced by MAU and features, and enterprise connections push buyers into higher plans quickly.

Auth0 fits B2B SaaS companies selling to enterprises that demand SSO, and consumer apps with large user bases and compliance requirements. It is less attractive for small teams that want drop-in UI components and predictable pricing: Clerk is simpler for React and Next.js apps, while Keycloak and Better Auth give full ownership without per-user fees.

Okta is an identity and access management company founded in 2009 in San Francisco by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest. It went public in 2017 and bought Auth0 in 2021 for about $6.5 billion. Its core job on the workforce side is to give every employee one secure login to all their apps, enforce multi-factor authentication, and create or remove accounts automatically as people join, move or leave.

Workforce Identity is sold per user per month, billed annually, with a $1,500 annual minimum. Starter ($6) covers SSO, MFA and Universal Directory; Essentials ($17) adds Adaptive MFA, lifecycle management, access governance and privileged access, with Core Essentials ($14) in between; Professional and Enterprise add Device Access, Identity Threat Protection, Identity Security Posture Management and API Access Management. Customer Identity starts at $3,000 a month, and a free Integrator plan allows 10 users in a non-production org.

Okta fits companies running dozens of SaaS apps that need central access control, audits and fast offboarding. It falls short for very small teams because of the contract minimum, and add-ons push real costs above list prices. Microsoft Entra ID is the natural rival for Microsoft-heavy shops, Keycloak is a free self-hosted option, and 1Password covers password sharing rather than full IAM.

Recent development: Okta for AI Agents reached general availability on April 30, 2026, registering AI agents as non-human identities with managed tokens and kill switches. Okta also pushes the Cross App Access (XAA) protocol through the IETF.