Okta vs Keycloak

A side-by-side comparison across pricing, deployment, integrations, compliance, and iam / sso-specific features. Descriptive comparison only — no recommendations.

4 min read Data verified: July 2026 Identity & Access Management

Okta

IAM / SSO

Okta Workforce Identity suites: Starter ($6/user/mo), Core Essentials ($14), Essentials ($17), Professional/Enterprise… custom-quoted; individual per-SKU SSO/MFA/Governance pricing is no longer publicly listed

Paid

Visit official site →

Keycloak

IAM / SSO

Free (Apache 2.0) Red Hat build of Keycloak offers commercial support and binaries under Red Hat subscription pricing

Free / OSS

Visit official site →

$ Pricing & plans

5 dimensions

Pricing model

Okta Workforce Identity suites: Starter ($6/user/mo), Core Essentials ($14), Essentials ($17), Professional/Enterprise…

custom-quoted; individual per-SKU SSO/MFA/Governance pricing is no longer publicly listed

Free (Apache 2.0)

Red Hat build of Keycloak offers commercial support and binaries under Red Hat subscription pricing

Pricing tier

Paid

Free / OSS

Free tier / trial

Free tier

30-day free trial; Okta Developer Edition free for prototyping (limits apply)

Free tier

Software permanently free; no trial needed

Volume discounts

Tiered breaks at 1,000, 5,000, 10,000+ users

multi-year commitments reduce per-user cost

Not applicable (free)

Red Hat subscriptions scale with hosts

Hidden costs

Adaptive features require higher-tier SKUs

some advanced features like Identity Governance and Privileged Access are separate products

Operational infrastructure (compute, database, monitoring), specialized…

engineering time, security hardening, version upgrade engineering

↗ Deployment & integrations

3 dimensions

Deployment

Cloud-only SaaS

identity-as-a-service model

Self-hosted — containers (Docker, Kubernetes via operator), VMs, bare metal

clustered for HA

Typical deployment time

Weeks for typical mid-market deployment

months for complex enterprise with custom integrations and lifecycle workflows

Hours for PoC

weeks for production-ready HA cluster with hardening and observability

Key integrations

7,500+ pre-built integrations in Okta Integration Network (OIN)

largest catalog among workforce IAM vendors; deep integrations with major SaaS, on-prem AD, HR systems

Standards-based

any SAML 2.0, OIDC, OAuth 2.0 application; protocol mappers for custom integrations; user federation with LDAP/Kerberos/AD

🔐 IAM / SSO-specific evaluation

7 dimensions

Authentication methods

SAML 2.0, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, WS-Federation, RADIUS (via Okta Access Gateway)

SCIM 2.0 for provisioning

SAML 2.0, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, Kerberos, X.509 client certificates

broad protocol support

MFA methods

Okta Verify push, TOTP, FIDO2/WebAuthn (security keys, platform…

authenticators), SMS, voice, biometrics, third-party (Duo, RSA)

TOTP (Google Authenticator, FreeOTP), WebAuthn/FIDO2 (security keys, passkeys),…

email/SMS via custom integration

Adaptive / risk-based auth

Okta Adaptive MFA uses contextual signals (device, location, network, behavior)…

for risk-based step-up; requires Adaptive MFA SKU

Conditional authentication flows can be customized

not as turnkey as commercial adaptive MFA products

Directory integrations

Active Directory, LDAP, HR-driven (Workday, BambooHR, UltiPro, SuccessFactors),…

Google Workspace; Universal Directory as system of record

LDAP, Active Directory, Kerberos via user federation

custom user storage SPI for proprietary stores

Lifecycle management (SCIM)

Okta Lifecycle Management automates provisioning/deprovisioning via SCIM 2.0

HR-driven joiner/mover/leaver workflows

SCIM 2.0 supported via extensions/community plugins

not as polished out-of-the-box as commercial IAM products

Privileged access

Okta Privileged Access (separately licensed) for server access; not full PAM platform

buyers needing deep PAM often pair Okta with CyberArk/BeyondTrust

Not a PAM platform

provides authentication, not privileged credential management

Session monitoring

Session policies and re-authentication enforcement

full session recording is not a core Okta feature

Session listing and forced logout per user/admin

audit logging via Event Listener SPI

✓ Compliance & certifications

1 dimension

Compliance certifications

FedRAMP High, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, CSA STAR, IRAP

Software has no specific certifications

organizations deploy in their own compliant environments. Red Hat build inherits Red Hat platform certifications.

◧ Positioning

3 dimensions

Target deployment

Mid-market to enterprise workforce identity, organizations wanting broad SaaS integration

Developer-led organizations, self-hosted IAM, customer-facing applications…

(CIAM), avoiding per-user SaaS pricing

Strengths cited

Largest identity SaaS app catalog (7,500+ pre-built integrations), strong SCIM…

provisioning ecosystem, broadly recognized as a workforce identity leader, mature partner network

Free and open source under Apache 2.0, strong protocol support (SAML, OIDC,…

OAuth), CIAM-capable, broad customization, no per-user licensing

Where it fits less well

Higher-tier features (Adaptive MFA, Lifecycle Management) require Identity Engine tier

has experienced publicly disclosed security incidents that have been addressed; pricing positioned at premium tier

Requires operational expertise to run in production at scale

no SaaS-managed option from upstream project (Red Hat offers managed options separately)

◧ Bottom line

Last updated 6 July 2026

Who should pick which Okta — Mid-market to enterprise organizations standardizing on SaaS, needing the broadest pre-built app integration catalog and mature workforce identity capabilities.

Keycloak — Developer-led organizations, customer-facing apps requiring CIAM features, environments wanting self-hosted IAM without per-user SaaS costs.

Both are IAM / SSO tools; the practical differences are licensing (Paid vs Free / OSS) and deployment (SaaS (cloud-only) vs Self-hosted (containers, VMs, Kubernetes)). Match the profile above to your environment.

◧ Choose Okta or Keycloak?

decision guide

Choose if

Choose Okta if…

You can deploy SaaS (cloud-only).

Paid licensing fits your budget — $6-$17/user/mo across suites; $1,500/yr minimum annual contract.

You prioritise Largest identity SaaS app catalog (7,500+ pre-built integrations), strong SCIM provisioning ecosystem, broadly recognized as a workforce identity leader, mature partner network.

Choose Keycloak if…

You can deploy Self-hosted (containers, VMs, Kubernetes).

Free / OSS licensing fits your budget — Free (Apache 2.0 open source); commercial support available via Red Hat build (Red Hat build of Keycloak).

You prioritise Free and open source under Apache 2.0, strong protocol support (SAML, OIDC, OAuth), CIAM-capable, broad customization, no per-user licensing.

Frequently asked questions

5 questions

How much do Okta and Keycloak cost?

Okta: Workforce Identity suites: Starter ($6/user/mo), Core Essentials ($14), Essentials ($17); Professional and Enterprise custom-quoted (individual per-SKU SSO/MFA/Governance pricing is no longer publicly listed) Keycloak: Free (Apache 2.0); Red Hat build of Keycloak offers commercial support and binaries under Red Hat subscription pricing

Does Okta or Keycloak offer a free tier or trial?

Okta: 30-day free trial; Okta Developer Edition free for prototyping (limits apply) Keycloak: Software permanently free; no trial needed

How are Okta and Keycloak deployed?

Okta: Cloud-only SaaS; identity-as-a-service model Keycloak: Self-hosted — containers (Docker, Kubernetes via operator), VMs, bare metal; clustered for HA

Who is Okta best for, and who is Keycloak best for?

Okta is aimed at Mid-market to enterprise workforce identity, organizations wanting broad SaaS integration. Keycloak is aimed at Developer-led organizations, self-hosted IAM, customer-facing applications (CIAM), avoiding per-user SaaS pricing.

What compliance certifications do Okta and Keycloak hold?

Okta: FedRAMP High, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, CSA STAR, IRAP Keycloak: Software has no specific certifications; organizations deploy in their own compliant environments. Red Hat build inherits Red Hat platform certifications.

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Methodology Comparison data synthesized from publicly available vendor documentation, MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK Evaluations, AV-TEST results, Gartner Peer Insights, G2/Capterra/TrustRadius reviews, anonymized transaction data (Vendr, CostBench, CheckThat.ai), and publicly reported pricing as of May 2026. defend.network is independent and has no commercial relationship with the vendors compared.