Okta alternatives: where to go and how to migrate without locking anyone out
Seven destinations in detail, one per reason to leave, and a seven-step migration plan.
The short answer: Microsoft Entra ID if you already pay for Microsoft 365, JumpCloud if you're an SMB that also needs to manage laptops, Ping Identity if you're a large enterprise with on-prem apps, Keycloak or authentik if you want open source, ZITADEL if you need customer identity without Okta's $3,000 a month floor, and Cisco Duo if all you really use Okta for is MFA. One number before you choose: sysadmins who have done it report about two months for 60 apps and 200 users, and about nine months for 200 apps and 7,000 users. We compared the seven destinations in this guide and checked their pricing in 2026.
Our ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Why teams leave Okta, and why so many stay
Okta is easy to run, and its app catalog and lifecycle automation are hard to beat. Even admins who call it the most expensive option say so. People leave over the bill, the renewals, paying twice for identity, and trust. Six reasons, all checked in 2026.
Per-user pricing that stacks, plus a floor
Workforce Identity starts at $6 per user per month for Starter, $14 for Core Essentials and $17 for Essentials. Professional and Enterprise are quote-only. Everything is billed annually, with a $1,500 minimum contract. A 20-person company pays the minimum, not 20 times $6.
Renewals that creep up
Published Okta purchase data puts the median annual contract around $44,700, with deals ranging from about $10,900 to over $228,000. Buyers there recommend capping renewal increases, and admins on forums describe steady pressure to add modules. The renewal quote is often what starts the search.
Paying twice for identity
If you run on Microsoft 365, you already have Entra ID, and some plans already include P1 (conditional access, dynamic groups). Paying for Okta on top means funding two directories. As one admin put it on a sysadmin forum: there's no point paying for a duplicate product.
The 2022 and 2023 incidents
In 2022, an attacker controlled a support engineer's laptop at a subcontractor for 25 minutes; Okta concluded two customer tenants were accessed. In late 2023, its support system was accessed for nearly three weeks: 134 customers affected, HAR files holding session tokens, sessions hijacked at 5 customers, then a report with names and emails of all support system users. Okta published its findings and shipped new protections.
Service accounts cost like people
Okta bills per account. A service account for an integration, a bot or a contractor counts like an employee. Teams that made Okta their single source of identity notice it once non-human accounts pile up.
The exit cost keeps people in
Plenty of teams keep eating the cost because swapping an IdP hurts: every app to reconfigure, passwords you can't export, MFA to re-enroll. One team got a consultant quote of six months and $200,000. That's the real number to weigh against your renewal increase.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right Okta alternative depends on what's pushing you out and what you already pay for. Usually one line fits. Each card jumps to the full write-up below.
P1 at $7 per user per month, and Microsoft publishes official Okta migration guides.
You're an SMB that also manages laptopsJumpCloudSSO, MFA and device management in one place, monthly billing available.
You're an enterprise with on-prem appsPing IdentityMulti-tenant cloud, dedicated cloud or self-hosted software, quote-based.
You're done with per-user licensesKeycloak or authentikOpen source and free, if someone on your team can host it.
You need customer identity on a budgetZITADELFree tier, then $100 a month for up to 25,000 daily active users.
You only really need MFACisco DuoFree up to 10 users, then from $3 per user.
Okta alternatives, tool by tool
For each tool: why move to it, who it's for, its limit, how to migrate from Okta, and what it costs. Prices are the list prices vendors show in 2026, before tax. You won't find Auth0 here: it belongs to Okta (more on that in the FAQ). OneLogin, Rippling and Google Cloud Identity also come up in searches, but none of them shows a clear price on its own site, so they stay out of this list.
Microsoft Entra ID: the natural exit for Microsoft shops
If you have Microsoft 365Why move to Entra ID. If your people already sign in to Outlook, Teams and SharePoint with a Microsoft account, your directory already exists. Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) handles SSO over SAML and OIDC, MFA and conditional access, meaning rules like "unmanaged device, require MFA". You drop a bill instead of swapping one for another.
Who it's for. Companies living in Microsoft 365, and anyone still running Active Directory on-prem.
Who it's not for. A Google Workspace and Mac team. You'd be buying an ecosystem to get a directory.
Its limit. Okta's app catalog and dashboard are still nicer, and apps that used Okta's password-vaulting mode (SWA) are a pain to bring over. Admins disagree on conditional access: more granular than Okta's global session policy, but slower to get right. Staged federation also doesn't cover legacy mail protocols like POP3 or authenticated SMTP.
How to migrate. It's the best-documented way out of Okta. Microsoft publishes three official guides: one inventories your apps through the Okta API and moves them one by one (SAML, OIDC, custom authorization servers), one moves Microsoft 365 federation group by group with password hash sync, and one maps your Okta sign-on policies to conditional access.
Pricing. There's a Free tier. P1 is $7 per user per month, P2 (identity protection, privileged access) $10, and the Entra Suite $12, billed annually; the Suite requires P1.
- Free
- Free tier
- Paid
- P1 $7/user/mo
- Best for
- Microsoft 365 companies
- Limit
- password-vaulted apps
JumpCloud: identity plus devices for SMBs
SMBs, month to monthWhy move to JumpCloud. Okta manages identities, not laptops. JumpCloud does both: a cloud directory, SSO, MFA, a password manager, plus Windows, Mac and Linux device management (MDM). For an SMB without Active Directory, that's often one less tool on the invoice.
Who it's for. SMBs with a mixed fleet (Platform Essentials goes up to 300 users) and a small IT team.
Who it's not for. An enterprise that needs deep access governance. On sysadmin forums, JumpCloud comes across as nice but not as advanced as Okta. One former Okta customer also reports leaving JumpCloud over a steeper learning curve than expected.
Its limit. No permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial. Suspended users stay billable, so delete leavers' accounts. Platform Essentials caps at 300 users.
How to migrate. Rebuild your groups with the same names as in Okta first, then connect each app over SAML or SCIM provisioning (the protocol that creates and removes accounts automatically). Keep the same identifier per person, usually the email, so apps match existing accounts.
Pricing. The SSO package (SSO, MFA, password manager) is $11 per user per month billed annually, $13 monthly. Device Management is $9 ($11 monthly), Device and Identity Management $13 ($15). À la carte add-ons start at $3, and the full Platform is quote-based.
- Free
- 30-day trial
- Paid
- SSO $11/user/mo annual
- Best for
- SMBs with mixed fleets
- Limit
- suspended users billed
Ping Identity: for enterprises and hybrid setups
EnterpriseWhy move to Ping. Ping is the other big name in workforce identity, and it gives you three deployment options: PingOne (multi-tenant cloud), Advanced Identity Cloud (a dedicated cloud) and self-hosted software. If part of your app estate still lives in your own data centers, that flexibility matters.
Who it's for. Banks, insurers, government and manufacturers with thousands of users and hosting constraints. Ping also offers FedRAMP environments for US public sector work.
Who it's not for. An SMB. With no public pricing and an enterprise sales cycle, you'll spend more time in calls than migrating.
Its limit. No list price. Pricing depends on the number and type of identities (employees, customers, partners), and everything goes through sales. Compare like for like, module by module.
How to migrate. Same steps as Entra: app inventory, SAML or OIDC reconfiguration one app at a time, MFA cutover by group. Ask Ping to put in the quote what migration help is included and how long both platforms can run side by side.
Pricing. Quote only.
- Free
- no
- Paid
- quote only
- Best for
- enterprise, hybrid
- Limit
- no public pricing
Keycloak: the open source standard
Open sourceWhy move to Keycloak. Keycloak is free under the Apache 2.0 license and covers the core of an IdP: SSO, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, and LDAP or Active Directory federation. It's a Cloud Native Computing Foundation incubation project, which says something about its staying power. No more per-user bill.
Who it's for. Engineering teams that already self-host services, and SaaS companies that need identity for their own customers.
Who it's not for. A company without an ops team. Self-hosting Keycloak gets described on forums as a heavy lift: upgrades, backups, high availability and security are all on you.
Its limit. No plug-and-play app catalog like Okta's, so every app gets configured by hand. No vendor support either, unless you hire a partner.
How to migrate. Stand up a test instance and move one low-risk app first. Rebuild groups with identical names, keep the email as the stable identifier, and plan for password resets: Okta won't hand passwords back in clear text.
Pricing. Free. The real cost is your team's time and the hosting.
- Free
- yes, Apache 2.0
- Paid
- hosting and upkeep
- Best for
- engineering teams
- Limit
- everything is DIY
authentik: open source with a light paid tier
Open source, $5Why move to authentik. authentik is a younger open source IdP than Keycloak. The free version handles simple setups, and the Enterprise tier adds support and business features at a per-user price far below Okta's.
Who it's for. Technical teams who want to host their identity layer but still have a vendor to call.
Who it's not for. A team that doesn't want to host anything. Servers, backups and upgrades stay your job.
Its limit. The vendor itself positions the free version for homelabs and simple use cases, with community support only. The top tier jumps hard: Enterprise Plus starts at $20,000 a year.
How to migrate. Same playbook as Keycloak: a test instance, one low-risk app first, groups recreated with the same names, and email as the stable identifier.
Pricing. Open source is free. Enterprise is $5 per internal user per month, or $0.02 per external user, billed annually.
- Free
- yes, community support
- Paid
- Enterprise $5/user/mo
- Best for
- technical teams
- Limit
- you host it
ZITADEL: open source identity, hosted and billed monthly
Customer identityWhy move to ZITADEL. ZITADEL is an open source IdP that also runs a hosted cloud version, billed per month rather than per seat. You keep the open source exit door without running servers.
Who it's for. SaaS teams that need sign-in for their own customers and balk at Okta Customer Identity, whose required Enterprise base starts at $3,000 a month, billed annually.
Who it's not for. Replacing workforce identity with a ready-made app catalog. ZITADEL is built for developers first.
Its limit. The free tier caps at 100 daily active users and 3 external identity providers. If you're just over the line, the jump to Pro is steep.
How to migrate. For a customer-facing app, plan a gradual move: users reset their password or sign in through an external provider (Google, Microsoft), since Okta doesn't release passwords in clear text.
Pricing. Free tier, then Pro at $100 a month for up to 25,000 daily active users, and Enterprise on quote.
- Free
- 100 daily active users
- Paid
- Pro $100/mo
- Best for
- customer identity
- Limit
- developer-first
Cisco Duo: when MFA is what you really need
MFA, free for 10Why move to Duo. A lot of teams mostly use Okta for MFA. If that's you, Duo does the job for a fraction of the price, on top of the directory you keep.
Who it's for. Small teams, and companies that keep a Microsoft or Google directory but want stronger MFA in front of their VPN and apps.
Who it's not for. Replacing all of Okta. Duo is an MFA product first, not a full directory, so pair it with the one you keep.
Its limit. Licenses come in packs of 10 under 100 users, then packs of 25. With 104 people, you pay for 125 seats.
How to migrate. MFA is the part of the move that touches every employee. Run a Duo enrollment campaign before you switch off Okta MFA, with a hard deadline and a help channel.
Pricing. Free up to 10 users. Essentials $3, Advantage $6 and Premier $9 per user per month, with a 30-day trial.
- Free
- up to 10 users
- Paid
- Essentials $3/user/mo
- Best for
- MFA on an existing directory
- Limit
- not a full directory
The 7 alternatives at a glance
Our default pick: Entra ID if you already pay for Microsoft 365, JumpCloud otherwise for an SMB. For a sense of scale, take 100 employees on SSO with MFA: Okta Core Essentials runs about $1,400 a month billed annually, JumpCloud SSO about $1,100, Entra ID P1 about $700, and Keycloak costs only hosting and your team's time. One row per tool: entry price on the left, what to know before migrating on the right.
| Entry price | What to know before migrating | |
|---|---|---|
| OktaWhere you start | Starter $6/user/mo, $1,500 a year minimum | Annual billing only, Professional and Enterprise on quote |
| Microsoft Entra IDIf you have Microsoft 365 | Free, then P1 $7/user/mo | Three official Okta migration guides |
| JumpCloudSMBs | SSO $11/user/mo annual, $13 monthly | Devices included in some packages, suspended users billed |
| Ping IdentityEnterprise | Quote only | Multi-tenant, dedicated or self-hosted |
| KeycloakOpen source | Free | Hosting and config are on you |
| authentikOpen source | Free, Enterprise $5/user/mo | Self-hosted, paid support |
| ZITADELCustomer identity | Free 100 DAU, Pro $100/mo | Passwords need a reset |
| Cisco DuoMFA only | Free up to 10, Essentials $3/user/mo | Pair it with a directory |
List prices before tax, as shown by vendors in 2026, subject to change.
Migrating off Okta in seven steps
Order matters. Each step protects something: your users' access, your admin accounts, your contract. Timelines come from admins who've done it: roughly two months for 60 apps and 200 users, about four months for 178 apps and 2,500 users.
Pull your app list from the Okta API
Week 1Don't trust memory. The Okta API gives you every app, its protocol (SAML, OIDC, password-vaulted), assigned groups and user counts. Microsoft shows how to pull it with Postman and turn the JSON into a spreadsheet.
Add one column that matters most: the owner of each app, the person who can log in to its admin console on cutover day. Without them, a SAML app doesn't get reconfigured.
- Time
- a few days
- Risk if rushed
- forgotten app, lost access
Triage apps and set the order
Week 2Sort every app into three buckets: ones with a ready-made integration at the destination, ones you'll configure by hand over SAML or OIDC, and password-vaulted ones. The last bucket hurts most, since most destinations handle it worse than Okta.
Start with a low-risk app and leave email and payroll for last. Kill anything nobody uses: every app you retire is one less config to redo.
- Tip
- replace dashboard tiles with bookmarks
Build a test environment and lock the identifier
Before anythingSet up the destination on a dev or test instance with a few pilot accounts. Decide each person's identifier now (usually email) and keep it exactly the same as in Okta. That's what lets an app match an existing account instead of creating a duplicate.
Recreate groups with the same names. Group IDs change between providers, but identical names make every app's access rules easier to remap. Back up the destination config at each step.
- Risk if rushed
- duplicate accounts
Move apps one at a time
The bulk of the workSAML: swap metadata and certificate between the app and the destination, test with test users, then remove Okta in the app. OIDC: create a new registration with a new client ID, secret and redirect URIs. Admins report roughly 10 minutes of config per app, inside an announced maintenance window.
For SCIM provisioning, turn Okta's off before turning the destination's on, never both at once. Grab SSO recovery codes for every app that offers them: they save you if sign-in breaks mid-migration.
- Time
- about 10 min per app
- Risk if rushed
- admins locked out
Move Microsoft 365 sign-in group by group
If you have Microsoft 365If Okta federates your Microsoft 365 sign-in, don't defederate the whole domain at once. Turn on password hash sync from Active Directory, then move users in groups with Entra's Staged Rollout. Defederating the domain comes last.
Admins who've done it suggest a dedicated group to pull users out of federation, batch by batch. Check for legacy mail clients on POP3 or authenticated SMTP first: they don't go through this path.
- Prerequisite
- password hash sync
Re-enroll everyone's MFA
Hits everyoneMFA factors don't transfer between providers: every employee re-enrolls their phone or key. Okta doesn't support enrolling Microsoft Authenticator as an Okta factor either, so nothing carries over.
Run an enrollment campaign with a deadline, a one-page guide and a help channel. On Entra, a Temporary Access Pass gets people in who no longer have their old device. Field advice: keep Okta as MFA while you move SSO, then move MFA separately. For 7,000 users, one team needed five months for MFA alone.
- Time
- weeks to months
- Risk if rushed
- users locked out on Monday
Shut Okta down and time the contract
The endTurn Okta off only once no sign-in has gone through it for two weeks; the system log tells you. Export those logs before the contract ends, in case of an audit.
On the contract side, timing is everything. Start evaluating alternatives 90 to 120 days before renewal so you negotiate with a real plan B. Okta's fiscal year ends January 31, and buyers see bigger discounts from November through January. If you stay, ask for a cap on renewal increases, such as 5% or CPI.
- Lead time
- 90 to 120 days before renewal
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What makes an Okta migration fail
The same mistakes show up in sysadmin threads and vendor guides alike. None is deeply technical. They're oversights, and each one can lock dozens of people out for a whole morning.
Underestimating the timeline
One team took about a year for 100 apps, working on it part time. If your contract ends in three months, renew for a year with a negotiated cap and migrate calmly, instead of cutting over in a panic.
Forgetting AD-only groups
Groups that only exist in on-prem Active Directory, read by Okta's AD agents, vanish at cutover and access breaks silently. List every group used in an access rule before you retire the agents.
Letting attributes drift
If email, username or immutable ID don't match exactly between Okta and the destination, apps create duplicate accounts. Compare the claims each app receives before and after.
Promising users their passwords stay
No provider hands back passwords in clear text. Into Entra, password hash sync from AD avoids a reset; otherwise plan one, announce it, and publish a help page.
Switching MFA and SSO on the same day
Changing both at once floods the help desk. Move SSO first while keeping Okta MFA, then MFA, with two separate announcements.
No break-glass admins
Keep at least two emergency admin accounts outside SSO in each critical app and in the destination. When a SAML config breaks, they're how you get back in.
- Your app inventory comes from the Okta API, with an owner per row
- Each person's identifier is identical in Okta and the destination
- Okta SCIM provisioning is off before the destination's goes on
- Two break-glass admin accounts exist outside SSO
- The MFA enrollment campaign has a deadline and a help channel
- Evaluation starts 90 to 120 days before the renewal date
Okta alternatives: frequently asked questions
What's the best free alternative to Okta?
Keycloak, if you can host it: open source, free, and it covers SSO, SAML and OIDC. authentik is another open source option, with a $5 per user Enterprise tier if you want support. Without your own servers, ZITADEL's hosted free tier covers 100 daily active users, and Duo gives you free MFA for up to 10 users. To lock down shared credentials too, see our business password manager comparison.
Why are companies leaving Okta?
Mostly cost. Pricing stacks per user across SSO, MFA and lifecycle bundles, there's a $1,500 annual minimum, and renewals tend to rise. Next comes duplication: teams on Microsoft 365 already have Entra ID. The 2022 and 2023 support incidents added a trust question for some security teams.
Is Entra ID better than Okta?
Not across the board, but often good enough to cut a bill. Okta still has the richer app catalog and simpler admin experience. Entra ID is already there if you pay for Microsoft 365, its conditional access is very granular, and P1 is $7 per user per month. If you're rethinking your productivity suite too, read our guide on switching from Microsoft 365 before going all in on Microsoft.
How long does migrating off Okta take?
Anywhere from two months to over a year. Admin reports range from about two months for 60 apps and 200 users, to four months for 178 apps and 2,500 users, to nine months for 200 apps and 7,000 users with SSO and MFA moved separately. The biggest driver is the number of apps you have to configure by hand.
Is Auth0 an Okta alternative?
No, not if you're trying to leave Okta. Okta acquired Auth0 in 2021, and Okta Customer Identity is built on Auth0 technology. You'd change products, not vendors or contracts. Auth0's free tier covers up to 25,000 monthly active users, which suits an app, not your workforce.
Is Okta still safe after the 2022 and 2023 breaches?
Both incidents hit Okta's support environment, not the sign-in platform itself. Okta published its root cause analysis and added protections such as binding admin session tokens to network location. The lesson for you: never upload a HAR file with live session tokens to any vendor's support without scrubbing it first.
Can I keep user passwords when leaving Okta?
Not by exporting them: Okta doesn't release passwords in clear text. Into Entra ID, password hash sync from on-prem AD avoids a reset. For other destinations, plan a guided reset, or let people sign in with Microsoft or Google during the transition.
Should the same tool manage identities and devices?
It's not required, but it's often cheaper for an SMB. JumpCloud does both from $13 per user per month billed annually. If you'd rather use a dedicated tool, our MDM software comparison covers the options, and the Okta integration for n8n helps automate onboarding and offboarding while both systems run.
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