Okta

Okta is a cloud identity and access management platform for employees, contractors, partners, customers, applications, APIs, and machine identities.

Its Workforce Identity products include single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, Universal Directory, lifecycle management, identity governance, privileged access, and identity threat protection.

Okta also provides Customer Identity capabilities for consumer and business applications. Developers can use Okta APIs, SDKs, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect to add authentication, authorization, user management, and API security.

The company was founded in 2009 by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest. Its corporate headquarters are at 100 First Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, California.

Okta supports centralized authentication across cloud and on-premises applications. Its core access features include SSO, adaptive MFA, passwordless authentication options, and policy-based access controls.

Universal Directory consolidates user profiles from sources such as Active Directory, LDAP, and human resources systems. Lifecycle Management supports automated provisioning, deprovisioning, and profile synchronization.

Identity Governance provides access requests, access reviews, and least-privilege controls. Privileged Access extends identity controls to privileged accounts, servers, and other sensitive resources.

Okta Workflows provides no-code automation with pre-built connectors. The Okta Integration Network provides thousands of application integrations using standards and protocols such as SAML, OIDC, SCIM, and API connections.

Okta APIs support user, group, application, directory, authentication, authorization, governance, and reporting operations. The developer documentation recommends scoped OAuth 2.0 access tokens and also documents API-token authentication.

Okta Workforce Identity pricing is billed annually on a per-user, per-month basis. The Starter suite begins at $6 per user per month and includes SSO, MFA, Universal Directory, and five Workflows.

The Essentials suite begins at $17 per user per month. It adds adaptive MFA, privileged access, lifecycle management, access governance, and 50 Workflows. Core Essentials is listed at $14 per user per month.

Professional and Enterprise pricing requires a sales quote. Professional adds capabilities such as Device Access, Identity Security Posture Management, Identity Threat Protection, Sandbox, and maximum Workflows. Enterprise adds API Access Management, Access Gateway, and machine-to-machine tokens.

Okta Customer Identity pricing starts at $3,000 per month for the Enterprise base platform and requires an annual contract. Add-on pricing depends on usage and product configuration.

Okta offers a 30-day free trial for Okta Platform Workforce Identity. Developers can also use the Okta Integrator Free Plan for non-production exploration with up to 10 active users.

Pros: Broad identity coverage supports workforce, customer, partner, API, privileged, and machine identities. The integration ecosystem supports cloud and on-premises applications. Extensive documentation and standards support help development teams implement authentication and authorization.

Cons: Pricing is primarily quote-based beyond entry-level suites and requires annual billing. The breadth of products can increase implementation and administration complexity. Advanced functions often require higher tiers or separate add-ons.

Microsoft Entra ID is a close alternative for organizations standardized on Microsoft 365 and Azure. Ping Identity offers workforce and customer identity products with strong federation capabilities. OneLogin provides SSO, MFA, directory, and lifecycle management features. CyberArk is a comparable option when privileged access management is the primary requirement. Auth0, also owned by Okta, is a developer-focused alternative for customer authentication and authorization.

What is Okta used for? Okta is used to manage digital identities, authenticate users, control application access, automate identity lifecycle tasks, and secure APIs.

Does Okta have an API? Yes. Okta provides documented REST APIs and supports OAuth 2.0, API tokens, and OpenID Connect for supported identity and management functions.

What integrations does Okta support? Okta supports thousands of pre-built integrations through the Okta Integration Network. Integrations can use SAML, OIDC, SWA, SCIM, APIs, and other supported connection methods.

Does Okta offer a free trial? Yes. Okta offers a 30-day free trial for its Workforce Identity platform. A separate Integrator Free Plan supports limited non-production developer use.

Is Okta available on mobile devices? Okta supports mobile identity workflows through Okta Verify and documented mobile development and API resources for Android and iOS.