Teleport

Teleport is an infrastructure identity platform developed by Gravitational, Inc. It combines connectivity, authentication, authorization and audit controls for distributed infrastructure.

The platform can protect SSH servers, Windows desktops, Kubernetes clusters, databases, cloud consoles, web applications, Git repositories, MCP servers and machine workloads. Organizations can deploy it through Teleport Cloud or operate it in self-hosted environments.

Teleport issues short-lived cryptographic credentials and supports role-based access control, single sign-on, just-in-time access requests, session recording and structured audit events.

Teleport provides identity-aware access for SSH, RDP, Kubernetes, databases, cloud APIs, web applications and TCP endpoints. Teleport Connect supplies a graphical client for macOS, Linux and Windows, while tsh and tctl provide command-line administration.

Administrative controls include RBAC, attribute-based authorization, SAML and OIDC single sign-on, device trust, moderated sessions, access reviews and identity locking. Session recordings and structured audit logs support investigations and compliance workflows.

The Machine and Workload Identity product issues short-lived credentials to CI/CD pipelines, hosts, microservices and other non-human workloads. The Identity Governance and Identity Security products add access reviews, SCIM provisioning, access graphs, SSH key scanning and risk analysis.

Teleport’s January 2026 pricing guide describes usage-based Enterprise pricing. Billing uses Monthly Active Users and Teleport Protected Resources, which include infrastructure resources and non-human identities registered with a cluster.

The Enterprise platform has Standard and Premium editions. Standard includes Zero Trust Access, Machine and Workload Identity, and Identity Governance. Premium adds Identity Security. Teleport does not publish fixed Enterprise prices on its public pricing page.

Community Edition is available for self-hosted use under the stated licensing conditions. Teleport also offers a free 14-day Enterprise Cloud trial. Prospective Enterprise customers can request a quote from the vendor.

Pros

• Unifies access, authentication, authorization and audit across many infrastructure types.
• Supports cloud, self-hosted and hybrid deployment models.
• Provides short-lived credentials, just-in-time access and session recording.
• Offers clients and tools for Windows, macOS, Linux, web and command-line workflows.
• Includes integrations for cloud providers, identity providers, SIEM, ITSM and CI/CD tools.

Cons

• Enterprise pricing is quote-based and depends on usage metrics.
• Initial deployment and policy configuration can require specialist infrastructure knowledge.
• Some governance and identity-security capabilities are limited to Enterprise editions.
• The broad product surface can create a learning curve for smaller teams.

StrongDM is a comparable access-management platform focused on identity-based access to infrastructure and applications. HashiCorp Boundary provides identity-based access to hosts and services without exposing network credentials. Cloudflare Access offers identity-aware access controls for private applications and infrastructure through the Cloudflare platform. Okta Privileged Access targets privileged access management and integrates closely with the Okta identity ecosystem. Tailscale provides identity-based private networking and access controls, with a different architecture centered on WireGuard-based networking.

What does Teleport protect?

Teleport can protect SSH servers, Windows desktops, Kubernetes clusters, databases, web applications, cloud consoles, cloud APIs, Git repositories, MCP servers and other TCP resources.

Does Teleport have an API?

Yes. The Teleport Auth Service exposes a gRPC API, and the vendor provides a public Go client. The API can manage resources, roles, authentication connectors and provisioning tokens.

Which identity providers integrate with Teleport?

Teleport documents integrations with providers including Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, GitHub, Google Workspace, Keycloak and Active Directory. SAML, OIDC and SCIM capabilities vary by integration and product edition.

Can Teleport run without a VPN?

Teleport supports access through its identity-aware proxy and can provide secure tunnels to protected resources. Its VNet feature supplies a VPN-like local network experience while retaining Teleport identity controls.

Does Teleport offer a free plan?

Teleport provides a Community Edition for self-hosted deployments under its stated licensing terms. Enterprise Cloud includes a 14-day free trial, while Enterprise production pricing is usage-based.