How to choose authentication & identity without guessing
Identity isn’t a feature—it’s infrastructure that sets your security posture, user friction, and enterprise deal readiness. Choose workforce IAM (Okta/Entra/OneLogin) when governance and access policy across apps are the problem; choose CIAM (Auth0/Clerk/Firebase/Supabase/Cognito) when customer login UX and product flows are the problem. Costs usually jump when you add enterprise SSO, provisioning, or higher-assurance security.
Top Rated Authentication & Identity
Okta
Okta is enterprise workforce IAM for SSO, MFA, and lifecycle governance. Pick it when centralized policy and auditability matter more than c...
Auth0
Auth0 is CIAM for product teams needing flexible customer login flows and enterprise SSO readiness. Costs typically step up as MAUs and ente...
Microsoft Entra ID
Microsoft Entra ID is workforce identity when you’re already standardized on Microsoft 365/Azure. Great for conditional access and governanc...
AWS Cognito
AWS Cognito is AWS-native auth primitives. It can be cost-effective and cloud-aligned, but you pay in engineering time for UX, edge cases, a...
Clerk
Clerk is managed auth optimized for shipping fast with polished UI and user management. It’s a strong default for modern SaaS, with upgrades...
Firebase Authentication
Firebase Auth is SDK-driven login for web/mobile with minimal backend. It’s excellent for consumer apps, but enterprise B2B SSO and governan...
OneLogin
OneLogin is workforce IAM for SSO and MFA across SaaS apps, commonly evaluated against Okta and Entra. Pick it when governance and workforce...
Supabase Auth
Supabase Auth is product-embedded authentication designed to pair login with Postgres-first authorization (RLS). Choose it when you want one...
Pricing and availability may change. Verify details on the official website.
How to Choose the Right Authentication & Identity Platform
Workforce IAM vs Customer IAM (CIAM)
Workforce IAM optimizes governance and centralized policy across many apps, while CIAM optimizes product login UX and developer customization inside your product. Picking the wrong type creates expensive rework.
Questions to ask:
- Are you authenticating employees to many SaaS apps, or customers to your product?
- Who owns identity long-term: IT/security or product engineering?
- Is your identity surface mostly internal governance or product UX?
Enterprise SSO and provisioning readiness
B2B deals often require SSO (SAML/OIDC) and provisioning (SCIM) with audit trails. These features can force tier upgrades or a platform switch if they arrive late.
Questions to ask:
- Will enterprise customers require SSO within the next 12 months?
- Do you need SCIM provisioning or access reviews for large tenants?
- What audit evidence is required during procurement or compliance reviews?
Authorization model and multi-tenant complexity
Authentication is only half the system—authorization and tenancy determine how permissions evolve. Some stacks pair auth tightly to data access (e.g., Postgres + RLS), while others push role models into your app.
Questions to ask:
- Is your authorization model role-based, policy-based, or data-centric (RLS)?
- Do you need org/tenant primitives (B2B SaaS) and delegation?
- How will you handle account linking, recovery, and migrations?
Build primitives vs buy a platform
Cloud-native primitives can reduce vendor spend, but they shift UX, edge cases, and operations onto your team. CIAM platforms reduce build time but introduce vendor coupling and tier-driven cost changes.
Questions to ask:
- How much engineering time can you spend on auth UX and edge cases?
- Do you have security ownership for threat modeling and incident response?
- How costly would switching identity vendors be after 12–24 months?
Cost triggers and step-function upgrades
Identity pricing often changes in steps: MAU tiers, seat counts, and enterprise add-ons (SSO/provisioning/security). The real question is what forces you into the next tier.
Questions to ask:
- Which requirement triggers upgrades: MAUs, enterprise SSO, or governance?
- What happens to unit costs as you scale users and tenants?
- Are there limits that create sudden operational costs (support, abuse, recovery)?
How We Rank Authentication & Identity
Source-Led Facts
We prioritize official pricing pages and vendor documentation over third-party review noise.
Intent Over Pricing
A $0 plan is only a "deal" if it actually solves your problem. We rank based on use-case fitness.
Durable Ranges
Vendor prices change daily. We highlight stable pricing bands to help you plan your long-term budget.