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Identity and access management software · head to head

Okta vs Auth0

Mateus Rocha Written by Mateus Rocha · Edited by Sebastiaan Smits · Fact-checked by Priya Nandakumar · Published September 30, 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026

Okta and Auth0 share a parent company but answer different questions. Okta signs a company's own employees into the apps they use and automates onboarding and offboarding. Auth0 is a developer platform for building the login screen of a product you sell, billed by monthly active users. IT departments buy Okta; engineering teams shipping software buy Auth0.

Side by side

OktaAuth0
What it isThe most widely integrated workforce identity platformDeveloper platform for customer-facing login
Best forCompanies that have outgrown a lighter directory toolDevelopers adding login to their own product
HeadquartersUnited StatesUnited States
Pricing modelPer user / monthUsage-based
PricingPer-user monthly tiers billed annually: Starter $6/user/month, Core Essentials $14, Essentials $17, with Professional and Enterprise quote-only; a $1,500 annual contract minimum applies.Free up to 25,000 monthly active users, no card required; Essentials from $35/month (B2C) or $150/month (B2B) from 500 MAUs; Professional from $240/month (B2C) or $800/month (B2B); Enterprise quote-only.
Free optionFree trialFree plan
List price
as listed on September 30, 2026		$6 per user per month, billed annually, with a $1,500 annual contract minimum (Starter)$35 per month for 500 monthly active users (B2C Essentials); $150 per month for B2B
Place in our identity and access management software ranking#4 of 14#9 of 14
Websiteokta.comauth0.com

Both are reviewed in full in Best Identity & Access Management (IAM) / SSO Software in 2026. Position in that ranking can be paid for; the wording of a review or of this comparison cannot. Placement disclosure.

Which one to choose

Choose Okta if

you are an IT team managing staff access to internal and SaaS applications, want pre-built integrations and automated offboarding, and can clear a $1,500 annual minimum.

Okta, #4 in the ranking · Visit Okta →

Choose Auth0 if

you are a developer adding login, social sign-in or passwordless access to your own product and want to start on a free tier before paying by active users.

Auth0, #9 in the ranking · Visit Auth0 →

Where they differ

Whose logins are being managed

Okta is workforce identity: a universal directory, single sign-on and MFA for a company's own staff. Auth0's documentation describes a drop-in service for adding authentication and authorization to your own applications, with social logins and B2B organizations support. An IT team evaluating Auth0 for staff access is looking at the wrong product, and the reverse is equally true.

Edge: even

Cost of getting started

Auth0's free plan covers up to 25,000 monthly active users and includes five organizations and one enterprise connection. Okta has a 30-day trial and no permanent free plan; its Starter suite is $6 per user per month billed annually, and a $1,500 annual contract minimum applies. A team that wants to build first and pay later can only do that with Auth0.

Edge: Auth0

How the bill grows

Okta's per-seat price climbs quickly past Starter, to $14 for Core Essentials and $17 for Essentials, with higher suites on quote. Auth0 Essentials starts at $35 a month for B2C or $150 for B2B at 500 active users, Professional at $240 or $800, and yearly billing costs eleven monthly payments. One scales with headcount, the other with customer logins.

Edge: even

Connecting and disconnecting employees from apps

Okta lists more than 8,000 pre-built integrations, and its lifecycle management creates accounts for new hires from HR systems such as Workday and revokes access when people leave. That feature starts at the $14 Core Essentials suite; Starter has SSO, MFA, the directory and five workflows. Auth0's feature set centers on the login experience. For workforce provisioning, Okta is the tool.

Edge: Okta

Tally: Okta 1, Auth0 1, even 2.

When neither fits

A small company that only needs staff single sign-on without a contract minimum fits neither; JumpCloud combines directory, SSO, MFA and device management without seat minimums. A SaaS company that mainly needs enterprise SSO and directory sync for its customers should compare WorkOS, priced per connection.

See JumpCloud and WorkOS among the 14 products in Best Identity & Access Management (IAM) / SSO Software in 2026.

Questions and answers

Are Okta and Auth0 the same product?

No. Okta acquired Auth0 in 2021 but kept its dashboard, documentation and pricing separate. Okta's workforce product manages employee access to applications. Auth0 is for developers embedding login into their own software. They share an owner, and Auth0's roadmap answers to that owner, but not a use case.

Is Auth0 cheaper than Okta?

They are priced on different meters, so it depends on what you count. Auth0 is free up to 25,000 monthly active users, then tiered by active users. Okta charges per employee per month from $6 on Starter, billed annually, with a $1,500 annual minimum.

Can I use Auth0 instead of Okta for employee single sign-on?

It is not what Auth0 is built for. Auth0's own documentation presents it as a service for adding authentication to applications you build, and its plans are metered by monthly active users. Okta's suites are priced per employee and include the directory, SSO and MFA that staff access needs.

Which Okta plan includes automated onboarding and offboarding?

Core Essentials, at $14 per user per month billed annually, is the first suite that lists Lifecycle Management, along with adaptive MFA and access governance. The $6 Starter suite covers single sign-on, MFA, Universal Directory and five workflows, so automated provisioning means moving up a tier.

Sources

Prices, plan limits and product facts on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on September 30, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.