Okta vs Keycloak -- Identity & Access Management Compared
Keycloak is the leading open-source alternative to Okta, providing SSO, MFA, and identity brokering with zero licensing costs. The trade-off is clear: Keycloak gives you complete control, customization, and data sovereignty, but demands significant engineering investment to deploy, operate, and maintain. Okta removes that operational burden with a managed cloud platform and the broadest integration ecosystem, but at a substantial per-user cost.
Choose Keycloak if you have the engineering talent to operate identity infrastructure and want to eliminate licensing costs while gaining full customization and data sovereignty. Choose Okta if you need a managed identity platform that provides the broadest integration network, enterprise support, and governance features without the operational burden of self-hosted infrastructure.
| Feature | Keycloak | Okta |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing Cost | Free — no per-user or platform fees | Per-user subscription starting at $2/user/month |
| Deployment Model | Self-hosted only — you manage all infrastructure | Fully managed cloud SaaS |
| SSO Integrations | Standard protocol support, limited pre-built connectors | 7,000+ pre-built application integrations |
| Customization | Unlimited — full source code access and SPI extensions | Configurable within platform boundaries |
| Operational Burden | High — patching, scaling, HA, and DR are your responsibility | Zero — fully managed by Okta |
| MFA Options | OTP, WebAuthn, custom authenticators via SPI | Okta Verify push, FIDO2, SMS, voice, biometrics |
| Identity Governance | Basic RBAC/ABAC — no built-in governance or compliance | Full governance with access reviews and certification |
| Community & Support | Open-source community + optional Red Hat SSO support | 24/7 enterprise support with SLAs |
Common questions about choosing between Okta and Keycloak.
Keycloak is the leading open-source alternative to Okta, providing SSO, MFA, and identity brokering with zero licensing costs. The trade-off is clear: Keycloak gives you complete control, customization, and data sovereignty, but demands significant engineering investment to deploy, operate, and maintain. Okta removes that operational burden with a managed cloud platform and the broadest integration ecosystem, but at a substantial per-user cost.
Choose Keycloak if you have the engineering talent to operate identity infrastructure and want to eliminate licensing costs while gaining full customization and data sovereignty. Choose Okta if you need a managed identity platform that provides the broadest integration network, enterprise support, and governance features without the operational burden of self-hosted infrastructure.
Keycloak pricing: Free (open source) / Red Hat SSO for enterprise support. Okta pricing: Starts at $2/user/month (SSO) / Workforce Identity Cloud custom pricing. Keycloak's pricing model is free open source with optional commercial support, while Okta uses per-user monthly subscription pricing.
Yes, you can migrate from Okta to Keycloak. The migration process depends on your specific setup and the features you use. Both platforms offer APIs that can facilitate automated migration. Consider running both tools in parallel during the transition to ensure zero downtime.
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