authentik vs Okta Single Sign-On: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

authentik

Startups and SMBs that need SSO and MFA without vendor lock-in should run authentik; the open-source model means you own the codebase, avoid licensing creep as you scale, and can self-host or go hybrid without renegotiating contracts. It covers NIST PR.AA identity management and access control natively, and the built-in application proxy handles remote access to RDP, SSH, and VNC without bolting on a separate tool. Expect to staff more ops lift than a SaaS alternative; this is not the tool for teams wanting a hands-off managed identity service.

Okta Single Sign-On

Mid-market and enterprise teams managing hybrid infrastructure across cloud and on-premises apps should pick Okta Single Sign-On for its 8,000+ pre-built integrations and phishing-resistant authentication, which eliminate the identity sprawl that makes passwordless adoption fail in practice. The vendor's 7,148-person scale and active directory integration mean you're not betting on a point product that gets orphaned when priorities shift. Skip this if your organization runs primarily on-premises or needs deep endpoint device management alongside SSO; Okta's strength in application access doesn't extend meaningfully into device posture or NIST ID.AM asset discovery workflows.