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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: "WorkOS Alternatives (2025): SSO, SCIM, and Pricing Compared" |
| 3 | +date: "2025-10-05" |
| 4 | +description: "Discover the best WorkOS alternatives for SSO, SCIM, and audit logs — open-source and managed options, pricing signals, and when SuperTokens fits." |
| 5 | +cover: "workos-alternatives.png" |
| 6 | +category: "programming" |
| 7 | +author: "Mostafa Ibrahim" |
| 8 | +--- |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +WorkOS gets you SSO and SCIM fast, but the pricing model and hosting choice often decide your real cost, control, and support load. If you’re running a multi-tenant SaaS or selling enterprise plans, those trade-offs matter more than the feature matrix. When that’s the case, it’s worth weighing alternatives to WorkOS. |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +We’ll compare alternatives on three axes: pricing (how costs scale with tenants and usage), hosting (fully managed vs self-host/VPC for residency and extensibility), and admin UX (setup links/portal to reduce integration support). That lens keeps the evaluation practical and testable. |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +By the end, you’ll have a metric to verify SSO/SCIM/audit parity, surface hidden costs like audit retention/streaming, and see where [SuperTokens](https://supertokens.com/) fits — especially if you want per-MAU pricing or an OSS/VPC path — with [Ory Polis](https://www.ory.sh/polis) as a bridge when you need SAML/OIDC setup-link parity. |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +## When to Look Beyond WorkOS |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +If any of the points below describe your situation, it’s a strong signal to compare alternatives. |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +- **Cost Model Mismatch**: You want lower SSO/SCIM connection costs or a per-MAU/flat model because your tenant count is growing and per-connection fees are stacking up. |
| 21 | +- **Control and Extensibility Needs**: You need self-hosting/VPC, tighter data residency, or deeper extensibility than a point solution comfortably supports. |
| 22 | +- **Prefer an All-In CIAM Bundle**: You want users/sessions, SSO, SCIM, audit logs, and RBAC in one package — rather than piecemeal add-ons. |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +**Context**: WorkOS typically bills SSO and Directory Sync per connection ($125/connection/month); Audit Logs are $125/month per SIEM connection for log streaming and $99/month per million events stored for retention; User Management is free up to 1M MAU. |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +## What to Compare (Use This Checklist) |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +Use this checklist to compare vendors consistently. |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +|Category|What to Check|Pass Threshold| |
| 31 | +|---|---|---| |
| 32 | +|Pricing Model|Per-connection vs per-MAU vs flat|Matches your growth (tenants vs MAU)| |
| 33 | +|Hosting|SaaS vs self-host/VPC|Meets residency, latency, and ops requirements| |
| 34 | +|Feature Coverage|SSO, SCIM, Audit, admin setup links|All present and stable| |
| 35 | +|Multi-Tenant/RBAC and SDKs|Orgs/roles mapping; SDKs for your stack|Clean mapping + mature SDKs| |
| 36 | +|Migration/lock-In|JWKS, exports, contract terms|Keys and data portable; reasonable contract terms| |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +Close the checklist by running a short bake-off against these items — cost unit, hosting fit, parity, depth/SDK fit, and portability — then decide. |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +## Open-Source and Self-Hosted Alternatives |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +If you want VPC/self-host control or to avoid per-connection fees, these OSS-first options are worth a close look. |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +- **SuperTokens (OSS or Cloud)** |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | + - **What It Is**: Dev-first authentication with modern SDKs, session management, and multi-tenant/organization primitives. Run it self-hosted or use the Cloud (per MAU). |
| 49 | + - **Why It Fits Here**: No SSO/SCIM per-connection tax; clean path to VPC/OSS; good migration posture (portable keys/data). |
| 50 | + - **How To Reach SAML/OIDC SSO**: Pair with a SAML/OIDC bridge (see Ory Polis) to deliver enterprise SSO plus setup links for admin self-serve. |
| 51 | + - **What To Verify**: Org/tenant model maps to your app; SDK coverage for your stack; token/session flows meet your threat model. |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +- **Ory Network / Ory Polis** |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | + - **What It Is**: Composable IAM (Kratos/Hydra/Keto/Oathkeeper) with a managed Network offering; Polis adds a SAML/OIDC bridge and setup-link flows similar to an admin portal. Pricing starts at $70/mo (Production plan). |
| 56 | + - **Why It Fits Here**: Lets you add standards-compliant SSO to an existing user system (e.g., SuperTokens) while keeping IdP setup self-service for customer admins. |
| 57 | + - **What To Verify**: Required protocols (SAML/OIDC) and IdP catalog, setup-link UX, hosting mode (Network vs self-host), and how SCIM/user provisioning is handled in your architecture. |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +**Bottom Line**: For OSS/VPC control with modern DX, use SuperTokens for sessions and tenant primitives, and add Ory Polis for SAML/OIDC and setup-link parity. Run a small bake-off to confirm SSO coverage, admin UX, and total cost. |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +## Feature Parity vs WorkOS (What to Verify) |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +Before price comparisons, confirm that any alternative matches the **capabilities and admin UX** your customers expect. |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +- **SSO (SAML/OIDC)** |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | + - **Verify**: Support for both SAML and OIDC, breadth of IdP catalog (Okta, Azure AD, Google, Ping, OneLogin, etc.), setup links/admin portal so customer admins can self-configure. |
| 68 | + - **Pricing Anchor**: WorkOS SSO baseline is $125 per connection/month. |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | +- **Directory Sync (SCIM)** |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | + - **Verify**: User and group provision/deprovision, group→role mapping in your app, sync status/error visibility, and whether SCIM is per-connection or included. |
| 73 | + - **Pricing Anchor**: WorkOS Directory Sync is $125 per connection/month. |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | +- **Audit Logs** |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | + - **Verify**: Event coverage (auth, org, admin actions), retention options, export/streaming to SIEM, searchability, and throughput limits. |
| 78 | + - **Pricing Anchor**: WorkOS Audit Logs — $125/month per SIEM connection for log streaming, and $99/month per million events stored for retention. |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +**Close The Loop**: Run a mini bake-off: configure SSO with two IdPs, sync a sample SCIM directory with groups→roles, and ship logs to your SIEM. If an alternative passes these with a clean admin UX, then compare the total cost. |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +## Pricing Signals and Gotchas |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +Use these patterns to predict total cost and avoid surprises. |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +- **Per-Connection vs Per MAU**: WorkOS prices SSO/SCIM per connection; SuperTokens Cloud is per MAU. If you have many tenant orgs with modest usage, per-connection costs can add up quickly; with few orgs and large user counts, per-connection may be cheaper. Model both to find your break-even. |
| 87 | +- **Add-On Gates**: Watch for paid audit log retention/streaming, MFA, or organization features that sit behind higher tiers. For WorkOS, longer audit retention and SIEM streaming add cost; include them in your forecast from day one. |
| 88 | +- **Admin-Portal Parity**: Missing setup links / tenant self-service shifts work to your team and slows deals. Verify that admins can self-configure SSO/SCIM. Ory Polis supports setup-link flows. |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +**Bottom Line**: Choose the pricing unit that matches your growth shape, account for paid add-ons upfront, and demand self-serve admin flows to keep support costs in check. |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +## Conclusion |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | +WorkOS is great for fast enterprise readiness, but pricing and hosting modelS push some teams to look elsewhere. If you want no per-connection tax and OSS/VPC control, shortlist SuperTokens (OSS/Cloud) with Ory Polis for SAML. If you want a managed bundle, compare Stytch (included connections), Clerk (no SSO connection fees), Auth0/Frontegg (ecosystem depth), and FusionAuth (self-host path). Run a two-week bake-off focused on SSO/SCIM parity, admin UX, and total cost before you commit. |
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