Keycloak is fully open-source IAM with SSO, MFA, and federation at zero licensing cost. Okta offers limited free developer accounts. Auth0 is free for up to 7,500 monthly active users (CIAM). Microsoft Entra ID has a free tier. For workforce IAM, Keycloak (self-hosted) is the only genuinely free production option. For CIAM, Auth0 Free is the most accessible.
Use this page alongside the full Identity & Access Management Systems category hub for deeper evaluation criteria, or browse the software directory to search across all tools. For methodology context, read how we review software and how rankings work. Our IT calculators can help build a business case before vendor conversations begin.
10 tools with free access highlighted below, plus 5 more in this category.
Every tool on this page, with the price each vendor actually publishes, its deployment model and its own authored best-fit line. The chips filter these rows and state how many each one holds.
| Tool | Published price | Deployment | Free trial | Best for | Main tradeoff | Vendor link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auth0 | $0 per month to 25,000 MAUs on Free; paid plans from $35 per month B2C or $150 B2B at 500 MAUs | Cloud | Yes | SaaS and application development teams that need customer-facing authentication (login, signup, social login, MFA) with developer-friendly SDKs and APIs | Pricing scales with monthly active users (MAU) and spikes dramatically at high volumes | Visit Website |
| Duo | $0 per user per month for up to 10 users, then $3 on Essentials | Cloud | Yes | Organizations that need to deploy MFA quickly across the workforce with minimal user friction and administrative overhead | MFA-first platform, SSO, device trust, and access policies require Duo Advantage or Premier tiers at $6-$9/user/month | Visit Website |
 Google Workspace | ₹99.00 per user per month on Base, promoted at ₹49.50 until January 29, 2027 | Cloud | Yes | Google-first organizations that want SSO, MFA, and endpoint management included in their productivity suite licensing without adding a separate identity vendor | IAM features are a complement to productivity, not the focus | Visit Website |
| JumpCloud | $9 per user per month for Device Management billed annually, $11 billed monthly, verified October 16, 2026 | Cloud | Yes | Mid-sized mixed-platform estates consolidating identity and device management on one contract, where users carry multiple devices | Not stated | Visit Website |
 Keycloak | quote only | Cloud / On-prem | Yes | Teams with Kubernetes/container expertise that want full-featured IAM without per-user licensing costs, especially in on-premises or regulated environments | Self-hosted means your team owns uptime, patching, scaling, and security | Visit Website |
 Microsoft Entra ID | quote only | Cloud | Yes | Organizations heavily invested in Microsoft 365 and Azure that want enterprise-grade identity included in their existing licensing without additional per-user IAM costs | SSO integration catalog for non-Microsoft SaaS is smaller than Oktas | Visit Website |
| miniOrange | quote only | Cloud | Yes | Budget-conscious SMBs that need basic SSO, MFA, and directory integration without the per-user costs of Okta, Duo, or Entra ID | Product polish, documentation, support quality, and integration depth are noticeably behind Okta, Entra ID, and even Keycloak | Visit Website |
| Okta | quote only | Cloud | Yes | Mid-to-large enterprises with complex multi-cloud and multi-SaaS environments that need best-in-class SSO, lifecycle management, and adaptive MFA from an identity-first vendor | Per-user pricing with separate add-ons for MFA, lifecycle, governance, and API access management | Visit Website |
| OneLogin | quote only | Cloud | Yes | Mid-market organizations that need solid SSO, MFA, and directory integration at a lower per-user price point than Okta, without needing advanced governance or lifecycle automation | Quest/One Identity acquisition slowed product development | Visit Website |
| PingOne | quote only | Cloud | Yes | Large enterprises with hybrid identity environments (on-premises Active Directory + cloud SSO) that need advanced federation, API security, and complex identity orchestration | Enterprise-only pricing and complexity | Get Pricing Details |
 CyberArk Identity | quote only | Cloud | No | Enterprises that need both workforce identity (SSO, MFA) and privileged access management (PAM) unified under a single vendor, especially in regulated industries | Workforce IAM features (SSO catalog, lifecycle) are less mature than Oktas | Get Pricing Details |
| One Identity | quote only | Cloud / On-prem | No | Enterprises evaluating identity vendor consolidation that want IAM, identity governance, and privileged access management from a single vendor rather than best-of-breed | Individual products are competent but not market-leading in any single category | Get Pricing Details |
| Rippling | quote only | Cloud | No | Companies that want to eliminate the gap between HR onboarding and IT provisioning | IAM depth (SSO catalog, MFA options, governance) is lighter than Okta or Entra ID | Get Pricing Details |
 RSA ID Plus | quote only | Cloud | No | Large enterprises with existing RSA SecurID deployments that need to modernize toward cloud-based identity and risk-based authentication without ripping out RSA infrastructure | The platform is in transition from legacy SecurID to modern cloud identity | Get Pricing Details |
| SailPoint | quote only | Cloud | No | Large enterprises in regulated industries that need identity governance (access certification, segregation of duties, role mining) and compliance automation | SailPoint is a governance platform, not an operational IAM | Get Pricing Details |
Showing 15 of 15. Published price means the vendor states a figure on its own pricing page; quote only means it states none. Best for is each tool's own authored best-fit line, and reads "Not stated" where no such line exists rather than repeating the deployment column.
Usage-based pricing · Cloud · Free trial
Auth0 (Okta-owned) is the developer-first identity platform, strongest for SaaS applications that need customer-facing authentication (CIAM), but pricing spikes dramatically at scale.
Per-user · Cloud · Free trial
Cisco Duo is the most popular MFA solution, simplest push-based authentication for users and administrators, but its MFA-first, and full SSO and lifecycle features require higher-tier plans.
Per-user · Cloud · Free trial
Google Workspace provides identity management (SSO, MFA, directory) as part of its productivity suite, strongest for Google-first organizations, but IAM depth is limited compared to dedicated identity platforms.
Device-based · Cloud · Free trial
JumpCloud is positioned here as a endpoint management software option for teams comparing rollout fit, operating model, pricing structure, and how much administrative effort the product is likely to create after implementation.
Open source · Cloud / On-prem · Free trial
Keycloak is the dominant open-source IAM, full SSO, MFA, identity federation, and user management, but self-hosted operational burden is the primary cost that commercial alternatives eliminate.
Per-user · Cloud · Free trial
Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is the most cost-effective enterprise IAM for Microsoft-centric environments, included in M365, but capabilities outside the Microsoft ecosystem lag behind Okta.
Per-user · Cloud · Free trial
miniOrange is a budget IAM provider offering SSO, MFA, and directory integration at significantly lower pricing than Okta, but capabilities, UX, and support quality reflect the price point.
Per-user · Cloud · Free trial
Okta is the market leader in cloud identity, strongest SSO and lifecycle management for multi-cloud, multi-SaaS environments, but per-user pricing with add-on modules makes total cost hard to predict.
Per-user · Cloud · Free trial
OneLogin (now One Identity by Quest) offers competitive SSO and MFA at lower per-user pricing than Okta, but the Quest acquisition has slowed product development and created roadmap uncertainty.
Custom quote · Cloud · Free trial
PingOne (Ping Identity) is strongest for large enterprises with hybrid identity requirements, on-premises AD integration with cloud SSO, but complexity and pricing position it as an enterprise-only option.
These tools are part of the identity & access management systems category but may not match the free tools filter above. Worth reviewing if the primary options don't fit.
Custom quote · Cloud
CyberArk Identity combines workforce IAM with the leading privileged access management (PAM) platform, the strongest choice when identity and privileged access need to converge.
Custom quote · Cloud / On-prem
One Identity (Quest Software) covers IAM, IGA, and PAM in a single vendor portfolio, strongest for organizations that want to consolidate identity vendors, but integration between products can feel fragmented.
Custom quote · Cloud
Rippling unifies HR, IT, and identity management, the only platform where hiring an employee automatically provisions their identity, apps, and devices, but its an HR platform with IAM, not an IAM platform.
Custom quote · Cloud
RSA ID Plus (formerly RSA SecurID) is a legacy MFA platform repositioning toward modern identity, strongest for existing RSA SecurID customers, but new buyers have better options.
Custom quote · Cloud
SailPoint is the leader in identity governance and administration (IGA), access certification, role mining, and compliance, but its focused on governance, not operational IAM like Okta or Entra ID.
Keycloak is fully open source (Apache 2.0) with SSO, MFA, LDAP/AD federation, and fine-grained authorization at no cost. The tradeoff is self-hosted operational burden. Auth0 Free covers up to 7,500 MAU for customer-facing auth. Entra ID Free provides basic cloud identity.
Functionally yes: Keycloak provides SSO, MFA, social login, federation, and fine-grained authorization. The gap is in managed service convenience, pre-built integrations (Okta has 7,400+), enterprise support, and the operational burden of self-hosting.
When you need vendor-managed infrastructure (SLA, support), pre-built integrations with SaaS apps, advanced MFA options (biometric, FIDO2), lifecycle management (automated provisioning/deprovisioning), or compliance certifications that self-hosted Keycloak can't easily provide.
Return to the Identity & Access Management Systems category hub for the full evaluation framework, including buying criteria, pricing context, and deployment guidance across every tool in this space. You can also explore open source and for small business options within this category. Once the shortlist narrows to two or three finalists, open a head-to-head comparison to see exactly where the remaining candidates differ on pricing, workflow depth, and deployment fit.
