Best WorkOS alternatives in 2026

This guide is for founders, engineering leads, and product managers at B2B SaaS companies who are evaluating how to add enterprise identity features to their product — specifically SSO, SCIM directory sync, audit logs, and admin portals.

WorkOS has established itself as a popular choice in this category by making it fast to ship enterprise SSO without deeply understanding SAML or SCIM. But the per-connection pricing model, feature scope, and the growing number of alternatives in this space mean it is worth understanding the options before committing.

This page is also useful for developers who are building auth from scratch for a new B2B product and want to understand whether to use a specialist tool like WorkOS, a broader CIAM platform like Auth0 or Clerk, or an open source option like BoxyHQ.

Distinguish enterprise SSO from full authentication

WorkOS focuses on the enterprise identity layer of your product — the SSO, SCIM, and audit log features you offer to your enterprise customers. It is not a full authentication platform. If you also need to handle email/password authentication, social login, MFA, and session management for all your users, you either need a separate auth library/platform or a tool like Clerk or Auth0 that handles both.

Evaluate per-connection vs. MAU pricing at your scale

WorkOS prices per enterprise SSO connection. This is predictable for small enterprise customer counts but can become significant at scale. Clerk and Auth0 use MAU-based pricing. Model your expected enterprise customer count and active user base at 12 and 24 months to identify which pricing model favors your trajectory.

Consider build-versus-buy for open standards

SAML and SCIM are open standards. Teams with strong engineering resources sometimes choose to implement enterprise SSO directly (using open source libraries) rather than using a service. BoxyHQ's SAML Jackson is an open source proxy that can be self-hosted and handles much of the SAML complexity. This is a viable path for teams with the engineering capacity to operate it.

Assess how much auth you want to own

WorkOS assumes you are handling the rest of auth yourself (or with another library). Clerk and Auth0 handle more of the auth stack. If you want to own less authentication infrastructure, favor full-stack CIAM platforms over specialist B2B SSO tools.

Review the admin portal experience

A key WorkOS feature is its hosted admin portal, which lets your enterprise customers self-configure their SSO connection. Evaluate whether alternatives offer an equivalent hosted admin portal or whether you would need to build this yourself.

WorkOS is the most focused, purpose-built tool for adding enterprise SSO and SCIM to a B2B SaaS product quickly. If that is precisely your use case — you have auth handled elsewhere and need to add enterprise identity features fast — WorkOS's narrow focus is an advantage, not a limitation. Its documentation is strong, its API is clean, and enterprise SSO integrations can often be production-ready in days.

The hosted admin portal is a genuinely valuable feature that competitors do not all offer equivalently. If reducing enterprise customer IT friction during SSO setup is a priority, WorkOS's admin portal is a meaningful differentiator.

You need full authentication, not just enterprise SSO. If you do not yet have auth handled and are building from scratch, a full CIAM platform (Clerk, Auth0) gives you enterprise SSO plus everything else in one platform.

Connection-based pricing becomes expensive. As your enterprise customer count grows, per-connection pricing can become a significant cost. Model this at your projected scale and compare to MAU-based alternatives.

You want open source / self-hosted. WorkOS is SaaS-only. BoxyHQ SAML Jackson and Logto are self-hostable alternatives.

You want deeper customization. WorkOS abstracts much of the SSO/SCIM implementation. Teams with specific requirements (custom SAML attribute mapping, complex SCIM schema extensions) may find more flexibility in direct SAML library implementations or platforms with more configuration depth.

Auth0 (by Okta)

Auth0 handles enterprise SSO (SAML, OIDC), SCIM, MFA, social login, and the full CIAM stack in a single platform. For B2B SaaS companies that want enterprise readiness alongside consumer authentication, Auth0 is the most full-featured option. Its enterprise connection configuration is mature, and it has the broadest feature set of any alternative in this list.

Okta (Developer Edition / Customer Identity)

For B2B SaaS products targeting large enterprise customers with sophisticated identity requirements, Okta's developer platform provides the deepest enterprise SSO and SCIM capabilities. The trade-off is higher complexity and cost. Best suited for products where identity is a core feature, not an add-on.

Clerk

Clerk is the strongest all-in-one alternative for modern web apps. It handles authentication (email, social, MFA, passkeys), organization management (multi-tenancy, roles, invitations), and enterprise SSO (SAML, OIDC) in a single platform with polished pre-built UI components. For Next.js and React developers especially, Clerk's integration feels native. Its free tier is generous for early-stage products.

PropelAuth

PropelAuth is specifically designed for B2B SaaS companies that need hosted auth with organization management and enterprise SSO. It is newer than WorkOS or Clerk but has gained traction for its opinionated, fast-integration approach. Verify current feature set and pricing at PropelAuth's website.

BoxyHQ SAML Jackson is the best developer-first open source option. It is an open source SAML SSO and SCIM proxy that sits in front of your application and handles the SAML handshake and directory sync complexity. It can be self-hosted with Docker or deployed as a managed service. For engineering teams that want control over their enterprise SSO infrastructure and are comfortable with a self-hosted operational model, it is a strong choice.

BoxyHQ (SAML Jackson) — self-hostable, Apache 2.0 licensed, actively maintained, with support for SAML SSO and SCIM 2.0. The hosted version (BoxyHQ Cloud) is available if self-hosting is not desired. It is purpose-built for the same use case as WorkOS and is the most direct open source equivalent.

Logto — a broader open source CIAM platform (OIDC, SAML, social login, MFA, multi-tenancy) that also covers the enterprise SSO use case alongside full authentication. Open core with a hosted cloud tier.

• Clerk alternatives — full CIAM for modern web apps
• Auth0 alternatives — broader CIAM platform comparison
• Stytch alternatives — passwordless-first authentication
• Best open source identity tools — self-hosted options
• Best SCIM provisioning tools — SCIM directory sync tools
• Best IAM tools for startups — identity for early-stage companies

• Enterprise SSO integration guide — how to add SAML/OIDC SSO to your B2B SaaS product
• SCIM provisioning implementation guide — automating user lifecycle management for enterprise customers
• B2B auth platform evaluation checklist — criteria for evaluating enterprise identity features in CIAM platforms
• Pricing model comparison worksheet — per-connection vs. MAU pricing at different scale points
• Admin portal UX guide — designing the enterprise SSO configuration experience for your customers

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