Entra ID vs Okta

Entra ID vs Okta is the workforce identity decision, and for a Microsoft 365 organisation it is usually a question of whether Okta's neutrality, app catalogue, and admin experience justify paying for an identity provider on top of the one you already own. Entra ID is the directory under every Microsoft 365 tenant, includes Conditional Access and MFA at P1 (bundled in most plans), and is the only IdP with first-party integration into Intune, Defender, and Purview. Okta is the best-known independent IdP: vendor-neutral, deep on SaaS integrations and lifecycle automation, and preferred where the estate is multi-cloud or where identity is deliberately kept away from the productivity vendor.

Both are mature; both were breached in ways that shaped their roadmaps (Okta's 2022–2023 support-system incidents, Microsoft's 2023 Storm-0558 token signing key). What Entra ID actually is — tenants, P1/P2, its relationship to on-premises AD — is in What is Microsoft Entra ID; the sibling comparison is Entra ID vs Ping Identity.

Where each one comes from

Okta built the cloud IdP category for the SaaS era: single sign-on to thousands of apps through the Okta Integration Network, Universal Directory, adaptive MFA (Okta Verify, FastPass), lifecycle management with SCIM provisioning, workflows, and — via the Auth0 acquisition — customer identity. Its governance and privileged access products are newer. Its strength is being the neutral hub that any app, cloud, or directory plugs into.

Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is the identity plane for Microsoft 365 and Azure and, increasingly, a general IdP: SAML/OIDC SSO with an app gallery, SCIM provisioning, Conditional Access, MFA and passwordless with Authenticator and FIDO2, Identity Protection risk signals, PIM, and ID Governance. The wider Entra Suite adds network access (Internet and Private Access) and Verified ID. Its strength is native integration: device compliance from Intune, risk from Defender, labels from Purview, all as Conditional Access signals.

Decision criteria

| Criterion | Entra ID | Okta | | --- | --- | --- | | Microsoft 365 / Azure integration | Native; Conditional Access sees Intune compliance, Defender risk | Federated; device signals via Okta Verify/Device Trust and integration with Intune | | Third-party SaaS SSO | App gallery; broad mainstream coverage | Okta Integration Network; broadest, best-maintained | | Provisioning (SCIM) | Gallery connectors; on-prem via provisioning agent | Very mature; lifecycle management is a core product | | MFA / passwordless | Authenticator, FIDO2, Windows Hello, certificate-based; authentication strengths | Okta Verify, FastPass, FIDO2; adaptive policies | | Policy engine | Conditional Access: identity, device, app, risk, location, auth context | Okta policies: sign-on, app, device assurance, risk | | Governance | ID Governance (access reviews, entitlement management, lifecycle workflows) | Okta Identity Governance (newer) | | Privileged access | PIM for roles and groups | Okta Privileged Access (newer) | | Neutrality | Microsoft product | Independent | | Admin experience | Multiple portals (Entra, M365, Intune); improving | Single, consistent console | | Licensing | P1 in M365 E3/BP/F; P2 in E5; Suite add-on | Separate per-user subscription; products priced individually |

Cost model

Entra ID P1 (Conditional Access, group-based licensing, hybrid features) is included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium, E3, E5, F1, and F3; P2 (Identity Protection, PIM, access reviews) in E5 and E5 Security. Standalone P1 lists at approximately 6 USD and P2 at approximately 9 USD per user per month; the Entra Suite add-on at approximately 12 USD (as of 2026-09; check Microsoft). For most Microsoft 365 customers the IdP is therefore already paid for.

Okta Workforce Identity is licensed per user with SSO, MFA/adaptive MFA, Universal Directory, Lifecycle Management, Workflows, Governance, and Privileged Access as separately priced products, with volume and bundle discounts quote-based. A realistic enterprise configuration costs more per user than the Entra features it duplicates; the justification has to come from integration breadth, neutrality, or an existing investment.

Choose Entra ID if

• Microsoft 365 is the productivity platform and Intune, Defender, or Purview are (or will be) in use — the Conditional Access signal integration is the whole point.
• You want one licence to cover SSO, MFA, Conditional Access, and (with E5) risk, PIM, and governance.
• The app estate is mostly Microsoft plus mainstream SaaS in the gallery.
• Simplicity: one IdP, one MFA registration, one set of policies, one place to reset MFA.

Choose Okta if

• The organisation is deliberately multi-cloud (Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, AWS-heavy) and wants identity independent of any one platform vendor.
• Long-tail SaaS provisioning and lifecycle automation are load-bearing and Okta's connectors already exist.
• A large existing Okta deployment with workflows and policies that work; the migration cost outweighs the licence saving.
• A governance or regulatory stance that the IdP and the productivity vendor must be separate.

Run both if

Okta is the primary IdP and Microsoft 365 is federated to it. This works and is common; the costs are a federation dependency (Okta down means Microsoft 365 sign-in down — keep break-glass accounts cloud-native in Entra), duplicated MFA registrations unless you integrate Okta as an external authentication method in Entra, and Conditional Access policies that cannot see Okta's device signals without extra integration. Decide which product owns MFA and device trust, and do not let both try.

What people get wrong

Federating Microsoft 365 to Okta and then wondering why Conditional Access "does nothing" — it can only evaluate what it sees, and a federated sign-in arrives with fewer signals. Keeping Okta after moving to E5 purely from inertia, paying twice for MFA and governance. And the reverse: assuming Entra's app gallery covers a niche SaaS estate without checking the actual connectors — SCIM provisioning to Entra and SAML SSO with Entra ID describe what integration really involves.