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It's a split decision.
Choose CyberArk for privileged access controls across human, machine and AI-agent identities; its pricing requires a custom quote. Choose Okta for workforce and customer identity products with a published workforce starting price: $6 per user monthly, billed annually. Neither lists a free plan, though Okta lists a 30-day trial. Okta’s Professional and Enterprise workforce prices and add-on prices are not published here, so budget beyond the entry tier remains unclear.
01Side by side
| CyberArk | Okta | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Custom quote; no published entry price | $6/user/month, billed annually (Starter) |
| Free plan | No free plan listed | No free plan; 30-day trial listed |
| Best for | Privileged access across human, machine, agent identities | Workforce and customer identity management |
| Core strength | Privilege controls and identity-risk discovery | Workforce access, authentication, customer identity |
| Learning curve | Ease score: 3; setup can be painful | Ease score: 7; check migration effort |
| Integrations & identity data | Discovers identities and risks across organizations | Universal Directory; workforce and customer identity products |
| Team/seat costs | Custom quote; per-seat price not published | Annual per-user rates; upper-tier prices unpublished |
| Support | Review support score: 4 | Review support score: 5 |
CyberArk Choose CyberArk if
- Choose CyberArk if privileged access controls are the priority.
- Choose CyberArk if you need machine-identity and secrets security.
- Choose CyberArk if custom-quote pricing fits your buying process.
Okta Choose Okta if
- Choose Okta if you want a published workforce starting price.
- Choose Okta if you need workforce and customer identity products.
- Choose Okta if a 30-day trial helps your evaluation.
02Pricing compared
Okta publishes a workforce entry price; CyberArk does not publish a price. According to Okta’s pricing page, Starter costs $6 per user per month when billed annually and includes Single Sign-On, Multi-Factor Authentication, Universal Directory and five Workflows. Core Essentials is listed at $14 and Essentials at $17 per user per month, also billed annually. Professional and Enterprise workforce prices are not published here, and Okta add-on prices are not published.
CyberArk’s pricing page lists custom quotes rather than monthly or annual rates. For customer identity, Okta lists an Enterprise base platform at $3,000 per month; that is a separate offering from its workforce suites. Neither vendor lists a free plan in the published pricing details. Okta lists a 30-day trial; CyberArk’s trial availability is not published. Compare the full quote and required add-ons, not just Okta’s $6 starting tier.
03Features and depth
CyberArk’s focus is identity security across privileged human access, machines and AI agents. Its feature set includes privileged access management, dynamic privilege controls, identity discovery, machine identity and secrets security, lifecycle governance, and threat monitoring. It also describes finding AI agents across SaaS, cloud and developer environments and adding ownership and permission context. That breadth is relevant if privileged and nonhuman identities are central to the project.
Okta covers workforce and customer identity, authentication, single sign-on and identity governance, and presents products for AI agents. Its listed workforce suites range from SSO and MFA in Starter to lifecycle management and access governance in Essentials; Professional and Enterprise add capabilities including Device Access, Identity Threat Protection, API Access Management and Access Gateway. Some features are add-ons, and higher-tier prices are not published. For customer apps, Okta lists a separate Enterprise base platform and B2C and B2B suites. The published information supports different emphases, not a claim that one replaces every product in the other’s portfolio.
04Ease of use and learning curve
The published review assessment gives Okta a 7 for ease of use and CyberArk a 3. Those scores are a directional signal, not a guarantee of how either product will fit your environment. The CyberArk review notes that users say setup can be painful. The Okta review cautions buyers to check migration effort before committing.
We would treat implementation as a procurement question for both vendors: ask what migration and configuration work your use case requires, and get that scope in writing. CyberArk’s pricing is custom-quoted, while Okta’s listed entry price does not show the cost of unpublished higher tiers or add-ons. The published material does not provide a comparable implementation timeline or services price, so those costs remain unclear.
Questions people ask
Is Okta used for authorization?
Okta’s published product information covers managing access, permissions, authentication and identity governance, which are related to authorization. It does not spell out authorization behavior or limits for a particular app or deployment. Confirm the exact policy and access-control features you need against the relevant Okta product documentation.
What is the difference between Okta and Duo?
The published material describes Okta’s workforce and customer identity products, including SSO and MFA, but it contains no Duo product or pricing details. We can’t make a grounded feature or price comparison from these sources. Compare the products’ current plans and the authentication, identity and access controls your organization needs.
Does the military use Okta Verify?
The published sources do not establish whether the military uses Okta Verify, or identify any military customer. Okta’s product information says it offers authentication and MFA, but that is not evidence of adoption by a particular agency or branch. Check current official procurement or agency sources for confirmation.
How is Auth0 different from Okta?
The published information describes Okta’s workforce and customer identity offerings, including a customer identity platform, but does not provide Auth0 details or a product comparison. It is not enough to establish how the products differ, overlap or are priced. Check current product and pricing documentation for both before choosing.