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It's a split decision.
Choose Privy for products that need embedded or agent wallets, key controls, funding, or card spending tied to digital assets. Choose WorkOS for app authentication and enterprise identity, especially SSO, directory sync, and admin setup. Both offer free entry points, but the limits differ: Privy Free covers up to 499 MAU, while WorkOS AuthKit includes up to 1 million MAU. WorkOS prices SSO and Directory Sync by connection; Privy’s paid plans start at $299/month.
01Side by side
| Privy | WorkOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; Core costs $299/month | Free; SSO costs $125–$65 per connection |
| Free plan | 0–499 MAU; 50K signatures; $1M monthly volume | AuthKit includes up to 1M monthly active users |
| Best for | Digital-asset products needing wallets and transaction controls | B2B apps adding enterprise identity features |
| Core strength | Programmable wallets, keys, and transaction controls | Enterprise SSO, user management, and directory sync |
| Learning curve | Not published | Not published |
| Integrations/data | Wallet, funding, card, and onchain-yield infrastructure | SAML/OIDC, SCIM, and HRIS directory integrations |
| Team/seat costs | MAU and signature limits; no seat price published | Per-connection rates; no seat price published |
| Support | Enterprise includes premium SLAs and dedicated support | Annual Credits includes a guaranteed support SLA |
Privy Choose Privy if
- Choose Privy if you need embedded or agent wallets for digital assets.
- Choose Privy if you need programmable transaction rules, approvals, or transfer controls.
- Choose Privy if you connect funding or card spending to wallet balances.
WorkOS Choose WorkOS if
- Choose WorkOS if your app needs enterprise SSO or directory sync.
- Choose WorkOS if you need user and organization management.
- Choose WorkOS if AuthKit’s free allowance fits your authentication needs.
02Pricing compared
These products do not price the same unit, so “cheaper” depends on what you’re buying. Privy has a Free plan for 0–499 MAU, then Core at $299/month for 500–2,499 MAU and Scale at $499/month for 2,500–9,999 MAU. Both paid plans list 50,000 monthly signatures and $1 million monthly transaction volume. Annual rates are not published.
WorkOS AuthKit is free for up to 1 million monthly active users. SSO and Directory Sync are billed per connection: $125 each for 1–15 connections, dropping to $65 each at 51–100. WorkOS Pay as you go also lists the first 1 million active users as free. Privy lists a $2,000 base fee for PAYG above 10,000 MAU or 50,000 signatures, plus overage charges. Check the applicable usage and connection tiers before forecasting.
03Features and depth
Privy is for products that need digital-asset wallets and related financial infrastructure. Its listed capabilities include embedded user wallets, agent wallets with human-defined guardrails, programmable key management, transaction policies, funding, and cards connected to wallet balances. The product description also includes onchain yield integrations. That is a different job from managing sign-in for a conventional B2B app.
WorkOS focuses on authentication and enterprise identity. Its feature set includes SAML or OIDC single sign-on, user and organization management, SCIM and HRIS directory syncing, a hosted Admin Portal for IT admins, multi-factor authentication, and role-based or fine-grained access control. Audit Logs and Radar are also listed as products, with separate usage charges for some capabilities. The deciding question is not which has more features overall: it is whether your product needs wallet operations or enterprise identity workflows. Neither product’s listed features make it a like-for-like substitute for the other.
04Ease of use and learning curve
The published product information does not publish setup times, engineering effort, or a direct learning-curve comparison, so we can’t say one is easier on that evidence. Their scopes do show what each integration is centered on.
WorkOS offers a single integration for SAML or OIDC identity providers and a hosted Admin Portal for customer IT admins. That maps to a corporate sign-in and onboarding task. Privy centers on wallet and key infrastructure, programmable transaction rules, and digital-asset funding or spending. That maps to a wallet and payments task. Start with the system your product actually needs; choosing based on a broad “developer-friendly” claim would not resolve the core difference.
Questions people ask
Should I choose Privy or WorkOS?
Choose Privy if your product needs embedded or agent wallets, key controls, funding, or card spending tied to digital assets. Choose WorkOS if you need app authentication and enterprise identity features such as SSO, directory sync, or an admin setup flow for customer IT teams.
Can WorkOS replace Privy for wallet infrastructure?
The published WorkOS feature list covers authentication, user management, SSO, directory sync, and access control; it does not list wallet or key-management tools. Privy is specifically positioned around programmable wallets and digital-asset infrastructure, so the two serve different needs.
Which product has the more generous free plan?
By listed user limits, WorkOS AuthKit includes up to 1 million monthly active users free, while Privy Free covers 0–499 MAU. WorkOS also lists its first 1 million active users as free on Pay as you go. These free limits do not include every separately priced feature or connection.
Does Privy include SSO, and does WorkOS offer wallets?
Privy lists advanced SSO as an Enterprise add-on, but its price is not published. WorkOS lists SSO as a core product area, with per-connection pricing. Wallets are not listed among the WorkOS capabilities in the published product information.