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Google Cloud Identity vs Okta Workforce Identity comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud Identity
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (8th)
Okta Workforce Identity
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (5th), Authentication Systems (6th), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (6th), Access Management (4th), ZTNA as a Service (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Identity is 16.2%, down from 20.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Okta Workforce Identity is 17.9%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

EkoNugroho - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced security and simplicity in deployment for a holistic protection
The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its simplicity in deployment. You only need to purchase and assign licenses to users, and there's no need for extensive setup. Another valuable feature is its integration with Google Workspace, which enhances security through context-aware access and allows for geographic and IP-specific restrictions. This ensures secure access to applications and data.
Tor Nordhagen - PeerSpot reviewer
Extremely easy to work with, simple to set up, and reasonably priced
The drawback of this solution is that in our shops, many staff members sometimes have to be borrowed from one shop to another and the solution does not really support having multiple roles. The user experience we would like to have when a person works in shop A which pays their salary is that they should have access to pretty much everything. Maybe you have somebody who is a manager in that shop A, he should be able to order new wear, he should be able to change the pricing, he should be able to empty the cash registry, and ship it to the bank. But when for instance, in COVID, people had to fill in for people in shops where a lot of people were sick, then they had to actually use user accounts of people that work in shop B. If you were employed in shop A, you could not work in shop B without borrowing somebody else's user ID and password. Which is really bad. We haven't been able to work around that and Okta Workforce Identity does not have a solution for it. We are now piloting their identity governance solution. Obviously, it's easy to give somebody access, give them an account, and give them roles, but it's hard to maintain that. For example, if you moved from, say working in a shop to working in a warehouse. But why do you still have all this shop access? The solution has until now not had anything to really support the process of taking away access. But now we are in a better release program of Okta's identity governance solution. Although it's very basic, the solution has started on a journey, but identity governance is something that Okta Workforce Identity really needs to improve. The ability or the options in the solution for changing the look and feel are not good enough because in our partner portal, essentially what they have is an ugly admin interface. The admin interface is good enough for us technical people because that's all we need. We work with the product and we're able to see the data but when it comes to presenting the service portal, Okta Workforce Identity does not have any capabilities really for making it look pretty. To add branding and different graphical user interface elements than Okta basic for essentially delegated admin for the business-to-business portal is horrifying because you're essentially using the tech admin. The only option we had and used, was to take the tech admin console and strip it. so that a vendor that has some goods that are sold in the shops, when they want to add a user on their side, say a driver or a packer on their side who should know how much they've packed in a truck to come to our warehouse, then the user interface that this vendor is using, these functional people will then have to use an extremely basic user interface.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Google is always on its own. Google Cloud Identity is pretty good on every point."
"Although we have not looked at the whole product and explored it completely, we find that all the authentication features that we are using now are valuable."
"The solution is user-friendly."
"Google Cloud Identity uses what they call organizational units (OUs) instead of the security groups you'd find in Microsoft's Entra."
"Cloud Identity is scalable enough for our needs. It's serving more than 3,000 users in our organization."
"The most valuable feature is the performance."
"The main control page and the ability to manage all our users from a web-based portal are the most valuable aspects of the solution. That's particularly useful because we're a heterogeneous network."
"It's easy to set up."
"We can automate the process of adding users to Okta if they are activated in Active Directory, or if they are added to the database of applications or Active Directory in the last couple of days."
"Okta controls all the users. It has context-based access from the user and type of device. It identifies the risk and can do a step of authentication when that user is trying to access some sensitive application from an unknown device."
"The tool provides a single place of contact for managing users. We only need to manage users in Okta Workforce Identity, eliminating the need to duplicate efforts across different systems. For example, if a user needs to be decommissioned, we don't have to go through all the systems and cloud services; we delete the user in one place. This process is automated with our HR system for both organizations, simplifying user lifecycle management."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The support for YubiKey is really good because you don't actually have to type in your username and password."
"The product requires very little maintenance."
"This solution has a lot of capabilities and features."
"Okta Workforce Identity is easy to use and has a lot of components."
 

Cons

"In the next release, I would like to see integration with different systems, mainly wireless SIEMS and other analytical systems that we want to introduce."
"The solution's storage capacity could be increased."
"Google Cloud Identity the UI could improve."
"The one place it could be improved is the password vaulting. The password vaulting does not prevent the admins from reading users' passwords, and that's a debate."
"There is room for improvement in the configuration of their security policies. It seems quite basic."
"If I were to suggest enhancements, it would mainly revolve around ensuring compatibility and maximizing integration options with various services."
"They are going ahead and adding a few more things to the Google Cloud premium edition. Their stock management and remote computer management can be improved."
"I would like to see more integration in future releases."
"SSO and MFA for improved end-user experience, and protection against password spray attacks, account password self-service."
"The integration with third-party tools needs to be improved."
"The ability or the options in the solution for changing the look and feel are not good enough because in our partner portal, essentially what they have is an ugly admin interface."
"The solution lacks an on-premises deployment model so it can't offer a hybrid solution. It would be ideal if clients had options that weren't just cloud-based."
"On the admin side, we can create our own passwords instead of generating one, which is usually difficult to explain to a user."
"It's not compatible with on-premises installations, unless you host it as a SaaS. We were not able to do that. For example, imagine a scenario where the cloud is not available. Then, Okta will not work for you. That use case will readily fail because it doesn't have an on-premises installation that you can use to authenticate or provide identity and access management. If you have a purely on-premises solution that is not connected to the internet, then this will not work. This is one area that can be improved."
"It can have more API integrations."
"We have experienced some challenges in integrating this solution with Scope and Cognito."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"The solution is not expensive."
"The licensing cost depends on the partners and the relationship between the company and the partners."
"We probably spend about $50,000 a year on licensing."
"The product is billed on a monthly basis depending on the number of users."
"The fees are paid monthly and there are no additional costs other than the licensing fees."
"When I worked on Cloud Identity, they offered a free or enterprise version. You can synchronize and create up to 100 user identities in the free version. After that, you have to purchase a business or enterprise license. In that model, you'll be charged based on the number of users."
"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The cost per user for this solution is really high and could be reduced."
"License is around US$20,000 annually."
"Workforce Identity is well-priced."
"The price of the solution is good."
"Though I don't know about the licensing model of the product, I wouldn't be surprised if Okta offers a per user license subscription model."
"The licensing is per user per month and includes full technical support."
"The product has a user-based license model."
"It is costly for large companies."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also access to both Microsoft’s user community as well as around-the-clock customer s...
What do you like most about Google Cloud Identity?
The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its stability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Identity?
Google services are affordable compared to other services. Additional costs depend on the specific products; for example, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) may require extra payment for additional suppor...
What do you like most about Okta Workforce Identity?
Okta has introduced the Universal Directory. It has custom attribute capability and user permissions to read/write on their profiles or hide them. Profile sources and identity profile sourcing are ...
What needs improvement with Okta Workforce Identity?
We are facing one issue with Cypress test cases. Whenever I write Cypress test cases, we encounter problems with logging in through Okta. There is no proper documentation on integrating test cases ...
 

Also Known As

Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity Premium
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ExtraHop Networks, HealthChannels
FedEx, Zoom, Takeda, Lululemon Athletica, GrunHub, jetBlue, McKensson, Bain & Company, Engie, Peloton, Sonos, T-Mobile, Hewlett Packard, MGM Resorts, Ally Financial, Priceline, Albertsons, Itercom, Classy, FICO, Kensho, Live Nation, Drata, Rotary, and others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Identity vs. Okta Workforce Identity and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.