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Google Cloud Identity vs Okta Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 22, 2026

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)
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (10th), Cloud Resource Access Management (5th)
Okta Platform
Ranking in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Single Sign-On (SSO) (2nd), Authentication Systems (4th), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (3rd), Access Management (2nd), ZTNA as a Service (4th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (1st), AI IT Support (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Identity is 10.7%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Okta Platform is 9.0%, down from 14.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Okta Platform9.0%
Google Cloud Identity10.7%
Other80.3%
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

BL
Head - Work Transformation at Econz
User lifecycle management becomes streamlined with unified access and context-aware policies
If applications support SAML protocols, integration is always an easy task. However, there are difficulties with form-based applications or LDAP-based applications, particularly traditional applications. We need more flexibility not only with SAML but also with LDAP-based and form-based applications. Context-aware access currently only works with SAML-based applications. If other application integrations could support context-aware access, that would be helpful, as companies are in a transition mode with various traditional, form-based, and LDAP-based applications. Mobile device management could be improved. Through Google Cloud Identity, we can manage Android applications and have control over iOS devices, but container functionality is missing. This is particularly important for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) scenarios, especially in India where the market is now split equally between iOS and Android users. Improvements in this area and integration capabilities would be beneficial.
SN
Identity and Access Management Specialist at a university with 10,001+ employees
Automated lifecycle management has cut onboarding times and now drives secure, clean access
Although I am a fan of Okta Platform overall, there are areas where it could improve security outcomes and reduce admin friction. My top improvement areas include the system log and analytics upgrade, which are great for point troubleshooting, but trending and root cause analysis across large tenants still require exporting to SIEM. Verbose queries and long-range retention costs can add up. Additionally, while certificate rotations are better than most, the process is still manual for busy portfolios, especially concerning multi-SP SAML certificate rotations and app metadata drift. Two more buckets of potential improvements for Okta Platform involve user experience and security. There is the issue of push fatigue and prompt sprawl, where users receive multiple prompts across different apps and sessions. I arrived at the rating of eight because the core controls are strong and reliable, but a few operational UX and UI gaps prevent it from being rated higher. The reasons for not giving it a nine or ten include ongoing issues concerning safety and change safety, the complexity of group rules and mappings, and the lack of robustness in policy management. Additionally, there remains a need for more manual involvement than necessary, especially for large portfolios and dual certificate rotation, along with proactive SP data metadata validation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the most useful features was the single sign-on. You can use it as an identity provider or service provider. And you can use their organization unit feature to enable or disable some of the features for a specific group of users."
"Cloud Identity is scalable enough for our needs. It's serving more than 3,000 users in our organization."
"The most beneficial feature for enhancing security is context-aware access."
"The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its simplicity in deployment."
"Google Cloud Identity uses what they call organizational units (OUs) instead of the security groups you'd find in Microsoft's Entra."
"I think the first thing that is great is that it gives you a lot of features, like login, and then vaulted passwords and secure LDAP. It becomes easier for the end customer to leverage all those features without going to a higher SKU of G Suite."
"I have not experienced any serious problem with stability."
"The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Identity is its stability."
"It is dependent on the evolution of your user base. It depends on usage per user, so the more sign-ins there are, the more expensive it becomes, so it works best for smaller companies from a financial perspective."
"Okta Platform has positively impacted our organization because our staff can connect to all tools and applications we use from a single location, which has saved us time."
"Enabled MFA to access federated applications as well as increased user satisfaction through improved provisioning times and more reliable processes."
"Okta Workforce Identity is easy to use and has a lot of components."
"The most useful features of Okta for my organization are identity and access management, single sign-on, and the flexibility for hybrid setups."
"There is no password hash saved on the cloud, which is the part that I like the most."
"The main benefits Okta Customer Identity provides to users include single point of login for all applications and single authentication, which saves time and reduces frustration."
"Okta has more when it comes to the policy level. It has distinctive features where you can do a mix and combination to have users access applications for various business cases."
 

Cons

"Google Cloud Identify could make the technology used easier to understand as a layman making it more user-friendly."
"I would like to see more integration in future releases."
"Overall, I would give a zero out of 10 for Google's support. There is no easy way to navigate issues without paid consultation, making it quite frustrating."
"Mobile device management could be improved. Through Google Cloud Identity, we can manage Android applications and have control over iOS devices, but container functionality is missing."
"I want the tool to improve its support. It should also incorporate some functionalities. Currently, preparing presentations in Google is a pain point. The tool’s certain features like user provisioning are not intuitive as well. The product’s LDAP support is very poor. Clients do not trust the product due to the spam."
"The interface could be improved by simplifying it further."
"We cannot manage the attributes of SSPR."
"Google Cloud Identity should improve its compatibility with other products without any impact, such as Jamf Cloud."
"The solution's user interface needs to be improved and made easy."
"The solution should have greater on-premises availability, not just cloud and more package customization in its processing."
"Users sometimes have difficulty getting verification codes."
"The only area of concern in the solution stems from the fact that my company needs some help regarding the setup phase from a partner."
"The integration with third-party tools needs to be improved."
"Okta Workforce Identity can improve by having more features in governance."
"If the organization is big, I can say Okta Platform is affordable; however, for small-scale industries, I would not recommend it, but for medium and enterprise organizations, it is good."
"Some limitations in scalability. Each application we work with can be completely different, resulting in highly variable implementation processes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"The licensing cost depends on the partners and the relationship between the company and the partners."
"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."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"The product is billed on a monthly basis depending on the number of users."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."
"The fees are paid monthly and there are no additional costs other than the licensing fees."
"We probably spend about $50,000 a year on licensing."
"The product is expensive compared to other vendors."
"It is costly for large companies."
"The solution is really expensive."
"Workforce Identity is well-priced."
"The product has a user-based license model."
"The price of Okta Workforce Identity is reasonable."
"The cost per user for this solution is really high and could be reduced."
"It has a yearly subscription. As compared to its competitors, it is quite expensive. It also has a complex licensing model."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise50
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Identity?
It's crucial to monitor costs carefully, as there can be unexpected charges. I have been charged even when there was supposed to be free credit.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Identity?
If you are asking about room for improvement with Google Cloud Identity, whatever is there already, cost is the only problem. If you are comparing with GCP, OCI, the cost will be a little bit highe...
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Okta Workforce Identity?
Pricing for Okta is reasonably not that much, however, I don't have access to the commercial aspect.
What needs improvement with Okta Workforce Identity?
Currently, in Okta Workforce Identity we get the two-digit authentication code. Instead of getting the two-digit authentication code, if we had an option to do fingerprint verification, that would ...
 

Also Known As

Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity Premium
Okta Customer Identity, Workforce Identity
 

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 Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.