Okta is a cloud-based identity and access management platform that provides authentication, authorization, and user management services for applications and organizations.
Founded in 2009 by Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest (both former Salesforce executives), Okta went public in 2017 and acquired Auth0 in 2021 for $6.5 billion, consolidating two of the largest identity platforms under one company. Okta serves the enterprise workforce identity market under its core brand, while Auth0 operates as Okta's customer identity platform for developers building consumer-facing and B2B applications.
Okta's core product is a Universal Directory backed by a policy engine that connects users to applications. It supports thousands of pre-built integrations via its OIN (Okta Integration Network), handles multi-factor authentication, adaptive access policies, and lifecycle management (provisioning and deprovisioning users across SaaS apps via SCIM). For developers, Okta exposes 📝REST APIs and SDKs across major languages and frameworks, making it straightforward to add identity to custom applications.
Okta is one of the primary commercial implementations of 📝SSO, supporting SAML 2.0, OpenID Connect, and OAuth 2.0 protocols. Its position as an identity provider (IdP) means it acts as the single source of truth for user authentication across an organization's application ecosystem. Competitors include Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Ping Identity, and OneLogin.