Enterprise Authentication Pricing in 2026: What Each Platform Actually Charges
Per-connection, per-MAU, and flat-tier pricing compared across WorkOS, SSOJet, Auth0, FusionAuth, and Keycloak, with real published rates and what each model actually costs at 10, 50, and 200 enterprise connections.
- Enterprise authentication pricing comes in three incompatible shapes: per-SSO-connection (WorkOS, SSOJet), per-monthly-active-user with connections as an add-on (Auth0), and flat platform tiers (FusionAuth, Keycloak's zero-cost self-hosted model).
- Because the billing units differ, list prices are not comparable without plugging in your own connection count and user volume; the vendor that looks cheapest at 10 connections can be the most expensive at 200.
- Published, dated rates as of August 2026: WorkOS runs $125 down to $50 per connection across five tiers; SSOJet publishes roughly $49.50 per connection with custom pricing above 200; Auth0 bundles connections into per-MAU plans then charges per additional connection up to a cap; FusionAuth and Keycloak price by platform tier or license cost, not connection count.
Enterprise authentication pricing looks simple until you try to compare two vendors, at which point it becomes clear they are not charging for the same thing. This is a snapshot of what five platforms actually publish as of August 2026, with the pricing modeled at three connection counts so the comparison is concrete rather than a list of starting prices.
The three pricing shapes
Per-connection, WorkOS and SSOJet, charges for each enterprise customer organization connected via SSO, independent of how many end users that organization has. This tracks your enterprise sales motion directly: sign a customer, add a connection, pay for it.
Per-monthly-active-user with connections as an add-on, Auth0, charges primarily for total active users across your product, with a handful of enterprise SSO connections bundled into each plan and additional connections billed on top up to a cap, above which it moves to custom Enterprise pricing.
Flat platform tiers, FusionAuth and Keycloak, charge a monthly platform fee (FusionAuth's cloud tiers) or nothing at all in license cost (Keycloak's self-hosted Community edition), with connection count mostly decoupled from price up to a tier's stated limit.
Published rates as of August 2026
WorkOS, published, tiered by cumulative connection count: $125/connection for connections 1 to 15, $100/connection for 16 to 30, $80/connection for 31 to 50, $65/connection for 51 to 100, $50/connection for 101 to 200, custom above 200. AuthKit (core auth, separate from SSO connections) is free to 1 million MAU, then $2,500/month per additional million.
SSOJet, published, roughly flat: Business tier starts at $99/month for 2 connections, working out to about $49.50 per connection across the 2 to 200-connection range, with an Enterprise tier above that at custom pricing including dedicated private-cloud deployment and multi-region data residency.
Auth0, published for its retail tiers, custom above them: Essentials at $150/month (500 MAU) includes 3 enterprise connections; Professional at $800/month (500 MAU) includes 5; additional connections on either plan run $100/month each up to a cap of 30 connections total, beyond which pricing is custom Enterprise.
FusionAuth, published, flat cloud tiers: Community edition is free and self-hosted with unlimited connections; Starter cloud begins around $162/month; Essentials and Enterprise cloud tiers begin around $2,970/month, with Essentials capped at 5 connectors and Enterprise offering unlimited.
Keycloak, free and open source under Apache 2.0, self-hosted, no license cost regardless of connection count. Commercial support is available separately through Red Hat's build or third parties.
What it actually costs at 10, 50, and 200 connections
| Connections | WorkOS | SSOJet | Auth0 | FusionAuth | Keycloak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $1,250/mo | ~$495/mo | ~$1,300/mo (Professional, 5 included + 5 add-on) | $162-$2,970/mo flat, depending on tier | $0 license (self-hosted) |
| 50 | ~$4,975/mo | ~$2,475/mo | Exceeds the 30-connection retail cap; custom Enterprise pricing | $2,970/mo flat (if within tier's connector limit) | $0 license (self-hosted) |
| 200 | ~$13,225/mo | Enterprise tier likely applies; custom pricing | Custom Enterprise pricing | Enterprise tier, custom above stated limits | $0 license (self-hosted) |
These figures come directly from each vendor's published pricing page as of August 2026 and exclude volume negotiation, which is common at the higher end for all five. FusionAuth and Keycloak's flat and zero-license models mean the connection count mostly doesn't change the sticker price, so their operational cost (headcount to run Keycloak, or the jump between FusionAuth's tiers) matters more than the table alone shows.
Why it matters
The vendor that looks cheapest at 10 connections is not necessarily the cheapest at 200: SSOJet's flat rate scales linearly while WorkOS's discount ladder means its effective per-connection cost drops as volume grows, and Auth0's retail plans stop being an option entirely above 30 connections regardless of price. Modeling your actual 12-to-24-month connection count, not your current one, is the difference between a pricing decision that holds up and one you have to revisit mid-contract.
Self-hosted options change the shape of the question rather than answering it: Keycloak's zero license cost is real, but it substitutes engineering time for a subscription fee, which is a genuine trade only for teams that can staff it. Run your own numbers with the TCO calculator, which handles the differing billing units directly.
Bottom line
There is no single cheapest enterprise authentication platform, only a cheapest platform at a specific connection count and user volume. Per-connection pricing rewards a slow, steady enterprise sales motion; per-MAU pricing rewards a large existing user base with modest enterprise needs; flat and self-hosted models reward teams willing to trade cash for either a bigger upfront commitment or operational ownership. Match the billing shape to how your business actually grows before comparing the numbers on the page.
Frequently asked questions
- What's the difference between per-connection and per-MAU pricing for enterprise SSO?
- Per-connection pricing (WorkOS, SSOJet) charges based on how many enterprise customer organizations you connect via SSO, regardless of how many end users each one has. Per-MAU pricing (Auth0) charges based on total monthly active users across your product, with enterprise SSO connections layered on as a smaller add-on cost. Per-connection pricing tracks your enterprise sales motion; per-MAU pricing tracks your total user base.
- Is self-hosting with Keycloak actually free?
- The license is free under Apache 2.0, with no per-connection or per-user fee. It is not free in total cost: you take on server infrastructure, upgrades, and the engineering time to run and secure it, which for most teams is a real and ongoing cost even though no invoice arrives for it.
- How do I compare vendors that bill on different units?
- Model your actual expected connection count and user volume for the next 12 to 24 months, then compute each vendor's price at that specific volume rather than comparing their list prices or starting tiers. The TCO calculator does this arithmetic; a vendor's cheapest-looking entry price is frequently not the cheapest at the volume you'll actually reach.