# ping-identity

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/iam/ping-identity/
Last updated: 2026-01-15
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

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## Overview

Ping Identity has the deepest federation heritage of the major workforce vendors and is the one large enterprises reach for when [Okta](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/iam/okta/) or [Entra](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/iam/microsoft-entra/) cannot meet a deployment or protocol requirement. Its 2023 acquisition of ForgeRock, and its 2025 addition of Procyon (now PingOne Privilege), widened the portfolio into governance and privileged access, and Ping is owned by Thoma Bravo.

## What it is good at

Federation is the moat: Ping handles SAML, OIDC, OAuth, and older protocols at a depth banks, insurers, and governments depend on, including complex brokering across many identity sources. It is one of the few leaders with serious self-hosted and hybrid options, not just SaaS, which is decisive in regulated and air-gapped environments. PingOne DaVinci adds no-code [identity orchestration](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/federation/) to wire flows across systems, and the platform spans both workforce and customer identity.

## Where it falls short

Breadth comes with weight. The portfolio is now large and, post-ForgeRock, has overlapping products that take expertise to navigate; expect a real implementation effort and dedicated identity engineers. Developer experience and time-to-first-login trail the cloud-native crowd, and pricing is quote-based and enterprise-oriented. For a greenfield SaaS app it is more than you need.

## Pricing

Quote-based, by module and deployment model. Self-hosted and hybrid licensing differs from PingOne SaaS. Budget for professional services on complex federation and migration work.

## Best for, and who should look elsewhere

Choose Ping for regulated, federation-heavy enterprises that need on-prem or hybrid deployment and protocol depth. Greenfield cloud-first teams will ship faster on Okta, [Auth0](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/ciam/auth0/), or Entra; Microsoft shops should price Entra first.

## Bottom line

The enterprise federation specialist, strongest where deployment flexibility and protocol depth matter more than speed of setup.