Iden vs Okta Identity Governance (OIG)
A detailed guide to Iden vs Okta Identity Governance (OIG): coverage, control, cost, and when each solution fits your stack.
10 min read · Last updated April 2026
Okta built the identity layer most of the industry runs on - SSO, MFA, lifecycle management for apps that support SCIM and are on the right plan. What it doesn’t cover is the governance layer underneath: access reviews, entitlement management, contractor lifecycle, non-human identities, and the 90% of your stack that SCIM doesn’t reach. That’s where Iden comes in. This guide covers what each does well, where each falls short, and how to pick.
When to choose OIG
OIG makes sense if you’re already committed to Okta and your stack is SCIM-friendly. Tighter fit than most expect - worth reading before you sign.
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Your whole stack is on Okta already. Staying in one vendor has real value.
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Most of your apps support SCIM and you're already on enterprise plans. Native provisioning covers them.
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Basic access certifications are enough - under 250 apps, two reviewer levels maximum.
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You have a dedicated Workflows practitioner on staff to maintain automations when OIG hits a wall.
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Your stack is under 30 apps and they're all in Okta's catalog at a plan you're already on.
When to choose Iden
Most IT teams hit OIG’s ceiling faster than they expect. If you’ve tried to connect Notion or GitHub Standard through Okta and ended up in Workflows, you already know.
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Half your stack doesn't support SCIM on your current plans. The ones that do require upgrades you haven't budgeted.
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Contractors, service accounts, API keys, OAuth grants, AI agents - not just the people in your HR system.
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You're running multiple IdPs - Okta, Entra ID, Google Workspace, some mix. Governance shouldn't be locked to one.
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You're a small IT team. No one to spend weeks maintaining Workflows every time something changes upstream.
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SOD enforcement across more than 20 apps, or certification campaigns with more than two reviewer levels.
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You want SaaS spend visibility, orphaned account cleanup, and access reviews in the same place.
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OIG can't reach your internal tools, legacy systems, or homegrown apps. Iden builds SCIM++ connectors for them in 48 hours.
Already on Okta SSO? Okta keeps handling authentication. Iden handles the governance layer on top. Different tools, different jobs.
Where they differ
The shared ground ends there. Coverage, control, and cost are the three areas where OIG’s limits become visible.
1. Iden covers your entire stack. SCIM or not.
Okta advertises 7,000+ integrations. Most are SSO-only - login only, not provisioning or governance. That needs SCIM. Across the ~300 SaaS apps most teams run, fewer than 4% include SCIM on a standard plan.
Iden uses 180+ connectors. SCIM where it’s available, API-based where it isn’t, custom-built where neither exists. That includes internal tools, legacy systems, and homegrown apps. First 15 apps up in under an hour. Anything not in the catalog, we build a SCIM++ connector in 48 hours or less.
Iden connects to apps OIG can't reach - Notion, Figma, Linear, GitHub Standard and 100+ more.
OIG has no path to internal tools or legacy systems. Iden builds SCIM++ connectors in 48 hr or less.
Running Okta SSO, Entra ID, Google Workspace, or some mix? Iden sits on top. No migration required.
Service accounts, API keys, OAuth grants, AI agents - governed in the same dashboard as your people.
Coverage gets you connected. Control is where the real governance work happens - and where OIG’s limits start to compound.
2. Controls that go deeper than Okta’s.
OIG governs at group level - limited to Okta Groups and what SCIM exposes, which in most apps isn’t very deep. That ceiling flows through to everything: certifications, policies, access reviews, SOD.
Certifications cap at 2 reviewer levels and 250 apps. SOD cuts off at 20 apps - you’ll hit that before most enterprise contracts require it.
When OIG can’t handle something natively, the answer is Workflows. Build a flow, wire it up, debug timeouts at 60 seconds, redo it when something changes upstream. Governance shouldn’t need a developer on call.
Iden has no hard caps. Unlimited reviewer levels, no app ceiling per campaign, SOD across your full portfolio. Contractor and NHI lifecycle built in.
The capability gaps are one thing. Cost is where they show up on your renewal invoice.
3. No SCIM tax or tiers with Iden.
OIG’s published estimate is around $17/user/month for Essentials with Identity Governance. That’s before the SCIM tax.
The SCIM tax: ~70% of your stack locks SCIM behind enterprise tiers. Once you deploy an enterprise IdP, every vendor that supports SCIM prices accordingly. Upgrades range from 15% to 6,000% more. Across a 100-app portfolio, that’s 70 forced upgrades at renewal.
SCIM Tax: why OIG stops at 20%
Most SaaS apps lock SCIM behind enterprise plans. You upgrade just to automate provisioning.
On a 300-person team, the Figma upgrade alone is +$22,200/year. Just for automated provisioning.
Iden works on standard plans. No upgrades required.
Then there’s Workflows. Governance at scale means custom DIY flows - someone to build and maintain them. Either a dedicated practitioner or a PS engagement you keep extending.
$7.50/user/month. Gets cheaper as you grow. All connectors included, no app upgrades required (no SCIM tax). Spend reclaim built in.
What practitioners say about OIG
“Okta is a great SSO and MFA solution. Their new 'IGA' solution is hardly that. IGA is all about processes and the OIG solution is nowhere near best-of-breed.”
“After using their product on ID Governance for 12 months, gave up because critical features were not ready. Sales team was too aggressive promising features that never shipped.”
“OIG currently addresses approximately 65% of our organisational requirements.”
“We had to give full admin rights just so a junior engineer could edit one onboarding flow.”
“It's not a general-purpose automation tool. If you need to talk to anything on-prem, you're out of luck unless you want to spin up your own proxy.”
What Iden customers say
“We govern Notion, Figma, Linear, and our internal tools. All in one place. Okta couldn't touch half of them.”
“We finally have deeper access reviews. Not just 'is this person in the group' but what they can actually do inside the app.”
“We ran the numbers. Between the SCIM tax and wasted licenses, Iden paid for itself in the first quarter.”
“First 12 apps connected in under an hour. We were live before our Okta POC was even scoped.”
How to choose between Iden and OIG
Depends on your stack and your team. OIG works well if it’s narrow, SCIM-friendly, and you have dedicated Okta experts on your team. Iden fits everything else.
Want the full breakdown?
The complete feature-by-feature comparison - Coverage, Control, and Cost - in one reference document. Every OIG hard limit, every Iden capability, side by side. Useful for vendor evaluations, internal presentations, and budget conversations.
Download the comparison PDFNo form. Direct download.
A few things worth saying directly
We're already on Okta. Does this replace it?
No. Okta keeps doing what it does - SSO. Iden handles governance layer on top: non-SCIM apps, contractors, NHIs. Different tools, different jobs.
We've built a lot in Okta Workflows. What happens to those?
Keep using workflows for anything Okta-native. Iden does governance for everything Okta doesn't: connectors, policies, workflows. Our onboarding team will help mirror your setup slowly.
How does the switch actually work? Do we rip out OIG on day one?
No. Most teams run parallel for 30-60 days. Iden connected to everything your OIG isn't. You cut over when you're ready.
What does implementation actually look like?
Plan app rollout in batches. First 15 within an hour. Next within a day or two. Rest in the coming week(s). We handle new/custom connectors.
What about apps Iden doesn't support yet?
If it's not in the catalog, we build the connector in 48 hours. Your team doesn't touch it.
We have a SOC 2 audit in 3 months. Is that enough time?
Yes. Most customers are audit-ready within 2 weeks of go-live. Audit evidence for tasks, access reviews available in real-time.