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AWS IAM

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AWS IAM vs Okta: What are the differences?

Key Differences between AWS IAM and Okta

AWS IAM and Okta are both identity and access management (IAM) solutions, but they differ in several key aspects.

  1. Authentication vs. Federation: AWS IAM focuses on authentication within the AWS environment, providing access control to AWS resources. On the other hand, Okta specializes in federation, offering a centralized identity management solution that enables single sign-on (SSO) access to multiple applications and services, including those outside of AWS.

  2. Cloud vs. On-Premises: AWS IAM is a cloud-native IAM service provided by Amazon Web Services, designed specifically for managing access to AWS services. In contrast, Okta can be deployed both in the cloud and on-premises, making it suitable for organizations with diverse infrastructure needs.

  3. Service Scope: While AWS IAM is primarily focused on managing access to AWS resources and services, Okta offers a broader range of features and integrations, allowing organizations to manage access across a variety of applications, third-party services, and even legacy systems.

  4. Customization and Control: AWS IAM provides a high level of granularity and control over access policies, allowing administrators to define fine-grained permissions for specific AWS resources. Okta, on the other hand, offers more flexibility in terms of customization, enabling organizations to tailor their access policies and workflows to meet their unique requirements.

  5. User Provisioning and Lifecycle Management: Okta excels at user provisioning and lifecycle management, providing features such as automated user creation, deactivation, and synchronization with various directories and applications. While AWS IAM does offer some user management capabilities, it is more focused on access control within the AWS ecosystem.

  6. Pricing Structure: The pricing models for AWS IAM and Okta differ. AWS IAM is included as part of the overall AWS pricing package, where organizations pay for the AWS services they use. Okta, on the other hand, has its own pricing structure based on the number of users and the level of functionality required.

In summary, while AWS IAM is more focused on access control within the AWS environment and provides granular control over AWS resources, Okta is a comprehensive, centralized identity management solution that supports federation, user provisioning, and access management for a wide range of applications and services both within and outside the AWS ecosystem.

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Pros of AWS IAM
Pros of Okta
  • 23
    Centralized powerful permissions based access
  • 3
    Straightforward SSO integration
  • 14
    REST API
  • 9
    SAML
  • 5
    OIDC OpenID Connect
  • 5
    Protect B2E, B2B, B2C apps
  • 5
    User Provisioning
  • 5
    Easy LDAP integration
  • 4
    Universal Directory
  • 4
    Tons of Identity Management features
  • 4
    SSO, MFA for cloud, on-prem, custom apps
  • 4
    API Access Management - oAuth2 as a service
  • 3
    Easy Active Directory integration
  • 2
    SWA applications Integration
  • 1
    SOC2
  • 0
    Test

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Cons of AWS IAM
Cons of Okta
  • 1
    Cloud auth limited to resources, no apps or services
  • 1
    No equivalent for on-premise networks, must adapt to AD
  • 5
    Pricing is too high
  • 1
    Okta verify (Multi-factor Authentication)

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What is AWS IAM?

It enables you to manage access to AWS services and resources securely. Using IAM, you can create and manage AWS users and groups, and use permissions to allow and deny their access to AWS resources.

What is Okta?

Connect all your apps in days, not months, with instant access to thousands of pre-built integrations - even add apps to the network yourself. Integrations are easy to set up, constantly monitored, proactively repaired and handle authentication and provisioning.

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What companies use AWS IAM?
What companies use Okta?
See which teams inside your own company are using AWS IAM or Okta.
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What tools integrate with AWS IAM?
What tools integrate with Okta?

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What are some alternatives to AWS IAM and Okta?
Azure Active Directory
It is a comprehensive identity and access management solution that gives you a robust set of capabilities to manage users and groups. You can get the reliability and scalability you need with identity services that work with your on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environment.
Auth0
A set of unified APIs and tools that instantly enables Single Sign On and user management to all your applications.
OAuth2
It is an authorization framework that enables a third-party application to obtain limited access to an HTTP service, either on behalf of a resource owner by orchestrating an approval interaction between the resource owner and the HTTP service, or by allowing the third-party application to obtain access on its own behalf.
Teleport
Teleport makes it easy for users to securely access infrastructure and meet the toughest compliance requirements. Teleport replaces shared credentials with short-lived certificates and is completely transparent to client-side tools.
HashiCorp Boundary
Simple and secure remote access — to any system anywhere based on trusted identity. It enables practitioners and operators to securely access dynamic hosts and services with fine-grained authorization without requiring direct network access.
See all alternatives