WorkOS is a great enterprise auth suite. But you might only need authorization.
WorkOS bundles SSO, Directory Sync, Audit Logs and, since February 2026, Fine-Grained Authorization. Several of those are priced per connection. WardenAuth is authorization only: keep the login you have and add permissions, audit and API keys on top.
Overview
WorkOS is excellent. If you need to ship enterprise SSO, SCIM and authorization in a single integration, it is one of the cleanest developer experiences in the industry.
WorkOS FGA pricing: as of October 2026, WorkOS's public pricing page does not list a price for FGA; you have to ask sales. What it does list is per-connection pricing for the rest of the suite: SSO and Directory Sync at $125 per connection per month (volume discounts from 16 connections), Audit Log streaming at $125 per month per SIEM connection, and event retention at $99 per month per million events. For a B2B product, those connections usually scale with the number of enterprise customers. WardenAuth does not charge per connection or per tenant.
WorkOS — Strengths
- Complete enterprise auth bundle: SSO, Directory Sync, Audit Logs and FGA
- Excellent DX and documentation
- Pre-built Admin Portal for customer IT admins
- Strong compliance posture
- Very active development team
WorkOS — Limitations
- FGA price is not published; it has to be negotiated with sales (as of October 2026)
- SSO and Directory Sync billed per connection, which usually means per enterprise customer
- Audit Log streaming billed per SIEM connection
- Hosted only: no self-hosted option
Pricing comparison
WorkOS prices are from its public pricing page. WardenAuth paid plans are in early access, with a free tier of 50K checks a month; contact us for terms.
| Scenario | WorkOS | WardenAuth |
|---|---|---|
| Fine-grained authorization | Not published (contact sales) | Free tier, then early-access pricing |
| SSO (per connection, 1–15) | $125/mo each | Not part of WardenAuth (keep your auth) |
| Directory Sync (per connection, 1–15) | $125/mo each | Not part of WardenAuth (keep your auth) |
| Audit log streaming | $125/mo per SIEM connection | Included |
| Audit event retention | $99/mo per 1M events | Included |
Feature comparison
| Feature | WorkOS | WardenAuth |
|---|---|---|
| Fine-grained authorization | ||
| Multi-tenant (organizations / scopes) | ||
| Audit trail | Paid add-on | |
| Enterprise SSO + Directory Sync | ||
| Self-hosted deployment | Roadmap | |
| No per-connection fees |
When each makes sense
Choose WorkOS if you're building an enterprise-focused B2B product that needs SSO, SCIM and authorization as a bundle. The single integration story is compelling and the DX is excellent. It's worth the premium if you'd otherwise build all of it yourself.
Choose WardenAuth if you already have authentication (Cognito, Clerk, Auth.js, your own) and want fine-grained authorization without touching your login. WardenAuth works with any auth provider via JWT claims or API keys, includes audit and API key management, and starts free.
WorkOS is the right choice if you need the full enterprise auth suite (SSO, SCIM, audit and FGA) from one vendor. If you already have authentication and need fine-grained authorization with audit, API keys and multi-tenancy, without per-connection fees or a price you have to negotiate, WardenAuth is the simpler fit. Prices above are from workos.com/pricing as of October 2026.
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