Choosing between Auth0 and Okta Customer Identity (OCI) might feel confusing. Between rebrands and overlapping features, it’s easy to get a bit lost when figuring out if you’re in the right place. Okta offers two excellent customer identity services on two different platforms, so let’s clarify the differences so you can feel confident in selecting a solution!
Okta Customer Identity (OCI)
OCI lives on the same platform as Okta Workforce Identity (OWI), but includes features optimized for managing external customer identities. You may have known OCI by previous names, such as Okta Customer Identity Solution (CIS) or Okta CIAM.
Auth0
Auth0 is deployed on its own platform and infrastructure, separate from the Okta platform. Here’s where you might start scratching your head. For a period of time, Auth0 was rebranded to Okta Customer Identity Cloud (CIC). This name is super similar to what we now call OCI, the customer identity service deployed on the Okta platform. But, to keep things simple and customer-friendly, we’re back to calling it by the name developers know and love–Auth0!
So, what’s the difference?
Okay, great! Now we’ve got the names straight, and it’s clear that they exist on different platforms with different infrastructures. So, which one is right for your needs? While this article isn’t meant to make that decision for you, it will better equip you in your discussions with stakeholders involved in a customer identity solution decision-making process.
The table below breaks down some of the key differences between OCI and Auth0.
| Okta Customer Identity | Auth0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary audience | Enterprise teams needing out-of-the-box identity flows and policies with minimal coding. | Developers wanting more control over end-user identity flows through custom code. |
| Extensibility of identity flows | Possible with Okta inline hooks, but requires standing up external services. | Available with Auth0 Actions (Node.js) and Forms (low- to no-code). |
| Custom branding (B2C) | Customize the Okta-hosted sign-in page, error pages, and email templates with Okta brands. Both no-code/low-code and pro-code solutions available. Set a custom domain for authentication. | Customize the Auth0 Universal Login page, error pages, and email templates. Both no-code/low-code and pro-code solutions available. Set a custom domain for authentication. |
| Custom branding (B2B) | Manage multiple brands and custom domains from a single Okta org using multibrand customizations. | Manage multiple brands and custom domains from a single Auth0 tenant using Organizations. |
| Pricing plans | All OCI solutions start with the Enterprise base platform. Select from additional add-ons to meet your specific requirements. Visit the pricing page to learn more. | Auth0 has plans based on B2C and B2B use cases. Select from additional Enterprise add-ons to fit your needs. Visit the pricing page to learn more. |
Auth0 has always been a developer-first platform, built for teams that want to customize end-user authentication and registration flows (identity flows) with their own code. By contrast, Okta began as an enterprise-first platform for organizations that want out-of-the-box sign-in policies that work at scale. While OCI has developer-focused extensibility features like Auth0, it also has low- and no-code features that empower administrators to deploy sign-in solutions.
Extensibility is particularly exciting for developers because it offers them the ability to write custom logic to extend a product in ways a company may never have considered. Both OCI and Auth0 offer some degree of extensibility over log-in flows, but as of today, Auth0 wins out in this category. Auth0 has an embedded code editor that allows you to write custom Actions–secure, tenant-specific, and versioned functions written in Node.js that execute at specific points within your identity flows. If you’re craving a no-code solution, Auth0 Forms provides you with a visual editor to extend your identity flows with additional steps and business logic. However, currently, you must write an Action to render Forms. Because of this, Forms might be considered a low-code solution.
Related to extensibility is the ability to customize branding for both B2C and B2B use cases. Both products allow you to customize the log-in pages, error pages, and email templates. Setting a single brand for a B2C use case can be as easy as a few clicks in both OCI and Auth0. Both allow you to use the dashboard UI to set a custom domain, custom logo, colors, and a background image. However, the platforms differ when it comes to a B2B use case that requires multiple brands. With OCI, you can customize multiple brands in the dashboard UI of a single Okta organization. While this is possible with Organizations in a single Auth0 tenant, this requires customizing a template (such as the Universal Login page template) with your own logic to display different branding depending on the context. If your team doesn’t mind a heavier developer lift, extensive branding customization is possible with both platforms.
If your organization needs a secure, out-of-the-box solution with low developer lift, consider OCI. It provides a more admin-friendly, low- to no-code platform for managing customer identities at scale. But, if your team needs granular control and customization over every step of your identity flows and has the developer resources to get the job done, check out Auth0. Actions and Forms empower developers to create bespoke user journeys. Whatever platform you choose, you’re in great hands with Okta!