Enterprise SSO without the per-connection toll.

WorkOS is attractive early: its AuthKit user-management product is free up to a high MAU ceiling, which makes the platform feel inexpensive for B2C-style auth. The cost shows up where WorkOS makes its money — the enterprise features SaaS companies actually sell on, billed per connection.

As of 2026, the enterprise building blocks are priced roughly like this:

Figures reflect WorkOS's published list pricing as of 2026 (workos.com/pricing); 200+ connections and Enterprise agreements are quote-based.

The per-connection model is the catch. Every enterprise customer you onboard typically needs both SSO and SCIM — two separately billed connections — so the bill scales directly with your most valuable B2B customers. A few dozen enterprise logos can turn an "inexpensive" platform into a five- or six-figure annual line item.

Keycloak, by contrast, supports unlimited SAML/OIDC identity providers and SCIM directories with no per-connection fee. Your cost is the infrastructure it runs on — fixed, and decoupled from how many enterprise customers you connect.

Winner: Keycloak

With Phase Two managed hosting, you add enterprise connections without adding line items. See a side-by-side pricing estimate vs. WorkOS.

A strong advantage of WorkOS is that it's a managed service. From a DevOps perspective, it requires minimal maintenance — the WorkOS team handles updates, security patches, and infrastructure, keeping the system up to date. This comes at a cost, though, since customization is comparatively limited.

Self-hosted Keycloak requires more attention: organizations must allocate resources for installing, configuring, and updating the software, as well as managing the underlying infrastructure. This can be a drawback for teams without the necessary expertise. Phase Two removes this trade-off entirely: with managed hosting and zero-downtime upgrades, you get Keycloak's control without the operational load.

Winner: WorkOS for self-hosted Keycloak — a tie when Keycloak is managed by Phase Two

WorkOS is purpose-built for the enterprise-readiness checklist — SSO, Directory Sync (SCIM), Audit Logs, and admin portals — exposed through clean, developer-friendly APIs. It does that job well, but it is intentionally focused: it is not a full identity platform for your own users, and customization stops at the edges of its API.

Keycloak covers the same enterprise standards — SAML, OpenID Connect, and SCIM — and adds a complete identity platform on top: your own user store, fine-grained authorization (RBAC and ABAC), social login, MFA, and fully themeable login flows. Being open source, the customization ceiling is the source code itself. A standout capability is Keycloak's on-premise deployment options.

Winner: Keycloak

WorkOS is excellent at the slice it covers; Keycloak covers that slice and the rest of your identity needs in one deployment.

WorkOS is a strong fit for SaaS teams that want to ship enterprise SSO and SCIM fast and are comfortable paying per connection as they add enterprise customers. For teams that want to avoid per-connection costs, own their user data, or need on-premise deployment, Keycloak is the more flexible and cost-stable choice.

At Phase Two, we run Keycloak so you don't have to — combining the open standards WorkOS is known for with a complete, self-ownable identity platform and a fixed, predictable cost. We offer robust Keycloak hosting, migration, and support.