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BastionXP VS Smallstep SSH

Compare BastionXP VS Smallstep SSH and see what are their differences

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BastionXP logo BastionXP

BastionXP Identity Based Infrastructure Access Platform is a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) / Certificate Authority (CA) that creates, signs and distributes SSH, SSL X.509 certificates to servers and users upon successful SSO login via OAuth or SAML

Smallstep SSH logo Smallstep SSH

Single Sign-on SSH
  • BastionXP Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-05

BastionXP is a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) / Certificate Authority (CA) that creates, signs and distributes SSH, SSL/TLS X.509 certificates to servers and end users upon successful SSO login and 2FA authentication via OAuth providers such as GitHub, G-Suite, Microsoft Office 365, Okta and more.

BastionXP automates certificate management at scale, while simplifying your end-user workflow without compromising security.

BastionXP also has a built-in SSH proxy server that can be configured to function as an SSH bastion host. BastionXP works seamlessly with OpenSSH server and client software.

BastionXP offers Zero Trust Network Access(ZTNA) Security. All servers and end-users are required to authenticate with the BastionXP Authentication Server using an SSO and 2FA login, before access to the network can be granted.

BastionXP issues short-lived SSH, TLS/SSL X.509 certificates to end-users so that no user would have an indefinite access to any network resource. Moreover, these certificates, issued to a specific user based on Role Based Access Control(RBAC) can be used to access only a specific server(s) in the network. BastionXP provides you fine-grained control over who can access what resources in a network and for how long.

All network access events are logged and available for download, so that the logs can be analyzed using a log analyzer for anamoly detection.

BastionXP solution is available in three different formats:

Software Features Best Suited For
Free Software Version Limited features & best-effort support Hobbyists, educational purposes and non-commercial use cases.
Cloud-Hosted Version All enterprise features & priority customer support Small teams and Startups.
Self-Hosted Version All enterprise features & priority customer support Enterprises and Large Organizations.
  • Smallstep SSH Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-04

BastionXP features and specs

  • SSH Certificate Manager
  • SSL Certificate Manager
  • Certificate Authority
  • Public Key Infrastructure
  • SSH Key Manager
  • Bastion Host or Jump Host
  • SSH Session Recording and Playback
  • Auditing and Logging

Smallstep SSH features and specs

  • Enhanced Security
    Smallstep SSH enables strong authentication practices by integrating with identity providers, reducing the chances of compromised passwords and ensuring secure connections.
  • Centralized Access Management
    The platform centralizes user access management, allowing admins to easily manage and revoke user access across multiple servers and services from a single point of control.
  • Ease of Integration
    Smallstep SSH integrates seamlessly with existing infrastructure and identity providers like Okta and Google Workspace, simplifying the onboarding process for enterprises.
  • Improved Compliance
    With detailed logging and custom policies, Smallstep SSH helps organizations meet various compliance requirements by offering traceability and accountability for user actions.
  • Scalability
    Designed with scalability in mind, Smallstep SSH can efficiently handle growing organizational needs without sacrificing performance or security.

Possible disadvantages of Smallstep SSH

  • Complexity of Setup
    For organizations unfamiliar with identity provider integrations or certificate-based authentication, the initial setup can be complex and may require specialized knowledge.
  • Dependence on External Identity Providers
    Reliance on external identity providers for authentication means that downtime or disruptions with these services can impact Smallstep SSH functionality.
  • Limited Offline Access
    Because the solution is designed to work with identity providers, offline mode functionality is limited, which might be a concern for systems that require constant availability.
  • Cost Considerations
    For small organizations or startups, the cost of implementing and maintaining an enterprise-level authentication system like Smallstep SSH might be prohibitive.
  • Learning Curve
    There is a learning curve associated with transitioning from traditional SSH management to Smallstep SSH's certificate-based approach, which might necessitate training for IT staff.

BastionXP videos

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BastionXP SSH Session Recording Demo

Smallstep SSH videos

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to BastionXP and Smallstep SSH)

BastionXP

Smallstep SSH

Identity And Access Management
32 32%
Identity And Access Management
68% 68
SSH Certificates
100 100%
SSH Certificates
0% 0
Productivity
0 0%
Productivity
100% 100
SSL Certificates
100 100%
SSL Certificates
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using BastionXP and Smallstep SSH. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Smallstep SSH seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

BastionXP mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of BastionXP yet. Tracking of BastionXP recommendations started around Jul 2023.

Smallstep SSH mentions (1)

  • SSH With SSO
    Through a combination of the properties that are in an SSH certificate and configuration on the hosts, you'll be able to realize RBAC. If you're using the open source step-ca, this will require you to configure things yourself on the hosts. We also have an offering where this capability and management/auditing of the rules is hosted for you, which makes that specific part easier: https://smallstep.com/sso-ssh/. Source: almost 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing BastionXP and Smallstep SSH, you can also consider the following products

Smallstep Certificates - A private certificate authority (X.509 & SSH) & ACME server for secure automated certificate management, so you can use TLS everywhere & SSO for SSH.

Keystash.io - Centralized Linux user and SSH key management software

Teleport Database Access - Instant, secure, & privileged access to Postgres and MySQL

OneLogin - On-demand SSO, directory integration, user provisioning and more

Azure Multi-Factor Authentication - Azure Multi-Factor Authentication helps safeguard access to data and applications while meeting user demand for a simple sign-in process.

strongDM - Trust strongDM to manage an engineers access to everything

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