Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Smallstep SSH VS WorkOS

Compare Smallstep SSH VS WorkOS and see what are their differences

Smallstep SSH logo Smallstep SSH

Single Sign-on SSH

WorkOS logo WorkOS

Application and Data, Application Utilities, and User Management and Authentication
  • Smallstep SSH Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-04
  • WorkOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-30

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.

WorkOS features and specs

  • Easy Integration
    WorkOS provides straightforward integration for developers with well-documented APIs and SDKs, allowing organizations to incorporate enterprise-ready features into their applications quickly.
  • Security and Compliance
    It offers built-in security and compliance features such as single sign-on (SSO), directory sync, and audit logs, helping businesses meet regulatory requirements with ease.
  • Scalability
    WorkOS is designed to scale with your business, providing the flexibility to add more users and features as your application grows.
  • Time Efficiency
    By providing pre-built solutions for complex enterprise functions, WorkOS saves developers time and resources they would spend building these features from scratch.
  • Broad Compatibility
    The platform supports a wide range of identity providers, making it compatible with many different enterprise environments.

Possible disadvantages of WorkOS

  • Cost
    While WorkOS offers a lot of features, the associated costs might be high for startups and small businesses.
  • Dependency on Third-party
    Relying on WorkOS for critical components means entrusting a third-party service, which can lead to challenges if service outages or changes occur.
  • Complexity for Smaller Use Cases
    For companies with simpler access management needs, the comprehensive features provided by WorkOS might be more than necessary, leading to potential over-engineering.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite robust documentation, there might be a learning curve for developers unfamiliar with integrating third-party enterprise solutions.
  • Potential Vendor Lock-in
    As with any third-party service, there can be concerns about vendor lock-in, making it difficult to switch providers once integrated deeply.

Smallstep SSH videos

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WorkOS videos

Add SSO to your Next.js app using WorkOS in 7 minutes

More videos:

  • Review - Introducing Admin Portal (by WorkOS)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Smallstep SSH and WorkOS)
Identity And Access Management
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
Identity Provider
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Smallstep SSH and WorkOS

Smallstep SSH Reviews

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WorkOS Reviews

Top 10 Best SAML Identity Providers List for SSO (Pros and Cons)
Just launched in 2018, and WorkOS is already well liked by many enterprises and IT developers. The all in one solution boasts Enterprise SSO and supports all OIDC and SAML providers right out of the box.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, WorkOS seems to be a lot more popular than Smallstep SSH. While we know about 12 links to WorkOS, we've tracked only 1 mention of Smallstep SSH. 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.

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

WorkOS mentions (12)

  • What is SCIM Provisioning: In-Depth Guide [2024]
    WorkOS aims to provide enterprise-grade identity management solutions for your app to help you ship without needing extensive resources or time. It includes a Directory Sync to help you 'build a frictionless user provisioning and deprovisioning workflow for your organization.'. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Why SMBs Don't Deploy SSO
    Full disclosure: I work at WorkOS (https://workos.com/), we provide SSO (among other things) as a service. I glanced through the report and it comes to the normal conclusion that SSO is hard and expensive to get right. Do SMBs focus on providing value to their customers in the problem space that they are experts at or do they spend months just getting sign-in working? Yeah I get the concern about the "SSO tax" but... - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Migrating from Radix to React Aria: Enhancing Accessibility and UX at Argos
    React Aria underpins React Spectrum, Adobe's design system used for web applications like Photoshop. Adobe's significant investment in this technology ensures long-term support and reliability. While Ariakit is excellent and Diego Haz is a talented developer, the lack of corporate backing poses sustainability risks. The project could halt if the developer decides to stop, and there's a higher risk of breaking... - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Show HN: Auth0 OSS alternative Ory Kratos now with passwordless and SMS support
    Have you tried WorkOS? It’s built for exactly this, with native support for SAML and SCIM. https://workos.com/ I’m the founder. Would love to hear your feedback and happy to answer questions. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • How Open ID Connect Works
    Have you tried WorkOS? (I work there.) Makes it super easy to add SAML/SCIM to your app. https://workos.com/ We also recently launched https://www.authkit.com/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

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

Auth0 - Auth0 is a program for people to get authentication and authorization services for their own business use.

strongDM - Trust strongDM to manage an engineers access to everything

Frontegg - Elegant user management, tailor-made for B2B SaaS

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

Descope - Drag-and-drop authentication for your app