12 Best Identity and Access Management (IAM) Tools for 2027

IAM tools (identity and access management tools) control who can access which systems and data, and prove it. They handle single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), user provisioning and deprovisioning, access policies and, in identity governance products, regular access reviews. Because most breaches now start with stolen or misused credentials, identity has become the core of modern security architecture.

The identity market has consolidated quickly. Palo Alto Networks completed its roughly $25 billion acquisition of CyberArk in February 2026, Delinea bought StrongDM, IBM now owns HashiCorp’s Vault and Boundary, and Ping Identity absorbed ForgeRock. Below we compare 12 of the best IAM tools, including open-source options that can run entirely on your own servers.

The five pillars of IAM

• Identification: a unique identity for every person, device and workload.
• Authentication: proving that identity, ideally with phishing-resistant MFA
• Authorisation: granting the minimum access needed, through roles and policies.
• Administration: joiner, mover and leaver processes that create, change and remove access promptly.
• Audit: logging and reviewing who accessed what, and certifying access regularly.

IAM vs PAM vs IGA vs SSO

How we evaluated these tools

IAM tools at a glance

12 best IAM tools reviewed

1. Microsoft Entra ID

Best for: organisations that run on Microsoft 365 and Azure.

Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) is the identity platform behind Microsoft 365. It provides SSO to thousands of apps, MFA including passkeys, conditional access based on user, device and risk, and identity governance features such as access reviews and lifecycle workflows in its premium tiers.

Key features

• SSO to Microsoft and third-party apps
• Conditional access and risk-based policies
• Passkey and FIDO2 support
• Identity governance (P2 and Governance add-ons)

Deployment: cloud, with Entra Connect for on-premise Active Directory.

Pricing: free tier with Microsoft cloud subscriptions; P1 and P2 are licensed per user and included in Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 respectively.

Pros

• Often already licensed
• Deep integration with Windows and Intune

Cons

• Advanced features need premium licences
• No self-hosted option

Not for: organisations that must run identity entirely on-premise.

2. Okta Workforce Identity

Best for: organisations that want an independent, best-of-breed cloud identity platform.

Yes, Okta is an IAM tool, and one of the leading ones. Okta Workforce Identity provides SSO through a catalogue of thousands of pre-built integrations, adaptive MFA, lifecycle management with automated provisioning, and identity governance. It is vendor-neutral, so it works across Microsoft, Google and other ecosystems.

Key features

• Large integration network
• Adaptive MFA and FastPass
• Lifecycle management and workflows
• Identity Governance and Privileged Access add-ons

Deployment: cloud.

Pricing: published per user per month by product, with minimum contract values.

Pros

• Vendor-neutral
• Excellent integration catalogue

Cons

• Costs add up across modules
• Cloud only

Not for: organisations requiring on-premise identity.

3. Ping Identity

Best for: large enterprises with complex, hybrid identity requirements.

Ping Identity, which now includes ForgeRock, offers workforce and customer identity, access management, directory, authorisation and governance. Unlike most rivals, it supports cloud, self-managed software and hybrid deployments, which suits regulated sectors.

Key features

• Access management and federation
• Self-managed deployment options
• Fine-grained authorisation
• Identity governance

Deployment: cloud, self-managed or hybrid.

Pricing: on request.

Pros

• Deployment flexibility
• Strong for complex enterprises

Cons

• Product portfolio is large after the ForgeRock merger
• Enterprise pricing

Not for: small businesses.

4. SailPoint

Best for: enterprises that need strong identity governance and access certification.

SailPoint is the leading identity governance and administration (IGA) vendor. Identity Security Cloud automates provisioning, access requests, role management and periodic access reviews, using AI to recommend access and spot outliers. SailPoint returned to the public markets in 2025 and acquired Entro Security in 2026 to extend governance to machine identities.

Key features

• Access certifications and reviews
• Role mining and modelling
• Automated provisioning
• Machine identity governance

Deployment: cloud (IdentityNow and Identity Security Cloud); legacy IdentityIQ self-hosted.

Pricing: on request.

Pros

• Deepest governance capabilities
• Strong audit evidence

Cons

• Implementation effort
• Premium pricing

Not for: organisations that only need SSO and MFA.

5. CyberArk Identity (Palo Alto Networks)

Best for: organisations that want workforce identity tightly linked to privileged access.

CyberArk combines workforce SSO and MFA with its privileged access management heritage. Palo Alto Networks completed its acquisition of CyberArk in February 2026 and has said CyberArk will remain available as a standalone offering while being integrated into the Palo Alto platform.

Key features

• SSO and adaptive MFA
• Integration with CyberArk privileged access
• Secure browser and endpoint privilege controls
• Identity threat detection

Deployment: cloud.

Pricing: on request [VERIFY packaging after the acquisition].

Pros

• Strong link between identity and privilege
• Backed by a major security platform

Cons

• Roadmap changing after the acquisition
• Enterprise pricing

Not for: buyers who want a neutral, standalone SSO vendor.

6. IBM Security Verify

Best for: organisations with hybrid IBM and mainframe estates.

IBM Security Verify provides access management, adaptive authentication, identity governance and identity analytics, available as SaaS or as on-premise software. It is common in banking and government organisations that run IBM infrastructure.

Key features

• Access management and adaptive authentication
• Identity governance
• Identity analytics
• Cloud or on-premise

Deployment: cloud or on-premise.

Pricing: on request.

Pros

• On-premise option
• Strong in regulated industries

Cons

• Less modern user experience
• Pricing not published

Not for: small cloud-native companies.

7. OneLogin

Best for: mid-size organisations that want straightforward SSO and MFA.

OneLogin, part of One Identity, offers cloud SSO, MFA, a cloud directory and user provisioning with an emphasis on simplicity, and integrates with the wider One Identity governance and PAM portfolio.

Key features

• SSO and MFA
• Cloud directory
• User provisioning
• Integration with One Identity products

Deployment: cloud.

Pricing: published per user [VERIFY].

Pros

• Easy to deploy
• Good value

Cons

• Smaller ecosystem than Okta
• Fewer advanced governance features

Not for: large enterprises with complex governance needs.

8. JumpCloud

Best for: small and mid-size businesses that want directory, SSO and device management in one.

JumpCloud is a cloud directory platform that combines user management, SSO, MFA, LDAP and RADIUS services and cross-platform device management, replacing an on-premise Active Directory for many smaller organisations.

Key features

• Cloud directory with LDAP and RADIUS
• SSO and MFA
• Windows, macOS and Linux device management
• Password manager option

Deployment: cloud.

Pricing: published per user per month by package.

Pros

• All-in-one for SMBs
• Replaces on-premise directory

Cons

• Less suited to very large enterprises
• Cloud only

Not for: enterprises needing deep governance.

9. Saviynt

Best for: organisations that want cloud-native identity governance with PAM and application access.

Saviynt’s Identity Cloud combines identity governance, application access governance for systems such as SAP, and cloud privileged access in one platform.

Key features

• Identity governance and administration
• Application access governance
• Cloud PAM
• Compliance controls library

Deployment: cloud.

Pricing: on request.

Pros

• Converged platform
• Strong for ERP access controls

Cons

• Implementation effort
• Pricing not published

Not for: teams that only need SSO.

10. Oracle Identity Governance

Best for: enterprises with large Oracle application estates.

Oracle Identity Governance provides provisioning, access certification and role management, and is often deployed on-premise alongside Oracle applications. Oracle also offers cloud identity through OCI IAM.

Key features

• Provisioning and reconciliation
• Access certification
• Role management
• On-premise or cloud deployment

Deployment: on-premise or cloud.

Pricing: on request.

Pros

• Deep Oracle integration
• On-premise option

Cons

• Complex and dated compared with newer tools
• Heavy implementation

Not for: organisations without Oracle systems.

11. Keycloak

Best for: organisations that want free, self-hosted SSO.

Keycloak is an open-source identity and access management server, a Cloud Native Computing Foundation project originally from Red Hat. It provides SSO over OpenID Connect and SAML, user federation with LDAP and Active Directory, MFA and fine-grained authorisation, all on your own infrastructure.

Key features

• OIDC and SAML SSO
• LDAP and Active Directory federation
• MFA and passkeys
• Fine-grained authorisation

Deployment: self-hosted.

Pricing: free and open source; commercial support available through Red Hat build of Keycloak.

Pros

• No licence cost
• Runs fully air-gapped

Cons

• You run, patch and scale it
• Governance features are limited

Not for: teams without engineers to operate it.

12. authentik

Best for: teams that want a modern, flexible self-hosted identity provider.

authentik is an open-source identity provider with SSO over SAML, OIDC and LDAP, configurable authentication flows, MFA and a built-in proxy for apps that lack SSO support. An enterprise licence adds support and extra features.

Key features

• SAML, OIDC and LDAP provider
• Customisable authentication flows
• MFA and passkeys
• Proxy for legacy apps

Deployment: self-hosted.

Pricing: open source; enterprise licence available.

Pros

• Modern and flexible
• Self-hosted

Cons

• Smaller community than Keycloak
• Requires operational skills

Not for: organisations that want a fully managed service.

Self-hosted IAM for sovereign and air-gapped environments

Most leading IAM platforms are cloud services. For classified networks, critical infrastructure and organisations with strict data sovereignty rules, identity often has to run inside the perimeter:

• Best for air-gapped: Keycloak and authentik, both open source and fully self-hosted.
• Commercial self-managed: Ping Identity, IBM Security Verify and Oracle Identity Governance.
• Hybrid: Microsoft Entra ID with on-premise Active Directory, synchronised through Entra Connect.

Self-hosting identity puts the most valuable target in your environment under your control, so harden it, monitor it closely and plan for high availability.

Extending IAM to collaboration tools: Active Directory, LDAP and SSO

An identity programme is only as strong as the applications connected to it. Collaboration tools are often added by individual teams with their own local accounts, which means leavers keep access and MFA is inconsistent.

Bring every collaboration platform under central identity:

• Connect it to your directory through SSO (SAML or OIDC) or LDAP and Active Directory.
• Provision and deprovision automatically, using SCIM or directory sync.
• Enforce MFA centrally, not app by app.
• Review access to sensitive channels and workspaces regularly.

Self-hosted messaging platforms can connect to the same directory as everything else. Troop Messenger LDAP and Active Directory integration lets on-premise deployments use existing accounts and groups, so a leaver disabled in the directory loses chat access at the same moment.

How to choose an IAM tool

• Map your identity sources: Active Directory, HR systems and cloud directories.
• Decide on deployment: cloud, self-hosted or hybrid.
• Prioritise phishing-resistant MFA, such as passkeys and FIDO2 security keys.
• Check app coverage for SSO and SCIM provisioning in your key applications.
• Decide whether you need governance (access reviews and certifications) now or later.
• Plan for machine identities, such as service accounts, API keys and AI agents.
• Review vendor stability, given recent consolidation.
• Compare three-year cost per user across modules.

Frequently asked questions

1. What are IAM tools?

IAM tools manage digital identities and control access to systems and data. They provide single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, user provisioning and deprovisioning, access policies and audit logs, and in governance products, regular access reviews. Examples include Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Ping Identity and SailPoint.

2. Is Okta an IAM tool?

Yes. Okta is one of the leading identity and access management platforms. Its Workforce Identity Cloud provides single sign-on, adaptive multi-factor authentication, lifecycle management and identity governance for employees and contractors, and it integrates with thousands of applications.

3. What are the five pillars of IAM?

The five pillars of IAM are identification, authentication, authorisation, administration and audit. Together they make sure every user has a unique identity, proves who they are, gets only the access they need, has that access updated as their role changes, and is logged and reviewed.

4. What is the difference between IAM and PAM?

IAM manages access for all users across all applications. PAM (privileged access management) focuses on the small number of highly powerful accounts, such as administrators and service accounts, adding credential vaulting, session recording and just-in-time access. Most organisations need both.

5. Can IAM tools be deployed on-premise?

Yes. Keycloak and authentik are open-source identity providers designed to be self-hosted, and Ping Identity, IBM Security Verify and Oracle Identity Governance offer self-managed deployments. Microsoft Entra ID and Okta are cloud services, though Entra ID works alongside on-premise Active Directory