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Cybersecurity · head to head

Beyond Identity vs Zencity

Beyond Identity logo

Beyond Identity

Cybersecurity

Phishing-resistant passwordless authentication with device trust enforced at every login

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Zencity logo

Zencity

Government

Resident sentiment analysis combining organic social listening with representative surveys

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Beyond Identity it is an authentication layer, not an identity provider, so you keep and keep paying for Okta or Entra ID underneath and the combined per-user cost is roughly double a single-vendor approach.; Zencity social listening is structurally biased toward residents who post, so a city using the listening product without the survey product will consistently mistake volume for consensus.
  • They diverge on capability: Beyond Identity covers Device-bound credentials, Zencity covers Organic social listening.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Beyond Identity and Zencity actually diverge.

Attributes where Beyond Identity and Zencity differ
AttributeBeyond IdentityZencity
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidWeb
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Beyond Identity

  • Device-bound credentials
  • Continuous device posture
  • No shared secrets
  • Identity provider integration
  • Secure developer signing
  • Administrator policy engine

Only in Zencity

  • Organic social listening
  • Representative surveys
  • Community trust surveys
  • Topic and sentiment analysis
  • Service request integration
  • Leadership reporting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Beyond Identity

  • An organisation that suffered a breach through MFA push fatigue and needs a factor that cannot be socially engineerednot Zencity
  • A software company enforcing that code is only signed from a managed device with current patchesnot Zencity
  • A firm with contractors on unmanaged laptops that must meet posture requirements before reaching internal systemsnot Zencity
  • A security team wanting to remove passwords from the helpdesk workload rather than adding another factor on topnot Zencity

Zencity

  • A city manager deciding whether a social media outcry reflects a representative viewnot Beyond Identity
  • A police department measuring community trust with a sampled instrument rather than complaint volumenot Beyond Identity
  • A communications team wanting early warning on a service issue before it reaches councilnot Beyond Identity
  • A council needing resident input on a policy without running its own survey operationnot Beyond Identity

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Beyond Identity

  • It is an authentication layer, not an identity provider, so you keep and keep paying for Okta or Entra ID underneath and the combined per-user cost is roughly double a single-vendor approach.
  • Every device that authenticates needs the platform authenticator installed, which makes onboarding contractors, third parties and shared kiosks awkward and sometimes impossible.
  • Pricing is quoted per user with no published rates, so buyers cannot benchmark it against the increasingly capable passkey support now included in identity provider base licences.
  • Losing all enrolled devices requires an administrative recovery path, and organisations that design that path poorly reintroduce a social-engineering target at the helpdesk.
  • Legacy applications that only speak passwords or older protocols need a federation shim or stay outside the policy, so coverage is rarely complete in an estate with old systems.

Zencity

  • Social listening is structurally biased toward residents who post, so a city using the listening product without the survey product will consistently mistake volume for consensus.
  • Government analysis of residents' public speech, particularly by police departments, has drawn civil liberties criticism and records request scrutiny in United States cities, and agencies need a public answer ready before signing.
  • Sentiment classification of local slang, sarcasm and non English posts is imperfect, and a misclassified theme presented in a leadership briefing can be acted on before anyone checks the underlying posts.
  • Survey sample sizes at neighbourhood level are often small, so the district level breakdowns that councils most want are the least reliable numbers in the report.
  • It reports on opinion without connecting to service delivery systems, so acting on a finding remains a separate manual process in whatever operational software the agency runs.

Pricing, plan by plan

Beyond Identity

On request
  • Secure Access Platform$undefined/year
    • Per-user annual subscription quoted by seat count
    • Deployed alongside an existing identity provider rather than replacing it
    • Device posture integrations with major EDR and MDM vendors included

Zencity

On request
  • Zencity$undefined/year
    • Quoted annually by population served and module scope
    • Survey programmes priced separately from the listening platform
    • Police community trust surveying sold as its own line

Which should you pick?

Choose Beyond Identity if

  • You need device-bound credentials.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want continuous device posture.
Beyond Identity review

Choose Zencity if

  • You need organic social listening.
  • You also want representative surveys.
Zencity review

Questions people ask

Is Beyond Identity or Zencity better?
Neither clearly leads. Beyond Identity starts at On request and Zencity at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Beyond Identity or Zencity?
Beyond Identity starts at On request and Zencity at On request.
Does Beyond Identity or Zencity run on more platforms?
Beyond Identity runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Zencity runs on Web.
What is Beyond Identity best used for?
Beyond Identity is most often used for an organisation that suffered a breach through mfa push fatigue and needs a factor that cannot be socially engineered, a software company enforcing that code is only signed from a managed device with current patches, a firm with contractors on unmanaged laptops that must meet posture requirements before reaching internal systems, a security team wanting to remove passwords from the helpdesk workload rather than adding another factor on top. Of those, an organisation that suffered a breach through mfa push fatigue and needs a factor that cannot be socially engineered and a software company enforcing that code is only signed from a managed device with current patches are not what Zencity is typically brought in for.
What can Beyond Identity do that Zencity cannot?
Beyond Identity covers Device-bound credentials, Continuous device posture, No shared secrets, Identity provider integration. Zencity covers Organic social listening, Representative surveys, Community trust surveys, Topic and sentiment analysis.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Beyond Identity: Does it replace Okta or Entra ID?

No. It sits in front of them as the authentication method. Budget for both.

Zencity: Is this surveillance of residents?

It analyses publicly posted content and aggregated survey responses rather than private accounts, but the distinction has been contested publicly, especially for police use. Prepare an explanation before procurement.

Beyond Identity: What happens when a user loses their laptop?

They authenticate from another enrolled device, or go through an administrative recovery flow. Designing that recovery well matters, because it is the weakest point.

Zencity: Why pair listening with surveys?

Because the people who post are not representative of the people who live there. The gap between the two datasets is often the most useful output.

Beyond Identity: Is it different from passkeys?

The credential mechanism is similar in spirit. The difference is enforcing device security posture at every authentication, which standard passkeys do not do.

Zencity: What did Zencity acquire?

Elucd, in 2021, which brought community trust survey methodology used with police departments.

Zencity: Can residents find out what our city bought?

Yes. These are public contracts and several have been obtained and published through records requests.

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