Softwr

Government · head to head

Bonfire vs Ping Identity

Bonfire logo

Bonfire

Government

Public sector sourcing and bid evaluation software with scored, auditable award decisions

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Ping Identity logo

Ping Identity

Cybersecurity

Enterprise identity for workforce and customers, with a 5,000 user floor

From
$3/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bonfire it is a sourcing and evaluation tool rather than full procure to pay, so requisitions, purchase orders and invoicing stay in the finance system and the join between them is the agency's problem.; Ping Identity workforce pricing carries a 5,000 user annual minimum, so an organisation with 800 staff pays for 5,000 and the effective per user cost is over six times the list rate.
  • They diverge on capability: Bonfire covers Solicitation posting, Ping Identity covers Single sign-on.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bonfire and Ping Identity actually diverge.

Attributes where Bonfire and Ping Identity differ
AttributeBonfirePing Identity
Starting priceOn request$3/month
Pricing modelquotePer user per month
PlatformsWebWeb, Linux, Windows
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity

Identical on both: 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 Bonfire

  • Solicitation posting
  • Sealed submission intake
  • Scored evaluation workspace
  • Audit trail
  • Supplier portal
  • Requirement matrices

Only in Ping Identity

  • Single sign-on
  • Adaptive MFA
  • Identity orchestration
  • API access management
  • Directory services
  • Flexible deployment
  • ForgeRock capabilities

What people use each for

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

Bonfire

  • An agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation recordnot Ping Identity
  • A procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and emailnot Ping Identity
  • A university or health system applying public procurement rules without a public procurement systemnot Ping Identity
  • An agency wanting suppliers to self register and receive addenda automatically rather than by mailing listnot Ping Identity

Ping Identity

  • A bank that must keep identity data on premises in one country while running SaaS identity elsewherenot Bonfire
  • An airline or telco with tens of millions of customer identities needing a directory that holds that scalenot Bonfire
  • An enterprise assembling authentication journeys that call several external verification and risk vendorsnot Bonfire
  • An existing ForgeRock customer deciding what its upgrade path looks like under Ping ownershipnot Bonfire

Where each one falls short

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

Bonfire

  • It is a sourcing and evaluation tool rather than full procure to pay, so requisitions, purchase orders and invoicing stay in the finance system and the join between them is the agency's problem.
  • Since the acquisition path from GTY to GI Partners to Euna Solutions, Bonfire sits in a portfolio alongside products it once competed with, which narrows a shortlist that appears independent.
  • Suppliers must register on the portal to bid, and small local vendors reliably complain about the extra account, which can reduce responses on low value solicitations.
  • Pricing is quoted rather than published and scales with solicitation volume, so an agency with a few very large procurements pays a model designed around throughput.
  • Contract management after award is thin compared with dedicated contract lifecycle products, so agencies often buy a second system for the obligations the award created.

Ping Identity

  • Workforce pricing carries a 5,000 user annual minimum, so an organisation with 800 staff pays for 5,000 and the effective per user cost is over six times the list rate.
  • Adaptive multi-factor authentication is in the Plus tier only, doubling the per user price for a capability many buyers assume is standard in a modern identity platform.
  • ForgeRock no longer exists as an independent product, so customers who chose it specifically to avoid Ping now face a roadmap set by the vendor they did not pick.
  • Thoma Bravo ownership across both merged companies means the commercial priority is margin, and buyers report firmer renewal negotiations than they saw before 2022.
  • The portfolio has overlapping components from three product lineages, so scoping a deployment requires vendor architects and the licensing conversation is more complicated than the price list implies.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bonfire

On request
  • Bonfire$undefined/year
    • Quoted by agency size and annual solicitation volume
    • Supplier side registration is free, which is how the vendor network grows
    • Implementation and training quoted separately from subscription

Ping Identity

$3/month
  • PingOne for Workforce Essential$3/month
    • Minimum 5,000 users billed annually
    • Single sign-on and directory services
    • OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML and SCIM
  • PingOne for Workforce Plus$6/month
    • Minimum 5,000 users billed annually
    • Everything in Essential
    • Adaptive multi-factor authentication
  • PingOne for Customers Essential$35000/year
    • Flat annual fee
    • No-code identity orchestration
    • Unified customer profiles
  • PingOne for Customers Plus$50000/year
    • Flat annual fee
    • Everything in Essential
    • Adaptive MFA and device management

Which should you pick?

Choose Bonfire if

  • You need solicitation posting.
  • You also want sealed submission intake.
Bonfire review

Choose Ping Identity if

  • You need single sign-on.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Windows.
  • You also want adaptive mfa.
Ping Identity review

Questions people ask

Is Bonfire or Ping Identity better?
Neither clearly leads. Bonfire starts at On request and Ping Identity at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bonfire or Ping Identity?
Bonfire starts at On request and Ping Identity at $3/month.
Does Bonfire or Ping Identity run on more platforms?
Bonfire runs on Web. Ping Identity runs on Web, Linux, Windows.
What is Bonfire best used for?
Bonfire is most often used for an agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation record, a procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and email, a university or health system applying public procurement rules without a public procurement system, an agency wanting suppliers to self register and receive addenda automatically rather than by mailing list. Of those, an agency that has lost or nearly lost a bid protest and needs a defensible evaluation record and a procurement team running scoring committees currently held together by spreadsheets and email are not what Ping Identity is typically brought in for.
What can Bonfire do that Ping Identity cannot?
Bonfire covers Solicitation posting, Sealed submission intake, Scored evaluation workspace, Audit trail. Ping Identity covers Single sign-on, Adaptive MFA, Identity orchestration, API access management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bonfire: Who owns Bonfire?

Euna Solutions. Bonfire was acquired by GTY Technology in 2019, GTY was taken private by GI Partners in 2022, and the portfolio was rebranded Euna Solutions in 2023.

Ping Identity: Can I still buy ForgeRock?

Not as a separate product. Ping acquired ForgeRock in 2023 and the capabilities are sold within the Ping portfolio. Existing customers should ask about the specific migration path for their components.

Bonfire: Is it full procure to pay?

No. It covers sourcing and evaluation through award. Purchase orders and invoicing remain in the finance system.

Ping Identity: What is the real minimum spend?

PingOne for Workforce Essential is 3 USD per user per month with a 5,000 user annual minimum, so roughly 180,000 USD a year before anything else.

Bonfire: What is the real value?

A defensible, time stamped evaluation record when an award is protested, which is the expensive failure mode in public procurement.

Ping Identity: Is MFA included?

Basic authentication policies are in Essential. Adaptive MFA and passwordless require the Plus tier at 6 USD per user per month.

Bonfire: Can we see what other agencies pay?

Yes. These contracts are public records. Read several comparable awards before negotiating.

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