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Government · head to head

Granicus vs Ping Identity

Granicus logo

Granicus

Government

Digital Government Experiences Platform

From
$500/month
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: Granicus pricing is custom-quoted and not publicly available; 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: Granicus covers Citizen Communications, 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 Granicus and Ping Identity actually diverge.

Attributes where Granicus and Ping Identity differ
AttributeGranicusPing Identity
Starting price$500/month$3/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer user per month
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Linux, Windows
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded1999Unknown

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 Granicus

  • Citizen Communications
  • Meeting Management
  • Digital Forms
  • Website Management
  • Records Management
  • Salesforce
  • Microsoft 365
  • Google Workspace

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.

Granicus

  • Citizen Servicesnot Ping Identity
  • Records Managementnot Ping Identity
  • Public Safetynot Ping Identity
  • Civic Engagementnot Ping Identity

Ping Identity

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

Where each one falls short

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

Granicus

  • Pricing is custom-quoted and not publicly available
  • Complex sales process for government agencies
  • Integration with legacy government systems can be challenging

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

Granicus

$500/month
  • Government Starter$500/month
    • Communications Cloud
    • Meeting Management
    • Digital Services

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 Granicus if

  • You need citizen communications.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want meeting management.
Granicus 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 Granicus or Ping Identity better?
Neither clearly leads. Granicus starts at $500/month and Ping Identity at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Granicus or Ping Identity?
Granicus starts at $500/month and Ping Identity at $3/month.
Does Granicus or Ping Identity run on more platforms?
Granicus runs on Web, Mobile. Ping Identity runs on Web, Linux, Windows.
What is Granicus best used for?
Granicus is most often used for citizen services, records management, public safety, civic engagement. Of those, citizen services and records management are not what Ping Identity is typically brought in for.
What can Granicus do that Ping Identity cannot?
Granicus covers Citizen Communications, Meeting Management, Digital Forms, Website Management. Ping Identity covers Single sign-on, Adaptive MFA, Identity orchestration, API access management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Granicus: How many government agencies use Granicus?

Over 5,500 federal, state, and local government agencies use Granicus, reaching more than 300 million citizen subscribers.

Source
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.

Granicus: What does Granicus Engagement Cloud provide?

Granicus Engagement Cloud combines government communications, website management, meeting and agenda management, records management, and citizen service digitization.

Source
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.

Granicus: What are the main features of Granicus?

Granicus provides tools for managing public communications, citizen feedback collection, community event management, online surveys, event registration, and live-streaming capabilities.

Source
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.

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