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Okta vs Qualys VMDR

Okta logo

Okta

Technology

The identity platform for builders

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Qualys VMDR logo

Qualys VMDR

Cybersecurity

Cloud-delivered vulnerability management licensed per asset, using scanner appliances and a lightweight agent.

From
$3/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Okta has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Okta requires $1,500 annual minimum contract; Qualys VMDR licensing is per asset and each capability is its own subscription, so patch management, endpoint detection, web application scanning, container security and policy compliance are separate line items, and the platform demonstrated in a proof of concept is rarely the platform in the quote.
  • They diverge on capability: Okta covers Single sign-on (SSO), Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Okta and Qualys VMDR actually diverge.

Attributes where Okta and Qualys VMDR differ
AttributeOktaQualys VMDR
Starting priceFree$3/month
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, SaaSWeb, Cloud, Api
CategoryTechnologyCybersecurity
Founded20091999

Identical on both: 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 Okta

  • Single sign-on (SSO)
  • Multi-factor authentication
  • Lifecycle management
  • Universal directory
  • API access management
  • B2B integration
  • Passwordless authentication
  • Adaptive MFA

Only in Qualys VMDR

  • Cloud Agent
  • Scanner appliances
  • Authenticated scanning
  • TruRisk scoring
  • Asset inventory
  • Patch Management
  • Cloud connectors
  • Container sensor

What people use each for

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

Okta

  • Employee SSOnot Qualys VMDR
  • Customer identitynot Qualys VMDR
  • B2B integrationnot Qualys VMDR
  • Zero Trust securitynot Qualys VMDR
  • Compliancenot Qualys VMDR

Qualys VMDR

  • A hybrid workforce where scheduled network scans miss most laptops and continuous agent-based assessment is the only way to get real coveragenot Okta
  • PCI DSS external scanning where an approved scanning vendor report is a contractual requirementnot Okta
  • An estate spanning datacentre, multiple public clouds and endpoints that needs one vulnerability view rather than three toolsnot Okta
  • Organisations replacing a manual patch-verification process with agent-reported evidence that a fix actually landednot Okta

Where each one falls short

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

Okta

  • Requires $1,500 annual minimum contract
  • Admin-only MFA can be vulnerable to push notification fatigue attacks
  • Implementation requires significant services and integration fees in year one

Qualys VMDR

  • Licensing is per asset and each capability is its own subscription, so patch management, endpoint detection, web application scanning, container security and policy compliance are separate line items, and the platform demonstrated in a proof of concept is rarely the platform in the quote.
  • Ephemeral cloud instances consume asset entitlement until they age out of inventory, so an autoscaling group that creates and destroys hosts hourly can burn licence capacity on machines that existed for minutes, and controlling that means tuning purge policies rather than tuning the cloud.
  • Authenticated scanning produces materially better results than unauthenticated, but it requires storing and rotating privileged credentials for every target platform, which is a security project in its own right, and teams that skip it receive reports full of unconfirmed potential findings that nobody trusts.
  • The console is a set of modules with separate interfaces, search syntaxes and report engines, so an analyst moving between vulnerability management, policy compliance and web application scanning learns each one, and cross-module reporting usually ends in a spreadsheet or a script against the API.
  • The tool surfaces findings far faster than any organisation can remediate them, and it does not solve the ownership problem: without an agreed prioritisation policy and a named owner in IT operations, a first scan producing tens of thousands of findings becomes a dashboard that everyone learns to ignore.

Pricing, plan by plan

Okta

Free
  • Starter Suite$6/user/month
    • SSO
    • MFA
    • Universal Directory
  • Core Essentials Suite$14/user/month
    • Adaptive MFA
    • Privileged Access
    • Lifecycle Management
  • Essentials Suite$17/user/month
    • Same as Core Essentials
    • Most popular
  • Professional Suite$undefined/custom
    • Device Access
    • Identity Security Posture
    • Threat Protection

Qualys VMDR

$3/month
  • VMDR$3/month
    • Per asset
    • Vulnerability scanning
    • Detection
  • VMDR+$5/month
    • All VMDR features
    • Advanced analytics
    • Cloud integration
  • VMDR Complete$7/month
    • All VMDR+ features
    • Threat intel
    • Response automation

Which should you pick?

Choose Okta if

  • You need single sign-on (sso).
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, SaaS.
  • You also want multi-factor authentication.
Okta review

Choose Qualys VMDR if

  • You need cloud agent.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, Api.
  • You also want scanner appliances.
Qualys VMDR review

Questions people ask

Is Okta or Qualys VMDR better?
Neither clearly leads. Okta starts at Free and Qualys VMDR at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Okta or Qualys VMDR?
Okta has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Okta and $3/month for Qualys VMDR.
Does Okta or Qualys VMDR run on more platforms?
Okta runs on Web, SaaS. Qualys VMDR runs on Web, Cloud, Api.
Can I use Okta for free?
Yes. Okta has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Qualys VMDR starts at $3/month.
What is Okta best used for?
Okta is most often used for employee sso, customer identity, b2b integration, zero trust security. Of those, employee sso and customer identity are not what Qualys VMDR is typically brought in for.
What can Okta do that Qualys VMDR cannot?
Okta covers Single sign-on (SSO), Multi-factor authentication, Lifecycle management, Universal directory. Qualys VMDR covers Cloud Agent, Scanner appliances, Authenticated scanning, TruRisk scoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Okta: What is the minimum contract for Okta Workforce Identity?

Okta requires a $1,500 annual minimum contract for Workforce Identity plans. Pricing starts at $6 per user per month (Starter) and ranges to $17 per user per month (Essentials), billed annually.

Source
Qualys VMDR: Agent or scanner: which do I need?

Usually both. The agent covers endpoints and servers you control and gives continuous data; scanners cover devices you cannot install an agent on, such as network gear, printers and appliances, and provide the external perimeter view.

Okta: Does Okta offer a free trial?

Yes, Okta provides a 30-day free trial so customers can explore all product capabilities before committing to a paid plan.

Source
Qualys VMDR: Does it patch as well as detect?

Yes, through the Patch Management module, which is a separate subscription using the same agent. Core VMDR detects and prioritises but does not deploy fixes.

Okta: How many pre-built integrations does Okta support?

Okta offers over 7,000 pre-built integrations with popular enterprise applications including Salesforce, Slack, Workday, Box, Confluence, and Zendesk.

Source
Qualys VMDR: How are assets counted for licensing?

By the number of assets in inventory, which includes cloud instances and containers depending on the modules in use. Short-lived cloud assets count until they are purged, so purge settings directly affect what you consume.

Okta: What security features does Okta provide for admins?

Okta provides multi-factor authentication, adaptive MFA, single logout, and identity threat detection and response. However, only 94% of Okta customers have MFA enabled for administrators.

Source
Qualys VMDR: Can I keep the data in a specific region?

Yes. Qualys operates several regional platform instances and you choose which one your subscription lives on. Moving between them later is not trivial, so decide before onboarding.

Okta: Can Okta integrate with on-premises directories?

Yes, Okta's Universal Directory and lifecycle management support cloud and on-premises identity sources, including Active Directory and LDAP.

Source
Qualys VMDR: Does it scan web applications?

Web Application Scanning is a separate module licensed per application, not part of core VMDR, and it is a dynamic scanner with the usual limits around authenticated flows in single-page applications.

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