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Okta vs Restate

Okta logo

Okta

Technology

The identity platform for builders

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Restate logo

Restate

Developer Tools

Durable execution engine in Rust with a free tier and low-latency workflows

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Okta requires $1,500 annual minimum contract; Restate the runtime is under a Business Source Licence rather than an open source licence, so building a competing managed offering on it is prohibited and some procurement functions will reject it on licence grounds alone.
  • They diverge on capability: Okta covers Single sign-on (SSO), Restate covers Durable execution.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Okta and Restate actually diverge.

Attributes where Okta and Restate differ
AttributeOktaRestate
Pricing modelUnknownPer month by durable action count
PlatformsWeb, SaaSLinux, macOS, Web
CategoryTechnologyDeveloper Tools
Founded2009Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Restate

  • Durable execution
  • Virtual objects
  • Single binary runtime
  • Multi-language SDKs
  • Workflows and sagas
  • Restate Cloud

What people use each for

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

Okta

  • Employee SSOnot Restate
  • Customer identitynot Restate
  • B2B integrationnot Restate
  • Zero Trust securitynot Restate
  • Compliancenot Restate

Restate

  • Payment or order flows where a crash between two external API calls must not double-charge or lose the ordernot Okta
  • AI agent loops that call tools over minutes or hours and must survive a deployment mid-runnot Okta
  • Replacing hand-rolled retry, idempotency key and outbox code across a set of microservicesnot Okta
  • A small team that wants durable workflows without operating a Temporal cluster and its databasenot 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

Restate

  • The runtime is under a Business Source Licence rather than an open source licence, so building a competing managed offering on it is prohibited and some procurement functions will reject it on licence grounds alone.
  • Restate Cloud jumps from a free fifty thousand actions straight to 300 US dollars a month for twenty million, so a workload sitting at a few hundred thousand actions pays enterprise-shaped money for hobby-shaped volume.
  • It is a young project against Temporal’s established base, so hiring engineers who already know it is unrealistic and the answer to most questions is in the docs rather than on Stack Overflow.
  • The programming model requires structuring code around durable handlers and virtual objects, which is a genuine rewrite for existing services rather than a library you add.
  • The single-binary simplicity that makes small deployments cheap also means fewer operational knobs at very large scale than a system designed as separable components.

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

Restate

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Fifty thousand durable actions per month
    • No credit card required
    • Community support
  • Starter$300/month
    • Twenty million actions per month
    • Two hundred actions per second, bursting to one thousand
    • Twenty GB storage
  • Pro$1000/month
    • Fifty million actions per month
    • Five hundred actions per second, bursting to two thousand
    • Fifty GB storage
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Negotiated volume
    • Twenty-four seven P0 support
    • 99.99 per cent SLA

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 Restate if

  • You need durable execution.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Web.
  • You also want virtual objects.
Restate review

Questions people ask

Is Okta or Restate better?
Neither clearly leads. Okta starts at Free and Restate at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Okta or Restate?
Okta starts at Free and Restate at Free.
Does Okta or Restate run on more platforms?
Okta runs on Web, SaaS. Restate runs on Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use Okta for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Restate is typically brought in for.
What can Okta do that Restate cannot?
Okta covers Single sign-on (SSO), Multi-factor authentication, Lifecycle management, Universal directory. Restate covers Durable execution, Virtual objects, Single binary runtime, Multi-language SDKs.

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
Restate: Is Restate open source?

The SDKs are MIT. The runtime is under a Business Source Licence, which permits self-hosting but not offering it as a competing service.

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
Restate: How does it compare with Temporal?

Same problem, different shape: one Rust binary with embedded storage instead of a server plus database plus workers, and lower per-step latency.

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
Restate: Is there a free tier?

Yes, fifty thousand durable actions a month on Restate Cloud with no card required.

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
Restate: Which languages are supported?

TypeScript, Java, Kotlin, Go, Python and Rust.

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
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