Cybersecurity · head to head
Semperis vs WorkOS
Semperis
Cybersecurity
Identity threat detection and Active Directory forest recovery for AD, Entra ID and Okta, from a privately held US vendor.
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
WorkOS
Cybersecurity
Developer platform for enterprise-ready authentication and identity.
- From
- $125/one-time per connection
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Semperis scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.; WorkOS authKit free tier limited to 1 million monthly active users; additional millions cost $2,500/month
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Semperis and WorkOS actually diverge.
Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).
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 Semperis
- Active Directory Forest Recovery
- Malware-free restore
- Replication-stream monitoring
- Automated rollback
- Attack indicator scoring
- Entra ID and Okta coverage
- Purple Knight
- Forest Druid
Only in WorkOS
Nothing recorded that Semperis does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Semperis
- An organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild Active Directory after a destructive attacknot WorkOS
- Post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's footholdnot WorkOS
- Continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs missnot WorkOS
- Hybrid estates where AD, Entra ID and Okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the threenot WorkOS
WorkOS
- SaaS applications needing rapid enterprise SSO deploymentnot Semperis
- Companies selling to mid-market and enterprise customersnot Semperis
- Applications requiring SCIM directory sync with corporate identity systemsnot Semperis
- Product teams needing audit logs for compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001)not Semperis
- Platforms with multiple identity provider requirementsnot Semperis
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Semperis
- Scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
- The licence buys tooling, not a proven runbook: forest recovery is only worth what your last rehearsal demonstrated, and a plan that has never been executed end to end in a lab is an untested assumption regardless of what was purchased.
- It overlaps with backup and directory management products from Quest, Veeam, Commvault and others, so the buyer must argue internally why a dedicated product is needed alongside a backup contract that already claims to protect Active Directory.
- Running Directory Services Protector well requires someone who understands AD internals, replication metadata and Tier 0 attack paths, and without that person the alerts on privileged changes are either ignored or auto-reverted in ways that break legitimate administration.
- Licensing is driven by identity object counts, so directories carrying years of stale user accounts and service principals pay for objects that should have been deleted, and the cleanup project that would reduce the bill is the one nobody has time for.
WorkOS
- AuthKit free tier limited to 1 million monthly active users; additional millions cost $2,500/month
- Per-connection pricing for SSO and Directory Sync ($125–$50 each) scales poorly for enterprises with many identity providers
- Audit logs require separate subscription at $125/month per SIEM connection or $99/month per 1 million events
- Radar fraud protection billed separately at $100/month per 50,000 additional checks beyond 1,000 free checks
- Custom domain feature requires $99/month subscription
- Requires annual commitment for SLA and support guarantees; pay-as-you-go tier lacks uptime guarantee
Pricing, plan by plan
Semperis
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Semperis review.
WorkOS
$125/one-time per connection- Pay as You Go$undefined/variable
- Per-connection pricing from $125 to $50 with volume discounts
- Up to 60% discount at scale
- Quick deployment
- Annual Credits$undefined/variable
- Custom pricing with volume discounts
- 99.99% uptime SLA
- Guided migration
Which should you pick?
Choose Semperis if
- You need active directory forest recovery.
- You also want malware-free restore.
Questions people ask
- Is Semperis or WorkOS better?
- Neither clearly leads. Semperis starts at On request and WorkOS at $125/one-time per connection, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Semperis or WorkOS?
- Semperis starts at On request and WorkOS at $125/one-time per connection.
- Does Semperis or WorkOS run on more platforms?
- Semperis runs on Web. WorkOS runs on Web, API.
- What is Semperis best used for?
- Semperis is most often used for an organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild active directory after a destructive attack, post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's foothold, continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs miss, hybrid estates where ad, entra id and okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the three. Of those, an organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild active directory after a destructive attack and post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's foothold are not what WorkOS is typically brought in for.
- What can Semperis do that WorkOS cannot?
- Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery, Malware-free restore, Replication-stream monitoring, Automated rollback.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Semperis: Does this replace my backups?
No. It replaces the Active Directory recovery procedure specifically. You still need backups for everything else, and the point of Semperis is that a generic system-state backup of a domain controller is a poor way to recover a forest because it restores the operating system along with whatever compromised it.
WorkOS: How quickly can I implement WorkOS SSO?
Developers can implement single sign-on in minutes instead of months. Multiple customers report setting up SSO in less than a week, with WorkOS handling the complexity of SAML and OIDC protocols.
SourceSemperis: Is it useful if we are cloud-only on Entra ID?
Partly. Directory Services Protector covers Entra ID and Okta for change tracking and posture, but the forest recovery product, which is the strongest reason to buy, applies to on-premises Active Directory. A genuinely cloud-only organisation should weigh it against Microsoft's own tooling.
WorkOS: What SDKs does WorkOS provide?
WorkOS offers SDKs for Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, PHP, Java, and .NET.
SourceSemperis: Are Purple Knight and Forest Druid really free?
Yes, both are free downloads with no licence requirement, and they are widely used by organisations that are not Semperis customers. They are also, transparently, the top of the sales funnel.
WorkOS: Does WorkOS support SCIM provisioning?
Yes. WorkOS supports SCIM provisioning integration with systems like Okta and Entra ID for automated user management.
SourceSemperis: How long does forest recovery actually take?
The honest answer is whatever your rehearsal took. The vendor's case is hours instead of days, and automation genuinely removes most manual steps, but the number that matters for your board is the one from a test in your own environment.
Semperis: Does it require agents on domain controllers?
It collects directory changes from the AD replication stream, which is what lets it see changes that bypass the security log. Deployment details vary by product and version, so confirm the exact architecture against your domain controller change-control rules.
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