The SMB landscape
Under 100 seats, the buying decision is dominated by three factors: are you already on Microsoft 365, do you need MDM alongside SSO, and how much platform engineering capacity do you have. The vendors that lead the SMB segment in this cohort are Entra (free if on M365), JumpCloud (SSO + device management bundle), Google Cloud Identity Free (up to 50 users at $0), and OneLogin (entry-level commercial alternative to Okta).
Avoid Okta at small seat counts
Okta's $1,500/yr annual minimum makes it expensive per seat below about 21 users. A 10-seat team pays $1,500/yr ($12.50/user/mo effective), which is double the published rate. OneLogin Basic at $3/user/mo with no minimum is the cleaner SMB choice if you want a commercial alternative.
The self-host option
Below about 30 seats, self-hosted Authentik Community on a single small VM is genuinely the cheapest credible IdP. Above that, the operational burden (upgrades, HA, backup, monitoring) usually outweighs the per-seat saving. Keycloak is similarly viable but skews toward platform engineering teams comfortable with Kubernetes.
Worked example
Acme 30-Seat Agency Co. (illustrative example, not a real company), on Microsoft 365 Business Standard (no E3): Entra free tier covers basic SSO. If they need conditional access or MFA on third-party apps, P1 at $6/user/mo = $2,160/yr. JumpCloud SSO Package at $11/user/mo with device management = $3,960/yr. Okta Starter $1,500/yr (hits the floor at 30 seats x $6/mo x 12 = $2,160, just above floor).
Last verified June 2026.