Back to Why SecureAuth
SecureAuth Vs. Ping Identity
Ping Identity is a legacy enterprise identity vendor built on a sprawling product portfolio — PingFederate, PingOne, PingAuthorize, PingDirectory. SecureAuth is a unified Continuous Authority Platform that delivers the same enterprise capabilities in a single, modern architecture.
"Powerful platform. Slow everything else. Ping's DNA is workforce identity — federating employees, governing internal access, securing on-premises directories. B2B CIAM is an adaptation, not a design center. SecureAuth was built for the complexity businesses bring with them."
Feature Comparison
See how SecureAuth's unified platform compares to Ping Identity's multi-product portfolio.
| Area | Ping Identity | SecureAuth |
|---|---|---|
| Platform DNA | Workforce federation vendor (PingFederate) that expanded into customer identity through acquisitions; CIAM is a secondary use case bolted onto enterprise SSO infrastructure | Purpose-built for workforce, customer, partner, and AI agent identity — each with dedicated product capabilities on a shared governance platform |
| Product Architecture | Multiple products (PingFederate, PingOne, PingAuthorize, PingDirectory) requiring integration and version alignment | Unified platform — authentication, authorization, risk, and governance in a single architecture |
| Adaptive Authentication | Static SSO with limited real-time parameter passing; DaVinci orchestration is a costly add-on | Adaptive MFA with ML-based risk scoring, device trust, and continuous session assurance included |
| SSO & Federation | SAML/OIDC supported but lacks real-time IdP routing and custom parameter injection | Dynamic federation with per-tenant IdP configuration, self-service onboarding, and real-time context passing |
| B2B & Multi-Tenant Support | Weak native org hierarchy; delegated partner admin requires custom directory workflows | Built-in multi-org with sub-org hierarchies, delegated admin portals, and per-tenant branding and isolation |
| Authorization | Login-time only; no continuous or in-session enforcement; fine-grained access requires PingAuthorize add-on | Continuous authorization with centralized policy engine, RBAC, ABAC, and relationship-based access control |
| User Journey Orchestration | Non-workflow approach; DaVinci add-on needed for visual orchestration at additional cost | Visual policy orchestration with extensible hooks, no-code customization, and real-time flow changes included |
| Mobile & Consumer Experience | No mobile SDKs beyond MFA; session management left to the application | Full mobile SDKs, native passkey support, push authentication, and embedded login experiences |
| Deployment & Operations | Customer-managed upgrades, patching, and scaling; private cloud still requires significant ops overhead | Fully managed SaaS, private SaaS, self-hosted, or air-gapped — with managed upgrades and 99.99% SLA |
| Speed to Value | Configuring partner tenants and org-scoped policies typically requires dedicated professional services — implementation timelines measured in quarters, not weeks | Cloud-native deployment with policy-driven configuration; deploy partner tenants with delegated admin and org-scoped policies in days, no PS dependency |
| Total Cost of Ownership | Modular pricing means federation, risk engine, and governance are separate SKUs that stack quickly; true cost unclear until deep in evaluation | Predictable annualized subscription includes all capabilities, support, upgrades, and compliance — no add-on surprises |
| Post-Merger Roadmap | 2023 ForgeRock acquisition expanded breadth but B2B CIAM roadmap ownership between legacy products is still settling | Single unified product roadmap with dedicated B2B Authority, Workforce Authority, and Agentic Authority product lines |
Ping Identity Limitations & Business Impact
Understanding the hidden costs and operational challenges of Ping Identity's multi-product architecture.
| Area | Ping Identity Limitation | Business Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Product Sprawl | Multiple products (PingFederate, PingOne, PingAuthorize, PingDirectory) each with separate release cycles and integration requirements | Integration and version alignment consume engineering cycles that should be spent on business value |
| Orchestration as Add-On | DaVinci workflow engine is a separately licensed, separately implemented add-on — not part of the core platform | Visual orchestration — a core identity need — becomes an upsell, increasing both cost and implementation complexity |
| Professional Services Dependency | B2B CIAM tenant configuration typically requires dedicated professional services engagements — budget overruns are common | Implementation costs and timelines exceed initial estimates; teams report cycles measured in quarters, not weeks |
| Delegated Administration | No native self-service for partner or customer admins; delegated admin requires custom portals and directory customization | Every B2B customer onboarding requires engineering involvement, limiting partner growth velocity |
| Static SSO Architecture | Cannot route to multiple IdPs in real-time or pass custom user and tenant parameters during federation flows | Complex B2B federation scenarios require custom workarounds that should be handled natively |
| Documentation & Developer Experience | Fragmented post-ForgeRock merger; rigid documentation with limited quick-start guides | New teams face a steep learning curve; time-to-first-integration is measured in weeks, not days |
| Pricing Opacity | Non-public pricing geared toward large enterprises; hidden costs from multiple SKUs and required add-ons | Budget planning is difficult; procurement cycles are lengthy; true TCO is unclear until deep in evaluation |
| Risk-Based MFA Gaps | No built-in bot detection or impossible travel detection; complex implementation for risk-based conditional access | Organizations must layer additional security vendors on top of Ping, increasing integration complexity and cost |
Identity Use Case Coverage
Ping was built for workforce federation. See where that heritage shows — and where SecureAuth's unified approach delivers.
| Use Case | Ping Identity | SecureAuth |
|---|---|---|
| B2B partner federation | Weak — custom directory workflows | Native multi-org with self-service |
| Delegated administration | Not supported natively | Built-in per-org admin portals |
| Consumer-scale CIAM | Limited — no mobile SDKs | Purpose-built with adaptive risk |
| Continuous authorization | Login-time only | Real-time session enforcement |
| Workforce SSO & MFA | Strong (PingFederate) | Strong |
| Employee device trust | Moderate (requires PingID) | Strong (built-in) |
| AI agent identity | Not available | Native agent registry & governance |
| Visual orchestration | DaVinci add-on (extra cost) | Included in platform |
Ping Identity Is Best Suited For:
- Large enterprises already invested in Ping's federation infrastructure
- Organizations with dedicated identity engineering teams and ops capacity
- Risk-averse procurement teams prioritizing Gartner Leader status over agility
SecureAuth Is Built For:
- Enterprises that want unified identity without assembling multiple products
- Organizations needing B2B partner management and delegated admin out of the box
- Teams prioritizing speed to value and lower total cost of ownership
- Regulated industries requiring continuous authorization beyond login-time checks
Ready To Simplify Enterprise Identity?
See how SecureAuth delivers unified identity governance without the product sprawl, add-on costs, and operational overhead of Ping Identity.