WorkOS vs Descope Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| WorkOS | Descope | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | Custom | $249/mo |
| Number of plans | 2 | 4 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | — | |
| Pricing model | usage-based | hybrid |
Price is one row. To weigh the features too, use our feature comparison template →
Pay as you go
- Automatic volume discounts
- First 1 million active users free
- Deploy in minutes
- Dedicated Slack channel
- Transparent pricing
Annual Credits
Popular- Pre-pay credit discounts
- 99.99% uptime SLA
- Guided migration and onboarding
- Guaranteed support SLA
Free Forever
- 7,500 Monthly active users (MAUs)
- 10 Monthly active tenants
- 3 SSO connections
- 1 Federated app (OIDC)
- 5 Test users
- 10,000 M2M exchanges
- 2,000 Monthly active consents (MACs)
- 2,000 Monthly active tokens (MATKs)
- All auth methods
- Role-based access control
- MFA / step-up authentication
- Secure session management
- Self-service admin widgets
- Third-party connectors
- No Descope watermark
- Community support
- 99% SLA
Pro
Popular- 10,000 Monthly active users (MAUs)
- 35 Monthly active tenants
- 5 SSO connections
- 2 Federated apps (SAML / OIDC)
- 100 Test users
- 50,000 M2M exchanges
- 5,000 Monthly active consents (MACs)
- 5,000 Monthly active tokens (MATKs)
- Custom Domain
- Google One Tap
- Custom OIDC Provider
- SSO for third-party apps
- Self-service SSO setup
- CI / CD integration
- Localization
- Web and email support
- SOC 2 reports
- 99.99% SLA
Growth
- 25,000 Monthly active users (MAUs)
- 100 Monthly active tenants
- 10 SSO connections
- Unlimited Federated apps (SAML / OIDC)
- 500 Test users
- 100,000 M2M exchanges
- 10,000 Monthly active consents (MACs)
- 10,000 Monthly active tokens (MATKs)
- Bot protection
- 1M Anonymous users
- Zero-downtime SSO migration
- SCIM provisioning
- Admin Portal
- Fine-grained authorization
- External audit connectors
- Multi-region data residency
- HIPAA BAA
- FedRAMP High add-on
Enterprise
- Tiered discounts
- Premium support add-on
- Dedicated CS engineer
- Custom deployments
- Unlimited test users
- Unlimited anonymous users
WorkOS vs Descope FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. WorkOS uses usage-based pricing, while Descope goes with hybrid. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. WorkOS: WorkOS undercuts traditional IAM vendors by giving away the auth layer entirely and only charging once you need enterprise-grade plumbing like SSO or audit logs — that's a deliberate wedge to win developers early and monetize later when B2B customers show up. It's not trying to be the cheapest at scale; the volume discounts (up to 48% off) suggest they expect — and want — high-connection customers to negotiate down. Descope: Descope sits mid-to-premium in the CIAM space — pricier than bare-bones auth libraries but cheaper than enterprise incumbents like Okta or Auth0 at scale. They're going after teams that outgrew DIY auth but aren't ready for a six-figure enterprise contract yet.
Still deciding? See the best WorkOS alternatives or the best Descope alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
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