01
The decision in brief
Okta is the platform that governs an estate; SenseCrypt IdP changes how people prove it is them. SenseCrypt IdP can sit behind Okta as an external identity provider, so a pilot group can be routed through it while Okta keeps the estate.
Choose Okta when
you need a directory, lifecycle management, device signals, a large integration catalog and policy built from many factors, with a deep pool of administrators who already know it.
Choose SenseCrypt IdP when
the problem is a credential people can be talked out of: helpdesk resets, relayed codes and recovery paths that fall back to a password.
Side by side
| Dimension | SenseCrypt IdP | Okta |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | An identity provider built around a live face check | A workforce and customer identity platform |
| End-user sign-in | QR or passkey in the SenseCrypt Authenticator app; no password | Policy assembled from several factors; varies by plan |
| Phishing resistance | On the passkey method, via FIDO2/WebAuthn origin binding | FastPass and FIDO2 options, per policy |
| Working together | Registers in Okta as an external IdP (OIDC or SAML 2.0) | Routes users to external IdPs |
| List price | $1 per user per month; 20-seat minimum | Varies by plan |
What you buy
- SenseCrypt IdP
- An identity provider built around a live face check
- Okta
- A workforce and customer identity platform
End-user sign-in
- SenseCrypt IdP
- QR or passkey in the SenseCrypt Authenticator app; no password
- Okta
- Policy assembled from several factors; varies by plan
Phishing resistance
- SenseCrypt IdP
- On the passkey method, via FIDO2/WebAuthn origin binding
- Okta
- FastPass and FIDO2 options, per policy
Working together
- SenseCrypt IdP
- Registers in Okta as an external IdP (OIDC or SAML 2.0)
List price
- SenseCrypt IdP
- $1 per user per month; 20-seat minimum
- Okta
- Varies by plan
02
A policy of factors, or one check done several ways
An Okta sign-in policy is assembled: a password here, a push there, a code, a security key, and conditions deciding which combination applies to whom. The expressiveness is the value on offer, including phishing-resistant options such as Okta FastPass and FIDO2 authenticators.
SenseCrypt IdP has no password to assemble around. Its methods share the live face check but differ in origin binding, possession factor and capture location: the passkey method is origin-bound, the QR method is not, and the licensed webcam method has no phone possession factor. Choose the method by the assurance you need.
The fallback path matters as much as the front door. In the 2023 attack on MGM Resorts, attackers phoned the IT helpdesk, impersonated an employee and came in through the recovery path; MGM reported a cost of about $100 million. With no end-user password, there is no password reset for a caller to request.
Recovery without a password
Pairing a replacement phone uses a single-use PIN sent by email, with SMS where the record holds a mobile number, and a new device key. The face is not re-registered, and the live face check is still required at sign-in.
The target device is never enrolled
For both phone methods, liveness and matching run on the user's own phone. The browser, kiosk or shared desktop being signed in to needs no enrollment.
Budget the ecosystem, too
Okta has training, staffing and over a decade of published answers behind it. Any newer vendor, ours included, asks your team to learn something nobody has already learned for them.
03
SenseCrypt IdP as an external identity provider in Okta
Replacing Okta is rarely proportionate to a change in sign-in method, and it is not the recommendation here. External identity providers are a standing Okta concept, registered over OIDC or SAML 2.0 and selected by identity provider routing rules. SenseCrypt IdP registers as one of them.
Everything your team administers stays in Okta: the directory, the group assignments, the policy and the audit history. Applications keep pointing at the same place. A redirect sends the user to SenseCrypt IdP, the face check completes on the enrolled phone, a token or assertion comes back, and Okta issues the application session on the same terms as before.
SenseCrypt IdP can also keep its own tenant-scoped browser session: session persistence is configurable per tenant in the IdP portal, so you set how long a session lasts, or don't persist sessions at all. Set it to match how often you want a new face check; Okta's session still governs the applications. The Okta integration guide lists the configuration on both sides.
Route one group first
One routing rule can put a single application, or one pilot department, behind face sign-in while the rest of the estate carries on unchanged. A quiet support queue is the signal to widen it.
Map claims between providers
SenseCrypt IdP emits roles and permissions in its token. Okta maps them into its own model, and your applications keep enforcing what they enforced before.
Attach a group in SenseCrypt IdP
Access is default-closed: the Okta application registration in SenseCrypt IdP admits nobody until at least one group is attached to it.
04
SenseCrypt IdP at a glance
05
Frequently asked questions
Can SenseCrypt IdP replace Okta, or does it sit behind it?
Either. Applications can federate to SenseCrypt IdP directly over OIDC or SAML 2.0. In an established Okta estate the lower-risk pattern is to register SenseCrypt IdP as an external identity provider and route one application or one group through it, which leaves the directory, the policies and the application catalog untouched.
How is this different from adding a passkey factor in Okta?
A passkey factor is one option inside a policy, and the policy may keep a weaker path for enrollment, recovery or exceptions. SenseCrypt IdP has no end-user password to keep. Device replacement uses a verified contact and a new device key, and still requires the enrolled face at sign-in. The difference is less the factor itself than what sits behind it.
Does a helpdesk still need a reset procedure?
It needs a device-binding procedure rather than a password reset. Someone who has lost a phone pairs a replacement using a single-use PIN sent by email, with an SMS copy where a mobile number is on the record. With no password or security question to reset, the usual helpdesk impersonation script has nothing to ask for.
How do shared workstations and kiosks work?
The target device is never enrolled: it displays the QR code, and the user completes the face check on their own phone. The terminal needs no enrolled phone credential. It can still retain application or browser sessions, so shared-device deployments require logout, session expiry and local-data controls between users.
What does it take to run a pilot?
A tenant, one application or group routed to SenseCrypt IdP as an external identity provider in Okta, at least one SenseCrypt IdP group attached to that registration, and the SenseCrypt Authenticator app installed by the pilot users. The thirty-day trial needs no card.