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KavachOS vs WorkOS

KavachOS vs WorkOS

WorkOS has a polished enterprise auth API and strong DX. KavachOS covers the same enterprise ground — SSO, SCIM, organizations — and adds agent identity and MCP OAuth 2.1 without per-connection fees.

10

unique features

11

shared

MIT

open source

Why switch

Enterprise SSO at $125/connection/month adds up fast

WorkOS AuthKit is free up to 1 million MAU, but each enterprise SSO connection costs $125/month. A mid-size B2B SaaS with 20 enterprise customers is paying $2,500/month just for SSO connections. KavachOS includes enterprise SSO on the Growth plan at $79/month.

No agent identity or MCP OAuth

WorkOS focuses entirely on human authentication and enterprise provisioning. There is no AI agent token primitive, no delegation chain, and no MCP OAuth 2.1 support. These are core KavachOS features, not roadmap items.

WorkOS is not open source

WorkOS is a proprietary SaaS with no self-hosting option. KavachOS is MIT-licensed — self-host it on your own infrastructure or use KavachOS Cloud. Either way, you are not locked into a single vendor.

Feature comparison

10 features WorkOS doesn't have

FeatureKavachOSWorkOS
AI agent identity

WorkOS has no agent token primitive

MCP OAuth 2.1

KavachOS is spec-compliant; WorkOS has no MCP support

Agent delegation chains
Agent permission scoping
Agent audit log
Self-hosting

WorkOS is SaaS-only

Open source (MIT)

WorkOS is proprietary

Social / OAuth providers (27+)
Passkeys / WebAuthn
Magic link
Multi-factor authentication
Enterprise SSO (SAML, OIDC)

WorkOS charges $125/connection/month for SSO

SCIM provisioning

WorkOS includes SCIM but charges per connection

Organizations / multi-tenancy

WorkOS organizations are a core feature

Machine-to-machine tokens

WorkOS focuses on human auth, not M2M

Custom domains
Custom email templates
Brute force protection
Breach password detection
Free tier

WorkOS AuthKit free up to 1M MAU, but SSO costs extra

Cloudflare Workers runtime

Pricing

Save up to 10x at scale

WorkOS

WorkOS AuthKit is free up to 1 million MAU for human auth (social, magic link, MFA). The catch is enterprise features: each SSO connection costs $125/month, each SCIM directory sync connection also costs $125/month, and fine-grained authorization (FGA) is priced separately. A B2B product with 10 enterprise customers is paying $1,250/month in connection fees before any other costs.

AuthKit(1,000,000 MAU)
$0
Enterprise SSO(Unlimited MAU)
$125/connection/mo
Directory Sync (SCIM)(Unlimited MAU)
$125/connection/mo
Enterprise(Custom MAU)
Custom

KavachOS

KavachOS Cloud includes enterprise SSO and SCIM in the flat monthly tier — no per-connection fees.

Free(1,000 MAU)
$0
Starter(10,000 MAU)
$29/mo
Growth(50,000 MAU)
$79/mo
Scale(200,000 MAU)
$199/mo
Enterprise(Unlimited MAU)
Custom

Migration

Switch in an afternoon

1

Export your WorkOS users using the WorkOS Users API. KavachOS accepts the exported JSON through the import CLI command — social login connections migrate without requiring users to re-authenticate.

2

Replace the WorkOS SDK with `kavachos` in your project. Both follow OAuth 2.0 / OIDC conventions for SSO and session management, so the integration pattern is familiar.

3

Re-create your SSO connections in the KavachOS dashboard. Copy the SAML metadata or OIDC discovery URLs from your existing IdP configurations — the same identity providers are supported.

4

Update your environment variables — swap `WORKOS_API_KEY` and related config for the KavachOS project key and API URL from the dashboard.

5

Migrate your SCIM directory sync connections by updating the provisioning endpoint URLs in your customers' IdP admin panels from the WorkOS endpoint to your KavachOS project endpoint.

FAQ

Common questions

WorkOS AuthKit is free up to 1 million MAU. KavachOS free tier caps at 1,000. Why is KavachOS cheaper?+
WorkOS AuthKit's free tier is a customer acquisition tool for their enterprise SSO product. The moment you need SAML, you are paying $125 per connection per month — and that scales directly with your customer count. KavachOS charges a flat monthly fee that includes SSO. For a product with more than one enterprise customer, KavachOS is typically less expensive.
Does KavachOS match WorkOS on enterprise SSO and directory sync quality?+
KavachOS supports SAML and OIDC enterprise SSO and SCIM directory provisioning. WorkOS has been doing this longer and has a larger set of tested IdP integrations. If deep IdP compatibility is your primary concern, evaluate both carefully. KavachOS is a younger product that is catching up quickly.
Is KavachOS open source like WorkOS is not?+
Yes. KavachOS is MIT-licensed and the full source is on GitHub. WorkOS is a closed proprietary API. If you need to inspect the code, run it on your own infrastructure, or avoid vendor lock-in, KavachOS is the only option between the two.
WorkOS has a great developer experience. How does KavachOS compare?+
KavachOS ships with a TypeScript-first SDK, generated types, a clean dashboard, and CLI tooling. The DX is a priority, not an afterthought. WorkOS deserves credit for setting a high bar in this space, and we have taken notes.
What is agent identity and why does it matter for B2B products?+
As AI features ship inside B2B products, the agents running those features need their own identities. You need to know which agent accessed which customer data, revoke individual agent tokens, and enforce per-agent permission scopes. WorkOS has no primitive for this — you end up using API keys, which have no delegation model and no audit trail. KavachOS gives each agent a proper cryptographic identity.
Can I use KavachOS just for agent auth and keep WorkOS for human auth?+
You can, but running two auth systems doubles the integration surface and means the delegation chain between humans and their agents is split across two products. Most teams consolidate on KavachOS so everything is visible in one place.

Ready to try KavachOS?

MIT licensed. Self-hostable. Runs anywhere Node runs.