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Licentric vs WorkOS
An honest, side-by-side comparison so you can pick the right monetization or auth platform. WorkOS facts sourced from workos.com (homepage + /pricing + /mcp + /security) public material, verified 2026-05-20. WorkOS and Licentric are largely complementary surfaces — enterprise auth vs licensing + agent monetization — and this page is written that way. Written by the Licentric founder.
TL;DR
- Choose WorkOS if: you're adding enterprise auth surface to a SaaS app — Single Sign-On (SAML/OIDC), Directory Sync (SCIM), AuthKit user management, Admin Portal, Audit Logs, or MCP auth as a spec-compliant OAuth 2.1 authorization server. WorkOS's homepage names Vercel, OpenAI, Cursor, Perplexity, Webflow, PlanetScale, Drata, and Netlify as customers (per workos.com homepage). For enterprise readiness in a pure-SaaS web/mobile product, WorkOS is the more specialized tool.
- Choose Licentric if: you need software-licensing primitives — license keys, machine activation, offline-license files, license state machine (suspend/reinstate/revoke/ban) — or per-agent identity + per-agent token budgets + outbound metering. WorkOS does not advertise license keys, machine activation, or offline files on workos.com. Licentric and WorkOS are largely complementary surfaces; many products will want both.
| Aspect | WorkOS | Licentric |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | AuthKit: first 1M MAUs free, then $2,500/mo per additional 1M MAUs; SSO + Directory Sync each $125/connection (tiered down to $50/connection at 101-200); Scale support $1,000/mo; Enterprise support custom (per workos.com/pricing) | Free tier (100 licenses), then $5 / $29 / $199 (CAD, monthly) |
| Positioning | 'Your app, Enterprise Ready.' (hero on workos.com) — 'Start selling to enterprise customers with just a few lines of code' (per workos.com homepage) | Monetization platform for the AI era — from license keys to AI agent tokens |
| Enterprise SSO (SAML/OIDC) | Core product — 'Auth for all SSO providers' supporting SAML and OIDC (per workos.com homepage) | Supabase Auth for the dashboard (Google + email magic link); enterprise SSO is not a first-class product surface |
| Directory Sync (SCIM) | Core product — 'User lifecycle management from corporate directories' with SCIM provisioning and HRIS integration (per workos.com homepage) | Not advertised on licentric.com (Licentric's tenancy model is account_id + RLS, not SCIM-provisioned users) |
| MCP auth layer | Shipping product — 'Secure auth for MCP servers' with OAuth 2.1, PKCE, scopes, JWT token validation (per workos.com/mcp); AuthKit acts as a spec-compliant OAuth 2.1 authorization server for MCP | OAuth 2.1 for MCP servers (early — Licentric's MCP auth is functional but not at WorkOS's MCP maturity) |
| License keys | Not advertised on workos.com (WorkOS's product surface is enterprise auth, not software licensing) | Core primitive — generate, validate, revoke, suspend, ban, rotate |
| Machine activation | Not advertised on workos.com | Per-license fingerprinting with concurrent-activation caps |
| Offline license files | Not advertised on workos.com | Ed25519-signed + AES-256-GCM encrypted, configurable TTL |
| AI agent identity | 'Agent Auth' listed as a feature on workos.com homepage; WorkOS frames agent identity through OAuth-scoped tokens for MCP/agent applications | Per-agent credentials (suspendable, revocable, rotatable) modeled as first-class records with a state machine |
| Per-agent token budgets | Not advertised on workos.com (WorkOS issues OAuth tokens; usage-budget enforcement is not its lane) | First-class — per-agent token budgets + outbound metering across model providers |
| Audit logs | First-class product — 'Audit Logs' listed as a top-level product on workos.com homepage | Built-in lic.audit_logs table for privileged operations and lic.events for domain events; not packaged as a customer-facing export product |
| Fine-grained authorization (FGA) | Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and 'fine-grained authorization for agentic applications' (per workos.com homepage + workos.com/mcp) | Account-scoped RBAC (Team/RBAC tracked as W-075 per BACKLOG; not yet shipped); RLS at the database layer |
| Compliance posture | SOC 2 Type 2 certified, GDPR compliant, CCPA compliant, HIPAA BAA available for enterprise plans (per workos.com/security) | GDPR compliant; SOC 2 pursuing 2026-Q4 (uncertified today); ISO 27001 + HIPAA not pursued today |
| Stripe integration | Not advertised as a first-class product surface on workos.com (WorkOS is auth infrastructure, not billing) | Declarative Stripe product → license-policy mapping; zero webhook glue code |
| End-user self-service portal | Admin Portal for customers' IT teams to configure SSO/SCIM (per workos.com homepage); end-user-licensee portal not described | Magic-link end-user portal on every tier (Free up) |
| Free tier | AuthKit first 1M MAUs free; staging environments free; first 1,000 Radar checks complimentary (per workos.com/pricing) | $0, 100 active licenses, full API, production-ready |
| Notable customers | Vercel, OpenAI, Cursor, Perplexity, Webflow, PlanetScale, Drata, Chromatic, Magical, Incident.io, Hypercare, Netlify, Copy.ai, Patch, Prefect, Tactic, Warp, Indeed (logos visible on workos.com homepage) | ArgusTest (first customer) — solo founder building toward 50 customers |
| SDK / framework coverage | Documented support across multiple languages and frameworks for MCP integration (per workos.com/mcp); broad SDK fleet for auth flows | Python + TypeScript (Go in-repo, not yet published) |
| Maturity | Established enterprise-auth platform with named enterprise customers (per workos.com homepage); SOC 2 Type 2 certified (per workos.com/security) | Newer, actively developed, broader licensing + agent scope |
Pricing at scale
Per-month list price at different active-license counts. Competitor pricing as of 2026-05; verify on their pricing page.
| Active licenses | WorkOS | Licentric |
|---|---|---|
| Free / trial | AuthKit: first 1M MAUs free; staging free (per workos.com/pricing) | $0 — 100 active licenses, production |
| Small (single SSO connection) | $125/mo per SSO connection + $125/mo per Directory Sync connection (per workos.com/pricing) | $5/mo (Starter, 1,000 licenses) |
| Growing (10 SSO + 10 SCIM connections) | $1,250/mo SSO + $1,250/mo Directory Sync = $2,500/mo (per workos.com/pricing tier 1-15 at $125/ea) | $29/mo (Growth, 10,000 licenses) |
| Scale (50+ connections + Scale support) | $80-$125/ea SSO + $80-$125/ea Directory Sync + $1,000/mo Scale support (per workos.com/pricing tiered) | $199/mo (Enterprise, unlimited) |
| Enterprise (custom) | Custom pricing — dedicated TAM, quarterly architecture review, 24×7×365 response-time SLAs (per workos.com/pricing) | $199/mo flat (no contact-sales gate) |
Transparency note
Where WorkOS has the edge
We believe in transparency. Here's an honest read of where WorkOS is the better fit today.
- WorkOS is SOC 2 Type 2 certified, GDPR compliant, CCPA compliant, and offers HIPAA BAAs for enterprise customers (per workos.com/security); Licentric is GDPR compliant but uncertified for SOC 2 / ISO 27001 / HIPAA today.
- WorkOS's customer logos on its homepage (Vercel, OpenAI, Cursor, Perplexity, Webflow, PlanetScale, Drata, Netlify, Indeed) demonstrate proven enterprise adoption; Licentric has one customer (ArgusTest) and is pre-launch on Show HN.
- WorkOS ships MCP auth as a mature product — 'Secure auth for MCP servers' with OAuth 2.1, PKCE, scopes, JWT token validation (per workos.com/mcp); Licentric's MCP auth is functional but earlier in maturity.
- WorkOS has Enterprise SSO (SAML/OIDC) and Directory Sync (SCIM) as core products — these are the table-stakes 'enterprise ready' features that Licentric does not advertise.
- WorkOS's Audit Logs are packaged as a first-class customer-facing product on workos.com; Licentric's audit-log table exists but isn't surfaced as a packaged customer export today.
- Pricing dimensions differ: WorkOS charges per-connection (SSO/SCIM) + per-MAU (AuthKit), so cost scales with enterprise customer count; Licentric charges flat-rate per Licentric account ($5/$29/$199) regardless of how many end-users your product has.
- WorkOS is auth infrastructure; Licentric is monetization infrastructure. The overlap is narrow (MCP auth, agent identity framing); the rest of the surface is largely complementary.
Choose WorkOS when…
- Your priority is enterprise-readiness for a SaaS product — Single Sign-On (SAML/OIDC), Directory Sync (SCIM), Admin Portal, Audit Logs.
- You need MCP auth as a spec-compliant OAuth 2.1 authorization server with full OAuth tooling (PKCE, scopes, JWT validation) — WorkOS's MCP product is more mature than Licentric's.
- You need SOC 2 Type 2 certified, GDPR compliant, CCPA compliant, HIPAA-BAA-available infrastructure today (per workos.com/security).
- Your buyer is the IT/security team at an enterprise customer who needs Admin-Portal-level self-configuration.
- You don't need license keys, machine activation, offline-license files, per-agent token budgets, or outbound model-provider metering.
- You're already in WorkOS's customer cohort (Vercel, OpenAI, Cursor, Perplexity, PlanetScale, Netlify per workos.com homepage) and want to stay on the same auth infrastructure.
Choose Licentric when…
- You need license keys, machine activation, or offline-license files — WorkOS does not advertise any of these on workos.com.
- You need a license state machine (suspend → reinstate → revoke → ban) with terminal-state guards as a first-class primitive.
- You need per-agent token budgets + outbound metering across model providers — WorkOS issues OAuth tokens but does not enforce per-agent usage budgets.
- You ship outside the browser — CLI tools, desktop apps, embedded software, AI agents running in customer infrastructure that need Ed25519-signed offline files.
- You want a simple flat-rate price ($5/$29/$199) that doesn't scale with end-user count or per-connection counts.
- You want compliance scaffolding for the EU AI Act (audit logs + agent evidence tables; phased enforcement starting August 2026).
Talk to us about layering Licentric on top of WorkOS. WorkOS's enterprise auth (SSO, SCIM, AuthKit, MCP auth) and Licentric's license keys + machine activation + offline files + agent identity are largely complementary surfaces — many products will want both. For pure enterprise-auth and MCP OAuth, keep WorkOS. For license keys, offline files, machine activation, agent token budgets, or outbound model-provider metering, add Licentric. Email able@licentric.com for a 30-min architecture-fit call — first 50 customers get this directly from the founder.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about choosing between WorkOS and Licentric.
- Is WorkOS a competitor to Licentric or complementary?
- More complementary than competitor. WorkOS's core is enterprise auth infrastructure — Single Sign-On (SAML/OIDC), Directory Sync (SCIM), AuthKit user management, Admin Portal, Audit Logs, MCP auth. Licentric's core is software-monetization infrastructure — license keys, machine activation, offline-license files, per-agent identity + token budgets, outbound metering. The only meaningful overlap is the MCP/agent-identity surface, where both products participate but with different framings (WorkOS as the OAuth authorization server; Licentric as the entitlement + budget enforcement layer). For pure enterprise-auth needs, WorkOS is the more specialized tool. For products that ALSO need license keys, offline files, or per-agent token budgets, Licentric covers what WorkOS doesn't.
- Can I use both WorkOS and Licentric?
- Yes, and we expect most enterprise-ready monetized products will. The realistic layering is: WorkOS handles user → SSO → SCIM → AuthKit → Admin Portal → MCP OAuth flows; Licentric handles license keys → machine activation → agent credentials → per-agent token budgets → outbound metering → entitlement enforcement. The two surfaces don't overlap on the data model (WorkOS subjects are human users / agent OAuth identities; Licentric subjects are licenses, machines, agents-as-licensed-entities). Email able@licentric.com for an architecture-fit call.
- Doesn't WorkOS already have MCP auth?
- Yes — WorkOS ships 'Secure auth for MCP servers' as a mature product (workos.com/mcp): OAuth 2.1, PKCE, scopes, JWT token validation, fine-grained authorization. WorkOS's MCP product is more mature than Licentric's. The distinction is downstream: WorkOS authenticates the agent (OAuth 2.1 token issuance + validation); Licentric meters and budgets what the authenticated agent does (per-agent token budgets, outbound model-provider metering, agent state machine). Most products that take agents seriously will want both — WorkOS for the OAuth surface, Licentric for the budget/entitlement layer.
- What's the compliance comparison?
- WorkOS is SOC 2 Type 2 certified, GDPR compliant, CCPA compliant, and offers HIPAA BAAs for enterprise customers (per workos.com/security). Licentric is GDPR compliant (Article 17 erasure + Article 20 export verified per release), pursuing SOC 2 Type II for Q4 2026 (uncertified today), and has not pursued ISO 27001 or HIPAA. For compliance-gated enterprise buyers, WorkOS is the more mature option today. For products where the customer is technical-first and compliance is not the gating factor, the gap matters less.
- How do the pricing models compare?
- WorkOS prices per dimension: AuthKit is free up to 1M MAUs then $2,500/mo per additional 1M; SSO and Directory Sync are $125/connection (tiered down to $50 at 101-200 connections); Scale support is $1,000/mo (per workos.com/pricing). At enterprise scale with multiple SSO connections, WorkOS costs can scale into the four-to-five-figure-monthly range. Licentric charges flat $5 / $29 / $199 per Licentric account regardless of end-user count. These are not directly comparable — WorkOS is priced for the enterprise-auth dimension, Licentric for the licensing/agent-monetization dimension. Most products that need both will see the costs add (not substitute).
- Can I migrate from WorkOS to Licentric?
- Mostly not applicable — WorkOS doesn't model license keys, machines, or offline files, so there isn't licensing data to migrate from WorkOS. If your existing WorkOS integration is the SSO/AuthKit/MCP-auth surface, you would keep it; Licentric would sit alongside as the monetization layer. The more realistic story is adding Licentric to a WorkOS-integrated product, not replacing WorkOS. Email able@licentric.com for an architecture-fit call (first 50 customers get founder-direct integration assistance).
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