The field at a glance
Identity is crowded, and most providers are genuinely good at what they target. We're not here to pretend otherwise — each deep-dive gives the competitor real credit for what it does best. What sets Obelisk apart is consistent: it makes the login the part of your stack you can verify, not just trust.
| Head-to-head | They're known for | Deep-dive |
|---|---|---|
| Obelisk vs Clerk | Drop-in React/Next.js auth components | Read the deep-dive → |
| Obelisk vs Auth0 | Incumbent, flexible enterprise IAM platform | Read the deep-dive → |
| Obelisk vs WorkOS | Enterprise SSO/SCIM for B2B SaaS | Read the deep-dive → |
| Obelisk vs Stytch | API-first passwordless & fraud-prevention | Read the deep-dive → |
| Obelisk vs Okta | Incumbent enterprise IAM / workforce identity | Read the deep-dive → |
What only Obelisk brings
These are the capabilities that recur across every comparison — the structural choices that make Obelisk's security provable. The competitor column varies by provider; each deep-dive states exactly how, framed by their public positioning as of 2026.
| Capability | Obelisk | Major providers |
|---|---|---|
| Passkey-first by default | Obelisk | Varies by provider — see each deep-dive |
| Live security Rating on the login | Obelisk | Varies by provider — see each deep-dive |
| Verifiable seal embed | Obelisk | Varies by provider — see each deep-dive |
| Tamper-evident hash-chained receipts | Obelisk | Varies by provider — see each deep-dive |
| Zero project-side secrets | Obelisk | Varies by provider — see each deep-dive |
| OIDC provider + SAML 2.0 IdP | Obelisk | Varies by provider — see each deep-dive |
| Real-time risk engine (the Warden) | Obelisk | Varies by provider — see each deep-dive |
| Pay-per-passage pricing | Obelisk | Varies by provider — see each deep-dive |
| Post-quantum migration-ready | Obelisk | Varies by provider — see each deep-dive |
The throughline: a live Obelisk Rating on the login, tamper-evident receipts, passkey-first by default, and zero project-side secrets — verifiable security, not asserted security. See the full trust case →
The Obelisk difference, in one list
Every head-to-head ultimately comes back to these shipped, live capabilities:
- Passkey-first by default. Passwordless via WebAuthn/FIDO2 is the default path, not an add-on — the secret half of the credential never leaves the device, so it can't be phished, stuffed, or stolen from a database.
- A live security Rating on the login itself. The Obelisk Rating is a real-time 0–100 security score shown on the sign-in surface — verifiable and continuously scored. No other identity provider renders a live security score on the login.
- The verified seal embed. A drop-in login card (
obeliskgate.com/embed/seal.js) that shows the live Rating and is provably authentic — your login proves its own security in front of your users. - Both an OIDC provider and a SAML 2.0 IdP. Obelisk is a full OpenID Connect provider and a SAML 2.0 identity provider that issues signed assertions — one front door for both modern and enterprise federation.
- Tamper-evident, hash-chained receipts. Every sign-in, token, and grant emits a signed, hash-chained receipt. The chain can't be quietly rewritten, so the audit trail is something you can verify, not just trust.
- Sender-bound tokens (DPoP, RFC 9449). Access tokens can be bound to a client-held P-256 key with a per-request signed proof — a leaked token replayed without the key is inert. Bearer theft, the agent era's dominant token threat, simply stops working.
- The Obelisk Warden risk engine. A real-time risk engine scores every sign-in across 11 dimensions and decides allow / step-up / deny — adaptive security built in, not bolted on.
- Zero project-side secrets — one-DB model. Relying-party apps hold no credentials. Your app stores no password hashes, MFA seeds, or reset tokens, because Obelisk hands you a verified identity. You can't leak what you don't store.
- Off-box DR + never-lockout guarantee. Encrypted off-box disaster-recovery backups give a recovery-time objective of ~15 minutes, and a three-layer never-lockout guarantee means the rightful owner is never locked out.
- Post-quantum migration-ready. Node-native crypto with a documented post-quantum migration path (an ML-DSA-65 hybrid slot reserved in every receipt chain) — no exotic primitives to strand.
- Pay-per-passage pricing. The Gate Toll bills per audited sign-in (a passage), not per seat or per monthly-active-user — and every billable passage is itself a signed receipt.
Jump to a head-to-head
- Obelisk vs Clerk — Drop-in React/Next.js auth components.
- Obelisk vs Auth0 — Incumbent, flexible enterprise IAM platform.
- Obelisk vs WorkOS — Enterprise SSO/SCIM for B2B SaaS.
- Obelisk vs Stytch — API-first passwordless & fraud-prevention.
- Obelisk vs Okta — Incumbent enterprise IAM / workforce identity.
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