Obelisk vs Auth0, honestly
Auth0 (now part of Okta) is the incumbent developer-facing identity platform — deeply flexible, broadly adopted, with a huge connector and extensibility ecosystem. Obelisk is a passkey-first identity and security plane built around one idea: security you can prove, not just promise. This page compares the two fairly — Auth0 is a genuinely good product for teams who want a mature, highly configurable IAM platform with a large ecosystem, and we say so plainly below.
The short version: if your priority is sign-in security you can check — passkey-first by default, tamper-evident receipts and a live, public security score for the Gate itself — Obelisk is built for exactly that. See the full field →
Where Auth0 shines
Auth0 earned its place: an enormous library of social and enterprise connections, deep extensibility (rules, actions, hooks), wide protocol support, and years of production hardening across every industry. If you need maximum configurability and a vast integration ecosystem from a household-name vendor, Auth0 is a proven choice.
Side-by-side: Obelisk vs Auth0
Obelisk's column says what Obelisk does today, including what it does not do. Each Auth0 cell that links a source is drawn from that page, checked on the date shown; the other Auth0 cells reflect its public positioning as of October 2026. Vendor capabilities and pricing change, so verify the latest from their docs.
| Dimension | Obelisk | Auth0 |
|---|---|---|
| Default auth method | Passkey-first / passwordless by default | Username/password + extensive social/enterprise; passkeys supported, as of October 2026 |
| Public security score for the provider itself | Yes — the Obelisk Rating, a live 0–100 score the Gate computes about itself and shows on its homepage. It rates the Gate, not your app. | We found no live public security score for Auth0 itself, as of October 2026 |
| Tamper-evident receipts | Hash-chained receipts under a signed ledger head you can save and compare later; a per-receipt inclusion proof on request | Comprehensive logs/streams, based on public docs |
| OIDC + SAML 2.0 IdP | An OpenID Connect provider today. The SAML 2.0 identity provider is built but not yet connectable on the hosted Gate. | Both, mature — a core strength of Auth0 |
| Pricing model | Pay per audited passage (sign-in) | Per monthly-active-user / tiered, based on public pricing |
| Risk engine | No adaptive risk score decides a sign-in today. What is enforced: sensitive changes need a passkey sign-in — remembered, authenticator-code and email-link sessions are refused. The risk score on your account page is advisory. | Attack protection / adaptive MFA, based on public docs |
| Account recovery + off-box DR | Backup passkeys on a second device; off-box backups with a ~15-min recovery-time target (the status page shows what is measured) | Auth0's legal page lists a Service Level Description; we did not review its terms, as of October 2026 |
| Operating model | Private, proprietary, single accountable studio | Large managed platform (Okta), based on public positioning |
| Agent identity and tokens | Each agent is its own record in Agent Studio: its own key, held by the agent's runtime (Obelisk never receives the private key), a passkey-holding owner, and an opt-in public Proof Link that is opaque and revocable. No OAuth grant issues an access token to an agent on its own: the token endpoint grants only authorization_code and refresh_token. There is no client-credentials, token-exchange or ID-JAG grant. | Auth0 for AI Agents is generally available: user authentication for agents, Token Vault for third-party API tokens, asynchronous approval over CIBA, and fine-grained authorization for RAG. (source, checked 2026-10-02) |
| Third-party check of agent authorization | Registering, approving, transferring or revoking an agent writes a receipt to Obelisk's hash-chained ledger. Anyone holding a receipt's hash can fetch its position in the chain and a Merkle inclusion proof at /api/proof/<hash>, with no account. | The cited announcement describes Token Vault and CIBA approvals, and no record of an agent's authorization that a third party could check without Auth0. (source, checked 2026-10-02) |
| Root of trust | Self-operated root-of-trust — one accountable studio runs Obelisk on Obelisk | Managed multi-tenant cloud service, based on public positioning |
Why teams choose Obelisk
The differences below aren't cosmetic — they're structural choices that move security from "trust us" to "verify it."
- Passkey-first by default. Passwordless via WebAuthn/FIDO2 is the default path, not an add-on. The secret half of a passkey is never sent to Obelisk or to the site, so there is no password to stuff and no passkey secret in our database to steal, and the browser offers a passkey only to the site it was made for, which is what makes it phishing-resistant. The fallbacks, an emailed link or an authenticator code, can be phished like anywhere else, so they only get a limited session.
- In-place sign-in — popup, FedCM, or passkey on your origin. The redirect is optional:
response_mode=web_messageposts the code back to your page, FedCM shows an Obelisk prompt inline, and WebAuthn related origins let the passkey ceremony run on your domain with a direct grant — never an iframe, never a widened cookie. - Agent identities with public Proof Links. Agents enroll with their own runtime-held key (Obelisk never receives it), a passkey-holding owner stays accountable, and anyone can inspect the bounded live evidence at an opaque, revocable proof link. Reading a Proof Link needs no Obelisk account.
- A live, public security score for the Gate itself. The Obelisk Rating is the Gate's own security, scored 0–100 from hundreds of live signal points and shown on its homepage. It rates the Gate, not your app or your sign-in page.
- Tamper-evident, hash-chained receipts. Sign-ins, tokens and grants are written as hash-chained receipts, anchored under an ES256-signed ledger head you can check against our published JWKS. Save the head and its anchor count: a later count that went down, or a different head at the same count, shows the record was cut short or replaced. Consistency proofs between heads aren't published yet.
- Receipt-level inclusion proofs.
GET /api/proof/<hash>returns a receipt's position in the ledger and a Merkle inclusion proof you can recompute yourself. The proof's root is computed from the receipts ledger when you ask and isn't yet part of the signed ledger head, so a match shows the receipt is in the ledger we serve today; saving the head is a separate check. Sign-in history is kept in a separate ledger that this check doesn't search. - Off-box disaster recovery. Disaster recovery is built on encrypted off-box backups with a recovery-time objective of ~15 minutes (a target; the status page shows what is measured). For a lost device, a backup passkey on a second device is the recovery that works on its own.
- Per-sign-in pricing. Every billed sign-in is recorded as a receipt you can check. It is not the cheapest option for sign-in alone; see /pricing.
Together they make sign-in a part of your stack you can check rather than take on trust. See the full trust case →
Frequently asked questions
Is Obelisk an Auth0 alternative?
Yes. Auth0 is a broad, highly configurable IAM platform; Obelisk is a focused, passkey-first identity provider that emphasizes security you can check — hash-chained receipts and a live, public security score for the Gate itself. For teams who value an audit trail they can check over maximum configurability, Obelisk is a strong alternative.
Can I migrate from Auth0 to Obelisk?
Yes for your apps: both speak OpenID Connect. Passwords don't carry over: each of your users creates a passkey the first time they sign in through Obelisk (while new accounts are by invitation, that first sign-in needs one). The integration shape is familiar: register your app, send users to Obelisk to authenticate, verify the ID token, and map the subject id to your records. Obelisk's pricing is per-passage rather than per-MAU — you pay for each audited sign-in, and the one toll covers more than sign-in (receipts, backup passkeys, agent records and website security checks).
How does Obelisk pricing compare to Auth0's?
Auth0 bills per monthly active user: each user who signs in during the month counts once. Obelisk bills per audited passage — a successful, interactive sign-in — and every billable passage is recorded as a hash-chained receipt. The /pricing calculator sets the toll beside Auth0's published list prices, with the source linked.
See it for yourself
Ready to compare in practice? Integrate Obelisk · See the Gate Toll pricing · Add the verified seal · Create your account.
Still weighing options? Head back to the full comparison hub to see Obelisk against every provider at a glance.