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SaaS Management

Top Cerby Competitors and Alternatives in 2025

Looking for a Cerby alternative? Compare the top disconnected app governance tools in 2025.

Published on Jul 07, 2025 | 25 minutes

Authentication helps you log in. SaaS management enables you to clean up the mess.

Disconnected apps are a real pain. They don’t support SSO or SCIM. They show up outside of your identity provider. And they’re often where compliance issues, shadow tools, and forgotten access start to stack up.

Cerby helps with that by letting you wrap up those login flows and share access more securely.

However, by 2025, most IT teams will no longer struggle to access apps.
They’re struggling to figure out who’s still in them.

  • Contractors who left two months ago? Still active.
  • Shared marketing logins? Still open.
  • AI tools from someone’s browser extension? No one told IT.
  • License renewals? Still being paid for tools no one uses.

These aren’t authentication problems.
They’re SaaS cleanup problems. And solving them takes more than just securing login screens.

This blog covers 14 tools that offer various ways to manage disconnected or challenging-to-manage apps. Some focus on access control. Others offer clever login wrappers. But if you’re looking to reduce risk, save money, and get your SaaS stack under control, the solution isn’t just better authentication.

It’s better SaaS management.

Best Cerby Alternatives in 2025

Tool

Best for 

Stitchflow

Full-stack SaaS governance, license cleanup, and offboarding across connected and disconnected apps

miniOrange Legacy SSO

Retrofitting SSO and MFA onto legacy systems without changing app code

PingGateway

Reverse proxy-based enforcement for legacy and non-standard web apps

ForgeRock Identity Gateway

Hybrid access control across APIs, web UIs, and legacy tools

OpenIAM rProxy

LDAP and HR-driven policies for internal legacy applications

Strata Identity

Identity orchestration across multiple IDPs and modern/legacy apps

Okta Legacy Integration Patterns

Extending governance from Okta into apps lacking SAML/SCIM support

VaultOne

Secure delegation and session auditing for privileged access environments

Uniqkey

Passwordless access for shadow IT and team-managed credentials

CyberArk Identity

Zero-trust enforcement across cloud, endpoints, and legacy systems

Pomerium

Policy-as-code for internal apps and dashboards via reverse proxy

Keycloak

Open-source identity management for hybrid and legacy environments

Authelia

Lightweight, self-hosted auth proxy for dev teams securing internal tools

Aglide

Time-boxed access and clickstream tracking for ad platforms and social tools

Why Your Real Alternative Isn’t Just Another Authentication Fix

Cerby and most of its competitors were built for one primary use case: providing IT with a way to delegate access to apps that don’t support SSO or SCIM.

And for a while, that worked.

But delegation doesn’t solve governance. It doesn’t tell you:

  • Who has access across your entire stack
  • Whether they should still have it
  • What’s unused, risky, or out of policy
  • Or how to actually clean it up without chasing approvals across Slack

Modern IT teams don’t just need access bridges. They need cleanup engines.

The real problem isn’t just identity integration. It’s lifecycle misalignment:

  • Contractors still have access after offboarding
  • Finance renews licenses that no one’s used in months
  • Marketing spins up AI tools that Security can’t see
  • Spreadsheets, Jira tickets, and manual surveys remain the only way to “review access.”

Solving this doesn’t require another tool that wraps login flows in a proxy.

It requires a different approach, one built around complete visibility, usage-based governance, remediation without integrations, and automation that works across every app, not just those that speak SCIM.

That’s where Stitchflow comes in.

1. Stitchflow: Why Forcing Everything Through SSO Isn’t the Only Answer

Best for:
IT and security teams managing SaaS sprawl, offboarding gaps, shadow AI, and complex access reviews across every app, not just those with integrations.

G2 Rating: 4.8/5
(Known for remediation, automation, and full-service delivery)

Stitchflow_Home.png

Stitchflow is not an authentication tool.

It’s a SaaS management platform built for real-world mess:
Multiple identity providers. Contractors cycling in and out. Apps adopted without approval. Browser-based AI tools. Longtail software with no admin panel.

You’re not just trying to control how people log in. You’re trying to:

  • See every account that exists
  • Know who it belongs to
  • Understand if it’s still needed
  • Clean it up without chasing people down

That’s what Stitchflow does—across every tool in your stack.

How it works: Powered by your IT Graph

At the core of Stitchflow is something we call the IT Graph:
A map that connects your users, apps, accounts, and licenses—whether they come from Okta, Google Workspace, a CSV export, or even a browser extension.

This graph isn’t built from ideal integrations.
It’s built from the messy, real-world data you already have—inconsistent usernames, exported usage logs, disconnected tools, HR spreadsheets, and more.

Once that IT Graph is in place, Stitchflow layers automation on top:

  • Flags risk: Inactive accounts, missing owners, mismatched access
  • Triggers cleanup: Sends Slack surveys, suggests license reclamation, or removes stale accounts
  • Maintains audit trails: Every action is logged and traceable for compliance

And because the graph isn’t dependent on APIs, it works even if:

  • The app doesn’t support SCIM or SAML
  • There’s no admin dashboard
  • Access was granted manually
  • You’re managing accounts via spreadsheets or tickets

Instead of relying on perfect integrations, Stitchflow uses the IT Graph to unify your whole environment and then helps you take action on what matters.

What makes Stitchflow different from tools like Cerby

 

Cerby and others

Stitchflow

Focus

Login control for non-SSO apps

Lifecycle cleanup for every SaaS account

Setup

Configure per app

Covers the whole stack from day one

Scope

App-by-app login wrapping

Full user, license, and usage map

Remediation 

Manual or delegated

Automated, bulk, and multi-app

Visibility

Limited to apps you configure

100% SaaS visibility—even disconnected

Cerby helps users log in. Stitchflow helps IT clean up what’s no longer needed.

“We didn’t need another dashboard. We needed action. Stitchflow deprovisioned 93% of 812 orphaned SaaS accounts before our renewal deadline. It paid for itself in one sprint.”

— Edwin Katabaro, CISO, Turing

Key capabilities

  • Contractor Lifecycle Automation
    Automatically offboards users based on HRIS data, inactivity, or closed tickets. Especially helpful for high-churn contractor environments.

     
  • Slack Surveys
    Skip the spreadsheet. Stitchflow asks users directly if they still need access, right in Slack, with a one-click yes/no option.

     
  • License Reclamation
    Finds unused licenses (even in apps with no integrations) and helps you reclaim or downgrade them before renewal.

     
  • Access Matrix
    A complete map of who has access to what, how they got it, and whether that access is still valid across domains and IDPs.

     
  • Shadow AI Detection
    Automatically detects unauthorized tools, such as Otter, Notion AI, or ChatGPT extensions, being used without IT visibility.

     
  • Audit-Ready Logs
    Every action, removal, approval, and reclamation is tracked and exportable for SOC 2, ISO, or internal audits.

     
  • Multi-IDP & Multi-domain Support
    Works across Okta, Google Workspace, Azure AD, and more, ideal for orgs with multiple business units or domains.

     
  • No-admin, no-API app coverage
    Even if a tool has no integrations, Stitchflow can still detect and manage access using uploads, exports, and manual workflows.

👉 See Stitchflow in action

Why IT teams prefer Stitchflow

  • Works where integrations don’t: Many apps simply don’t support SCIM or SSO. Stitchflow covers 100% of apps.
  • No more chasing: Replace Slack threads, spreadsheets, and email approvals with proactive automation.
  • Zero-lift onboarding: The Stitchflow team sets it up, maps your apps, and tunes the automations for you.
  • Fleet-wide remediation: You don’t have to manage apps one at a time. Stitchflow runs a cleanup across your entire SaaS environment.

2. miniOrange Legacy SSO

Best for:
Organizations that need to retrofit modern SSO, MFA, and conditional access policies onto legacy web or desktop applications without modifying the app code.

G2 Rating: 4.6/5
(Highly rated for easy deployment and strong security controls)

miniOrange.png

Overview:
miniOrange acts as a flexible access layer for legacy systems. It works through either a reverse proxy or a lightweight endpoint agent that intercepts and redirects authentication flows when a user attempts to log in to a legacy app. MiniOrange steps in, rerouting the request to its centralized platform, enforcing SAML/OIDC protocols, MFA, and custom access rules.

What makes miniOrange effective is its ability to add governance without directly touching brittle or outdated systems. You can impose security policies, such as IP-based rules, time-of-day access, and even concurrent session blocks, on tools that otherwise offer no such controls.

Feature Breakdown:

  • Agentless (Proxy) Mode: Redirects login traffic via DNS or load balancer routing to enforce centralized access policies.
  • Agent Mode: Captures and enforces credentials on desktop apps via a lightweight agent.
  • Conditional Policies: Rules based on session context time, device, geolocation, etc.
  • Authentication Flexibility: Supports SAML, OIDC, LDAP, RADIUS, OTP, and social login.
  • Session Management: Track idle timeouts, concurrent logins, and session logs.

Use-case:
A financial institution has a legacy accounting system built 15 years ago with no modern auth support. Instead of rewriting the app, they deploy miniOrange in proxy mode and enforce step-up MFA, blocking logins outside business hours or from unmanaged devices.

Pros:

  • Doesn’t require changes to the legacy app code
  • Flexible policy creation with broad identity protocol support
  • Can enforce modern controls on even local or desktop-based apps

Cons:

  • Agent setup may be required for non-HTTP(S) applications
  • DNS or proxy configuration complexity in hybrid environments

3. PingGateway

Best for:
Enterprises securing legacy applications with a reverse proxy, without modifying the applications themselves.

G2 Rating: 4.5/5
(Valued for seamless integration with legacy infrastructure and flexible policy enforcement)

PingGateway.png

Overview:
PingGateway is part of Ping Identity’s suite and operates as a secure reverse proxy. It intercepts traffic between users and legacy applications, inserting authentication, session validation, and access control logic before requests reach the app.

It integrates deeply with PingFederate and other Ping services, enabling shared session management, risk signals, and multi-factor authentication flows, all without modifying the original codebase. This makes it a practical drop-in enforcement point in environments where modifying the app is not an option.

Feature Breakdown:

  • Transparent Proxy Mode: Secure access without app rewrites.
  • Contextual Access Controls: Enforce MFA, geolocation blocks, device trust, and time-based access.
  • Credential Replay: Automatically enters stored credentials for legacy logins.
  • Integration with PingFederate: Full access to broader identity flows and session policies.
  • Session Tracking: Monitors and logs all interactions for audit purposes.

Use-case:
A healthcare provider utilizes PingGateway to secure a patient record system that was built in the early 2000s. Now, only authorized staff in a specific geographic region can log in during their designated shift window, and each login is recorded for HIPAA audit trails.

Pros:

  • Drop-in enforcement for legacy systems
  • Deep integration with modern identity infrastructure (PingFederate)
  • Supports granular, contextual policy enforcement

Cons:

  • Works best in environments already invested in the Ping Identity stack
  • Performance may depend on proxy placement and app latency

4. ForgeRock Identity Gateway (IG)

Best for:
Large enterprises managing APIs, legacy web apps, and browser UIs under a single, policy-based access control layer.

G2 Rating: 4.4/5
(Praised for flexibility in hybrid environments and fine-grained policy control)

Overview:
ForgeRock IG serves as an intelligent edge gateway, wrapping access control, authentication workflows, and user-specific transformations around web applications and APIs. It’s designed to secure both legacy and modern apps from a central policy engine, ideal for teams consolidating multiple environments under unified governance.

Unlike delegation-based models, ForgeRock IG applies behavior-based authentication, dynamic data masking, and header injections to route access securely and contextually, even when the backend apps don’t support it natively.

Feature Breakdown:

  • Adaptive Authentication: Login flows change based on user behavior or session context.
  • Content Filtering & Credential Injection: Control what gets passed to the app, and how.
  • Support for APIs, Web UIs, and Legacy Interfaces: Unified control across channels.
  • TLS, WebAuthn, and SSO Support: Modern protocols wrapped around old systems.
  • Flow Customization UI: Drag-and-drop access rules and integration design.

Use-case:
A SaaS company manages customer logins across a dozen legacy portals. Using ForgeRock IG, they consolidate all flows into a single UI and layer WebAuthn and conditional logic over each customer segment, enforcing stronger controls for higher-risk tenants.

Pros:

  • Centralized governance across hybrid systems
  • Visual flow designer accelerates access rule setup
  • Supports both modern and legacy protocols seamlessly

Cons:

  • Requires more upfront setup than simpler proxy tools
  • Best suited for teams with IAM expertise or ForgeRock ecosystem experience

5. OpenIAM rProxy

Best for:
Mid-to-large enterprises with internal legacy apps that lack support for identity standards like SAML or SCIM.

G2 Rating: 4.5/5
(Respected for its flexibility and centralized governance capabilities)

OpenIAM.png

Overview:
OpenIAM’s reverse proxy (rProxy) provides a centralized access enforcement point for apps that can’t natively integrate with modern identity protocols. It intercepts all inbound web traffic, evaluates it against policies derived from LDAP, HR systems, or multifactor rules, and only then allows requests to proceed to the backend application.

What sets OpenIAM apart is its deep HR-aware policy engine. Access decisions can be based not only on group membership or MFA but also on employee tenure, job changes, or contract end dates, making it a helpful option for organizations seeking to align governance with their real-world organizational structure.

Feature Breakdown:

  • Centralized Proxy Enforcement: Adds security to legacy systems without app rewrites.
  • HR-Driven Policies: Connects to HRIS to allow/deny access based on employment status or role.
  • Multi-Step Auth Flows: Enforce CAPTCHA, adaptive MFA, or device checks before access.
  • Audit Logging: Capture session activity, access events, and decisions for audit readiness.
  • Plugin Compatibility: Works with Azure AD, Okta, Splunk, and others to extend functionality.

Use-case:
An insurance company with multiple legacy portals uses OpenIAM rProxy to enforce MFA and HR-based access logic, ensuring that only active employees can access sensitive tools, and automatically revoking access on the last working day based on HR signals.

Pros:

  • Deep policy logic that includes HR context
  • Centralized governance for non-SAML apps
  • Compatible with multiple identity platforms

Cons:

  • Proxy configuration may be complex in highly distributed environments
  • Interface and UX are more infrastructure-focused land ess intuitive for non-IAM teams

6. Strata Identity (Strata.io)

Best for:
Organizations with hybrid or multi-IDP environments needing unified governance across legacy and modern systems.

G2 Rating: 4.6/5
(Frequently praised for multi-cloud orchestration and IDP abstraction)

Strata.png

Overview:
Strata isn’t a proxy or an SSO provider; it’s an identity orchestration layer. Its “Identity Fabric” abstracts the identity logic away from individual apps, enabling you to define governance policies that operate across multiple identity providers (IDPs), including legacy and modern systems.

Where Cerby and others offer delegation per app, Strata connects identity systems at a higher level. This allows enforcement of access controls without needing to reconfigure the application or rebuild login workflows. It also helps unify access decisions across fragmented tech stacks, useful post-M&A, or in multi-cloud environments.

Feature Breakdown:

  • Identity Fabric: Connects legacy, cloud, and disconnected systems under a unified access plane.
  • Cross-IDP Policy Engine: Standardizes governance across Okta, Azure AD, Ping, and others.
  • Behavioral Risk Scoring: Enforces access based on contextual data like session behavior or device posture.
  • MFA Bridging: Applies MFA consistently across IDPs and applications, even when native support is missing.
  • Shadow SaaS Detection: Uses telemetry to identify unauthorized app adoption across departments.

Use-case:
A multinational conglomerate, which uses 12+ identity providers post-acquisition, utilizes Strata to unify access rules across these providers. Employees across all subsidiaries are now governed by the same set of risk-based policies, regardless of the authentication system used.

Pros:

  • Abstracts identity from the application level — no need to touch apps
  • Excellent for cross-IDP and multi-cloud organizations
  • Adds governance logic across previously unconnected systems

Cons:

  • Requires architectural investment to deploy and orchestrate
  • Best fit for mature IT orgs with multiple IDPs, overkill for smaller stacks

7. Okta (Legacy App Integration Patterns)

Best for:
Teams already using Okta that want to extend identity control into legacy or unmanaged tools.

G2 Rating: 4.4/5
(Recognized for its mature ecosystem and wide integration options)

Okta.png

Overview:
While Okta is primarily known for managing cloud-based apps via SAML and SCIM, it also offers legacy integration patterns that help bring older or unmanaged tools into scope. These include Secure Web Authentication (SWA), RADIUS + MFA, and API scripting workarounds for apps that don’t support modern standards.

Unlike dedicated governance engines, Okta’s approach focuses on identity extension, ensuring access is at least centralized and credential use is logged, even if full lifecycle management isn’t possible.

Feature Breakdown:

  • SWA (Secure Web Auth): Password vaulting + credential injection for apps without SSO.
  • RADIUS + MFA: Adds strong auth to network-based or desktop apps.
  • API Scripts: Create custom integrations for niche or proprietary tools.
  • Session Logging: Monitors user activity and login timestamps.
  • Password Rotation Policies: Enforces regular credential updates across unmanaged apps.

Use-case:
A managed IT services provider uses Okta SWA to manage access to legacy tax filing software across dozens of client environments. Credentials are injected automatically and rotated per policy, with audit logs sent to Splunk for compliance tracking.

Pros:

  • Extends Okta’s value into legacy spaces
  • Good fit for organizations standardizing on Okta
  • Basic governance, even for apps without API support

Cons:

  • Not a full governance layer, mainly addresses authentication and credential security
  • Management can become manual at scale without Stitchflow-style automation

8. VaultOne

Best for:
Organizations seeking to secure privileged access across apps, servers, and databases, especially where shared credentials are still common.

G2 Rating: 4.5/5
(Valued for session monitoring, vaulting, and privileged access enforcement)

VaultOne.png

Overview:
VaultOne is a privileged access management (PAM) platform designed for environments where shared credentials, sensitive admin roles, or elevated privileges are common. Instead of just vaulting passwords, VaultOne emphasizes session control and auditability, enforcing just-in-time access and recording every user session.

It’s particularly useful in disconnected or legacy environments where users must still access high-risk tools, such as internal servers, cloud consoles, or client-owned apps, and where standard SCIM-based provisioning isn’t possible.

Feature Breakdown:

  • Credential Vaulting & Rotation: Store and auto-rotate secrets so that users never see the password.
  • Invisible Credential Injection: Authenticate users directly into apps or terminals.
  • Session Monitoring: Record every privileged session, including video and keystrokes.
  • Access Approvals: Role-based request flows for elevated or time-boxed access.
  • Alerts & Enforcement: Trigger alerts or revocations when abnormal behavior is detected.

Use-case:
A DevOps team that manages cloud environments for clients uses VaultOne to inject AWS root credentials during deployment sessions. Sessions are recorded in full, and access is time-limited, reducing the chance of misuse while ensuring full auditability.

Pros:

  • Strong session visibility and accountability
  • Ideal for high-risk access where credentials must be tightly controlled
  • Reduces insider threats via invisible injection + time-boxing

Cons:

  • Focused on privileged access rather than full SaaS lifecycle governance
  • May overlap with existing PAM tools in enterprise stacks

9. Uniqkey

Best for:
Small to mid-sized European teams managing shadow IT apps and team-shared credentials without a formal identity stack.

G2 Rating: 4.5/5
(Highlighted for ease of use, passwordless flows, and strong device-based authentication)

Uniqkey.png

Overview:
Uniqkey is a lightweight access control platform designed for small teams that rely on numerous unmanaged SaaS apps, especially tools where credentials are shared among team members. Instead of offering proxies or delegation like Cerby, Uniqkey secures these flows through device-based identity, encrypted vaulting, and one-click session launches.

Users authenticate using trusted devices (e.g., laptops or phones), launch the app directly from the vault, and never see the credentials. It’s simple, secure, and doesn’t require complex integrations.

Feature Breakdown:

  • Device-Based Authentication: Ties access to a physical, verified device — no password exposure.
  • Encrypted Vaulting: Credentials are stored securely and can only be accessed via session launch.
  • Granular Sharing: Share specific app sessions with teammates or groups — revoke anytime.
  • Activity Monitoring: View detailed logs of who accessed what and when.
  • Zero-Knowledge Architecture: Even Uniqkey can’t see stored credentials.

Use-case:
A 15-person marketing agency needs to manage dozens of ad platform logins (Meta Ads, Google Ads, SEMrush). With Uniqkey, they assign session-based access to freelancers for each platform without sharing credentials and track all session activity for client reporting.

Pros:

  • Very easy to use — great for non-technical teams
  • Strong passwordless security for shared apps
  • Clean audit trails for accountability

Cons:

  • Focused on shared credentials, not full identity governance
  • Limited automation for offboarding or SaaS cleanup

10. CyberArk Identity

Best for:
Large enterprises applying zero-trust security across SaaS apps, endpoints, and disconnected legacy systems.

G2 Rating: 4.5/5
(Strong ratings for security posture enforcement and full access visibility)

CyberARK.png

Overview:
CyberArk Identity extends traditional identity and privileged access management (PAM) into hybrid and disconnected environments. Unlike delegation tools like Cerby, it offers real-time enforcementsession auditing, and continuous authentication even for legacy apps or desktop software.

What makes CyberArk powerful is its combination of endpoint agents and centralized policy logic. You can monitor how apps are launched, track behavior inside sessions, and revoke access dynamically based on posture, identity, or detected risk.

Feature Breakdown:

  • MFA for All Access Points: Desktop, SaaS, VPNs, all access is secured.
  • Endpoint Agents: Enforce rules based on app launches or device status.
  • Session Recording: Full video and keystroke logs for privileged activity.
  • Behavior-Based Revocation: Revoke access in real-time based on risky behavior.
  • Privileged Role Management: Escalate access only when needed, never permanent.

Use-case:
A global bank with both thick-client trading apps and browser-based risk dashboards uses CyberArk to secure all entry points. Traders are granted just enough access, and their sessions are fully monitored for insider threat protection.

Pros:

  • Full zero-trust security for hybrid environments
  • Detailed behavioral insight into privileged sessions
  • Works across thick clients, SaaS, and legacy tools

Cons:

  • Requires endpoint agent deployment for full-value
  • More security-focused than SaaS lifecycle governance

11. Pomerium

Best for:
DevOps and platform engineering teams that need policy-as-code enforcement for internal tools, dashboards, or staging environments.

G2 Rating: 4.6/5
(Noted for developer-friendliness, GitOps compatibility, and lightweight design)

Pomerium.png

Overview:
Pomerium is a modern reverse proxy that enforces access control at the edge using policy-as-code. It’s designed for technical teams that want full control over who accesses what, not through a dashboard but through version-controlled configuration.

Instead of relying on third-party access platforms, Pomerium lets you define rules directly in config files or Git repos, using identity claims, request headers, paths, and environmental context (e.g., time, device). It’s a favorite among infrastructure teams looking to integrate access enforcement into CI/CD and GitOps workflows.

Feature Breakdown:

  • OIDC/OAuth2 Authentication: Authenticate users via providers like GitHub, Google, and Okta.
  • Per-Path Access Policies: Grant access based on route, headers, user groups, or teams.
  • Zero-Trust Enforcement: Combine user identity, device posture, and context into logic.
  • Header Injection: Pass identity attributes to backend apps to support downstream auth.
  • Config-as-Code: Store access logic in Git trackable, auditable, and CI-compatible.

Use-case:
An engineering org uses Pomerium to govern access to staging environments, Grafana dashboards, and internal admin panels. Developers commit policy changes via Git, review access requests via pull requests, and roll out changes using CI/CD — without ever touching a UI.

Pros:

  • Full policy control with no vendor lock-in
  • Excellent for internal services, staging, or developer portals
  • Works in Kubernetes-native and GitOps pipelines

Cons:

  • Requires engineering effort to configure and maintain
  • Not designed for non-technical users or centralized IT teams

12. Keycloak

Best for:
Organizations seeking a fully open-source identity and access platform for both modern and legacy systems, with total control.

G2 Rating: 4.4/5
(Appreciated for extensibility, federated identity support, and cost flexibility)

Keycloak.png

Overview:
Keycloak is a self-hosted identity and access management platform maintained by Red Hat. It supports all modern identity protocols (OIDC, SAML, OAuth2) and offers adapters for securing legacy apps. Unlike proprietary tools, Keycloak gives teams complete control over login flows, identity federation, access rules, and user provisioning.

You can customize nearly every aspect of the auth experience, from passwordless logins to multi-factor flows to integration with LDAP or Active Directory. For companies with in-house development or platform teams, Keycloak can replace both SSO and access governance tools with full transparency.

Feature Breakdown:

  • Flexible Login Flows: Customize auth with passwordless, CAPTCHA, or multi-step logic.
  • Federation Support: Integrates with LDAP, Active Directory, and external IDPs.
  • Role & Group-Based Access: Fine-grained control over who gets what.
  • Adapters for Legacy Apps: Wrap older apps with Keycloak-based auth without rewriting them.
  • Admin UI & APIs: Manage users, clients, roles, and sessions from code or console.

Use-case:
A fintech startup uses Keycloak to provide SSO for modern apps, connect to Azure AD for internal employees, and enforce OTP-based logins on a legacy Java portal, all self-hosted with zero vendor fees.

Pros:

  • Open-source with no licensing lock-in
  • Extreme flexibility for custom environments
  • Supports both modern and legacy systems

Cons:

  • Requires operational expertise to deploy, scale, and secure
  • Updates and patches are self-managed

13. Authelia

Best for:
Small teams and DevOps engineers securing internal services (Grafana, Jenkins, dashboards) via lightweight, self-hosted authentication.

G2 Rating: 4.3/5
(Widely adopted in the self-hosting and DevOps community)

Authleia.png

Overview:
Authelia is a modern authentication gateway designed for internal, self-hosted environments. It sits in front of your services (such as Grafana, Prometheus, and Nextcloud) and enforces multi-factor authenticationgroup-based rules, and access policies, all defined in a YAML configuration file.

It doesn’t offer a GUI or delegation features like Cerby, but it’s extremely efficient, minimal, and ideal for Kubernetes-native environments or teams running their own infrastructure.

Feature Breakdown:

  • 2FA with TOTP, SMS, or Email: Supports multiple second-factor flows.
  • Reverse Proxy Protection: Works with NGINX, Traefik, or HAProxy.
  • Flat File Configuration: Identity and access policies are defined in YAML.
  • Self-Hosting: No external dependencies, full control over runtime.
  • Audit Logging: Tracks access events via syslog or flat files.

Use-case:
A 5-person SRE team uses Authelia to protect internal dashboards and VPN entry points. They store access logic in Git, enforce TOTP for all users, and run Authelia as a container alongside their reverse proxy stack.

Pros:

  • Simple, reliable, and resource-light
  • Ideal for DevOps teams managing internal services
  • Full access control with no third-party dependency

Cons:

  • No delegation, no GUI — requires YAML + Git literacy
  • Not designed for enterprise-wide user governance

14. Aglide

Best for:
Agencies and distributed marketing teams managing short-term access to ad platforms, social tools, and shared SaaS accounts.

G2 Rating: N/A
(Early-stage tool gaining traction for access accountability and temporary session control)

Aglide.png

Overview:
Aglide isn’t trying to replace your SSO or proxy. Instead, it focuses on temporary accessaudit trails, and user session tracking for environments where apps can’t be integrated via SCIM or SAML.

It’s built for high-turnover teams, such as agencies or contractors, who need access to shared SaaS tools (think: Meta Ads Manager, LinkedIn Campaigns) without having to hand out credentials. Admins grant time-boxed access, sessions are clickstream-tracked, and credentials are never exposed to end users.

Feature Breakdown:

  • Time-Limited Access Windows: Grant access for 2–6 hours, then auto-expire.
  • Clickstream Recording: Log every action, click, and scroll during a session.
  • Approval Flows: Require admin approval for each new access request.
  • Auto-Termination: Cut access at the end of the session or when risk is detected.
  • No Credential Sharing: Users never see or manage passwords.

Use-case:
A global ad agency gives temporary access to LinkedIn and Google Ads for 50 freelancers using Aglide. Sessions are granted per campaign, automatically revoked, and fully logged, preventing compliance risk and client data exposure.

Pros:

  • Solves short-term access governance elegantly
  • Clickstream logs provide strong accountability
  • Reduces the risk of leaked/shared credentials

Cons:

  • Not designed for full-stack SaaS governance
  • Still maturing fewer enterprise controls than mature tools

Conclusion: Authentication fixes part of the problem. SaaS management fixes all of it.

Cerby and tools like it were built to solve a very real challenge: Controlling access to apps that don’t support SSO or SCIM.

For teams that only need to share logins more securely or wrap legacy tools with authentication, many of the products in this list can help.

But if you’re dealing with:

  • Contractors who still have app access after offboarding
  • License renewals for tools no one’s using
  • AI plug-ins and browser apps no one told IT about
  • Spreadsheets full of accounts that don’t match any system of record

…you’re not facing an authentication problem.
You’re facing a SaaS management problem.

Authentication helps users log in. SaaS management helps IT clean up what’s no longer needed.

Stitchflow is built for the real day-to-day challenges IT teams face:

  • Finding hidden or unmanaged apps
  • Matching accounts to real people
  • Cleaning up unused access—automatically
  • And doing it across your entire stack, even without APIs or integrations

No extra dashboards. No chasing approvals. No waiting for quarterly reviews.

“We didn’t need another dashboard. We needed action. Stitchflow deprovisioned 93% of 812 orphaned SaaS accounts before our renewal deadline. It paid for itself in one sprint.”
— Edwin Katabaro, CISO, Turing

If you’re still relying on spreadsheets, screenshots, or Slack threads to answer, “Does this person still need access?” …it’s time for a better way.

👉 Book a demo and start fixing the SaaS mess where authentication tools stop.

Frequently asked questions

While Cerby is effective for shared access delegation, it lacks broad governance capabilities. It doesn’t provide full visibility into who has access across your SaaS stack, nor does it automate offboarding or compliance workflows at scale. Teams often outgrow it as their identity landscape becomes more complex.

Stitchflow governs all SaaS apps, not just a few disconnected ones. It reconciles usage, access, and licensing across SCIM and non-SCIM tools, automates offboarding, detects shadow IT usage, and offers a full-service model that requires minimal IT effort.

Not always. Many alternatives (like Stitchflow, miniOrange, or VaultOne) offer proxy-based or agentless modes that secure access without requiring the app to support modern protocols. Others rely on CSV uploads, session control, or behavioral detection.

Delegation means sharing access securely (e.g., a shared social media login). Governance means knowing who has access, validating if they should, revoking it when they shouldn’t, and proving it during audits. Most teams eventually need both, but governance is what ensures compliance and reduces risk at scale.

Jane is a writer at Stitchflow, creating clear and engaging content on IT visibility. With a background in technical writing and product marketing, she combines industry insights with impactful storytelling. Outside of work, she enjoys discovering new cafes, painting, and gaming.