# Workforce identity and SSO for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "workforce identity platform" and as "single sign-on and identity provider for employees", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/workforce-identity-and-sso/2026-10/smb

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/workforce-identity-and-sso/smb/index.md

**Standing:** JumpCloud leads with 48% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 56 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [JumpCloud](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/jumpcloud/index.md) | 48% | 3% | 69 |
| 2 | [Microsoft Entra ID](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-entra-id/index.md) | 32% | 9% | 75 |
| 3 | [Google Cloud Identity](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/google-cloud-identity/index.md) | 7% | 9% | 32 |
| 4 | [OneLogin](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/onelogin/index.md) | 5% | 9% | 34 |
| 5 | [Okta Workforce Identity](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/okta-workforce-identity/index.md) | 4% | 51% | 68 |
| 6 | [miniOrange](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/miniorange/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 15 |
| 8 | [Rippling IT](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/rippling-it/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 16 |
| 9 | [Auth0](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/auth0/index.md) | 0% | 20% | 15 |
| 49 | [Ping Identity](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/ping-identity/index.md) | 0% | 53% | 17 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 53 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: Microsoft Entra ID; alternatives Okta Workforce Identity, OneLogin
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: JumpCloud; alternatives Microsoft Entra ID, Okta Workforce Identity, Rippling IT
- Perplexity Sonar: JumpCloud; alternatives Microsoft Entra ID, Okta Workforce Identity, OneLogin
- Grok 4.20: JumpCloud; alternatives Microsoft Entra ID, Okta Workforce Identity
- Mistral Small: JumpCloud, OneLogin; alternatives SSOJet
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: JumpCloud; alternatives Auth0, Microsoft Entra ID, WorkOS
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: JumpCloud; alternatives Google Identity, Microsoft Entra ID, Okta Workforce Identity
- Kimi K2: JumpCloud; alternatives Google Cloud Identity, Microsoft Entra ID, Okta Workforce Identity, OneLogin
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: JumpCloud, Microsoft Entra ID; alternatives Entrust Identity as a Service, Okta Workforce Identity
- MiniMax M2.5: JumpCloud; alternatives Microsoft Entra ID, Okta Workforce Identity
- GPT-6 Luna: JumpCloud; alternatives Microsoft Entra ID, Okta Workforce Identity
- Muse Glimmer 30B: JumpCloud; alternatives Microsoft Entra ID, Okta Workforce Identity, Rippling IT, Zoho Directory

## Sources the answers cite

73 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- startwithidentity.com: 50 answers, 103 citations
- siit.io: 33 answers, 49 citations
- okta.com: 25 answers, 28 citations
- corma.io: 24 answers, 25 citations
- securityboulevard.com: 22 answers, 24 citations
- jumpcloud.com: 21 answers, 28 citations
- g2.com: 19 answers, 30 citations
- cybersecuritynews.com: 18 answers, 27 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://startwithidentity.com/rankings (25 answers)
- https://startwithidentity.com/rankings/best-iam-for-smb (24 answers)
- https://siit.io/blog/best-iam-tools (21 answers)
- https://corma.io/blog/top-10-iam-solutions-for-smbs-and-mid-size-companies-2026 (20 answers)
- https://securityboulevard.com/2025/12/top-12-identity-and-access-management-platforms (16 answers)
- https://jumpcloud.com/pricing (15 answers)
- https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-5-identity-as-a-service-platforms (15 answers)
- https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-6-workforce-identity-platforms (15 answers)
- https://almcorp.com/blog/best-identity-and-access-management-tools (14 answers)
- https://startwithidentity.com/articles/top-8-sso-solutions-smbs (14 answers)

## Warned against

- Okta Workforce Identity: 35 of 68 labels negative. "You don’t need Okta Enterprise ($2–$5+/user) for <50 employees unless you have complex compliance needs." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, budget prompt)
- Ping Identity: 9 of 17 labels negative. "Don’t choose an enterprise-grade platform (like Okta Enterprise or Ping Identity) if you’re a small team." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, budget prompt)
- CyberArk Identity: 7 of 9 labels negative. "Why to avoid: Explicitly designed for enterprises with dedicated security teams" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)
- Microsoft Entra ID: 7 of 75 labels negative. "only recommended if your business is already deeply invested in the Microsoft ecosystem. Otherwise, you may end up paying for duplicate licensing and face vendor lock-in" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: JumpCloud at 47%.

- Google Cloud Identity: 2% to 6%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 5 → 3 of 50.
- OneLogin: 2% to 6%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 4 of 50, unchanged.
- Microsoft Entra ID: 35% to 33%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 2 of 50, unchanged.
- Okta Workforce Identity: 6% to 4%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 3 → 5 of 50.
- JumpCloud: 48% to 47%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 1 of 50, unchanged.
- miniOrange: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 6 of 50, unchanged.
- Rippling IT: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 9 → 8 of 50.
- Auth0: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 10 → 9 of 50.
- Ping Identity: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 39 → 47 of 50.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.