Ory vs WorkOS
Ory is a European alternative to WorkOS: same security & identity use case, headquartered in Germany and governed by EU GDPR, while WorkOS is based in the United States.
By the EU Alternatives team Last updated
Modular open-source identity stack covering CIAM, B2B IAM, workforce, and AI agent identities, with trillion-scale stateless architecture and a managed SaaS option.
- Jurisdiction
- EU / EEA
- Primary privacy law
- EU GDPR
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- No
- Open source
- Yes
- Free tier
- No
Enterprise SSO, SCIM directory sync and audit logs are the checkboxes that unblock a large deal, and this ships them in days rather than quarters. AuthKit stays free up to a million monthly active users, but every SAML or SCIM connection is 125 dollars a month at the low end, which climbs fast once enterprise logos pile up. WorkOS, Inc. is an American company and disputes fall to the courts of California.
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- GDPR by default
- Requires DPA + TIA
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- Yes
Ory vs WorkOS at a glance
| Ory | WorkOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Germany | United States |
| Data jurisdiction | EU / EEA | United States |
| Primary privacy law | EU GDPR | Requires DPA + transfer assessment |
| US CLOUD Act exposure | No | Yes |
| Best for | Teams that need security & identity built for European data-protection requirements | Teams already invested in the WorkOS ecosystem |
Choose Ory if…
- You want a provider governed by a European privacy regime
- GDPR or public-sector data-protection requirements apply to you
- Open-source code and self-hosting matter to you
- You'd rather back the European tech ecosystem
Stick with WorkOS if…
- You depend on integrations only available in the WorkOS ecosystem
- Your organisation has no EU data-residency constraints
- Migration costs outweigh the jurisdiction benefits for now
About Ory
Ory is an open-source identity and access management platform built for modern, cloud-native architectures. Its modular, headless design lets teams compose exactly the identity stack they need, from customer login flows to B2B delegated access to machine identities for AI agents.
The Ory ecosystem includes Kratos (identity management), Hydra (OAuth 2.0/OIDC server), Keto (permissions), and Oathkeeper (reverse proxy). Each can be deployed independently or combined via Ory Network, the fully managed SaaS. With stateless horizontal scaling, the platform is proven at 2.5+ billion identities.
Key features:
- CIAM, B2B IAM, Workforce IAM, and Agent IAM with purpose-built flows for each use case
- Headless architecture that lets you bring your own UI and integrate into any stack
- Modular OSS components spanning Kratos, Hydra, Keto, and Oathkeeper (Apache 2.0)
- Ory Network, a fully managed cloud with zero-ops deployment
- Trillion-scale stateless horizontal scaling with full observability
- AI agent identities purpose-built for securing non-human actors
- Enterprise license for on-premises deployment with premium support
Used by OpenAI, Société Générale, Mistral AI, Axel Springer, and commercetools. The full stack is open source, auditable, and self-hostable, with Ory Network for teams that want a managed option.
Why choose Ory over WorkOS?
The decisive argument is data jurisdiction. WorkOS is headquartered in the United States, which means personal data processed through it can be subject to non-EU legal regimes: the US CLOUD Act, FISA 702, or similar laws depending on the provider. After the 2020 Schrems II ruling, EU organisations must carry out a transfer impact assessment for every such data flow.
Ory removes that overhead. As a Germany-based provider, it operates under EU GDPR, and data stays inside the EU/EEA by default. For regulated sectors such as health, public administration, and finance, that's not a nice-to-have but a requirement. For everyone else, it's concentration-risk insurance: you avoid depending on a single jurisdiction that can change the rules without warning.