Pricing overview

Ping Identity operates with a custom enterprise pricing model, rather than publicly listing standardized plans or fixed per-user rates on its website. This approach is common among vendors specializing in large-scale, complex identity and access management (IAM) and customer identity and access management (CIAM) solutions for enterprise clients. Prospective customers are directed to contact Ping Identity's sales team for specific quotations tailored to their organizational needs.

The cost of Ping Identity solutions is primarily influenced by several key factors:

  • Number of users: This is often the most significant determinant, whether it's for workforce identities (employees) or consumer identities (customers). Licensing models typically scale with the volume of users requiring access.
  • Specific products and features: Ping Identity offers a suite of products, including PingFederate for federation, PingAccess for access management, PingDirectory for user repositories, and various PingOne cloud services (SSO, MFA, Advanced Identity Verification). The selection and combination of these products directly impact the overall price.
  • Deployment model: Options include cloud-native (PingOne), on-premises, or hybrid deployments. Cloud-based services may involve subscription fees based on usage, while on-premises solutions could involve perpetual licenses with annual maintenance and support contracts.
  • Support and services: Enterprise-grade support, professional services for implementation, and ongoing managed services can be incorporated into the overall pricing.
  • Contract duration: Longer-term contracts may offer different pricing structures compared to shorter commitments.

Given the custom nature, organizations interested in Ping Identity should prepare a detailed list of their requirements, including target user counts, desired features, integration needs, and deployment preferences, before engaging with their sales representatives. This information helps Ping Identity provide a relevant and accurate proposal.

Plans and tiers

While Ping Identity does not publish distinct pricing plans or tiers, their offerings can be broadly categorized by product family and deployment model, which implicitly define different solution tiers with varying cost implications. The core product families include:

  • PingFederate: Enterprise federation server for SSO and API security.
  • PingAccess: Centralized access security for applications and APIs.
  • PingDirectory: High-performance directory server for identity data.
  • PingOne Platform: A suite of cloud-delivered identity services, including:
    • PingOne SSO: Cloud-based single sign-on.
    • PingOne MFA: Multi-factor authentication services.
    • PingOne Advanced Identity Verification: Digital identity proofing.
    • PingOne Risk: Adaptive authentication based on risk signals.
    • PingOne DaVinci: Orchestration for identity journeys.

Each of these products, whether deployed on-premises or consumed as a cloud service, contributes to the overall solution cost. The modular nature allows enterprises to build custom identity platforms, selecting only the components necessary for their specific requirements. For instance, a company might implement PingFederate and PingAccess on-premises for workforce identity, while simultaneously using PingOne MFA for customer-facing applications.

The following table illustrates a conceptual breakdown of how different solution components might be structured, recognizing that actual pricing is entirely custom:

Solution Component (Conceptual) Typical Pricing Model Key Considerations Best Suited For
Workforce IAM (On-premises) User-based license + maintenance/support High security regulations, existing infrastructure, custom integration needs Large enterprises with specific compliance or infrastructure requirements for employee identities
CIAM (Cloud-native PingOne) Monthly/annual subscription per active user or transaction volume Scalability for millions of customer identities, quick deployment, reduced operational overhead Businesses needing to manage customer identities, improve user experience, and secure customer data at scale
Hybrid IAM (Mix of On-prem & Cloud) Combined licensing, often custom quote Migrating from legacy systems, leveraging existing investments while adopting cloud identity Organizations with complex IT landscapes, gradual cloud adoption strategies, or diverse identity needs
Advanced Security Features (e.g., MFA, Risk) Add-on subscription or feature-based licensing Enhancing security posture, meeting regulatory requirements for stronger authentication Any enterprise needing to bolster security beyond basic authentication

Free tier and limits

Ping Identity does not publicly offer a free tier, free trial, or developer sandbox for its full suite of enterprise identity products. This aligns with its focus on large enterprise clients who typically engage in direct sales consultations for proofs-of-concept and customized evaluations rather than self-service trials.

For developers or organizations seeking to evaluate Ping Identity's capabilities, the direct approach is to contact their sales department to discuss potential evaluation licenses or tailored demonstrations. Access to documentation and developer guides is generally public, but hands-on product interaction typically requires a commercial engagement.

Real-world cost examples

Due to the confidential nature of custom enterprise contracts, specific real-world cost examples for Ping Identity deployments are not publicly disclosed. However, based on the factors influencing pricing, we can outline hypothetical scenarios and their potential cost implications:

Scenario 1: Large Enterprise Workforce IAM

  • Organization Size: Global enterprise with 100,000 employees.
  • Products: PingFederate (on-premise), PingAccess (on-premise), PingDirectory (on-premise).
  • Deployment: Hybrid-cloud infrastructure, requiring integration with existing HR systems and cloud applications.
  • Considerations: High availability, disaster recovery, enterprise support, professional services for initial setup and migration.
  • Potential Cost Range: This scenario would likely involve a significant upfront license investment for the on-premise components, followed by annual maintenance and support fees. Total costs could range from several hundred thousand to over a million dollars annually, depending on feature set, regional deployments, and negotiated terms.

Scenario 2: Medium-sized Business CIAM

  • Organization Size: E-commerce company with 5 million active customer identities.
  • Products: PingOne SSO, PingOne MFA, PingOne Advanced Identity Verification, PingOne DaVinci (all cloud-based).
  • Deployment: Cloud-native, integrated with existing customer applications via APIs and SDKs.
  • Considerations: Scalability for peak traffic, secure customer onboarding and login, reduced operational overhead of managing infrastructure.
  • Potential Cost Range: This cloud-based subscription model would typically be priced per active user or per transaction. Costs could range from tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dollars annually, scaling with the number of active users and the usage of premium services like advanced identity verification.

Scenario 3: Hybrid Deployment for Legacy Modernization

  • Organization Size: Financial institution with 20,000 employees and 1 million customers.
  • Products: PingFederate (on-premise for legacy applications), PingOne SSO (cloud for new applications), PingOne Risk.
  • Deployment: Phased migration strategy, connecting on-premise identity stores with cloud services.
  • Considerations: Compliance requirements, seamless user experience across old and new applications, risk-based adaptive authentication.
  • Potential Cost Range: A hybrid approach combines the licensing costs of on-premise software with subscription fees for cloud services. This scenario would involve a custom quote blending both models, likely falling in the mid-to-high six-figure range annually, factoring in the complexity of integration and ongoing support for both environments.

How the pricing compares

Ping Identity's pricing model is comparable to other enterprise-focused identity management vendors. Key alternatives like Okta, ForgeRock, and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) also offer various tiers and custom enterprise agreements, particularly for their premium features and large-scale deployments.

When comparing Ping Identity's custom enterprise pricing:

  • Okta: Okta generally offers more transparent, publicly listed pricing for its core workforce and CIAM products, often presented as per-user, per-month rates, with custom quotes for enterprise tiers. This can make initial budgeting easier for smaller deployments. However, for large enterprises, Okta's custom enterprise pricing tends to align with Ping Identity's approach, focusing on tailored solutions and volume discounts. Okta's developer offering, Okta Developer, provides a free tier for development and testing.
  • ForgeRock: Similar to Ping Identity, ForgeRock (now part of Ping Identity's parent company, Thoma Bravo, though operating somewhat independently as of 2026) primarily targets large enterprises and offers custom pricing models. Their solutions are also highly modular and support extensive on-premises and hybrid deployments, making direct price comparisons difficult without a detailed quote.
  • Microsoft Entra ID: Microsoft Entra ID has a highly tiered pricing structure, with a free tier included with Azure and Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Paid tiers (Premium P1 and P2) offer advanced features like conditional access, MFA, and identity governance at per-user, per-month rates, with volume discounts. For organizations already heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, Entra ID often presents a cost-effective option, particularly for workforce identity. However, for highly complex CIAM or organizations seeking a vendor-agnostic identity solution, Ping Identity or ForgeRock might be considered.

Ultimately, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for any enterprise identity solution extends beyond the license or subscription fees. It includes implementation costs, ongoing maintenance, training, and the cost of integrations with existing systems. Organizations should evaluate vendors based on their ability to meet specific technical requirements, their deployment flexibility (cloud, hybrid, on-premises), and their strategic alignment, alongside the total financial investment.