Alternatives
10 best Formal alternatives
Tools that cover the same task as Formal (security), ranked by how completely their pricing, free tier and API access are documented. Checked Oct 4, 2026.
- Formal starts at
- Not listed
- Free plan
- Free tier unknown
- API
- API available
- 01
Cloudanix
Cloudanix is a CNAPP+ platform spanning code, cloud, access, and agentic security on one graph. It offers CSPM, CIEM, workload protection, just-in-time access, coding-agent guardrails, and LLM-native investigation across AWS, Azure, GCP, and Kubernetes with self-serve Pro SKUs and enterprise options.
Best for: Security and platform engineering teams needing unified cloud posture, runtime protection, JIT access, and guardrails for AI coding agents.
- 02
WorkOS
WorkOS helps SaaS companies add enterprise-ready authentication features such as SSO, Directory Sync, MFA, Audit Logs, and AuthKit user management with minimal integration code. The platform targets staging and production environments with modular APIs for B2B customer IT requirements.
Best for: B2B software vendors selling to enterprise customers who need SSO, SCIM, compliance logging, and self-serve IT onboarding.
- 03
Pritunl
Pritunl is an open-source enterprise VPN platform for OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IPsec with a web management UI, multi-host clustering over MongoDB, and optional premium features such as SSO and site-to-site links. It targets self-hosted remote access and VPC peering across clouds.
Best for: Infrastructure teams needing self-hosted VPN with horizontal scaling and enterprise authentication options.
- 04
Ory
Ory provides identity, authentication, authorization, and OAuth2/OIDC services through Ory Network and related open-source projects such as Kratos, Hydra, and Keto. The commercial site targets CIAM, B2B IAM, fine-grained permissions, passkeys, and enterprise SSO for applications that need scalable, API-first identity infrastructure.
Best for: Product and platform teams replacing Auth0-style stacks or self-hosting Ory components who need hosted Ory Network production environments.
- 05
Castle
Castle provides SDKs and APIs to detect bots, monitor risky logins, and stop account abuse using device, email, IP, and behavioral intelligence. Teams integrate Castle to score traffic and automate policy actions in web and mobile apps.
Best for: Product and fraud teams at consumer apps that need bot detection, account takeover protection, and IP intelligence without heavy integration friction.
- 06
Aserto
Aserto provides cloud-native authorization as a service with fine-grained RBAC, ABAC, or ACL enforced in about a millisecond. Developers use SDKs, policy repositories, and authorizer instances to centralize permissions for applications and APIs.
Best for: Teams adding centralized, low-latency authorization to SaaS apps, especially alongside Auth0 or similar identity providers.
- 07
Bytebase
Bytebase is a database governance platform for teams and AI agents to change, access, and audit databases across environments. It unifies schema migrations, access control with masking and just-in-time access, compliance workflows, and integrations with identity and GitOps tools.
Best for: Platform and data teams that need reviewable database change workflows, access policies, and audit trails.
- 08
Clawvisor
Clawvisor is a gatekeeper layer for AI agents that verifies each task’s purpose, injects scoped credentials, scores risk, and logs every action. It offers managed cloud or self-hosted deployment so agents can use email, calendars, and code tools without exposing full account access.
Best for: Teams running production AI agents that need least-privilege access, audit trails, and prompt-injection defenses.
- 09
Browserbase
Usage-based plans start free and scale to Developer and Startup tiers for production agent workloads.
Best for: Teams building agents that must browse, authenticate, and extract data from sites without traditional APIs.
- 10
Infisical
Infisical is a security platform for developers and AI agents covering secrets management, certificate management, and privileged access. Cloud plans scale by identities with integrations, rotation, SSO, and enterprise controls for larger organizations.
Best for: Engineering teams and agent builders needing centralized secrets, certificates, and privileged access with SSO and audit trails.
Formal alternatives: common questions
What is the best free alternative to Formal?
WorkOS has an ongoing free plan. Pricing lists AuthKit user management free for up to 1 million monthly active users and free staging usage across products. Free plans change, so check the vendor before relying on one.
What is the cheapest Formal alternative?
Aserto has the lowest listed starting price at $0.20/mo.
Which Formal alternatives have an API?
Cloudanix, WorkOS, Pritunl, Ory, Castle mention API or developer access.