Harbor
Okta
| Feature | Harbor | Okta |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free only | From $2/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | enterprise-devops, container-teams, security-teams, regulated-industries | enterprises, it-teams, security-teams, saas-companies |
| Founded | 2016 | 2009 |
| Container Registry | ✓ | ✗ |
| Vulnerability Scanning | ✓ | ✗ |
| Rbac | ✓ | ✗ |
| Image Signing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Replication | ✓ | ✗ |
| Garbage Collection | ✓ | ✗ |
| Audit Logs | ✓ | ✗ |
| Single Sign On | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Factor Auth | ✗ | ✓ |
| Lifecycle Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Api Access Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Universal Directory | ✗ | ✓ |
| Adaptive Mfa | ✗ | ✓ |
| Device Trust | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Harbor Pros
- Completely free and CNCF graduated project
- Built-in vulnerability scanning (Trivy integration)
- Image signing and policy enforcement
- Multi-registry replication for geo-distribution
✗ Harbor Cons
- Requires self-hosting and infrastructure management
- UI is functional but not modern
- Initial setup complexity for production
✓ Okta Pros
- Market leader in identity management
- Over 7,000 pre-built application integrations
- Excellent single sign-on experience
- Strong adaptive multi-factor authentication
✗ Okta Cons
- Per-user pricing adds up for large organizations
- Each feature is a separate add-on cost
- Initial setup requires careful planning
The Verdict
Harbor is built for enterprise devops and container teams, with a focus on container-registry and vulnerability-scanning. Okta targets enterprises and it teams and leads with single-sign-on and multi-factor-auth.
Harbor uses custom enterprise pricing, while Okta starts at $2/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Harbor has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Okta requires a paid subscription from day one.
Both tools are a solid fit for security teams — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.