SSO vs Password Managers
Single sign-on (SSO) is enterprise identity infrastructure: your employer issues one work identity that federates across business apps. A password manager stores and fills the credentials you choose to keep. They share the "login" keyword but are different markets — and SSO is not what our main ranking evaluates.
Why this page exists
Searches for the best way to manage logins land on both markets. The buyer differs fundamentally: SSO is procured by companies for employees, while password managers are chosen by individuals and families, while SSO is bought by employers. CNET's 2026 retest (https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/best-password-manager/) scores password managers on criteria such as family plans and free tiers, which SSO procurement does not use. Our method treats that split as a scored dimension (category fit), so the two markets never share one list.
How the two markets differ
- Buyer — a company's IT department for SSO; an individual or family for a password manager.
- Scope — SSO federates one issued work identity; a password manager stores many credentials across work and personal life.
- Pricing shape — per-employee enterprise contracts vs consumer subscriptions with free tiers.
- Evaluation criteria — provisioning, compliance and app catalogs for SSO; free-tier terms, export and sharing for password managers.
FAQ
Is single sign-on the same as a password manager?
No. SSO is enterprise identity infrastructure: an employer issues one work identity and federates it across business apps. A password manager is a consumer or team product that stores and fills credentials you choose to keep. SSO is procured by companies; password managers are picked by individuals and families — which is why this site ranks password managers only.
Why does this site not rank SSO providers?
Category fit is a scored dimension in our method: SSO providers are evaluated on enterprise federation, provisioning and compliance — criteria that do not overlap with consumer credential storage. A shared list would blur both evaluations. When SSO coverage warrants a separate run, it publishes under the same public-method rules.
For the other senses of the phrase: our password manager ranking and the passkey and authenticator page. Questions about coverage: [email protected].